SAYBROOK, Illinois - The only job Blake Feese ever wanted was to be a racer. The 20 year-old has spent the last ten years of his life working on skills looking for a way to climb the ladder in motorsports. This season, the Saybrook native, will vie for the coveted USAC sprint car rookie of the year by driving Lynn Reid’s race car in the 2002 Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Series.

If someone would have asked me a year ago, I would never have thought that I’d be running an entire USAC season," claimed Feese. "We’ve raced winged sprint cars the past few seasons and then late last summer, we looked at what might be best for my future and thought that running in USAC would provide me with more long-term opportunities"

Feese, who is following in father’s footsteps racing sprint cars, spent the past three season racing with several organizations including the World of Outlaws, All-Stars, and Interstate Racing Association. Highlighting those years was a victory at legendary Knoxville Raceway last August and several wins with the IRA.

"I’ve known the Feese family for quite some time and I think Blake’s done a really good job with the winged car and he’s ready to move up to the challenge of USAC," said Reid. "Family is really important to me and this young man feels the same way. He’s working hard in college and I was in position to help his career and we’re hoping for a great year together."

Reid knows that his young driver will face some adversity, but also thinks in the long run this will be a good season for them.

"The biggest challenge will be adapting to a different style of car, but I believe a race driver is a race driver," said Reid. "Blake is capable of making that change without a doubt. Winning the Rookie of the Year would be a good challenge for us and I’m a big believer in setting goals. We may adjust our goals somewhere down the road, but right now we’re shooting for a great season."

Feese is realizes this opportunity doesn’t happen too often and is really appreciate that this chance presented itself.

"The biggest problem was finding someone to give me a chance," said Feese. "I tried to talk with anybody and everybody that would listen and Lynn was the only one that said let’s do it. I owe him a great deal and my goal is to consistent enough to win the USAC sprint car rookie award and put myself in position to win a few races along the way.

After working hard to find a full-time ride with the World of Outlaws and the Gumout Series, Feese started talking with some of the drivers and was surprised to hear many of them point him in the USAC direction. "Paul McMahan and Jeff Shepard told me last summer that they wished they could try going to USAC at my age (20). Look at the way Kasey Kahne has worked his way from driving with the All-Stars in a winged car to USAC to now the Busch Series. He got in with good people and we’d certainly like to follow the path he’s set."

Being young also means he has time to learn new skills and adjust to the differences not only of racing on dirt without a wing, but also competing on asphalt. Feese, who will run a limited schedule of winged races also, knows it will take time and that there may not be too many bright spots early on. The big picture is the goal for Feese as he hopes a good year in USAC sprints will lead to an opportunity in both USAC Silvercrown and the midget series.

"There are so many things that I’ve got to figure out, I’m not sure what the biggest challenge will be," continued Feese. "The USAC guys are really tough. I’ll be racing with some guys that used to race with my dad, so you know they’ll be tough to beat from an experience standpoint. It takes more patience than the winged cars, especially on pavement, and being young makes that tough for me. You have to learn how to be smooth and patient and save your tires. In the winged car, I never had to do that. Slowing down to go fast will be a new concept for me, but I know that's the way to be successful."

"In the past, I would got to each race with the mindset that I had to win every race. After last season, I've learned that bad nights will happen and I cannot control everything that goes on. Lynn isn't putting any pressure on me, so if I can keep from putting too much pressure on myself things should be fine."

Feese will be hoping to add tracks like Anderson (IN) and Eldora (OH) to his win list. The team will open their season on March 30 at Eldora Speedway. They will compete in all 31 USAC events, which includes 21 on dirt and 11 on pavement.

"The Rookie of the Year deal is important to both Lynn and I," concluded Feese. "There have been a lot of talented guys win that award and have gone on to be very successful in a lot of series. I know that USAC is a great learning environment and we talked with a lot the people involved with the series and know that we’ll be racing with a quality group of people."