David Pitt understands the value of giving back. Most racers participate in the sport in a hobby capacity. The same applies for those who help operate tracks, such as Sweetwater Speedway in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
“[Sweetwater Speedway] is an all-volunteer operation,” said Pitt, of Rock Springs, Wyoming. “When [my son, Slade, and I] decided to get a couple of sport mods for a father-son activity [eight years ago], we had to get involved in keeping the speedway viable.”
Pitt owns a heavy equipment construction company that works at well-drilling sites. He volunteered to help prepare the 3/8-mile Sweetwater Speedway. But, Pitt wanted to do even more.
“Something was missing,” Pitt said. “There was no one selling parts at the track. Racers need parts to keep racing the same night they break.”
Three years ago, Pitt purchased a used 30-foot Snap-on truck to satisfy that need. He filled it with everything a racer could want on race day. That included A-frames, engines, transmissions, among other offerings. He named the venture,“PSM,” for Pitt Stop Motorsports.
This year, one of Pitt’s workers at his business, “Pitt Stop Billy,” volunteered to drive the truck on the IMCA Wild West Modified Tour. One of the stops for the tour included Desert Thunder Raceway in Price, Utah. There he spoke at the drivers’ meeting — pictured here with Pappy the Panda, mascot of the series — about his intentions.
“I gave the profits [from the parts truck sales] back to the tracks [on the tour],” Pitt said. “I sponsor races, and give away chassis, parts, and wraps. I put the money back into the track so we would continue to have places to go racing.”
While the PSM truck has hit the road, David Pitt didn’t forget about his hometown oval. Recently, he has been helping other volunteers with painting, sandblasting, mending fences, and building sandboxes for kids.
“The start of a lot of good things in racing all began with volunteers raising their hands at Sweetwater Speedway,” said Pitt. “We must work together to keep racing alive.”
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: We corrected the town where Desert Thunder Raceway is located in (09-30-2020).
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
