(May 31, 2016) Stock car racing is a tough sport. The competition is fierce and there’s a fine line between just being competitive and being a championship contender. Wade Wilson recently caught up with John Rankin, a former Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman champion, who was 5^th in the Re/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock Division last season. 

 

A Conversation with John Rankin

Wade: Congratulations John on an amazing 2015. You’ve got to be pretty proud of the year you had with a brand new race team!

John: Thanks Wade, the Brad Silliker Motorsports crew deserves all the credit.  They worked hard to bring a great car to the track every week and were very patient with me while I was just beginning to learn how to drive a pro stock car. We had a pretty good year and as expected had some good luck and some bad luck, but overall we were quite happy with how our first season went.  It’s a dream come true for me to drive a pro stock car for such a great team. It sure is a long way from driving an ENDURO car, where I started my racing career a few years ago.John really appreciates the opportunity BSM has given him to run their pro stock car. Rankin, one of the most humble guys in our pit area, fits right in with the lads from the Miramichi!

Wade: Last July 11^th you won a pro stock feature for the first time. I remember your post race interview and how happy you were to go to the Riverview Ford Victory Lane. Does that win and your top five in points give you a lot of confidence heading into 2016.

John:  That win was really special for all of us and a big boost to the BSM team because this was their first pro stock feature win too. It made me feel good because it felt like I had given them something back in exchange for the opportunity to drive their car. I also know how quickly things can change in this sport, because there are a lot of ups and downs. But having a win under our belts and a top five in the 2015 standings gives us a little bit of confidence, which hopefully will give us a shot at another great season.Last summer John Rankin won his first-ever Re/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock 50 lap feature. It was a big night for the Brad Silliker Motorsports team.

Wade: You know your way around Speedway 660 and have the 2009 Sportsman Championship trophy to prove it. That’s gotta be one of the highlights of your racing career.

John:  Yes it sure is Wade.  I still remember sitting in turn three when you  announced we were the 2009 Martins Home Heating Sportsman Champions.  It was one of the most amazing days of my life.  I had a lot of family and friends there that day and seeing the look on my Dad’s face was really something special. My cousin Mark was also with us that whole year and we’ve since lost him, so those memories are pretty important to have.

Another highlight for me was in 2008 when I got to drive a street stock car for Mike Francis, on a week he couldn’t make it and I raced against my father who was driving my car.  We won’t mention who finished ahead of who, but that was a lot of fun.It was August of 2009 and when the points were tallied up after the last sportsman feature on the Night of Champions, John Rankin was our new champ. 

Wade: A lot of drivers have jumped from sportsman to pro stock. Some have been successful and others have struggled a bit. What are the biggest differences between those two divisions?

John:  Things happen a lot quicker in the pro stock car, speeds are quicker and they are harder to save if you get loose, like I demonstrated on opening day. There are more adjustments to make on the cars and it’s easy to miss the set-up. You really need a good baseline set-up like Brad gives us every week and with help from Lonnie Sommerville Racing, fine tuning the car is a lot easier.Pro stock racing is fast and the cars are always running close together. John, running on the high side of Lonnie Sommerville’s  #23 has made a smooth transition from sportsman to our highest division of racing.  

Wade: This weekend we’ve got the Best of the Best Pro Stock 150 on our schedule. That’s a big race with a lot on the line. What are your thoughts heading into the race and what would it take to get a top two finish and a guaranteed starting position in the Irving Blending & Packaging 250 on SpeedWeekend?

John:  The Best of the Best 150 is one of the biggest races of the year. There are always lots of great teams and tough competition. It’s a great lead up to the 250 at the end of the season. You need to be very good to run up front in that race and you also have to stay out of trouble and have some luck on your side.  A top two finish will be huge and take a lot of pressure off for Speedweekend to whoever gets it done. Our strategy is to work hard to be prepared, run our own race and hopefully be in one piece with 20 or 25 to go with a shot at a top two.John had a great battle with Kirk Thibeau, during last year’s  Best of the Best Pro Stock 150.  Thibeau, winner of the very first Irving Blending & Packaging 250, will be here this weekend. Two other Americans, Ben Rowe and Cassius Clark, are also coming north for the big race.

Wade: Tell us about your team, how you were able to hook up with them and move up to our top division in a full time ride?

John: Our group is pretty unique actually, because its made up of two race teams and two racing families that have been involved in this sport for many years.  My Uncle Charlie Rankin and father Ted began racing together in the mid 60’s and then my cousin Calvin and I took over in the 90’s. I’ve had great help over the years with my father, Ronnie Loughery, Hillis Briggs, Ben Pelletier and a few others who kept our cars running and now we’re working with the Brad Silliker’s team.

Last year we all joined the BSM team which Brad started with his father Wayne and brother Jeff.  I met Brad at a seminar in North Carolina a few years ago and not long after that he discussed buying a pro stock car and asked if I’d be interested in driving it.  Not sure why he asked me, but I think between him and Lonnie they thought it would be a good idea, so here we are!

We have some great partners helping make it possible for us to run a full time schedule, so a big thanks to them:  Irving Blending & Packaging, Big Cam Fabrication, Trevors Hyundai, Big Wheels Auto Sales, Rae’s Trailer & Sports Center, CF Moto, Pubs drive thru bottle exchange, Lonnie Sommerville Racing and APM Auto Parts. John was pretty quick, during the Riverview Ford Season Opener. He won his heat race and led several laps in the feature before settling for a 6th place finish in a 19 car field.

Wade: Racing is a family sport and I know you have had lots of support from your family since you started racing. I also know you’ve got a lot of fans from your hometown of St. Martins.

John: Each car you see in the pits has an entire family or several families working behind them to make it possible. I’ve always had great support from my family and friends in St. Martins.

I got interested in racing, like many of us racers, at a young age watching my father race around the local tracks and also watching NASCAR’s #28 Davey Allison on Sunday afternoons. When I bought my first street stock car Dad told me it was a lot of work and he didn’t know if I would be dedicated enough to keep at it.  It wasn’t long though before he was telling me to take a night off from the shop and have some fun, but he also taught me you had to work hard to get ahead. We’ve had our typical father and son battles over the years, but racing was always something we both loved and did together and there’s no one that I try harder to make proud than him. You never know, in a few years my son Landon may get behind the wheel as a third generation racer.

We’ve met a lot of great people through racing over the years and have had a lot of fun.John loves meeting the fans at Speedway 660. On Kids Day he spent time signing autographs and handing out treats to lots of kids, during their visit to the pits.

Wade: There is a huge crop of rookies in our pro stock division this year. What advice would you be able to give them as they begin racing in our top division?

John:  Being new in the Pro Stock division myself, I’m not really qualified to give them a lot of advice, but what I have learned so far is that you need to gain the respect of the other drivers, especially the veterans. Everyone has a lot of money tied up in these cars and the guys want to know they can trust you out there and race door-to-door and bumper-to-bumper around you.  You also need patience and don’t be afraid to ask questions to the veterans.  Lonnie and Matt have helped me so much throughout my career and I always lean on them for advice.Lonnie Sommerville (#23) and Matt Harris (#87) have been positive role models for John Rankin. By the way that’s John crossing the stripe ahead of his two mentors! 

Wade: Thanks for doing this John. Best of luck to you this weekend and have a great season.

John:  Thank you Wade, I really appreciate it. I always enjoy these conversations on the 660 website and thanks for asking me to do one. I’d also like to thank the entire staff of 660, Re/Max Group Four Realty, and the emergency crews at 660 for all their hard work and dedication.  I personally know how important each job is and how everyone has to work together here at the speedway. Just a few years ago my father suffered a heart attack in the pits and thanks to the fast response and professional actions of Buddy Munn’s Emergency Medical Team he has recovered very well.

I also want to say a huge thank you to the Silliker families, my wife Amanda and my family for allowing us to run the roads all summer and for supporting us every step of the way. And one more thing, if I can. The Speedway 660 fans are incredible and it is always a pleasure to be able to race in front of them every week!