Paducah International Raceway
Younger English's victory draws father out of shell
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
When Vicki English videotapes Dirt Late Model races, she often faces the challenge of trying to focus on two No. 96 race cars.
Not only is she trying to film her husband Terry, a former UMP points champion and one of Kentucky's winningest drivers over the past decade, but Vicki also aims the viewfinder at 16-year-old son Tanner, who owns 39 Crate Late Model victories and track championship at Tennessee's Clayhill Motorsports Park. | Kentucky's weekly results
On NASCAR night Thursday at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway, husband Terry started on the front row of a $1,500-to-win race that included PIR co-owners and NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader. Tanner started in seventh, and Vicki's first inclination was to keep the camera on her son — until she noticed her husband's No. 96 out front.
"I said, 'He's leading, I better watch him, too,' " Vickie recalled.
Soon enough, it was easy to keep both cars in the same frame because Tanner rallied to the front and the No. 96s were running side-by-side in a tight battle for the lead.
But with Vicki excited about the outcome and partly worried they'd wreck each other — "We've already had that happen and we survived that," she said — the video quality suffered a little.
"Then it became really shaky," she admitted.
Especially on the final lap as the low-running Tanner made a winning move exiting turn four at the 3/8-mile oval to beat dad and capture his first-ever career Super Late Model. The victory set off a celebration among the Benton, Ky., family and its supporters that still had Vicki tingling early Friday morning.
"It was awesome," she said in a phone interview. "It was just so exciting. ... The crowd was really responsive, too; they really liked it."
Vicki and everyone else also got a surprise in victory lane — a jubilant Terry English. The low-key, soft-spoken driver has won plenty of major events and big purses in his career with barely a wave to the crowd in victory lane.
But this time, after trailing Tanner to the checkered flag, he won the race to victory lane, jumped out with his helmet still on to greet his victorious son, wrapping him in a hug and raising his arms in jubilation.
"I've never seen him so excited or so happy, smiling so big," Vicki said. "That was the happiest thing I've ever seen. We were all just so excited, and just to see Terry like that, he gave Tanner and big ol' bear hug and was just pumping his fists. ... He just looked so proud and so happy, it was just really something else.
"It was just all really special, really neat. It was cool to see Terry like that, and Tanner ... it was just one of those moments."
Tanner, a junior at Marshall County High School who turns 17 on May 26, also received congratulations from Stewart and Schrader along with another NASCAR competitor, Kenny Wallace. They all signed his trophy in the PIR pits.
"I told Tony, 'I've got a driver for you,' " Vicki said.
The younger English earned $10,000 for his '09 championship at Clayhill in the Crate division, but he'll likely continue to make more starts in his Super Late Model this season along with his 47-year-old father.
"People said, ever since Tanner started racing, 'One of these days he'll be whipping his old man,' " Vicki recalled. "Maybe one day. ... I never expected it this soon."
