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By JACK O’CONNOR
Danny Sams III probably never pictured winning his first national 410 Sprint Car race in a rain-shortened affair. However, given the fact his rookie campaign with High Limit Racing has been a rollercoaster, he didn’t care that only ten laps were completed when he was handed the trophy and check this past Saturday night at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.
“This is going to take a bit to sink in because I don’t think anybody had this on their bingo card, including myself,” the elated 23-year-old said with a big smile.
“It wasn’t a full race, but I don’t care. I wanted to win really bad either way. This feels amazing to me, but I feel even more proud that I was able to do it for mom and dad because I did my part for them; they believe in me so I can live this dream. I didn’t even know what it paid, but that doesn’t matter; this is huge for all of us.”
It can be argued that the Northport, FL driver could’ve won had the field ran the full 30-lap distance as he showed race winning pace throughout the day. The driver nicknamed the “Florida Man” had never turned a lap around the Kingdom of Speed prior to Saturday, but he time-trialed second and finished second in his heat race to put himself on the outside of the front row for the feature.
But before the cars took to the speedway, the skies opened up, resulting in a 45-minute delay. As Sams III waited around for the raindrops to stop falling and for officials to finish preparing the track, he knew the surface was going to be different. At the same time though, he didn’t want to venture too far away from the setup that made him competitive throughout the night.
That approached paid off when the green flag dropped as Sams III settled into the runner-up spot behind Giovanni Scelzi and was waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Sams III’s chance came on lap eight when Scelzi struggled to get around the slower car of Kyle Spence in turns one and two, leaving Sams III a clear path to jump up to the middle of the speedway and roll right on by.
“We didn’t want to overthink what to do with the car because dad had it good,” Sams III said.
“So, I was just wanted to go out there and drive it as hard as I could. Gio (Scelzi) was better than us all night until we were able to move around and make it happen. He just followed the lapped car in on the bottom, and it was treacherous up top.
“But I felt like I needed to open my line because you’re not going to go anywhere by following him, and I gained on him once I did that. So, we got to the next slower car and I saw him go left, so I went right and he got pinned behind that car. Sometimes, it’s better to be running second in those situations because getting around traffic is tough. I don’t know how my lap times were when I got the lead because I feel like I passed out. I’m super blessed everything worked out.”
Two more laps clicked off before the rain fell again. At first, Sams III didn’t know why the yellow was thrown until he wiped his visor and his hand was soaked. As he made his way off the track and back to his trailer, he climbed out of his No. 24D and hugged his father.
Initially, Sams III didn’t get too comfortable because he wasn’t sure what the rules were in terms of if the feature would be deemed complete, if it would be rescheduled to a later date or abandoned all together. However, the emotions changed when series announcer Chase Raudman said Sams III would get credited with the victory if the weather didn’t improve.
“When they told us on the radio that we were being taken off the track, I didn’t know if we would get the win, so I was okay with racing,” Sams III said.
“Plus, I didn’t want anyone to question the win, but I was going to take it anyway I could get it. We didn’t know what to do because the rain looked bad, so we were keeping our heads calm. But once I knew I was going to win, I was doing the rain dance for the rest of the night.”
To put it lightly, Sams III has experienced all of the sports highs and lows this season. Before this past weekend, he was 12th in High Limit points, which is last among full-time competitors and he had not recorded a top-five finish.
Throughout the year, Sams III had been riddled with engine issues and crashes, so much so that the team’s backup car is an eight-year-old chassis that Sams III raced 360’s with.
To say the victory was much-needed may be an understatement, and it could potentially start a conversation on if Sams III wants to continue down the High Limit path next year.
“It’s huge. Someone has to be last in points, but I was thinking to myself, ‘What I am I going to say at the year-end banquet?’ Now, we got something we can talk about, so that’s awesome,” Sams said.
“It also helps us a ton for next year to get back out here and do this again because that’s what we want to do. It’s important to be on a national stage, but if you have to perform in order to make it out there. I feel like we finally were able to put everything together.”
Sams III’s team is truly a family-run operation as if you walk the pit area at most events, you’ll just find he, his father Danny II and his mother Tina turning the wrenches on the car. Sams III believes his family is an example that any driver can fulfill their dreams of running all over the country if they want it bad enough.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken away from this experience is to never give up and to be tough. It’s you versus everyone else because you’re here to win” Sas added.
Not a lot of people know how hard this is; you have to ignore all of the people talking on social media. Anyone who puts their mind, heart and soul into this can end up sitting where we are right now. We had nothing going into last year, and now we’re sitting on a national stage victory lane, so that’s pretty amazing.”
Sams III said the trophy and check will be placed in the shop to serve as a symbol as to what having the will to succeed can lead to.
“We’re going to hang this stuff; this is the most memorable win you can think of,” Sams III finalized.
Danny Sams III probably never pictured winning his first national 410 Sprint Car race in a rain-shortened affair. However, given the fact his rookie campaign with High Limit Racing has been a rollercoaster, he didn’t care that only ten laps were completed when he was handed the trophy and check this past Saturday night at Bridgeport Motorsports Park.
“This is going to take a bit to sink in because I don’t think anybody had this on their bingo card, including myself,” the elated 23-year-old said with a big smile.
“It wasn’t a full race, but I don’t care. I wanted to win really bad either way. This feels amazing to me, but I feel even more proud that I was able to do it for mom and dad because I did my part for them; they believe in me so I can live this dream. I didn’t even know what it paid, but that doesn’t matter; this is huge for all of us.”
It can be argued that the Northport, FL driver could’ve won had the field ran the full 30-lap distance as he showed race winning pace throughout the day. The driver nicknamed the “Florida Man” had never turned a lap around the Kingdom of Speed prior to Saturday, but he time-trialed second and finished second in his heat race to put himself on the outside of the front row for the feature.
But before the cars took to the speedway, the skies opened up, resulting in a 45-minute delay. As Sams III waited around for the raindrops to stop falling and for officials to finish preparing the track, he knew the surface was going to be different. At the same time though, he didn’t want to venture too far away from the setup that made him competitive throughout the night.
That approached paid off when the green flag dropped as Sams III settled into the runner-up spot behind Giovanni Scelzi and was waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Sams III’s chance came on lap eight when Scelzi struggled to get around the slower car of Kyle Spence in turns one and two, leaving Sams III a clear path to jump up to the middle of the speedway and roll right on by.
“We didn’t want to overthink what to do with the car because dad had it good,” Sams III said.
“So, I was just wanted to go out there and drive it as hard as I could. Gio (Scelzi) was better than us all night until we were able to move around and make it happen. He just followed the lapped car in on the bottom, and it was treacherous up top.
“But I felt like I needed to open my line because you’re not going to go anywhere by following him, and I gained on him once I did that. So, we got to the next slower car and I saw him go left, so I went right and he got pinned behind that car. Sometimes, it’s better to be running second in those situations because getting around traffic is tough. I don’t know how my lap times were when I got the lead because I feel like I passed out. I’m super blessed everything worked out.”
Two more laps clicked off before the rain fell again. At first, Sams III didn’t know why the yellow was thrown until he wiped his visor and his hand was soaked. As he made his way off the track and back to his trailer, he climbed out of his No. 24D and hugged his father.
Initially, Sams III didn’t get too comfortable because he wasn’t sure what the rules were in terms of if the feature would be deemed complete, if it would be rescheduled to a later date or abandoned all together. However, the emotions changed when series announcer Chase Raudman said Sams III would get credited with the victory if the weather didn’t improve.
“When they told us on the radio that we were being taken off the track, I didn’t know if we would get the win, so I was okay with racing,” Sams III said.
“Plus, I didn’t want anyone to question the win, but I was going to take it anyway I could get it. We didn’t know what to do because the rain looked bad, so we were keeping our heads calm. But once I knew I was going to win, I was doing the rain dance for the rest of the night.”
To put it lightly, Sams III has experienced all of the sports highs and lows this season. Before this past weekend, he was 12th in High Limit points, which is last among full-time competitors and he had not recorded a top-five finish.
Throughout the year, Sams III had been riddled with engine issues and crashes, so much so that the team’s backup car is an eight-year-old chassis that Sams III raced 360’s with.
To say the victory was much-needed may be an understatement, and it could potentially start a conversation on if Sams III wants to continue down the High Limit path next year.
“It’s huge. Someone has to be last in points, but I was thinking to myself, ‘What I am I going to say at the year-end banquet?’ Now, we got something we can talk about, so that’s awesome,” Sams said.
“It also helps us a ton for next year to get back out here and do this again because that’s what we want to do. It’s important to be on a national stage, but if you have to perform in order to make it out there. I feel like we finally were able to put everything together.”
Sams III’s team is truly a family-run operation as if you walk the pit area at most events, you’ll just find he, his father Danny II and his mother Tina turning the wrenches on the car. Sams III believes his family is an example that any driver can fulfill their dreams of running all over the country if they want it bad enough.
“The biggest thing I’ve taken away from this experience is to never give up and to be tough. It’s you versus everyone else because you’re here to win” Sas added.
Not a lot of people know how hard this is; you have to ignore all of the people talking on social media. Anyone who puts their mind, heart and soul into this can end up sitting where we are right now. We had nothing going into last year, and now we’re sitting on a national stage victory lane, so that’s pretty amazing.”
Sams III said the trophy and check will be placed in the shop to serve as a symbol as to what having the will to succeed can lead to.
“We’re going to hang this stuff; this is the most memorable win you can think of,” Sams III finalized.
