Family racing tradition runs deep

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) - Each spring the Wilkinsons get an itch . an itch to go fast.

It’s been happing for decades.

Dirt-track racing in northeast Nebraska traces back to the early 1960s and you’d be hard pressed to find an extended stretch in which a Wilkinson wasn’t competing.

“There were five of us that kind of got this all started. My brothers - Little Ron, Gary, Bud - myself, and our cousin Big Ron.” said Dean Wilkinson, 68, of Oakdale.

Dean was the last of the five to start . at age 15, 53 years ago.

This season, Wilkinson, his son, Jason, and his grandsons, Kyle and Cameron are carrying on the tradition, the Norfolk Daily News reported.

“It’s a family deal and what more fun can you have?” Wilkinson said. “We’re all in it competing against each other, and helping each other out. We all enjoy it.”

In his prime, Dean drove to back-to-back point titles at Riviera Raceway in Norfolk in a 1971 Camaro.

“I remember one championship night race I was third in points and starting behind Jerry Suhr and Don Weyrich. I knew I couldn’t outrun them but I could stay with them,” Wilkinson said. “About halfway through the race they tangled up and I took the lead and went on to win.”

After taking a short hiatus due the commitment to milking cows, the track called Dean back.

“My sons Jason and Justin wanted to start racing so we built them each a car and bought an open trailer to haul them in,” Wilkinson said. “Trouble was, the trailer could hold three cars, so had room for another one so we built another one and I’ve been racing ever since.”

For the past several seasons, just like the old days, there have been multiple Wilkinsons at the track.

Dean, Jason, and Kyle compete in the Street Stock division and Cameron runs in the Hobby Stock division.

“I’m not real crazy about running against the kids,” Dean said. “I really wanted to go Late Model this year, but it just didn’t pan out.”

What has panned out, however, is a nice career for Jason, 44, who has accumulated 21 track titles.

“Of course I had been chomping at the bit to get into a car ever since I was 12,” Jason said. “Once I got out of college I decided it was my turn to have some fun and I built a car from scratch and been doing it ever since.”

In his very first season, in his third race, Jason took the checkered flag.

“About four years into it, I wasn’t really winning consistently, so I went out and bought a more competitive car.” Jason said.

It was more than competitive winning the prestigious Boone Super Nationals in 2010 and 2015.

“I really didn’t realize what I had done in 2010. Back then, I thought it was just another race,” Jason said. “Turns out we were the first Nebraskan to ever win it, and at that time, came from the furthest back to win. I appreciated it a lot more in 2015.”

Now Kyle and Cameron are busy making names for themselves.

“I’m told I was two-weeks-old when I went to my first race,” said Kyle, a 2014 graduate of Neligh-Oakdale High School. “I don’t think I’ve missed going racing with the family since.”

Cameron and Kyle started racing the same season.

“Riviera had a four-cylinder class that you had to be a least 12-years-old,” Jason said. “I think Kyle was 14 and we kind of fibbed and said Cameron was 12, but he was only 11.”

Kyle recalled his first race against his dad.

“I was taking it easy, still learning the ropes and dad pulled up beside me,” Kyle said. “It kind of spooked me and I got squirrely and spun out.”

For Jason, running against his dad and kids hasn’t been as bad as he thought it would be.

“I find myself not wanting to ruffle Kyle’s feathers as much, but as for dad, hey, its racing and you’re going to make contact every once in a while,”

The team, which will primarily run at Off Road Speedway near Norfolk and Boone County Speedway in Albion this season, now travels in a 2005 Peterbuilt semi that hauls four cars.

“Those rides to and from the track are some of the best and worst times depending on what happened on the track - but I would want it any other way,” said Kyle, who last year won the Street Stock point championship at U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus.

At age 17, Cameron has enjoyed success at an early age.

“Last year was my best year,” said Cameron, a junior at Neligh Oakdale High School. “I tied for the Hobby Stock points title at Off Road Speedway.”

Like Kyle, Cameron loves the lifestyle.

“My dad didn’t push me in it. A lot of people think that because of my name I had to get into it,” Cameron said. “Once I grew up and got more involved, I knew it was something I wanted to do.”

Hopefully, for as long as grandpa has.

“I think it’s cool grandpa still races. If he wants to race, he needs to keep doing it,” Cameron said. “He always says he doesn’t know if he’s going to race next year, but we usually know the answer to that and he’s going to race one way or another.”

This year could be a sentimental one the icon car No. 52.

“This is probably going to be my last year. We’ll have to see how my health holds up and things,” Dean said. “It will be hard to quit. I’ve raced everything that had wheels on it. I started in a 1932 Chevy Coupe. Man, I’d give anything to have that car back.”

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Information from: Norfolk Daily News, http://www.norfolkdailynews.com