Lynton Jeffrey #12 410 Sprint Car
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
By Joanne Cram
In his thirteen years of living in the states, Lynton Jeffrey has come a long way, and had many successes. He was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, where he grew up immersed in racing. When Lynton was growing up, late models were the select racing class, and sprint cars were the support class; just building momentum as a popular form of racing. Lynton’s father was a successful late model driver, builder, and manufacturer of the chassis. Spending most race nights at Sydney Speedway, formerly Parramatta City Raceway and Grandville Speedway, Lynton looked up to Aussie drivers such as Steve Brazier and Max Dumesney, as well as American drivers that would come across the pond to race, such as Steve Kinser, Doug Wolfgang and Jack Hewitt.
When the opportunity to drive a midget arose, Lynton jumped at the chance to get behind the “new” style of race car. He had grown up racing karts since the age of 7, so by the age of 18, he was ready to get behind more power. After racing the midget just 6 times, Lynton’s dad pulled him out of the seat due to the high speeds and dangerous equipment. Lynton won three out of those six races, but his father just wasn’t comfortable with the possibility of a high-speed impact. Lynton was then approached with the opportunity to step into a sprint car. With a lower budget and less than top of the line equipment, Lynton and his brother Paul had a difficult time growing the sprint car team. Over the next seven years, he raced about 45 races, but never gave up on his dream to race sprint cars, encouraged and mentored by his close friend Steve Brazier.
Being inspired by the Brazier family and the Jackson families, Lynton knew eventually he wanted to race in America. While Skip would come to America to race, many times Lynton would occupy his place in the Jackson family home while hanging out with his good buddy, David Jackson. Within those seven years of pursuing his dream to race sprint cars, Lynton had also come to know Terry McCarl quite well. Terry was always trying to entice Lynton to come to America and work as his crew chief, and while Lynton was flattered by the offer, he wouldn’t let go of his dream to be the driver of his own team.
When a life-altering event happened to Lynton in 2000, he was ready to use the opportunity to start fresh. Lynton’s one-year old son, Keenan, had passed away suddenly and the toll it took on Lynton was immense. Determined to race for both Keenan and himself, Lynton booked a ticket to the states. During his initial time in the states, he helped a few people here and there and took odd jobs. Lynton has always been handy with fabricating anything, and took this skill and applied it to his work over here in the states. With the support of his brother and partner Paul, he even brought his sprint car wing building business over with him that was started in 1994 and continued to work on building it on the side.
Lynton hasn’t missed a Nationals since 2000, and when he arrived at Knoxville, he sat in section J of the grandstands, taking in the impressive beast that Knoxville Raceway is. He said it was an emotional and powerful feeling being there for the first time. At the end of that summer, Lynton had to return to Australia, but left wondering why he had to leave. He felt like he had already come home. The return to Australia found him selling his home and belongings to make the commitment to relocate to America.
Upon his return in 2001, Lynton flew into the states with $350 in his pocket. Unsure of what the next step would be, he took a leap of faith and hoped things would work out for the best. He was offered a ride in Pennsylvania, which eventually led to the formation of his own team. The 4K (racing for Keenan) raced about twenty races that season, with a highlight of a top 5 finish at Port Royal. He credits Kevin Frey with taking Lynton under his wing and with Kevin and Laurie Frey’s offering financial support and guidance while making the switch to driving his own car.
2002 found Lynton in Des Moines, at the Leonard McCarl shop. He continued working on building Vortex Wings into a viable business, as well as taking on a few other jobs, such as helping design Maxim Chassis. By July of that year, Lynton was a weekly fixture at Knoxville Raceway and things were starting to come together with the help of the late Freddy Kane, his son Billy, and longtime crew, Roy and Jon Swanson. He set quick time the second time out and had several top 4 qualifiers, but failed to make the A Main that season. Knoxville is one of those tracks that you just have to learn how to master, Lynton says. It is a very difficult challenge to put your car in the feature each week.
In 2003, Lynton met his wife, Mendy and had purchased his shop in Prairie City, where he now calls home. He continued to build up his Vortex Wing Business as well as his family. Mendy and Lynton married in January 2005 in the family home in Prairie City where they have raised their two children: Dakota, 19 and Kailee, 15.
Over his past twelve seasons of racing at Knoxville Raceway, Lynton has had a lot of successes. He drove for Mike VanderEcken in 2004, where he got his first podium result, finishing 3rd in the familiar #10. He was so proud to have been in the car that so many fellow Australians had driven: Skip Jackson, Gary Brazier, and Jaymie Moyle to name a few. In 2006, Lynton won the Summer Classic, a highlight because he had a partnership with Good Year Tires and they were a key sponsor. He was glad to have had a good showing for them. That was also Lynton’s first ever win at Knoxville. In 2009, Lynton won the World Challenge race during the Nationals. This was also a huge accomplishment for Lynton, as he was able to represent his home country of Australia. Then in 2010, Lynton won the points championship in the 410 class at Husets Speedway. In 2010 and 2013, Lynton added to his accomplishments by starting in the A Main of the Knoxville Nationals. His best finish was 18th, and he hopes this year can be just as successful.
So far in 2015, Lynton has had a decent season: racing both weekly at Knoxville and following the new National Sprint League schedule. Coming off setting quick time on the 4th of July as well as a podium finish, Lynton is still looking for that first win of the season. He has had a top ten with both the Outlaws and the National Sprint League, and appreciates the depth of talent that he competes with every week at Knoxville. He says the caliber of drivers concentrated at Knoxville Raceway rivals anywhere else in the country as being the best. Knowing that he is competing with a wide range of team budgets, Lynton’s week to week approach helps him constantly work to better his team and car. He is fortunate to have an amazingly consistent crew. Roy and Jon Swanson have been with him since the trailer door dropped open back in 2002. He also has Nate and Tony Moser and Chad Behrens working along side him. Lynton knows the loyalty of his crew is rare in sprint car racing, and knows that consistency is one more way he stays competitive.
Lynton’s future is approached with the same way he approaches his day-to-day racing operation: one day and week at a time. Ultimately, he would like to start having the race car turn more of a profit, and isn’t opposed to looking at options that could allow for that. His heart and loyalties are with Knoxville, however, and he will continue to give back to the track that means so much to him. Lynton enjoys volunteering his time for the track by helping collect end of the year donations for banquet prizes for all the local Knoxville teams and drivers.
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