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- The Roanoke Times, Friday, August 24, 2007
Their own asphalt playground
Forget Hot Wheels; the car crazy Bassett family has a
Full-sized racetrack out behind their house
By Dustin Long
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Ronnie Bassett stands silently. He could talk nonstop about his oldest two sons and their racing, but now is not the time.
Instead, he admires them -- and studies them. He watches 11-year-old Ronnie Jr. and 10-year-old Dillon drive Bandoleros, mini race cars that can top 70 miles per hour. Tires screech as the boys zip through the corners. Throaty engines sing louder than cicadas.
"It was definitely worth the investment," Bassett said, as his sons drive on the test track the family built last year.
Bassett said the family spent about $55,000 for the one-fifth mile paved track on their property near this city's outskirts.
Consider it an expensive lottery ticket, because if any of his family's four children reach the NASCAR Nextel Cup level -- home to million-dollar salaries and six-figure winnings -- the investment will pay large dividends.
While families move from California to North Carolina, siphon college-fund money and take second mortgages to help a child's racing prospects, a personal test track could be the next item they consider to feed NASCAR's obsession for young racers.
Cup rookie David Ragan, a former Bandolero Bandits national champion, believes all the time driving on a personal test track could be pivotal in a child's racing development.
"Having that racetrack in your backyard is just another tool these young kids can use to be the next Jeff Gordon or the next Tony Stewart," Ragan said.
Lapping the competition
David Smith scouts drivers and ranks the nation's top racers by age beginning with 16-year-olds. He's seen and heard many of the stories of families and their children trying to climb the racing ladder. The Bassetts' track, though, surprises him.
"If that pays off for him, that's something that's going to change [racing] down the road," said Smith, who also works for an agency that represents several Cup drivers. "Every five years, there's a kid that ups the ante for other kids."
That kid might be Ronnie Jr. He's run thousands of laps on the family's track and benefited. He won the Bandolero Bandits national championship last year for racers age 8-11. He'll turn 12 later this year -- which allowed him to move to the Bandolero Young Guns division -- and leads the national points standings. Dillon leads the Bandit national standings.
Both will compete Sept. 2 at the 10th annual Nationals at Kentucky Speedway. Ronnie Jr., who is entering the sixth grade, won his division's race last year.
He credited the family track with winning there.
The Kentucky track has a bump entering one of the corners that jostles the cars. Although not planned, the Bassetts' track has a similar bump that helped Ronnie Jr. figure how to maneuver over it.
Now competitors ask him how he gets over that bump so well at Kentucky.
"I'll tell you right after the national race on Sunday," he said.
His goals, though, are bigger than one race.
"I'm planning on NASCAR," Ronnie Jr. said.
"Him and 10 million kids have the same idea," Bassett said.
But very few have their own track to practice whenever they want.
Family affair
Some people might view Bassett's racetrack as excessive -- just a father living through his children. Well, Bassett has raced and won. His trophies and Victory Lane photos decorate the family's living room.
"I'd won a lot of races through the years. ... But once I started seeing Ronnie out there having fun, it was just like that's better than anything I'd ever done as far as I was concerned," said the 37-year-old Bassett, who owns a seamless-gutters business.
Bassett couldn't stand still when he and his wife, Lisa, watched Ronnie Jr. race earlier this month during the Summer Shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway's quarter-mile track. Ronnie Jr. entered that series' final race second in the points. The points leader crashed early in the race as Ronnie Jr. ran second. If he finished there, he would win the title.
Bassett bit his fingernails, grimaced and pointed toward his head when Ronnie Jr. drove by, hoping his son would catch the hint to be smart and just take second to win the title. Ronnie Jr. never saw his dad. Ronnie Jr. won the race and the championship.
That was another stepping stone, but just how far he goes remains uncertain.
"Will they ever make a career out of it or not?" Bassett said of his children. "No matter how old they get, they'll never forget this growing up. They're enjoying it. I'm enjoying it. Basically, all we're doing is growing up together."
It can be an expensive endeavor for some. Bandoleros cost about $7,000, including the 30 horsepower engine. Think of the cars as something similar to a muscular go-kart. These racers, though, have a car's body and roll cage.
Even if none of the children -- besides Ronnie Jr. and Dillon, there's Brandon, 6, and Samantha, 3 -- makes racing a career, all the expenses and travel are worth it, Lisa said.
"We hope they make it to the top, but we've had fun as a family doing it," she said. "It's good quality time with the family."
Victory lane regulars
Decorating is not a problem for the Bassetts. The only issue is finding enough space for the race trophies.
Every shelf and dresser top in Ronnie Jr.'s bedroom is packed with trophies. They stand about three deep on his floor. Dillon has a smaller room and fewer trophies, but they are crammed in as many spaces. Plaques, pictures and racing posters dot both their bedroom walls.
The thousands of laps the boys have run on their track have helped them hone their talent and collect some of those awards.
"I figured if I could get them to winning, maybe one day somebody might pay attention and notice them and it may pay off," Bassett said. "You never know."
If not them, maybe Brandon.
"I can't wait to see him in a Bandolero," said Ken Ragan, general manager of 600 Racing, which manufacturers Legends Cars, Thunder Roadsters and Bandoleros -- and is David Ragan's father.
And don't forget about Samantha.
"I want to race," she yells.
There's a track waiting for her.
Backyard Race Track a Key for Bassett Brothers
Written by Amanda Fassett, Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Ronnie Bassett Jr., 11, and his brother, 10-year-old Dillon, have both visited victory lane during Lowe's Motor Speedway's Summer Shootout Series and a contributing factor to their success is a race track the family built in the backyard of its Winston-Salem, N.C., home.
"We bought some property right beside the house to build a shop," explained Ronnie Bassett, the boys' father. "And we had some land left over, so we built the track at the beginning of last year."
"Every day is race day at our house," said Dillon. "All they do is eat, sleep, drink and breathe racing. If it doesn't have a motor, they are not interested," the elder Bassett added. "If the boys are not physically racing in their cars, they are racing on the Play Station, racing their dirt bikes or racing around the house."
The backyard track has played an important role in developing the boys' driving skills and it obviously paid off as Ronnie Jr. captured the
2006 Bandolero Bandits National Championship.
"For kids their age, seat time is everything and we felt this would be the best way to improve that," Ronnie Bassett explained. "They can get out there and run and run and run, not just 20 laps a week. We didn't build it perfect. One end is tight; one end has a bump in it; one end has a sweeping corner. Learning to get over a bump in the Bandolero is an advantage. It played a big role in Ronnie winning the National Championship last year."
"The track is used to shake the car down and scuff the tires in," said Ronnie Jr. "When we get a new car, we can go out there and drive it around and see how we do. The track is a little smaller than a fifth-mile and has a guardrail around it and everything. You just have to go out, open the garage door and you are ready to run."
The Basset brothers developed a passion for the sport by watching their father drive race cars.
"My dad raced for about 10 years and ever since I saw him racing, it made me want to race," Ronnie Jr. explained. "I was 8 years old when I started racing Bandoleros. Last year, we raced 96 times and went all over the country. This summer I am racing in the Bandolero Young Guns division of the Summer Shootout on Tuesday nights and then we race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Thursdays and go to Kentucky or Orlando on the weekends."
"My dad is my role model because if he wouldn't have raced then I probably wouldn't be racing," Dillon noted. "Racing is our favorite; we just love to race."
"I started out sponsoring a race car and then running mini-stocks for a few years," said Ronnie Bassett. "Then I raced late model stocks for a few years at Bowman Gray Stadium. For the past year and a half though, my driving has been on the back burner, letting the boys race and helping them.
That's been more fun anyway." Ronnie and Dillon's mother, Lisa Bassett, also likes to get in on the action, occasionally climbing behind the wheel of her own Bandolero race car. But she most enjoys the unique family bonding experience racing provides.
"With the Bandoleros and Legends Cars, the whole family is allowed into the pit area and into the driver's meetings, so it brings the whole family together and that is a good thing," said Lisa Bassett.
The Bassett brothers know their dreams of becoming NEXTEL Cup drivers are unique for their age. They also know their friends think they are crazy.
"Friends at school don't believe what we're doing. They think we're crazy, and say we don't really race," Ronnie Jr. said. "I hope to be a Cup driver and prove them wrong."
Lowe's Motor Speedway's Summer Shootout Series, which runs each Tuesday night through Aug. 7, features three classes of Bandolero racing, four divisions of Legends Cars and the Thunder Roadsters.
Admission is just $7 for adults. Children 6-12 are admitted for $3 and kids under 6 are free. Tickets are available in advance at the speedway ticket office and at Gates 4 and 5 the night of the event. Parking is free.
Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with preliminary action at 5:30 p.m. Feature racing begins at 7:30 p.m. For information, call the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS or visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com <http://www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/summershootout>.
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Bassett Family Association Database
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