Vosbergen enjoying fit with Southern Nationals
By Chris Tilley
Schaeffer Oil Southern Nationals Series publicist
Craig Vosbergen
He’s only in the United States for a short time, but Craig Vosbergen gets a lot of racing done while he’s here.
The 47-year-old Perth, Western Australia, native is enjoying the summertime racing here in the U.S., while in his native country, it’s winter and racing season is far from kick off.
From July 21-Aug. 2, Vosbergen is making a run for the Schaeffer Oil Southern Nationals Series title, as well as competing for the tour’s Rookie of the Year honors. He’s excited for the challenge.
“We don’t really get to run a full series because of our short time here, so this series is a bit different for me,” Vosbergen said. “We’re competing for the whole series, which I’ve never done before. It is pretty unique for me, you know, just being here five weeks. Being able to complete a whole series is pretty neat and I feel like I’m on level ground with the other guys because we’re all competing for the same thing, other than to just come in halfway through, trying to take points away from someone.”
Vosbergen has not previously raced at any of the tracks visited by the Southern Nationals minitour, so his goals for completing the entire 10-race series are quite simple.
“If I could get a top-five finish or better we would be really happy,” Vosbergen said. “I didn’t realize we were coming in for that Rookie of the Year deal when it started, but it was pretty neat that it was there, even though at age 47 I could be the oldest Rookie on the list.
“I am a rookie to the U.S. Late Model scene as far as what we do over here. If you look at the total number of races I’ve ran over the years I’ve been coming, it’s not a huge amount. We probably average 15 races per year in total. We haven’t done a lot of racing.”
Vosbergen said he has done more racing throughout his month-long visit to the U.S. than he would in a six months time back home. He said he would like to make the trip back to the states next season.
“We’ve enjoyed it so far,” Vosbergen said. “Even though we have a few more races to go, a few more unknown tracks and stuff, it’s a change for us and it’s come at a good time. We had that Lucas (Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series) stuff and had that new car…it was a new Rocket car that we got from (John) Blankenship…it takes a little while to get hang of things and adjustments that you need to do and stuff like that.”
Vosbergen attributes a lot of his racing program to Blankenship and his Williamson, W.Va.-based team that he’s gotten to know in a short period of time.
“I met the guys when I did the Lucas stuff last year and they’ve been a really good help to me out on the road,” Vosbergen said. “I wouldn’t say we lean on people, but I only have a small operation, small trailer and we cannot carry everything in there compared to these big rigs. Now and then I need to go borrow a loaner, a tool or just something to keep us going, basically, and those guys are really helpful.
“We were parked next to them (Blankenship) one night at Tri-City Speedway in Illinois and ever since then we sort of struck up a good relationship with Tom Buckingham and John (Blankenship) and all of the crew. Following that, we ended up buying all the cars for this year turnkey, and I can’t say enough about them. They furnish me a car ready to go…I landed here one day and raced the next day. You can’t get better help than that. They are sort of in the top drivers or top teams in the states and to be hooked up with those guys has been really helpful for me and I can’t thank them enough.”
Australia’s race season spans from October through the month of April. When Vosbergen returns home next week, he’ll return to his “regular” job as an engineering consultant, tending to VOSCORP., his self-made company. The businessman also owns and operates a race shop in his hometown with his 23-year-old son Brent. The shop is a dealer for Hoosier Racing Tires, Rocket Chassis, FK Rod Ends and Genesis Shocks among other American-owned companies.
Vosbergen competes in a Cornett Racing Engines-powered Rocket Chassis with sponsorship from Octane Race Products, Maxima Racing Oil, Coal World’s Energy, Genesis Racing Shocks and Good Lift Racing Lifts. He’s been racing Late Models since 2000.
“I started racing when I was 10 in Junior Sedans back in Australia, and then sort of progressed to Grand Nationals, like the big wedge cars,” Vosbergen said. “Then we went to a Super Sedan, an Australian designed car.
“Late Models in Australia are exactly the same as they are in America, imported, some guys choose to build those themselves, that’s how the division got started over there. I would say 95 percent of the cars in Australia now are USA built and are fully imported.
Vosbergen’s first racing stint in the U.S. came in late 2006 when he ventured to Challenger Raceway in Indiana, Pa., for the ‘Fall Fest’ weekend and then to Dirt Track World Championship at what was then KC Raceway (now Atomic Speedway) just outside Chillicothe, Ohio.
Vosbergen and his race team, made up of his son and crew member Mark “Woody” Woodman, arrived in the states July 1 and joined Lucas Oil series regulars at Roaring Knob Speedway and at I-80 Speedway’s Silver Dollar Nationals. While Vosbergen’s journey to the states may only be a few weeks long, he said he’s has learned a lot in a short amount of time.
“You have to be consistent, that’s the biggest thing if you’re going to worry about points and stuff,” Vosbergen said. “But my first goal is to be competitive and get good results and gain the respect of the other competitors. That’s the hardest thing for me. No one knows who we are and we have a relatively small trailer, so I don’t know whether people take you seriously and they don’t know what to expect.
“I found racing with the Lucas guys, when you race with them more often, and you do okay, you get a little bit of respect, whether it’s on the track or in the pits. It’s hard on that Lucas deal because you come in and are competing with guys that really do it for a living, and they’re on a season’s long points run, so every position in that feature is important to them, and if you’re in the way, sometimes that’s not the best position to be from their prospective.”
Recent finishes for the Australian have been a bit disappointing, but he has yet to use series provisional to qualify for a feature event and has completed every race on the Southern Nationals tour thus far.
Vosbergen notched his third straight top-ten finish at Rome (Ga.) Speedway on July 27. Entering the Southern Nationals tour’s final three events this weekend, the driver sits in No. 7 spot in the series standings. Vosbergen in second in the rookie standings.
