Travis Sands had long resisted his son Chase’s (pictured, right) persistent urging to get him to return to behind the wheel of a race car. Sands last raced in 2007. Earlier last year, however, friend Tyler Farr offered Sands a chance to race his car at I-75 Raceway outside of Sweetwater, Tennessee.
“[Farr] let me drive it one time to fill in,” said Sands, 41, of Maryville, Tennessee. “It activated that spark to get back into it.”
Sands then bought a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt front-wheel-drive race car. A lot changes in over a decade. Sands had to learn the nuances of the front-wheel-drive class once again.
“They’re allowed to do more than we were allowed to [back in 2007 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee],” said Sands. “As long as it’s stock appearing [it’s, for the most part, allowed]. Some [tracks] allow racing tires.”
Sands won the front-wheel-drive championships at Smoky Mountain Speedway in 2003 and 2005. He left the sport after the track instituted an $800 claim rule for the winner’s car.
“When they wanted to buy my car for $800, I had that [amount of money] in my roll cage and tires,” Sands said. “I refused to sell it. So, every time I would win, they would DQ me.”
When Sands last raced, his son, Chase, was only seven years old. Now 20, you can find Chase helping his father at nearly every event.
“[Chase is] more involved than I am,” Sands said. “[At Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, Georgia,] I broke an axle and hit the wall … hurt my neck. He went out and bought me a HANS device.”
Sands’ wife, Darlene, is right there along with Chase in his pit at the races. She also raced his front-wheel-drive in 2020.
“[Darlene] put the car into victory lane first,” said Sands. “She won the powder-puff [race].”
Travis Sands enjoys racing again. For 2021, Sands intends to make a run for the front-wheel-drive championship at I-75 Raceway and hopefully add a third year-end trophy to his mantel, 16 years after his last one.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
