John Byers visited Victory Lane 18 times in 2015
John Byers came into the 2015 racing season just looking to have some fun by competing in the Mini Stock class. But as it turns out, winning proved to be a lot of fun for the Knoxville resident. When all the dust settled at the end of the year, the 32-year-old driver had collected a total of 18 wins and the track championship at 411 Motor Speedway.
So how does Byers describe last season?
“To sum it all up in one word, I’d have to say ‘wow!’,” Byers declared in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “We never thought we’d have a season like we had. When we started off the season we weren’t really running for points, we were just planning on having fun and racing. Then we started off real good, we clicked off a couple of wins and it just kind of took off from there. About three-quarters of the way through the season we decided to go ahead and shoot for the points and we ended up winning the championship. We couldn’t believe it.”
The driver credited his success to a relatively simple racing formula.
“I think the biggest thing for us was consistency,” Byers explained. “We were there every week, we had a consistent car and we kept mechanical failures to a minimum. I think just being there and finishing every race was a key for us.”
But achieving that level of consistency doesn’t just happen by accident. A great deal of work from Monday through Friday is key to finishing and winning races on Saturday.
“It’s like a second job, but it don’t pay as good,” Byers said with a chuckle. “It’s a lot of work. We put as much work into one of these Four Cylinders as the Late Model guys. You’ve got to constantly stay on top of them and do maintenance on them, just like any other racer would throughout the week.
“You’ve got to have a real passion for racing to do what we do,” he added. “It’s a lot of hard work and blood, sweat and tears that go into these cars as well as a lot of money.”
Byers(#J7) moves inside to pass other cars at 411
Driving a Four Cylinder racer is somewhat different from handling a car with more power. Byers says it requires a feel from the driver’s seat that is unique to that form of racing.
“With these little Four Cylinders, they’re so dependent on keeping your momentum up,” the 411 track champion explained. “You’ve got to drive smooth and adjust and adapt to the track whenever it changes from tacky to dry or whatever it’s going to do. The main thing is to keep it as smooth as you can and knock off consistent laps.”
After experiencing such success in 2015, there is a temptation to pursue other possibilities. But Byers believes fans at 411 and around the region will continue to see him piloting his Mini Stock in the coming year.
“We kind of tossed around moving up to the Sportsman division, but financial wise, I think we’re going to stick with the Mini Stocks for next year. I’m not sure if we’re going to try to run for points again or not because that’s a lot of work. But I think we’ll definitely try to hit a few more tracks this year. I think we might branch out to North Georgia and Boyd’s and maybe Cleveland.
“We’re giving my car a good makeover this winter. It’s going to be a little different car for next year.”
