The Racing Report is a five-part photo essay shot at short tracks in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania that will run in Farm and Dairy through the summer. The second installation sees photojournalist Matthew Chasney riding along with the driver of a push truck driver.
Jeremy Durnwald has run more laps around Fremont and Attica than some race car drivers. “Speedy,” as Durnwald is known, has been a fixture at western Ohio dirt tracks for 31 years. His familiar 1979 Ford Bronco has been helping to push start sprint cars at Fremont and Attica since before some of these drivers were even born. Speedy is easygoing and well-liked among drivers who he greets with a signature fist bump through the window of his Bronco.
Sprint cars are little more than a 900-horsepower motor and a fuel cell bolted onto a lightweight chassis with a driver sitting in between them. This Spartan design doesn’t leave room for a battery, a starter or even neutral gear. As such, sprint cars rely on a fleet of volunteer push truck drivers, like Durnwald to physically push the car up to speed in order to fire up the motor. Without them, sprint car racing wouldn’t exist…