Gary Blanken
Veteran east Tennessee driver Gary Blanken exemplifies the notion that a driver doesn’t have to be competing at the highest level of the sport to enjoy racing and to have success. The 52-year-old resident of Whitesburg, Tenn. has won many feature events and track championships throughout his career, and he has earned every one of those through hard work and dedication to the sport he loves.
“I started out drag racing in high school,” Blanken said of his beginnings on the track. “My dad was a drag racer for years so I just started doing it and we raced all around, but our garage burned up in 1982 and destroyed everything. Then in 1984 we decided to buy an old six-cylinder car, put a V-8 in it, and started out in what they called the Cadet Class at Bulls Gap. We won one race the first year and then we built a new chassis and went out and won 15 the next year. It was on then.”
While Blanken has relished his time in racing and has enjoyed plenty of success, he admits that doing so has not been easy.
“I’m a poor man who has struggled for money and sponsors, but I have been fortunate enough to win a lot of races,” he explained. “I’ve won a few big ones. I won a southeastern regional bomber championship in 1987. I won all kinds of Limited Late Model races and Thunder & Lightning. We built a Thunder & Lightning car that I ran up at Tazewell and won 28 out of 35 races.”
Blanken’s #05 Sportsman car.
Still, the driver who has won in a variety of classes, has never been able to achieve victory in Dirt Late Model racing’s premier division.
“I ran Supers for several years,” Blanken pointed out. “I ran 2nd, 3rd and 4th a lot at Tazewell and even a few times at Bulls Gap, but I never did get to win a Super race. I’ve been pretty competitive while I was there but all of that’s just out of my money range.”
Life changes have also resulted in changes to Blanken’s racing efforts. But now, he plans to reassert himself in Late Model type cars during the 2015 season.
“I got married and had a daughter a few years back so I had to park my Late Models,” he said. “I’ve got my car back out this year and thought I’d run this new Sportsman class some. I’m still going to drive in Frankie Bolden’s Modified Street as well. With my car being in a different class, I can bring it too and run it every now and then. I’ll be running two classes on some nights. I just don’t have enough money or enough help to run my Late Model every week.”
Blanken says he enjoys all types of tracks, but his favorites are those that allow for wide open racing.
“You’ve got to adapt to all of them, but Bulls Gap and Tazewell probably suit my style more. That’s where I’ve run 90% of my races on those high banks. I love a track that’s got a little moisture in it where you can throw the foot to it and pour it on.”
