Tyler Easterday was one of several racers who had experienced engine failures during the weekend practice sessions of the Bristol Dirt Nationals. The stock car driver brought a newly freshened, professionally built engine dubbed “Gold Digger” to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. It only lasted five laps during Saturday’s practice.
“Going down the frontstretch everything was fine and all of a sudden a big puff of smoke and some flames,” said Easterday, a GM auto mechanic from Lexington, Nebraska. “The car started shaking, and the motor blew up. The [connecting] rods tried to come out, [creating] two big holes in the oil pan.”
His team, consisting of Easterday (left), girlfriend Beka Michael (second from left), driver of team car Jamie Porterfield (second from right), and brother Brad Easterday (right) spent Sunday swapping engines. They call the engine they installed, “Hastings,” after the town in Nebsraka where they got it from.
“Hopefully, it will last,” Easterday said of his backup engine. “It’s a stock rod, stock crankshaft motor. It ain’t special. We rebuilt it in our shop.”
The 29-year-old still seeks his first trip to victory lane.
“I’ve never won a race, and I’ve been in stock cars since 2016,” said Easterday. “Before that, I ran hobby stocks, and I never won a feature.”
Easterday cites two reasons for him to keep racing and chasing that elusive first win.
“It’s family and the love of the sport,” Easterday said. “This is how our family and friends spend time together.”
Nevertheless, his track record did not deter him from venturing across the country to Bristol Motor Speedway.
“To be able to say I raced a NASCAR track … it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Easterday. “The drive sucked, but being on the track made it worth it.”
Bristol didn’t disappoint Tyler Easterday.
“It’s a feeling I can’t hardly describe,” Easterday said. “There are so many G-forces going in [the corner]. I was almost wide-open the entire time. It was a blast. It was the most fun five laps I’ve ever had inside a car.”
Photo Credit: J.A. Ackley
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.
