Fri, 7 May 2004, 09:41 AM He Won This One For Himself…and His Dad!

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2004 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Landies Jr with his Wally.

His win at Bristol this past weekend at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals had to be bittersweet for Ian Landies, Jr. Naturally he was happy that he won a national event but he also had to have several moments during the weekend when he thought of his dad, Ian Landies Sr. Ian’s dad was killed in an accident at Cecil County Dragway about four years ago and for a while Ian wasn’t sure that he would ever race, let alone win again without his dad. While a lot of people have experienced the thrill of winning an NHRA national event, few can imagine what Ian and his brother, Brian, and their mom, Victoria have gone through over the last four years and maybe the win will help them all cope with it a little better. Maybe.

Ian Landies Sr. was a great racer and his career went all the way back to the Modified Eliminator days and the early days of Pro Stock. “I remember going down to Ron Hutter’s dyno shop when I was about four years old,” Ian said, “and I remember watching Ron and my dad work on the car.” After his win in Bristol the twenty-six year old said that one of the first places he went was back to Ron’s shop to share the good news with him. Right after that did what most winners do, he went out and ordered a clutch grinding machine. “I always said that the first thing that I would do with the money from my first win would be to get a clutch grinding machine so I can work on my own stuff,” Ian said. Now he has a win, a machine and a lot of great memories.

Following his dad’s accident in the summer of 2000 Ian didn’t know if he would ever drive a car in competition. “I knew that I wanted to be involved in some way in the sport because I love it,” he said. “But I didn’t know if I would drive and a lot of that depended on my mom’s feelings.” When he told his mom that he wanted to race she asked him why and Ian said, “Because I think I can be good at it.” After that she gave him her blessing. “I know that if I had said because this is what dad would have wanted or something like that that mom probably wouldn’t have approved. But because I answered the way that I did I think it made the decision easier for her.” The Lucas Oil Division 3 race in Indianapolis last year was the first time that she saw him driving the car and his mom told him a few days later that, “when I looked in the car I was freaked out. When I saw those eyes and that look I knew that I had seen them before and I knew right then that you should drive. I couldn’t tell your dad not to do it and I can’t tell you not to do it, either.” Today Victoria is busy teaching aerobic classes and Ian said with a smile that, “With mom doing that you’d think that I would be in better shape, wouldn’t you? But I’ve been taking race car classes.” Even though he has skipped some of those aerobic classes I do believe that he got an “A in “race car” this past weekend.

Ian wasn’t always sure that he would carry on the family’s legacy as a driver, but he knew that he would do something in the sport. “I remember watching my dad run his ’63 Corvette at Gainesville in the H/G class and that’s when I was about five years old. I’ve been around the sport all my life and knew, even after dad’s accident, that this is what I wanted to do.” Ian tried his hand at being a spectator but that didn’t work out too well. “I went to the Houston national event in 2001 and that was weird. I hated watching and knew that I couldn’t do that again.” But he did try it again later that year at a race much closer to home. “I went to Columbus and somehow thought it would be different because it was near home, but it wasn’t and I was miserable just watching the races.” Ian knew several of the crew members on some of the Pro Stock teams and since he’s been around the sport for all of his life he had a lot of contacts in other classes, too and several teams said that he could work for them if that’s what he wanted, but he knew that driving was what he really wanted to do so he put his mind to it and the trek toward the winner’s circle began.

Landies launches hard.

Ian’s car competes in the F/A class and it was built by Jerry Bickel and sports a very strong 295 cubic inch engine that was built by Alan and Todd Patterson. “Dad had been using Patterson engines for about ten years and I knew that they would give me a good piece. This engine makes a lot of power, I mean a lot of power and it’s a really fun car to drive.” Equipped with a 5-speed Jerico transmission it runs as far under the index as is needed to get the win. “You can’t worry about the index, you have to worry about the round wins,” Ian said. “When my brother and I decided to go racing in Competition Eliminator we knew that we’d have to hit the index if we wanted to be successful.” Ian says that he is confident, not cocky when he goes to the races. “I knew when I got into this that you had to have the best stuff to compete and that’s why we have the equipment that we do. I also knew that I wouldn’t race if I couldn’t do it right. I don’t want to sound pompous or anything like that, just confident and there’s a big difference between the two.” There’s also a big difference between Ian and his brother, Brian. “He’s a stud. He’s playing football at Malone College (which just happens to be in Canton, Ohio, home of the football Hall of Fame), and he comes to the races when he’s not playing or practicing.” Ian also played football in high school and attained all conference status but his heart has always been in racing. “I raced go karts when I was young and never got the driving bug out of me. I loved helping dad but always had my sights set on driving” The crash in 2000 obviously put a lot of the family’s plans on hold until Ian finally broke the news to his mom that he wanted to drive.

In addition to the help from his brother and support from his mother Ian also gets a lot of both of those things from his girl friend, Beth Pritchett. If that name sounds familiar, it should, because Beth’s dad is Larry Pritchett one of the truly great Competition Eliminator drivers in the history of the class. “Larry and I can sit for hours and talk about racing, what to do, how to get better and how to win,” said Ian. “Larry is just awesome.” And so is Beth, he admits. The two have known each other for years but it wasn’t until about a year ago that they became more than just friends. “We used to call and talk back and forth and then last year she asked me to call her one morning and wake her up and I’ve been calling her to wake her up ever since.” Beth was there watching her dad race and watching Ian win his first race this past weekend in Bristol.

Ian added that he’s not trying to sound too serious but he did say that “it is a privilege to be as young as I am and to be doing something that I truly love. I’m happy and content with my life.” Currently, when he’s not racing Ian is a crane operator at Ayrshire Company in Chardon, Ohio, the company that his dad started with his partners about twenty years ago. He’s been operating the big machines since he was about sixteen years old and like every job he says that it has its good days and bad days. While the future is still undecided for Ian he knows one thing, he will be involved in drag racing. When I asked him if he’ll be racing in Comp a few years from now or moving up to the Pro Stock class like his dad did in the formative days of the class, he said, “If that’s what I’m supposed to do, I’ll stay in Comp. If I’m meant to move up to Pro Stock, then I’ll do that.” When I asked him who will make those decisions he paused for a moment and said, “The man upstairs will decide. He decides everything.” That’s quite a perspective for a young man who, along with his family, has already been through so much and who has so much to look forward to including winning more races and remembering fondly all that his dad taught him.

Ian said that he would like to thank his family, friends and sponsors for their support including MBNA, Ohio Ordnance Works, Gary’s Paintworks, Joe Hribar, John Harris and his cousins, Stew and Ray.

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

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