When the 2008 racing season starts for Chris Rhodes of Windber, PA it will not only mark a decade as a dirt Late Model racer but will be a season where he will tackle ‘Super’ Late Model racing full-force as well as his continuing to strive, and is decidedly succeeding, in making his business, EDGE Racing Engines, continue to grow and prosper. Nope, no way you can tag the term ‘lazy’ on this 38-year-old husband and father.

 

“For 2008 we plan on doing some traveling to tracks around the area and out of state,” commented Rhodes, who has had a successful career driving ‘Limited’ Late Models. “I love racing on slick tracks, and since my initial visit to Florence Speedway in Kentucky as a spectator, I’ve been itching to hit their black ice. Every year I’ve been saying I’m going. If all goes well this year, we’ll be returning to that speedway only this time with the racecar.”

 

“Our traveling schedule is also going to be dependent on how busy I am with customer work. If I’m too busy, we’ll race a little more locally. The team decided to call Marion Center Speedway our home track for the coming year. We haven’t run there much in the past, so it will be a new challenge, and they have the surface I like. So on nights we’re not out of town, we’ll be racing there.”

 

So why is Rhodes going all-out for ‘Super’ Late Model racing? “We ran Super Late Model a few times last year with our steel block and were pretty competitive,” explains the man they call ‘Captain’. “Many of the tracks are doing away with the steel block class so that was one of the decisions behind moving up. Also, the payout is much better in the supers. The whole team has been wanting to make the move for several years, so we’re all pretty excited about it.”

 

So what does the friendly driver/businessman have to do to prepare for ’08? “We just picked up our 2008 Lazer chassis near the end of the season, so we only have about five races on it,” said Rhodes. “We’ll just be doing routine maintenance and putting a new body on it. The guys and I pulled the engine out to get worked over, but I haven’t gotten to working on it yet. I’ll tear it down some night to get it ready.”

 

Even though climbing into a dirt Late Model is what Rhodes loves to do, his primary focus in racing though is on his business, EDGE Racing Engines, that, even though only a couple years in existence, has taken off in a big way. “Business has been great,” understated Rhodes. “I didn’t have any slow period the first full year, and it still hasn’t slowed down.”

 

“I want to once again thank everyone for their business in 2007. When the season came to an end, the engines started rolling in by the truckload and they’re still not all here. I don’t consider it work though. I enjoy every bit of it. I’ve picked up several new customers, and some who said they were bringing their work, but I won’t mention who until their work is actually here. There are going to be some exciting things happening with Team EDGE in the coming year.”

 

As for his own racing team Rhodes has already picked up a new sponsor for next season. “We picked up TC’s Fuel Injection Service as a sponsor for 2008,” revealed Rhodes. “The owner, Tom Cowher, is my father in law. He’ll be providing support for our toter home with the diesel end of it. He is a full service diesel fuel injection shop who is an authorized franchised dealer for Bosch, Stanadyne, Zexel, Denso, Yanmar, etc. He’s also an authorized turbo charger dealer.”

 

“Actually, not too many people know this but it was through his business that I met my wife, Stacy. She worked for her dad as a diesel technician for eight years. Not only did I marry a good woman, but I lucked out and married one who could turn a wrench and wasn’t afraid of getting dirty (laughs)!”

 

“Racing wouldn’t be possible, and frankly, wouldn’t be fun, if weren’t for the great pit crew I have. Bob, Matt, Bo, Dustin, Katelin and Stacy are who get us to the track each and every week.”

 

“We’d also like to thank Lias Tire, Lazer Chassis, Fast Track Photo, Impact Design and Images, Black’s Specialty and Ray’s Landscaping for all their support in 2007 and the coming 2008 season!”

 

You can find out more about Chris Rhodes at: www.chrisrhodesracing.com or at www.edgeracingengines.com

 

©2007 Doc Lehman/Dirt America

DocLehman@sssnet.com