LEAGUE CITY, Texas – Two years before he even thought he’d be racing a Sprint Car, Trey Burke was winning races in the IMCA RaceSaver division.
Burke’s three victories gave him the edge in rookie of the year standings for the winged class while consistency throughout the season landed him 17th place in the national point standings.
At 14, the freshman at Lutheran South Academy in Houston became the youngest rookie of the year crowned in the history of the IMCA division.
“It (the rookie points race) came down to feature wins and we were biting our nails before we found out we won it,” Burke said. “I didn’t think I would be racing a Sprint Car until I was 16 but I’m happy with how we did and I learned a lot this season, especially getting on and off the throttle and how to enter corners.”
“Brad Benic joined us as crew chief about a fourth of the way through the season,” he continued. “We wouldn’t have done as well as we did without him.”
From League City, Texas, and a fourth generation driver, Burke scored his first two wins 24 hours and 400 miles apart, topping the July 19 feature at Monarch Motor Speedway and then the July 20 Southern United Sprints show at Texana Raceway Park.
“After the first win we told ourselves ‘OK, we did it, if we can accomplish this the sky’s the limit.’ Then we went back-to-back and I was speechless for about a week,” he said. “Looking back on it, we would have gotten second in the national rookie race without those two wins. That weekend was definitely the highlight of the season.”
Starts 22 Wins 3 Additional Top Five’s 8
HIS CREW: Parents Ronald Jr. and Lori Burke; grandfather Ronald Burke Sr.; Brad Benic and Taylor Weld.
HIS SPONSORS: Joe Dooling with Dooling Machine of Freeport; Momentum Racing Shocks of Noblesville, Ind.; Taylor Weld with T.J. Forged of Houston; Texas Micro Optics of League City; and Wells Racing Engines of Duncanville.