Young Wolfe Making Noise On Outlaws Scene

BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009 - 12:40:23 am CDT

The heck with being cautious.

Lucas Wolfe approached the prospects of his return to racing — a scary accident last year left him with a fractured vertebrae — with the same drive he showed in first venturing out on the World of Outlaws sprint car trail.

“One doctor told me I should find something else to do,” said the 22-year-old racer from Mechanicsburg, Pa., who will make his first appearance at Eagle Raceway for Saturday’s Eagle Nationals. “I ignored it.

“It’s a risk you take. I was fortunate to have some pretty good doctors. I got healed up and haven’t really thought about it since.”

Wolfe — who kids that he’s now a little shorter than before the crash at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., last June 8 put him out of action for two months — is certainly on a fast track to possible stardom.

The 2008 Outlaws Rookie of the Year notched his fifth top-10 finish of this season by running seventh at Knoxville, Iowa, Saturday night, and sits 10th in points.

As enthusiastic as Wolfe is about his position, he’s also got a sweet deal to look forward to. Last month, it was announced that he’ll drive in the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights series for PDM/Racing Associates JV.

The ownership group also plans to field an IRL team in 2010, and the opportunity to drive in the Indy Lights series makes Wolfe a logical candidate to take the next step.

Said Mickey Meyer Jr., president and managing director of team operations for Racing Associates: “Lucas is the right fit at the right time and we plan on a long and fruitful relationship.”

OK, so before his head really starts spinning with all that comes from a career move, Wolfe is adamant he’s zoned in on grinding his way through the heat of mid-summer to improve his standing with the Outlaws.

“Certainly the chances of finding an opportunity are very rare, and so we’re very fortunate to have this program come together now,” he said. “The one nice thing is we race so much (with the Outlaws) that we don’t have a lot of time to think about it. The plans for next year will pick up as this season winds down.”

Lucas started racing sprint cars at famed Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania when he was 16.

The youngest full-time Outlaw, Lucas is getting early lessons on nearly everything it takes to run a successful tour, as most of the time it’s just he and his father Randy, a former racer, out on the road. Many of the other Outlaws teams have three- to four-member crews.

Lucas had planned on remaining between Lincoln and Sioux Falls, S.D., this week, as he’ll be racing at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., on Friday. But he wound up having to travel to Indianapolis, about halfway home, to work out an issue he was having with his steering and also to swap engines.

For someone as driven as Lucas, detours like that are just part of the deal.

“We continue to improve on it and keep having a better idea, especially at tracks we saw last year,” Lucas said. “We haven’t run as well as we want, but there’s usually only about one guy who says that.”

Considering where he was at this time last year, he’ll gladly take the option of feeling like his first Outlaws win could be at the next stop.

“The most serious thing to me was I had to miss races,” Lucas said of the 2008 season. “We’ve always wanted to do (Outlaws). Even though racing at home is as strong as it is anywhere, it’s the direction everybody (there) looks at and says ‘Boy, that’s what I’d like to race.’

“... By no means are we going to stop racing sprint cars (in the future). I’d like to stay as active as I can.”

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