Jason Sides will appear on SPEED's Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. (Photo: Justin Leedy)
Jason Sides dismisses the notion that he is the best kept secret in major league sprint car racing.
A fixture on the national scene for the past 15 years, this underdog is perhaps the most underrated driver to climb into the cockpit behind a screaming 410 engine with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
Although his efforts are often overlooked and unappreciated, this guy sure looks the part.
Rugged and stout, Sides has the shoulder-length hair of a lead guitarist in a rock band often pulled into a ponytail while sporting a menacing variety of facial hair, ranging from a goutee to a soul patch with determined eyes hidden frequently by snazzy sunglasses.
Talk about an outlaw, the 38-year old from Bartlett, Tennessee looks like he belongs in leather straddling a Harley as the leader of a motorcycle gang.
With a pinch of smokeless tobacco firmly planted between his cheek and gums, he could easily pass for a modern-day pirate if you add hoop earrings, an eye patch and bandana.
Appearances aside, it is driving ability, combined with a devil-may-care attitude and dedication to excellence which makes Jason Sides embody the nomadic spirit of sprint car racing.
Coming off of a breakout season in 2010, which saw him post a career-high four wins with The Outlaws, Sides has already visited victory lane twice this year, taking the big trophies at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park in February and at Calistoga Raceway in California four weeks ago in the most recent series event in a season plagued by rainouts. He is currently fifth in the championship standings as the Outlaws head to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana Saturday.
For Sides, the magic happens with a tiny team that bears his name, absent of the high-dollar support many of his competitors enjoy.
“We are a small team,” admitted Sides, “but we’ve been around the last seven or eight years and have been to a lot of different race tracks and have gotten better at some of them. It makes it look like we’re just now coming into our own, but it’s just been lap after lap after lap.”
Sides says continuity with his team in recent years and the move to Don Ott Racing Engines has also contributed to the surge of his Side Motorsports no. 7s Maxim.
The 2003 World of Outlaws rookie of the year earned the first of his 10 series triumphs with an upset win at the 2004 Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway, where he survived a battle of attrition.
A former Motocross rider who made the transition from two-wheels to four-wheels in 1993, one of Sides’ greatest strengths is his leadership in the face of adversity.
Obstacles are plentiful when taking on multiple responsibilities amid the rigors of a demanding 100-race schedule.
“After something like that (negative) happens, there’s nothing you can do about it. What’s done is done,” says Sides, who serves as owner, driver, mechanic and rig driver.
“We learn what we need to do and make it better.”
This Sunday, Sides will have the opportunity to tell his story to a nationwide audience when he is one of the featured guests on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain, 9 p.m. ET on SPEED.
Jim Chiappelli is SPEED’s News Director and Coordinating Producer of SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. A Duquesne University graduate, Jim briefly competed in the limited late model division in Western Pennsylvania for his family, which has been involved in racing for nearly 35 years and continues to campaign a 410 sprint car team.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator
and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
