07.21 Ledger 01 - The Cherokee Ledger-News

18 THE CHEROKEE LEDGER-NEWS
LEDGER-NEWS
SPORTS
SPORTS EDITOR: BRANDON MICHEA | 770-928-0706 x203 FAX: 770-928-3152 JULY 21, 2010
AUTO RACING
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SPECIAL
From motorcycles, to go-carts, to Allison Legacy cars, to Pro Late Models, Woodstock native Tyler Speer has worked his way up the racing
circuit and now looks to make a move into the big time, setting his sights on the NASCAR truck series in 2011.
Making his move
Speer eyeing transition into NASCAR’s Truck Series
BY BRANDON MICHEA
sports@ledgernews.com
With his shaggy hair and young, boyish smile, Tyler Speer
blends right in with the rest of the crowd on the Kennesaw State
University campus.
But don’t let his appearance fool you. Speer is anything but
your typical 19-year-old.
While many of his peers are spending their weekends deciding
which party to attend, Speer has his sights set on a future in
NASCAR – one that he is not planning on just waiting around for.
“I’m not on the four-year college plan or any type of set
schedule, but I’m taking four classes a semester and I’m going to
get my degree,” said Speer, the son of Terri and Tim Speer of
Woodstock. “But the cars come first right now because you can’t
wait. NASCAR is trying to get kids so young, and if I sit here,
wait and twiddle my thumbs, it’ll be too late for me.
“We want to start running in the NASCAR’s (Camping World)
Truck Series next year, move up to the Nationwide Series after
that, and within the next five to seven years, we want to be racing
(Sprint) Cup; and there’s no doubt in my mind that we can do it.”
It’s a dream Speer has had since the age of 12.
Wanting to get back into dirt bike racing, which he had been a
part of at an early age, Speer’s parents had a different plan.
“I wasn’t the best at it, but I really enjoyed racing motorcycles,
and when I was 12, I decided I wanted to start competing in
it again,” he explained. “But my mom really didn’t want me to
because so many kids that we knew had gotten hurt over the
years. So, my parents bought me a go-cart for Christmas and
I started racing those.”
And it did not take long for Speer to find his passion.
“I’m competitive in everything that I do, and I always want to be
the best at it,” he said. “By the end of my first year of go-kart racing,
I was starting to think about one day running in NASCAR.
“Once I started running up front in the go-carts, I knew there
was no where else for me to go if I stayed there, so we moved
into the Legacy cars (a three-quarter sized replica of a Cup car)
when I was 14 and it was go, go, go from there. I knew this is what
I wanted to do.”
After finishing fourth in the point standings with one win and
nine top-five finishes on the Allison Legacy Car Series in 2009,
Speer worked a step closer to his goal with a move to Pro Late
Model cars in 2010, and has had plenty of early success.
Starting with the Polar Bear 150 at Rockingham Speedway
(N.C.) in January, the Woodstock native placed 23rd out of more
than 70 cars, despite a collision that cost him a trip to the pits
with the loss of two front shocks, a bent center link and two
missing rear springs – among other issues – and took him out of
the top-10. He also made his Dixie Speedway debut this spring,
placing in the top-five in three of the six Crate Late Model events
he ran, and has placed in the top-10 in each of his three events at
Lanier National Speedway, including a seventh-place showing
over the Fourth of July weekend.
But while he plans to continue to run Late Model events the
rest of the year, Speer said he is now turning his focus toward
preparing for the trucks circuit.
“The biggest difference between racing and other sports like
baseball and football is that there is no set path to advance,”
Speer said. “As far as the other sports go, you play for your high
school, go to college and play for that team, then hope the pros
pick you up. In racing, there’s a thousand different ways you can
work your way up to NASCAR.
“We decided to go to the Allison Legacy cars after go-carts because
of the travel and because they are more like a full-sized
car, which has made for a pretty good transition into Late Model
cars. Now that we’ve run Late Models, I feel like we are ready
to run trucks; and the reason I want to run those is because
SEE MOVE, PAGE 20
YOUTH SWIMMING
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County
swimmers
earn state
BY BRANDON MICHEA
sports@ledgernews.com
berths
Dylan Villhauer set a meet record for
the second time in three years and a
total of 46 Cherokee County swimmers
combined for 42 individual and 16 relay
top-three, state-qualifying performances
at the Georgia Recreation and Parks
District 5 Championships, July 10 in
Douglasville.
Charting a time of 23.88 seconds in the
13-14-year-old boys’ 50-yard Freestyle,
Villhauer was 2.5 seconds
faster than his closest
competitor, Smyrna’s Tej
Suber, on his way to setting
the new meet mark.
The 14-year-old freestyler
already held the best time in
the 50 Free for the 11-12 Division, having
posted a 26.97-second performance to set
the record in 2005.
The July 10, record-setting effort put
Villhauer on a short list of county
performers that currently hold multiple
district records, joining Adrienne
Amador (four individual records),
Shelby Hixon (three) and Alec Cohen
(two). Amador was also a part of two of
the county’s seven relay teams that
currently hold records, while Cohen
and Hixon were each a part of one
record-holding relay team.
In addition to his freestyle showing,
Villhauer took first place in the 50 Butterfly
with a time of 26.12 – 2.5 seconds
better than runner-up Taylor Mathis of
Dalton – and teamed with Rex Eifert,
Benjamin Hendrickson and Josh Bath
for second-place finishes in the
200 Medley and 200 Freestyle relays.
But while he was the only county
swimmer and one of just seven individuals
to establish a new record in the meet,
Villhauer was only part of Cherokee’s
success, as 22 county performers
qualified for state in two or more events.
Joining Villhauer in winning a pair of
titles, Brad Burke captured the 11-12
boys’ 100 Individual Medley (1:18.33) and
50 Fly (33.28) championships. He also
teamed up with Noah Lense, Jackson
Burke and Grant Slater to win the 200
Medley Relay (2:24.86), and Lense, Daniel
Gordon and Slater to finish first in the
200 Freestyle Relay (2:06.13).
Along with their relay showings, Lense
advanced to state in both the 50 Fly (first
place, 33.28) and 200 IM (second), while
Slater moved on in the 50 Fly (second)
and 50 Free (third), and Hendrickson
qualified in the 100 IM with a first-place
time of 1:02.81.
Three other county boys managed to
advance in both individual and relay
events.
Alex Caputo placed second in the 7-8
boys’ 25 Backstroke, third in the 50 Free
and joined Gann Billings, Nicholas Janflone
and Evan Atkinson for a secondplace
showing in the 100 Free Relay.
Billings, meanwhile, complemented his
relay performance with a second-place
finish in the 100 IM, and Cooper Goswick
took second in the 11-12 boys’ 50 Free and
SEE SWIMMERS, PAGE 21