What Sam Seawright Hopes To Gain From First Illinois Trip
BANNER, Ill. (May 6) — Sam Seawright has raced farther from his Rainsville, Ala. , home only once before this week’s Illinois Speedweek trek — a 2021 trip to Texas Motor Speedway — with his haul to the Land of Lincoln checking in at nearly 11 hours for Wednesday’s opener at Spoon River Speedway.
In fact, the 22-year-old hasn’t ventured outside the Southeast much in recent years. His last trip beyond his native region came in June 2023 at the Dream at Eldora Speedway. Outside that, and a lone FloRacing Night in America start at Brownstown (Ind.
) Speedway in April 2022, where he finished 13th in the B-main, his Midwest appearances have been few and far between. Now having taken over the reins of Coltman Farms Racing’s premier ride this season — one that, thanks to Brett Coltman’s backing, has the resources to make far-flung trips and perhaps a 2027 World of Outlaws Late Model Series run feasible — Seawright knew it was only a matter of time before he embarked on a stretch like this week: four straight nights on Illinois Speedweek. “I just came to get the experience in case we decide to run like the Outlaws or something next year,” Seawright.
“I just figured we'd come and try because I've always kind of run better on these little bullrings, like smaller tracks, but, you know, that's usually mostly what all these up here are. So, I figured we can give it a shot and just kind of see what we got. ” Surprisingly, Seawright doesn’t talk like a driver intimidated at the tall order ahead of him on his maiden voyage to Illinois.
His first trip to Illinois aside, the FloRacing Night in America fields are competitive. In Seawright’s consolation race Wednesday at Spoon River, the top four drivers transferring were Ryan Gustin, Ryan Unzicker, Ricky Thornton Jr. and Josh Rice, a stiff group to throw an Illinois rookie off his game.
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