Ex-Birkhofer crew chief ratcheting up his racing
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Jason Utter tours 34 Raceway last season. (John Vass)
Plenty of IMCA Late Models competitors are anxiously awaiting Saturday’s IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series season opener at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. But perhaps no driver is more excited for the $5,555-to-win Brent Slocum Memorial than Jason Utter of Columbus Junction, Iowa.
Utter, the 33-year-old driver who switched to IMCA’s spec-engine Late Models last season after a number of years focusing on open-motor competition, is looking forward to getting back to action after just getting the hang of IMCA racing at the end of last season.
“I’m really looking forward to getting started just because we were really getting a better handle on the IMCA stuff at the end of last year,” said Utter, a 10th-year Late Model driver and former crew chief for Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa. “We just got the IMCA motor and ran a total of maybe 10 or 11 races last year, so I feel like we’re just starting to get it figured out with the motors and the tires and everything.”
As Utter learned last season, having a well-tuned race car is important in IMCA competition, where spec engines and spec tires make all cars nearly equal. Being able to get the most speed and maneuverability out of car every lap is a must if a driver is going to be able to pass.
“With the IMCA stuff, it seems like if you draw the back of a heat, you’re gonna run back there,” Utter said. “But hopefully we can change that this year and get to where we can run up through there. It just takes a really good car in IMCA to be able to move up because everybody’s so equal on power and everything.”
Utter was already showing signs of improvement last season. One of his best performances of the season came in IMCA’s flagship event, on the opening night of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals at Boone (Iowa) Speedway. Utter appeared to be headed for his first Deery Brothers Series victory in the Labor Day event until a broken steering heim knocked him out of the lead on lap 34 of the 50-lapper.
The costly part failure was a major disappointment for Utter, who had his sights set on Boone the entire season.
“I still have nightmares of that race cause we were leading that thing with a few laps to go and broke a heim,” Utter said. “When I first got that IMCA motor, I really wanted to do well at Boone. I kinda used everything else just to test and tune just to get ready for Boone. I felt like we had a car that was pretty dominant there; just had a $5 piece break.”
Utter is usually able to avoid part failures like the one at Boone thanks to his team’s strong maintenance program that he adapted from what he learned while serving as Birkhofer’s crew chief for the 2005 season. Unfortunately for Utter, a busy schedule for the Deery Series the weekend of Boone’s event didn’t allow him to perform the needed maintenance before Boone’s race.
“One of the things about Birkhofer is his maintenance program is top notch and I learned from him that that wins or loses races,” Utter said. “That was one of the biggest things that frustrated me about Boone. That night before we were at Burlington on a rough track, and I knew that something was gonna break on the car. But we had to get up early and leave early. I didn’t have time to maintenance the car like I always do and it bit us in the butt. It ended up costing me a race.”
The Boone disappointment taught Utter a lesson, and he’s taken measures to do his best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“You live and learn,” Utter said. “This year, I’ve spent a lot of time preparing. If that happens again I can switch everything out on the car. I’ve got everything set up and ready to go, so hopefully I won’t every have the problem again.”
As disappointing as Boone was for Utter, it at least showed him that his program is headed in the right direction and gave him a boost of momentum heading into the offseason. He’s looking forward to keeping that momentum rolling as he gets the 2013 season started this weekend at 34 Raceway.
While he doesn’t plan to follow the entire Deery Brothers Series, Utter does plan to do most of his racing this season in IMCA competition.
“We’re gonna run a lot more of the IMCA stuff this year, but I don’t wanna get stuck with a series and feel like I have to grind it out,” said Utter, who also plans to mix in open motor competition throughout the season. “If we start out lighting the world on fire, then we might think about the full series.
“It just seems like every time I’ve ever run points before, I get so stressed out about not being able to go and let it all hang out. I get more conservative and race for points. Anymore, I just want to go and throw the steering wheel at it and see what happens.”
Utter is especially looking forward to heading back to 34 Raceway this weekend after a solid run there late last season. In his only visit to the 3/8-mile oval in 2012, Utter raced to a solid fifth-place finish in the track’s Pepsi USA Nationals.
Utter hopes he can start to the season on a positive note with an even better finish than his performance at 34 Raceway last season.
“We ran Burlington last year toward the end and finished in the top five,” Utter said. “We were right there in the lead back. I’m pretty anxious to get back there and see if we can’t fine tune that a little more. I’m pretty excited about it. I think it’s a good place for us to start the year, hopefully with a good finish.”
