Local classes hope for fireworks tonight at 5 Flags
The dog days of summer are here. That orange fireball in the sky rises each morning and decides to make life unbearable on its victims with smothering heat and suffocating humidity.
Caleb Sanford, 18, knows all about this time of year’s fierce, blistering intensity. The young man is up at the crack of dawn clearing out family property in lovely Coden, Ala., just south of Bayou La Batre along the Coast. His day isn’t over when the day’s over, though. Sanford and a team of family and close-knit friends work deep into the night to get his truck race ready.
The recent Alma Bryant High School graduate sits second heading into the Pro Trucks 25-lap feature tonight at Five Flags Speedway. He trails series leader Logan Boyett by just five points after posting top-five finishes in the season’s first three features.
“Logan Boyett is a great racer, and I have a lot of respect for him,” Sanford said. “He’s definitely the one to beat. Honestly, though, we’re just trying to chase our first win.”
The Pro Trucks share the Fourth of July festivities with the Outlaws (30 laps), the Sportsmen (25) and Pure Stocks (20). The Pro Trucks, Sportsmen and Pure Stocks will battle in six-lap heat races to determine the features’ lineups while the Outlaws will qualify. Gates open at 5 p.m. today with racing set for 8. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; and free for children ages 11 and under.
Sanford credits his success in 2022 to his crew, which includes dad Sandy Sanford and some of Caleb Sanford’s best buddies. Veteran driver Howard Langham has also provided tips of the trade.
“It’s great having people support me,” Caleb Sanford said. “They have all the faith in me to do well. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
He has risen through the short-track ranks after earning his chops in Bandolero and Legends cars on the Sunny South Raceway asphalt in Grand Bay, Ala. Sanford captured four state championships between the two classes before making the jump to Pro Trucks in 2019. His leap toward the Pro Trucks top this year comes as he continues to make adjustments from Legends.
“Honestly, it’s a little bit about the competition,” Sanford said. “Everybody has different driving styles and sometimes it’s not so easy to adapt. Folks say Legends are the hardest thing to drive, and I agree because of the power-to-weight ratio. If you can figure out Legends, you can figure out anything.”
He wrecked in the Five Flags season finale, which prevented him from competing in last December’s Pro Trucks edition of the Snowball Derby. Sanford and Co. spent the offseason meticulously going over the truck and being calculated with their choices.
“We knew we had to update the truck to fix the problems we were having,” he said. “It took time and research, but we’re slowly figuring the truck out.
“We’re trying to figure out how to settle the front end down going into the corner. We had a bad bounce. I think we’ve figured it out now and we are ready for Friday.”
Track officials announced earlier this week that this same lineup of local divisions originally scheduled Aug. 5 will now battle Aug. 12, serving as the precursor to the half-mile asphalt oval’s annual Demolition Derby.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Local classes hope for fireworks tonight at 5 Flags
