Racing Is In His Blood

The truck in Corey Coates’s backyard is not your average pickup. The Chevy comes up to about chest-height, has a spoiler and headlight decals in lieu of the real thing.

Local businesses, including Valentino’s and Roy and Son’s Autobody, have logos on the outside. Inside, the guts of the vehicle have been stripped away and replaced, all with the goal of making a faster, tougher and more maneuverable machine.

This Saturday, the Ledyard High School senior will take his seat in the low cockpit and floor it down the track, jockeying with other trucks toward the finish line.

The race is part of the New England Truck Series, which holds competitions at the Speedbowl as well as the Thomson International Speedway in the northern part of the state and the Monadnock Speedway in New Hampshire.

Despite being only his second year of racing, Coates has already claimed two wins out of five competitions. For a while, he held first place in the series until getting bumped down to second by Andy Lindeman in a July 9th race.

However, there are still five more events to catch up before the season finale in October.

Saturday’s event, which starts at 2 p.m., is a 50-lapper, including an autograph session for fans and a truck viewing. The top three finishers in the series earn trophies—first place is as tall as Coates is.

Rookie of the Year

Last year, Coates took fourth place and earned a plaque.

Last year, he was 15.

“I raced before I even had my permit,” he said. His skilled handling earned him Rookie of the Year honors at the Speedbowl. Before that, he got driving experience from riding four-wheelers and plowing snow.

Coates, who is a star runner on Ledyard High's cross-country team, admits that getting into the truck for the first time was “very nerve-wracking.” Getting out of the vehicle, it was difficult to undo his straps because his hands were shaking.

“Your adrenalin is definitely pumping,” he said.

On the track, he will drive the truck an average of 80 mph—as fast as 92 mph on the straight-aways. At the Thompson Track, which has longer straight-aways and banked turns he will bring the truck up to 110 and 115 mph.

Hitting the turns at those speeds creates powerful G-forces in the cockpit. Trucks bump one another routinely. At every turn, Coates thinks about what will happen if the front or back tires don’t hold.

Focus on the race is absolute. “I don’t blink,” he said.

Family tradition

Last year, Coates competed with his father Allen, a 23-year veteran of the race course. Out of 15 races against his dad, Coates says he won three.

The elder Coates said that he is through with truck racing. Now he accompanies his son to events to help him out. “He’s my crew, my chief spotter,” said Corey.

When he’s on the track, his father’s voice comes through the headset, telling him where he has space to maneuver. The truck has no mirror on the right hand side because he prefers to focus on the road in front of him.

Allen Coates, is contemplating a return to competitions, but in a different division. Recently he bought a used stock car, which he has been renovating and plans to take to the track.

“My dad is very competitive, and I think I am too,” Coates said.

The family’s racing heritage goes back to Corey’s great-grandfather and includes his grandmother and grandfather and great-uncle, all of whom raced at the Speedbowl.

Knowing how to drive the vehicle properly is only one component of the racing challenge. Coates, is constantly maintaining the truck—repairing wear and tear from the previous race and making tweak adjustments to make it faster for the next one.

His father had stripped and replaced the old parts from the vehicle when he got it. Now that he has “retired” from racing, he lets his son race the vehicle with a condition:

“If I don’t work on it, I don’t get to drive it,” Coates said.

“He’s pretty good,” the father said of his son’s handiwork. “He was learning all those times I thought he wasn’t paying attention.”

Coates supports his pastime by holding down a job with Ledyard Parks and Recreation and with Subway, earning money for parts, fuel and race entry fees. A single race can burn through $100 worth of gas.

Cross-country racer

In the meantime, he has been training for his final year of cross-country. This entails waking up at 5:30 in the morning to log six miles before work. Some afternoons, he will train with his team for captain’s practice, in which case he will do a shorter morning run.

Last year, he was Ledyard’s top-runner and competed in the state open meets. His goal is to make his senior year his fastest yet.

Before the summer is out, he will be attending the popular Green Mountain Running Camp in Vermont.

“It’s hard managing time,” said Coates.

Though he doesn’t write off the possibility of going on to compete in NASCAR events, Coates says that he is satisfied with racing as a fun hobby—one that he can win at. He plans to attend college after graduation and says that history is his favorite subject in school.

Before he got inside a truck, Coates didn’t think he would be interested in racing, but now he gets enjoyment from its challenge.

“Not just anybody can do it and be good at it,” he said.