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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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TRAVIS PEERY by Norm Bogan |
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How many of today’s racers gained
their interest in motorsports by hanging around the neighbor’s
garage as a young child? Probably,
a number of those, whose family was not involved in auto racing,
were influenced by someone within their realm at four or five years
of age. First, is the
fascination of young boys with speed and skill behind the wheel.
Many exhibit tendencies toward maneuvering their bicycles
against each other in a speed contest or racing through a course of
hills and dales around sharp curves.
Sometimes, a neighbor has committed to weekly competition at
the local racing emporium and welcomes the curiosity of a youngster,
often both male and female. Travis Peery and his sister LeAnn began
to visit a garage next door, where a racing machine, a POSSE car
with the sideboards, was maintained.
On race night, the family would venture to the speedway to
root for their neighbor, Donny Bottoms and then go through the whole
routine again the following week.
Soon, Travis began to develop skills acquired from his many
visits to the race car preparation center.
Gaining knowledge and confidence, he was able to achieve more
tasks and eventually became a member of the pit crew. At the age of eighteen, Travis put
together a Modified racer and joined the racing action in 1998,
scoring two feature wins in his rookie year at Siskiyou Motor
Speedway in Yreka, California.
Like so many racers, Peery ran on a limited budget with a few
lean years, but it all came together in 2008, scoring eleven feature
victories and securing the championship at his home track, plus
claiming the California State UMP Modified Championship. Travis was born in Ukiah, California,
the Gateway to the Redwood Empire and moved to Yreka as a young
child. Growing up in
Yreka, playing baseball and football at the local high school,
Peery’s early introduction to racing, afforded adequate skills to
hire on with an irrigation company, where he maintained much of
their equipment. Travis
supplemented his income by cutting firewood and putting new bodies
on competitor’s racecars. Eventually,
Peery moved on to a large farming operation, preparing the land,
planting the alfalfa and maintaining a fleet of hay haulers and farm
equipment. Travis’
bosses are longtime winged 360 sprint car racers, Dan and Tom Menne. Peery moved to Medford, Oregon for a
couple of years, where he worked with a large construction company.
When the downturn in the economy hit, Travis lost his job.
Fortunately, Bruce Rayburn out of Eagle Point, Oregon put him
to work in his shop, fabricating cars and learning much about
assembling a quality racing machine.
Peery thinks that his chassis builder Rayburn and engine
builder Matt Rodgers from Central Point, Oregon made the difference
in his performance and without them; he would still be a mid-pack
car. Returning to
Yreka, Peery now makes his residence in the hamlet of Fort Jones. Family is an important part of his
daily life. Twenty-eight
year old, Peery and his wife, Beth have two sons, Ryan, nearly five
and Blake, three months. Mom
and Dad are supportive of Travis’s racing efforts, as well as
sister, LeAnn and her husband.
Sponsorship help comes from his sister’s business, Susan
River Realty, A&J Farms, Shasta Truck and Equipment, Dunn
Automotive, Scott Valley Auto Parts and Grandpa Earl (Earl Haines) a
major contributor. Loyal
pit support comes from Dad-Dennis Peery, Michael Bridwell, Matt
Menne and Boomer Crowdover. Peery names favorite race tracks as
Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California and Grays Harbor Raceway
in Elma, Washington. While
living in Medford, Travis raced at both Southern Oregon Speedway and
Cottage Grove Speedway. Lofty goals have been set for the 2009
season. Travis wants to
score twenty feature victories, win the State UMP championship and
also, the North West-Deep South Regional UMP Championship. When Travis attended the UMP National
Awards Banquet in Springfield, Illinois during the winter, it was an
honor to be recognized with all the stars from other regions of the
country. Away from racing, the Peery’s have
hound dogs and love to go bear hunting.
Travis also makes an annual journey to Idaho for elk hunting.
He and his son, frequently go fly fishing in a nearby creek.
Do you think there may be a neighbor
kid or two hanging around the race car shop, with the same
enthusiasm experienced about a generation ago by Travis and his
sister? |
