Ellsworth’s Wyatt Alexander expects to have a fast car when he races his 2018 Super Late Model Chevrolet at Oxford Plains Speedway Saturday night and late Sunday afternoon.
It should get even faster with the $10,000 check he will receive as part of a $43,000 package he won in Valvoline Inc.’s Fast Track to Fame contest.
The contest was launched to support grassroots racing and had more than 800 driver entries. The contest operated in two rounds with public voting being the determining factor in the second round.
Alexander was one of four finalists.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” said the 18-year-old mechanical engineering student at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, where he will be a sophomore in the fall. “I was confident with the amount of support I had been getting from the Ellsworth community and through social media. But I had no idea what kind of support the other contestants were getting.
“It’s tough to gauge, but I felt like I had a good chance.”
He explained that in addition to his $10,000 check, which contest organizers would like him to put into his race car, he won $33,000 of merchandise including Valvoline products, tires, marketing tools, crew shirts, posters and cards.
“Some of this stuff we already do, but this gives us more of it and can bring us to another level,” Alexander said. “I’ll also have industry support. Some of the money will go toward travel expenses for marketing and meet-and-greets.”
He will do some promotions with former NASCAR Monster Energy Series driver Mark Martin, who won 40 Cup races and finished second in the championship points five times.
Alexander said all of these things “will open more doors for me. It’s exciting.”
He said earmarking the $10,000 for his race car doesn’t bother him at all.
“I’m more than happy to do that,” said Alexander, a 2017 graduate of Ellsworth High School and the son of Brett and Jennifer Alexander.
Alexander plans to race regularly the rest of the summer.
His Super Late Model Chevy is the best car he has ever raced, he said. It was built by Dean Clattenburg, and Alexander said he played a small role building it because he worked for Clattenburg. He picked up the car in March.
Alexander has raced it only five times and said he has always been a contender although a sixth-place finish is his best so far.
“We’re still working out the bugs. It’s a great car,” Alexander said.
Alexander is working part time for two race teams in North Carolina and will go back and forth to race, running in both the North and South.
He will run a 50-lap weekly Super Late Model race Saturday night at Oxford Plains and a 150-lap Pro All Stars Series North SLM feature at 4 p.m. Sunday. Sunday’s race also will be a qualifier for the Oxford 250 Aug. 26 or for the inaugural PASS Commonwealth Classic at Richmond Raceway Oct. 20.
He will race another 50-lapper at Oxford Plains the following weekend.
He tried unsuccessfully to qualify for the Oxford 250 in 2015 and 2016, and hopes to earn a starting spot for next month’s 45th annual race.
His ultimate dream is to drive at the highest level possible, the Monster Energy Cup Series, but he also knows he could work in variety of other roles on a race team including as a mechanic or engine builder.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I want to capitalize on it as much as possible,” he said. “This (rarely) happens to a kid from Ellsworth, Maine, or for any kid across the country.”
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