May
13
10 Questions with Steve Heisler!
By
Who got you into sprint car racing? Johnny Gilbertson. After the first night of going to the races with him, I was hooked. I helped him with his dirt car for about seven years or so, and we won a bunch of races, so I’m pretty proud of that.
What has been your most memorable race to date? That’s actually an easy one – the Florida 400 I ran with DeCaire Motorsports. I was very happy to qualify 11th out of 36 cars, and then we went on to finish 8th. I probably would have had a top five if I wouldn’t have got spun out by my good buddy Shane Butler.
Wings or wingless? Wingless sprints for sure. I just feel a little more competitive for some reason, I just have a better feel for what the car is doing. But both are definitely fun to race.
What is your favorite thing about competing with the TBARA? When I’m running with the TBARA, I feel like I am racing with some of the very best drivers and cars around, and not just in this state. If I can finish in the top five or ten with these guys, that have been racing for more years than I have, that’s a really good feeling.
So how many sprint cars do you work on these days? These days it’s probably about four or five, but hey, who is counting? I just love to help out everybody as much as I can, that’s what I do.
How can one keep Submerged Arc Welding Flux in place underneath a joint? Does anybody really care about that, or my day job for that matter? More importantly, what’s my favorite wing and beer place…HOOTERS. Enough said!
That’s quite an aerodynamic haircut you’ve got there. When you go to the barber, how long are you there, two minutes? That sounds about right! It seems to make me a little faster, sometimes, down the straights, at least an extra tenth of a second a lap. My wife lends me a hand cutting it, so if anybody needs a speedy cut let me know and I’ll get you fixed up.
We heard you were at the wedding of His Holiness, Dave Steele. When the pastor asked if anyone objected, did you yell out, “I do! She’ll never love you like I do Dave!” and then run out crying? Nope, I can’t say that it really happened like that. But I was worried that TODD was going be there to get everything stirred up. I heard you were a little heartbroken, and using your pile of Dave Steele t-shirts to wipe away your tears.
Have you ever seen snow? I sure have. And do you think anybody reading this cares if anyone has seen snow, just saying!
We also heard you hang out with Larry Brazil, Jr. Is it true that when he goes to the beach and the ladies see him in a bathing suit the whole place quickly turns into a Girls Gone Wild video shoot? Oh yeah, now that’s for sure. Have you seen how hairy that dude is? He kind of looks like Sasquatch wandered out on the beach. All joking aside, Lazy Larry and his whole crew are a bunch of really good guys.
Last but not least I would like to say a little thanks for the people who helped me get here and keep me racing. First off thanks to my wife for putting up with all the crap that comes along with being a sprint car driver, Terry and Sandi DeCaire, All Star Print and Stitch, Red Fox Run Racing(.com), and very special thanks to Butler Motorsports. Oh yeah, I can’t forget about the FSCF.com crew for all of your help. See ya at the races!
EDITORIAL NOTE - For the record, just because I have a lot of Dave Steele t-shirts doesn’t mean I’m a stalker, at least not according to my parole officer, it just shows I have really good taste in drivers. Also, Mr. Heisler took ten months to type up his answers. That’s one answer a month! All kidding aside, Steve-O is a hell of a nice guy, has kept me from doing dumb things to people’s cars at the track (though he should have let me check his front wheels at New Smyrna after I checked the rears, but we won’t talk about that…) and has also helped out Penrose Racing quite a bit. Sportsman of the Year!