Stories and photos by
Terry Spradley
Fourth in a Series
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| Brunsell stares down the camera as he waits for the start of the mini-stock heat race at Salina Speedway |
Brunsell's Patriotic Pinto brightens up the raceway
The sound in the air is not the explosive roar of the super stock or modified’s big V-8s. This sound is more like a swarm of angry hornets on steroids as the high revving engines of the mini stockers strain to claw their way around the dirt oval. Somewhere in the middle of all these disgruntled hornets, Daryl Brunsell, Lindsborg, twists the steering wheel back and forth as he battles through traffic for a position near the front of the pack.
As a Ford senior master mechanic at Lacy Motors in McPherson, Brunsell is no stranger to the workings under the hood. He is also seems to be no stranger to the workings from the driver’s seat either.
“I’ve won two championships in Salina and one in Hutch,” Brunsell said. Brunsell has been racing for 5 years. Trophies and plaques fill the little office where our interview took place. “One of my best wins was in Enid Oklahoma, it was a Winter Nationals.” Brunsell said. “I went on someone else’s turf and won. It was a real exciting deal.”
Brunsell started out racing with the help of his friend Frank Hedberg, McPherson. “He needed an engine built so I rebuilt his for him. After I did that, I just had to go out and see the thing run of course. He (Hedberg) did well with it and pretty soon I was out there every week. The next year I wanted a car. The wife wasn’t too big on that.” Hedberg came up with a deal where he and Brunsell traded off driving duties every other week that next year. In exchange, Brunsell put the motor he now runs in their time-share ride. “He helped me a lot,” Brunsell said. “The wife got kind of excited about that, cause she saw me doing fairly well for my first time. Then it was okay to buy a car. I found a cheap one, and I’ve been doing it on my own ever since.”
The 1976 Pinto Brunsell currently races is not hard to pick out on the track. White stars cling to a field of blue on the hood and front fenders, while red and white stripes shimmy and vibrate along the sheet metal sides of the patriotic Pinto. “One year I painted the car black and it was just too dark. So we thought we’d just add some color and got the red, white and blue going. It’s not real straight, but it’s colorful.” The stars and stripes scheme along with a large blue #23 are the only coverings on the competitive little Pinto. There are no sponsor logos adorning the body of this 4-cylinder circle burner. "One reason I haven’t gotten after sponsors really, is I’m just having fun,” Brunsell said. “I don’t know if it’s right to ask somebody to pay for my fun.”
Wife Sandra, and mother Virginia Brunsell, Lindsborg, spend their Saturday nights in the stands reminding each other, he is in it for the fun. Virginia will get excited and start shouting from the stands and Sandra will remind her, “It doesn’t matter if he wins or loses, as long as he’s having fun.” A few laps later, it will be Virginia calming Sandra with those same words.
The mini stock class is limited to 150 cubic inch 4-cylinder engines. The engine can produce no more than 15 inches of vacuum at 1200 RPM. These restrictions keep crews from adding much in the way of high performance parts, and keep the cars on an even playing field. “They are trying to keep it cheap, even though it’s not.” Brunsell said. Regardless of the limitations, the mini stockers’ make quick time around the track. A driver’s fun can also come with thrills, chills and spills.
“I had a bad rollover in Hutch last year. That was probably my worst experience,” said Brunsell. While overtaking lapped traffic, one of the cars dropped to the low side cutting off Brunsell’s line. The resulting contact sent him and his mini stocker head-over-heals more than once. “I heard five to seven times. I don’t know what it was, definitely totaled my car.”
The Pinto he is currently driving is last year’s back up. A newer partially finished Mustang sits in the back yard waiting for more time and money to put it on the track. Now only primer gray, once it is race ready it will almost assuredly be burning up the track wearing the red, white and blue paint scheme Brunsell’s fans have come to expect.
The horizontal lines of the patriotic scheme lend themselves well to advertising. If you would like to see your logo go lickety split around some local ovals contact me by e-mail at tsprad@tslegends.com or call Daryl Brunsell at the number listed in the white pages. Photos from recent races may be viewed on-line at www.tslegends.com
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| Brunsell takes the lead from Troy Wente during the mini-stock main event. Brunsell's Pinto is a popular site with race fans sporting its patriotic stars and stripes color scheme. |