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There’s Something About the Red Clay

To be clear, every win is one to savor, but there is nothing like the first time you pull into
victory lane at a USAC National event. If you’re a sprint car driver, that feeling is even sweeter
if it all comes together during Indiana Sprint Week. On that score, there appears to be something
special happening on the red clay at Bloomington Speedway.
Bloomington has been a part of Indiana Sprint Week since the mini-series was launched
in 1988 and was one of three tracks to participate when the United States Auto Club first
sanctioned the event in 1996. Since that time six drivers have earned their first USAC win at
Bloomington during ISW and for two drivers it represents their lone triumph under the USAC
banner. One thing each man makes clear is that this was a big moment in their racing career.
The string began in 1997 as Brad Fox took the now famed Fox Brothers no. 53 to the win
over Tony Jarrett and Derek Davidson. It was only right that Fox’s breakthrough came at
Bloomington. Brad’s father, the late Galen Fox is a member of the National Sprint Car and
USAC Hall of Fame. Galen first visited the speedway as a youngster, and in an oft-forgotten
aspect of his career actually spent time behind the wheel. Yet, it was with wrenches that he made
his biggest mark. He won USAC sprint car titles collaborating with owner Dick Hammond and
future Hall of Fame member Sheldon Kinser. Son Steve Fox admitted “he never had the itch to
race.” Instead, Steve elected to follow more in his dad’s footsteps. Brad was a different story,
and in 1997 it all came together for him. That season he claimed championships at Bloomington
and Lincoln Park Speedway. Like their father, both Brad and Steve use an economy of words as
they speak, but both appreciated the importance of their first USAC win. “That was pretty big,”
Brad says, “Just winning a local race was the goal. But to end up winning a Sprint Week Race
was something. Back then you had ten or twelve California guys come back too. So, you had the
best of them and the best from around here. It was a cool deal.”
Today Brad does his best to shepherd the progress of his son Brayden who scored his first
two wins at Bloomington this summer. As he observes his son’s growth it isn’t hard to see
parallels in his progression as a driver. Reflecting on the 1997 season he notes, “It is just like
things are going with Brayden now,” he says, “Things started to click. I started doing things that
I didn’t feel comfortable doing before and we got on a roll.”
For Brad Fox, the Sprint Week win indirectly helped him take a big step toward realizing
one of his racing ambitions. “My goal was to run the Hoosier Hundred,” Brad recalls, “I really
wanted to run a race on the Indy mile. That was the goal for a lot of us back then. You ran sprint
cars so you could get to run a Silver Crown car someday. That win let Steve and my dad know I
was ready to do that.”
The Fox brothers have put cars underneath some of the best and were an integral part of
some of Jon Stanbrough’s finest years. Family teams can sometimes be a powder keg waiting to
explode. Not here. When Steve Fox thinks about all the time he has spent with his brother he
admits, “It was always easy for us to work together because we have done it our whole life. It
just never seemed like a problem.” Who knows? Perhaps Brayden can repeat what his father
accomplished twenty-six summers ago.” ?

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