Gary St. Amant

A little observation of fans in the race stands renders a swift consensus that racing is a family sport. A stroll through the pits or garage sometimes provides the same result. Families too are the basis for business operations that support fun in many forms of speed.

Family is also a daily reality in the JEGS organization founded by dad, Jeg and sustained by sons John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr. The performance parts mail order giant has a solid origin in NHRA POWERade drag racing but in recent years JEGS has chosen to direct some of their interest to popular stock car racing venues.

One JEG turn from the straight track is the sponsorship of two-time ASA champion Gary St. Amant in the competitive USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series. Future champion candidates like Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne have gained much needed seat time and experience in the popular series.

Youngsters learn much from wily USAR veterans and Gary St. Amant is one of the steady mentors available at the start of every green flag. Recently St. Amant brought the northern division lead to the combined championship finale at USA International Speedway at Lakeland, Fla. Veteran and champion Bobby Gill took the combined playoff lead to the last drop of the season checker flag as he secured the 2007 championship, but St. Amant wasn't far behind.

Also close at the final race was St. Amant's family. Son, Jordan, added good words to his dad's interview. Wife and daughter contributed crisp visual images showing proof of strong support while awaiting the green flag.

It's not all in the family but it's a lot about family.

Reporter Dwight Drum asked Gary St. Amant:

Do you think there is a youth movement in NASCAR?
"Racing has definitely become a younger man's sport. It's still awful tough to beat the veterans. When I say veterans I don't just mean veteran drivers but veteran teams. You might see young guys come along and step in a veteran car and do well, but a young guy with a young team they're not going to be winners for a long time. That's what separates the young guys from the old guys. It's actually the teams that they are with."

"It's still the teams. It's really not the drivers. Right now they're saying there is a lack of talent in Cup, but I don't think it's a lack of talent. It's a lack of teams. There are probably about three or four teams that are actually racing for the championship, maybe 10 or 12 cars. Everybody else is just there racing for what's left. If a younger guy steps into a Hendrick car or a Gibbs car he's probably going to do well. But if a young guy steps into a Busch car that's not one of the proven teams, a Cup car that's not a proven team, he's probably going to find himself back in short track racing pretty quick."

Is there a best way to handle frustration?
"I go back to my sponsor Jeg Coughlin. 'You win on Sunday there is no Monday. On Monday you're already thinking about next Sunday.' I never live high on the hog on any of my wins or accolades. But then again I do the same thing if I have a bad race and tear a race car up. I don't let that get to me either for a very long period of time."

Focus is so important. What if anything sharpens your focus?
"To me focus to me is, how bad do you want it. If you want it bad enough you're total focus is going to be there. If you have other things that you're thinking about and you're not totally focused on the matter at hand. Then you're not going to have the total focus that you need to be successful."

What distracts you most on the track and off the track?
"What distracts me on the track most is probably cautions. A racetrack is made to race on and not made to run yellow to yellow. Flag laps are probably the most frustrating thing on the racetrack. Off the racetrack, probably driving on the highway. People that drive slow in the left hand lane. Then also people that are out of control on the highway. It's not just one side it's both sides."

                                                             (Gary and Jordan St. Amant)

If you could bottle success, what do you think would be the ingredients?
"We talked about a lot of it. Focus. You got to be able to focus. You got to be able to look at something… I go back to Mike Eddy who was a seven-time ASA champion. He was probably the Dale Earnhardt of short track racing. I went up to him after he won his fifth or sixth championship. I said, 'Mike, what does it take to win a championship?' He looked at me. He made sure he looked hard into my eyes. Long enough to where my eyes were in his eyes. He told me, 'You got to want it more than me.' That really said it all right there. You have to want it really bad."

What have been the most difficult hurdles for you with your quest to be competitive?
"Changing teams is probably the biggest thing. Chemistry is so much of this sport. People overlook that. A lot of people do. A lot of people don't. Every time you change teams it takes a little while to get back up to where you were. And all the adjustments to be made. If a person could run 20 years with the same team there's a good chance they are going to have success."

Is there any special way to keep a team together?
"You got to have fun. A good team has got to have fun. A team that plays together will stay together. That's just the way it is."

Jordan St. Amant (Gary's Son)

What's it like to have your daddy be a race car driver?
"Well he's been famous for a long time. He says I'm a legend too, and I race midgets but I don't really race. When I grow up I'm going to be a race car driver too. I'm going to try all I can and be a legend too."

Is it going to be tough to become a race car driver?
"Not really."

Are you ready to do it?
"Not yet. I've got to get some practice."

                                                 (Gary St. Amant's wife and daughter join in)