Four nights, three big wins for Payton Talbot in Florida. The spectacular performance came with a borrowed engine.
“The offer came from Travis Welch, whose son Zack races with me in the sportsman division,” Talbot, of South New Berlin, New York, said. “He heard that my crate engine delivery was delayed, and he said he had just picked up a new crate engine that I could borrow. All he asked is that we return it clean.”
Talbot certainly cleaned up at All-Tech Raceway in Lake City, Florida. In Short Track Super Series Crate 602 Sportsman competition during the Sunshine Swing, the only night he didn’t win he finished second.
“I had a bad restart on the second night,” said Talbot. “I chose the wrong lane — I should have taken the top. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.”
His performance this year contrasts his past results in the Florida. Talbot admittedly struggled, but he credits his newfound success to one significant factor — experience.
“Truthfully, I got better driving-wise,” Talbot said. “I was inexperienced with my coil [-spring] car back then. I drive differently now — I learned you have to keep coil cars under load more. I started out driving it like it was a [torsion] bar car.”
“I drag the brake a lot more than I did two years ago — that keeps the car’s attitude in shape. At All-Tech Raceway, you have to have the cars bent on entry, not driving the car straight in, and not throwing it in hard.”
When Payton Talbot returned to New York, he found his new crate engine waiting for him. As far as the winning borrowed engine, it’s on its way back to Zack Welch’s car.
“It’s all cleaned up,” Talbot said. “The least we could do is to put it back in Zack’s car so he will be all set. There’s good will amongst racers. I’m sure I will help him out when he needs something someday.”
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.
