Philip Thompson and Taylor Coffman form Sportsman partnership for 2015

Philip Thompson has been very successful on the high banks of the Tazewell Speedway in the Classics division. Taylor Coffman has been very successful racing on the pavement of various tracks around east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. Now, these two young racers are looking to combine their efforts in what they hope will be a successful partnership in the Sportsman class at Tazewell and other dirt tracks around the area.

Thompson has driven in the Classics division at Tazewell, 411 Motor Speedway and Smoky Mountain Speedway since 2006. And after winning 13 features last year combined with 10 triumphs in 2013, he plans to also continue piloting that car this season for owner Richard Bell.

“I’m actually still going to be running the Classics full-time with Richard and we’re planning on running at Tazewell,” Thompson explained. “Then on top of that, me and Taylor met at the beginning of last season and we just kind of hit it off and became good friends. He was running a Sportsman car, but then about midway through the season, he went back to his asphalt deal and ran at Newport.

“He ended up finishing the year out in the dirt car and I tried to help them out a little bit because the dirt stuff was kind of new to them,” the 26-year-old driver from Knoxville further explained. “We ended up going to PRI(Trade Show in Indianapolis) together in December and we got to talking and came up with a partnership deal where I’m going to put a body on their Sportsman car and do some work to it. I’m going to try to help them with setups and try to make it a little faster. In return, I’m going to get to drive it part-time this season.”

Coffman comes from a varied background in racing that has seen him hone his craft on dirt bikes, go-karts and asphalt Legends cars. All of which have provided race wins and championships for the 22-year-old. Of late, he has been seen tearing up the pavement at tracks such the Newport Speedway, Kingsport Speedway and Lonesome Pine Raceway in a Late Model.

But the lure of dirt racing attracted the Bean Station resident and his family owned team.

“We started getting the itch last year to race on dirt,” Coffman declared. “My dad used to race Open Wheel Modifieds at Bulls Gap and I had always wanted to try dirt. We traded one of our asphalt cars for a Dirt Late Model. We probably ran nine or ten races there last year just kind of getting our feet wet and learning that it’s a whole different ball game. We were coming on there at the end of the year and I think we ended up the last race with a third. We were getting better.”

Coffman said that racing on dirt requires a different driving style than that used on pavement.

“One of the biggest things I had to learn was that on asphalt you drive into the corner and you want to let it roll and carry momentum through the corner then pick up the throttle towards the end of the corner,” he explained. “Once I got in the dirt car, I was wanting to let it roll but you’ve got to get on the throttle in those things and make them turn. That was one of the biggest adjustments for me.”

The arrangement between the two drivers will call for each to take turns behind the wheel of the Sportsman ride while continuing to race in their previous cars as well.

“To start out with, we’re just going to play it by ear,” Thompson pointed out. “Taylor is going to end up running at Kingsport this year. He’ll be running Friday nights up there. I think they’re going to give me a handful of races in it and then when he feels like racing it, he might race it.”

Coffman explained why he will continue to make asphalt racing his primary focus and how the decision to share the car with Thompson came about.

“For this year I picked up a couple of new sponsors for my asphalt deal so we’re going to be focused on that,” he said. “But then we got to talking to Philip about our dirt car and got the idea to put him in it. He’s going to do some work for us. That works out well so I can focus on the asphalt car because we’re going to be running at Kingsport most of the time and he can do the upkeep on the dirt stuff.”

At the same time, however, Coffman believes that competing on both surfaces will make him a better all around racer.

“I think that running on dirt definitely helps make you a better driver on asphalt,” he insisted. “You have to learn to handle the car when it’s sideways. When you get back on asphalt after running dirt, you feel like you’re stuck on glue.”

Both drivers are looking forward to extra laps they will each log during the coming season.

“I just want to get some seat time and some race experience in a Late Model,” Thompson said. “I’m very excited for this opportunity and very blessed that Taylor and his family are letting me work with them.”