Both Mark Sise (35) and Marcus Mays (12M) hungered for their first feature win. Their battle came down to the wire during the classic division’s August 1 feature at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee.
“When I got to the line, I didn’t know if I got it or he got it,” said Mays, 30, of Johnson City, Tennessee. “Everything happened so quick. You look down [toward the infield] and you can see [his] crew jumping up and down and my crew jumping up and down. I wasn’t sure who got it.”
“I thought I was going to lose it, because [Mays] had a good run off the [final] corner,” Sise, 47, of Seymour, Tennessee, said. “Then, they said I was the winner.”
You can find Sise’s family throughout the pits at tracks in Eastern Tennessee. Many consider his nephew, Shaun Sise, the man to beat in the classics. His cousins, Trevor Sise and Zach Sise, contend for wins regularly in 604 late models. Mark Sise, however, started racing stock cars at a later age, only two and a half years ago in the classics.
“I never had the means to race, because I was raising my two kids,” said Sise, who installs and services garage doors for Service Plus Garage Doors. “I always wanted to race.”
As with Sise, Mays also comes from a racing clan. He races with his father, Jeff Mays, and uncle, Bobby Mays, the latter of which is a multi-time track champion at Volunteer Speedway. Like Sise, Mays began steering race cars at a later age.
“I finally got to where I can afford it,” Mays, a project mechanic for Cook’s Mechanical Services, said. “I got an offer to drive a front-wheel-drive for a guy [last year]. Then, I got my own front-wheel-drive. I sold it and bought a classic car [for this year].”
With his first win under his belt, Mark Sise feels win number two may be right around the corner.
“It’s a lot of weight lifted off, because everybody’s like, ‘When are you going to win? When are you going to beat Shaun?’” said Sise of his first win. “I went to I-75 [Raceway outside of Sweetwater, Tennessee,] last weekend, and I led like 13 laps. It seems easier [to run up front] now that you’re not hunting for your first win.”
Likewise, Marcus Mays remains confident that he’ll visit victory lane for the first time soon.
“I wish I had one more lap — we came up a lap too short,” Mays said. “Any time you can run door-to-door with [the Sises, Mark and Shaun,] you’re doing something. It was probably most fun I ever had.”
Sise offered the following advice for his competitor.
“Keeping digging — he’s there,” Sise said. “[Mays is] a good dude. He’s got a fast car. He’ll be there. Just take chances — that’s what I did. I did some things I don’t normally do. [For example,] Shaun [Sise] was on the outside and John [Stevens] was on the inside, and I just drove right through the middle. I took the chances I normally don’t take, and it paid off.”
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.
