The amount of time it takes to run a successful racing operation often times has to rise above everything else for a driver who wants to hold the winning trophy.
But not for 18-year-old Brett Yackey.
He finds success on the track at Colorado National Speedway and I-25 Speedway behind the wheel of both his Super Late Model and Late Model, but he also found the time to compete in three different sports groups over his time in High School. He played baseball, football and basketball for each of his four years, and recently, Yackey was also honored with the Marines Athlete of the Year award.
Talk about a busy driver.
“Between football, racing, and everything else I do, I’ve just had so many accomplishments so far,” Yackey said. “I have over 100 hours of community service just this year through July. I have so much going on, but there is nothing else I would rather be doing.”
His time on the track during his short career has already left him with plenty of trophies. Last year, Yackey came home fourth in the 2017 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Colorado championship fight. At just 18, he’s has already been a champion at Colorado National.
“Starting in the lower divisions (Pure Stocks, Super Stocks), I moved up and that helped me because every car is a little bit different and it teaches you a different line, or a different way to approach the setup,” Yackey, who pays for his racing equipment himself, said.
This year, he finds himself with multiple victories in Colorado’s Late Model division, where he is leading the point standings. In the Division I Super Late Models, Yackey has the chance to compete with some of the best, and most talented drivers on his side of the country. He’s currently fifth in the championship point standings in the Super Late Model class, but hasn’t been the start to the season he was exactly looking for.
But, he has the chance to win two championships, at the same track, in the same season.
“We’ve had a fairly successful season, we have some of the toughest weekly competition that you can find around the country in the Super Late Models,” Yackey said. “Our car counts are about 20, and we struggled a little bit the first two nights, but we found some speed recently. One week, I got tangled up and sent to the back, and showed great determination to move forward the following week.”
One of his toughest challengers just happens to be Bruce Yackey, a member of the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame, a 14-time champion at Colorado National Speedway, and, oh yeah: his father.
“My dad has run there so many years, having him there to teach me about what I am doing right, wrong and how to setup the car, it’s definitely helped me,” Yackey said. “When I beat him or he beats me, we always talk some smack at the shop. On the race track, he’s just another competitor, but he’s also a teammate. Sometimes I see him in front of me or coming behind me, and it’s a great feeling to know that’s my teammate doing a great job. We race each other hard. We race each other as hard as anyone and we rub with each other. But we can trust each other a lot.”
Even with all of the success Yackey has put together, to him, winning races, helping others and playing sports is just part of life.
“I’ve been very successful, but I have to give a lot of the credit to the people around me,” Yackey said. “We do so many things family-oriented, and it really shows because we can lean on each other. When we unload, we expect to be pretty good because we put in so much effort at the shop. If you don’t come off the trailer good, you are going to struggle all night. We just lean on each other for the information.”
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