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Timmy Proffitt with Bryant Scudder
Continuing with driver interviews, the dirty one is proud to have Timmy Proffitt, driver of the #1 Super Dirt Stock at
Florence Speedway, volunteer to answer a few questions for the fans. Timmy is currently leading the point’s chase
in the Super Dirt Division by 43 points of Paul Crowell. So without further ado, Mr. Timmy Proffitt..
Dirty one- “First off Timmy, as I do with every one, I want to say thank you for taking the time to sit down with me.
It means a lot to me that you would take time out of your busy schedule to do this interview for the fans of Florence
Speedway.”
Proffitt- “Thank you, Bryant. The pleasure is all mine. I appreciate what you do for the drivers and the fans as
well.”
Dirty one-“Thanks Timmy that means a lot, I truly love the sport and watching you guys do what you do, and if you’
re ready we’ll get this show on the road”
Proffitt-“Let’s do it”
Dirty one-“We’ll start with something easy, tell us a little about Timmy Proffitt.”
Proffitt-“Well, I turned 30 in April, I've been married for six years to my beautiful wife, Kim, we have five
wonderful children, Travis 15, Shelby 13, Tiffany 10, Kristine 9, and Kyle 6. Kim and I both grew up in Goshen,
Ohio, and at the present are living in Milford, Ohio but we’re thinking about moving because the taxes just keep
going up.”
Dirty one-“WOW, 5 kids that certainly is a lot of responsibility”
Proffitt-“ Yeah, my wife already had the four oldest when we married and then we had Kyle together, but I love
them all like they're my own”
Dirty one-“That’s is awesome! Timmy, what got you into racing and how long have you been racing.”
Proffitt-“ I guess I've been racing about eight years now. I started when I was nineteen but took a couple of years
off somewhere in the middle there. The way I got started was my dad (Rich) bought this old racecar for $600. It was
kind of a mix between a purestock and a sportsman. I was working as a Millwright at the time out in California, we
did some traveling, I called home one weekend and my dad asked me if I wanted to put the car together. So when I
got some work in town, we put this car together with whatever we could find. The motor was an old Chevy 350 that
my dad had stored in a shed for about five years. We didn't even take the valve covers off to look at anything, just
dropped it in. We got it done in time for a race at Portsmouth, OH, I had to move up to the sportsman type class
because the interior was boxed in and wasn't the stock firewall and floor. I just cruised around watching the other
guys take each other out and ended up making the race! I went out in the feature and ran a few laps until it got hot
and I pulled off. After that I was hooked. We bought a mod that Josh Williams had been driving the next winter and
really started learning from there.”
Dirty one-“You currently are running in the Super Dirt Class at Florence Speedway, do you aspire to race again in
the Modified or even the Late Model Division, and is there a race you dream of winning or even just racing in?
Proffitt-“ The Super Dirt Stock class is a great class. I really have fun running with these guys. I don't know of a
better bunch of guys to race with. But I would like to go back to a mod if I could pull it off financially and have a
competitive car. Just for the fact that you can go just about anywhere and race. The only tracks around here where
my car is legal other than Florence, is the Burg, unless I want to drive a few hours to Lake Cumberland or
Ponderosa. And who wouldn't want to drive a Latemodel, but the only way I could do that though is to drive for
someone else. I couldn't afford it on my own. As far as a race I would love to win, The Dave Robertson Memorial,
I wanted that one bad, but I was glad to see that Mark got one, he was flying that night.”
Dirty one-“It’s funny you bring up the Robertson, that was my next question, you finished a very strong 2nd after
leading the first part of the race. How disappointed were you that you weren’t able to get the win?”
Proffitt-“As I said earlier I really wanted that one. I was pretty confident going into the race and maybe a little too
confident. There were some things we could've done or not done to make the car better, but we can't worry about
the past. We'll just try to win as many as we can from here on out.”
Dirty one-“Speaking of the past Timmy, last season you started out slowly, this year you’ve had a really good start
to your season, and at the time of this interview are actually leading the SDS points chase, what’s been the biggest
difference in getting off to the good start?”
Proffitt-“We really just picked up where we left off last year. We aren't doing anything all that different, I guess
more experience is the biggest difference.”
Dirty one-“What are your team’s goals as we enter the middle part of the 2006 season?”
Proffitt-“Our main goal every week is to bring the car home in one piece! Really, I think I've matured as a driver
since last year and I'm not taking as big of risks. I'm not trying to win the race on the first lap, so as long as I can
keep that up, our main goal will be reached. But my wife really wants me to win the championship.”
Dirty one-“What is the one thing Timmy Proffitt the driver needs to do better to be able to win the 2006 Super Dirt
Championship?”
Proffitt-“Just stay focused, I'm always thinking. My mind just goes haywire sometimes when I try to think of how I
can go faster, if I just stay focused and quit thinking so much I should be fine.”
Dirty one-“Timmy, as you know, in racing if someone is winning a lot, someone is going to say they are cheating, it’
s unfortunate but true, is there anything you’d like to say to those people that may say that about you and your
team?”
Proffitt-“I understand people thinking that way when someone is winning a lot and I don't hold it to anyone. But I
can assure you that we are legal. There was an issue a few weeks back when Bill (tech insp.) wanted me to take
care of something on the car, I got the impression that another driver was pressuring him. So, although the rulebook
doesn't say I have to do it, I did it anyway and went out and won that night. Bill goes over these cars pretty good,
especially when a driver or drivers bring something to his attention, so if any of us were cheating he would catch it
I'm sure.”
Dirty one-“Have the rule changes made to the division for 2006 helped or hurt in your opinion, and are there any
more changes you’d like to see made?”
Proffitt-“I think they've helped a little. It would've helped more with the car count if they made it to where the ISS
cars were legal. But when we voted last year we thought that was what we were doing. We just missed a couple
things, I guess.”
Dirty one-“Timmy, is there anyone you’d like to mention at this time?”
Proffitt-“I'd like to thank my wife Kim, for all she does for me and my racing. Also my Father-in-law, Sherman
Mercer, for the sponsorship and everything else he does to support the team. My kids, for cheering me on and
always waiting for me to wave to them from the track! Most of all, my dad Rich, if it wasn't for him I don't think I
could do it, he keeps me in line and on top of things, I owe most of my success to him.”
Once again I’d like to thank Timmy for taking the time to do this interview for www.dirtfans.com, it’s guys like him
that make what I do so fun. I want to wish Timmy and his team lots of luck in chasing the 2006 Championship, and
in the future in whatever Division he may choose to race. The sport needs more classy drivers like Tim…
If there is someone you’d like to see me interview just email me at Bryant.scudder@insightbb.com and ill see what
I can do. I have several other interviews lined up…
The dirty one!
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