Tomlinsons – Racing is in their blood
By Suzanne Werre
BHG News Service
It’s been a good season for Tomlinson Racing.
Brothers Stan (Buckwheat) and Vance Tomlinson each recently picked up track championships at the McLean County Speedway in Underwood – Buckwheat in Sport Mods and Vance in hobby stock -- and nephews Myles and Marcus have been tearing up several tracks around the state and beyond in A-Mods, the same type of car their dad Mike Tomlinson, older brother to Vance and Buckwheat, used to drive.
Mike doesn’t drive as much as he used to, opting to spend more of his time working on the cars and make sure they’re ready for racing, rather than behind the wheel.
“When we go to the races in Minot, we have at least one person racing every class but one,” said Mike.
Mike, 54, was the first one of the Tomlinson racers to get into racing, starting back in 1987 when his then-boss Harry Kittler bought a brand new race car and asked if he wanted to drive it.
“At that time I didn’t understand, but now I do. Racing is in your blood – it never leaves,” said Mike. “Racing is all-consuming.”
But he was able to quiet the desire to “turn left” for 15 years while he and his wife raised their kids because it was just too hard to do all of the kids’ school stuff and make it to the race track.
He was still going to the races – he just wasn’t behind the wheel while the kids were growing up.
Mike was taking the boys to the race track when they were pretty young, noting that his wife Sandy was left to handle the boys up in the stands while he was racing, up until the time Marcus was about three years old – then he took a break from being behind the wheel to focus on his young family.
