Kip Sawyer
Weekly Racing Heroes will be a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com throughout the 2019 racing season. These pieces will focus on drivers in east Tennessee who race on a weekly basis at the tracks of this region. Here, drivers will answer three questions that will provide fans with a look into the lives of their favorite weekly competitors.
Driver: Kip Sawyer
Hometown: Knoxville, TN
Class: Sportsman
Kip Sawyer has been around the tracks of east Tennessee for the better part of a decade. The 29-year-old fireman enjoys racing and he enjoys the time with family and friends while working on his car at the shop and at the race track.
What got you started in racing?
“I grew up around racing my whole life going with my dad(Bobby Sawyer). I pretty much played sports when I was younger and didn’t really have time to go racing. We tried it once in high school and it just didn’t work out so I talked dad into it when I was about 21 or 22. I said I wanted to go racing but he said he didn’t know about that. I just went and bought my first car myself, a lot of people don’t know that. We showed up and my dad has been full in it ever since then and we’ve gone from there.”
What is the goal you want to achieve in racing?
“We’ve talked about it and I would love to race some Super Late Model stuff. With our budget we would more of a local guy racing like in the Schaeffer’s stuff. But yeah, that’s our goal to get into some Super Late Model stuff.”
What keeps you coming back week after week?
“Just being around my family. This has really brought my family together. My papaw(Walter Thomas) helps me every week and not many people get to spend that much time with their papaw working on a race car. The days that I’m off from the fire department we spend pretty much all day working on this thing. It’s a family affair and we all work together and we love it.”
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