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~ SECORD MOTORSPORTS ~

CHAPTER TWO - "PONY's to PRO-4's"


~ The Start Of Things To Come ~

~ 1989 - 1995 ~
With the start of the 1989 season a new more affortable racing divison was added and this
is what I had been waiting for. Eddie was now in his senior year of high school and ready to try his hand at racing.
Ofcourse I'm always ready so it was time to get started on a new car!

~ 1989 ~


It was late in the season when I finally brought out our first pony stock. Working out of town and Eddie's involvement in FFA and showing hogs at four fairs that year slowed down my progress. I got a good deal on all the parts for a Pinto and the cage from Darrin's old Super Stock was modified to fit like a glove. With the season coming to a close I had the car almost done, but no engine. A real good friend and fellow racer, Gary Hartsuyker, offered us a completely stock 2000 engine to run the last few races. We threw some leftover paint we had on it and we were ready. It wasn't fast, but sure gave me a chance to work out all the bugs for next year. Eddie got a chance to try it out once that year and stayed at the back and out of trouble. He was hooked!! Now we had to wait for next year to really see how things would work out.

~ 1990 ~


Eddie and I agreed to share the ride this year, but I hurt my back and that put Eddie in the car full time. For The first few races I made him start at the back of every race he was in no matter where he quailifed. "My therory is, as a rookie, if you start from the back you can follow the faster drivers and learn their lines instead of trying to run from them and cause problems." This has proved to be the best way to learn to drive a race car in my opinion. After a couple of months I told him he was ready to start where he had qualified and he proved he was ready. He went on to win 1 trophy dash, 2 main events and came in 9th in the point standings. Did I mention he won "Rookie of The Year"!! And so a new chapter of Secord Racing had started.

~ Eddie's First Main Event Win! ~
** 8-11-90 **


Taking the Checkered flag for that very first win!
The new generation of Secord's in racing had arrived and he would go on to take his place in the record books at Cajon Speedway.

~ 1991 ~


This would be Eddie's first full year of driving and he choose to put his own number on the car. Remembering back a few years he decided to take Jerry Gay's old limited stock number. The competition would be strong with a field of 30 cars that year, and he was thinking maybe Jerry's good luck with the number would continue. It proved to be a very good choice! He was running a 2.0 engine while most of the other cars ran the 2.3 and he made up for the loss of horse power with a terrific chassis setup and a natural ability to drive a race car. Ofcourse Darrin and I where right there with all the support and encouragement we could give. By mid season he was leading the points. At seasons end he had won a few trophy dashs, broke the track record 5 times and won 12 out of 19 main events. He had them all covered in only his first full year of racing and took the championship!

~ 1992 ~


This was a very busy year for both of us due to our work schedule. Eddie was now working with me out of town alot and time was limited for the race car. He still won a few main events, came in 4th in the points and took the honors for Best Appearing Car.

~ 1993 ~


Another year where work came first, but some how we still managed to fit in enough racing for Eddie to finish 10th in the points. It was also the year we started visiting other tracks when time permitted. His best weekend came with three days off for Labor Day. We headed for Orange Show Speedway and came in 6th on Saturday night and then hauled to Blythe Speedway for Sundays race about 175 miles away. The weekend was capped off with winning the pony stock main at Blythe and having one terrific weekend. Blythe Speedway was where Eddie became friends with a group of racers that ran Pro4's and sparked his interest in their slick looking race cars.

~ Bruce & Eddie 1994 ~


This year we had both the 335 & 384 car, but Eddie and I were still working out of town alot so we only brought out the cars a few times. It was just the right opportunity for us to race against each other and on one night (pictured above) I ended up putting Eddie into the infield for trying to pass me! "Pay backs are H*ll"

~ Eddie 1994 ~


Eddie continued to bring the car out on occassion when time and work permitted. Most of his racing time was spent at Blythe Speedway where he became good friends with Rod Hedrick who owned "Fast Track Engineering" along with alot of the members of the MSRA Pro4 division. Another transition in Secord Racing was starting to take place.

~ Bruce 1994 ~


This 335 car had been Eddies old Champion- ship car and the orginal pony stock from 1989. After a few more wrecks and a blown motor it was time for its complete retirement. But oh what a run it gave us, along with alot of wonderful memories......

~ 1995 ~


We kept the old 384 car around, but put the 335 numbers on it just incase we had a chance to run at Cajon Speedway or Blythe. To no ones surprise, Eddie was having a Blythe Modified Pro4 built for next season and this car would help fill the void until then. (I only got the chance to race this car a few more times and sold it in the summer of 2001)

(Continued-Page 2)
"THE NEXT 6 YEARS"