Marty Kirkland: Brindle deals with ups and downs of racing

Race car drivers are probably the last folks who need a reminder about it being where you finish that counts, but sometimes the sports world has a cruel way of dealing out lessons even when they’re unneeded — or worse, unwanted.

And so it was that Chatsworth’s Chip Brindle, leading the points race in the Ultimate Super Late Model Series for much of 2011, was dealt not one, but two of “them racing deals” on the homestretch of the first-year dirt track series’ schedule last year.

One week, a blown motor. Another week, car meets wall.

Two races, two DNFs and too much trouble for someone with his eye on the championship.

“The ones that counted,” Brindle said. “It’s just really misfortunate for me and the team. You always want to win and do as good as you can in the points. Sometimes everything don’t line up.”

Well, not everything, but a lot did line up for Brindle last year. He finished third in the USLMS points standings, and was named the series’ rookie of the year. (To be eligible, drivers must not have won a points race in another major series. That included the 26-year-old Brindle, who has been spending weekends on the dirt track in some fashion since he was 15, and is now breaking into the upper ranks.)

In addition, Brindle won the Ice Bowl in Talladega, Ala., early in the year when he was still running Crate Late Models, then picked up two Super Late Model victories. The first was a win in the STARS Volunteer Racing Series’ visit to North Georgia Speedway, Brindle’s home track, in April; the second came on July 3 in the USLMS’ Independence Shootout at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.

He also took the pole for a Lucas Oil series race, and competed in the occasional race on both that series as well as the World of Outlaws, both prestigious circuits on the dirt track scene.

“Those are the best of the best, them two series there,” Brindle said. “You kind of want to go see where you stack up with them guys. That’s like the NASCAR of dirt, I guess you could say.”

Equally important for Brindle was the chance to compete, in the USLMS, against names he had long considered legendary but now had to see as competitors and rivals. He learned from some of them and learned to steer clear of others, but he also knew that he had to get over the awe factor and get down to racing.

Not that it necessarily came easily.

“To actually get there and line up with them,” Brindle said, “it’s kind of doing what I love to do.”

There were plenty of lessons learned — and yes, those final two races were exercises in how nothing’s final until it is — and some good adjustments as he made the jump from Crate to Super. Brindle was thankful to have the support of owner Norman Bryson, and believes having Jonathan Owenby step in as his crew chief at midseason made a tremendous difference in the success of his setup the rest of the way.

But Brindle still puts in plenty of garage time himself, and lately he’s been getting ready to get his 2012 racing schedule started. He plans to run in Saturday’s Cabin Fever 40 at Boyd’s Speedway in Ringgold, but isn’t quite sure what the year’s long-term plans will be.

Last year, he talked of wanting to pursue a points title on the Lucas Oil or World of Outlaws circuits, but said last week that he plans to “go where the money is, but stay around the house a little bit more.” The plans for a regional schedule would seem to knock down some of last year’s projections, but Brindle admitted it could all change this summer, depending on where he stacks up.

Brindle is taking things as they come, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Racing for a living was always my goal,” he said. “If I can keep doing that, I’m happy.”

Last year’s final two races weren’t what Brindle wanted. But it was part of the process in learning his way up the ladder, and if that pattern continues, he’ll no doubt keep climbing.

“It’s still an adjustment,” Brindle said. “You learn something every time you go to the race track.”

• Leonardo Lechuga of North Georgia Hayastan MMA Academy wrote this week to let us know about what turned out to be a good news/bad news night at last Friday’s “3FC VIII: The Return,” a mixed martial arts event at the Smoky Mountain Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

While two of the Dalton gym’s fighters lost title bouts, Mark Hall did win his MMA debut and got a nice bonus — the Knockout of the Night Shield after putting out Tony Rick at the 18-second mark in the first round. While Hall’s was one of the preliminary fights, North Georgia fighters also had two of the higher profile bouts on the card, though neither turned out as they’d hoped.

Dustin Dyer, who already held the X Series Fighting Championship’s heavyweight title, came up short in his bid to win 3FC heavyweight title in the main event. Stephen Flanagan’s first-round TKO ended Dyer’s hope for another belt.

David Miles, going for the 3FC bantamweight title against Harley Pertee, lost by submission in the first round. Miles was fighting well and had an early knockdown, Lechuga wrote, but miscalculated his advantage and got stuck in an armbar. However, a rematch is expected.

North Georgia Hayastan fighters will be in action again at Saturday’s Battle of Rome X at The Forum in Rome, where amateurs Jarrett Slaughter and Thomas Spinetta will both compete. It will be the second fight for Slaughter and the first for Spinetta.

You can find out more about the academy by visiting their Facebook page.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Carroll Rogers had a nice story on Murray State men’s basketball coach Steve Prohm earlier this week, with references to his time in Dalton and his experience as a Northwest Whitfield basketball player. (You can find it at ajc.com by entering the headline “Murray State coach with Georgia ties enjoys undefeated ride” in the site’s search engine.)

The content of the story seems to be another confirmation that the Racers’ undefeated run couldn’t be happening to a nicer guy, one who has his priorities right when it comes to what he teaches his players about how to approach the basketball court. Read many stories about Prohm, and you’ll gather that he has no intentions of letting the success go to his players’ heads, nor does he foster an environment where any individual is elevated above the team.

As for the progress, after Wednesday night’s 66-60 comeback win against Morehead State, 12th-ranked Murray State is 19-0 and one of two remaining undefeated Division teams, along with Syracuse (20-0).

While he would no doubt at least share credit with those around him, Prohm has looked like a veteran in his first year as a head coach.

Come March, he may have some of those old guys wondering what they have to do to keep up with him and his Racers.

Marty Kirkland is sports editor of The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at martykirkland@daltoncitizen.com.

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