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As Xtreme Sprints Invade Five Flags, Gerster Looks to Hold Off Helberg & Co., Improve Track Record Time

By Chuck Corder

Chalk another one up for Five Flags Speedway.

When Californian winged sprints car driver JoJo Helberg first laid eyes on the famed half-mile oval two years ago, he didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

Sure, the abrasive asphalt gave the track some character, but beyond the surface, Helberg failed to grasp why drivers and racing fans flock to Pensacola’s little bandbox every year from all corners of the world.

A summer spent in North Carolina, working alongside his brother-in-law who is a diehard late model fan changed all of that.

Helberg learned the history of Five Flags, thus the Snowball Derby, and how some of racing’s biggest names used Pensacola’s high banks as a springboard to decorated careers.

“I’m a West Coast guy. We tend to be a little blind to a lotta other tracks and events,� the 23 year old admitted. “But my brother-in law really opened my eyes to how big a deal Five Flags is.�

Helberg hopes to make his third appearance at America’s Favorite Home Track a memorable one Friday night when the Xtreme Sprints Series of Must See Racing kicks off its 2014 season with the third annual Southern Shootout.

The open-wheeled theme continues with Motorcycles, followed by Sportsmen and Bombers features. The gates open at 4 p.m. Friday and admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, students and military; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids under 6.

“I wanna do well, especially after not being too happy with the way the last two races went down there,� said Helberg, who finished a respectable fourth last year after a late crashed spoiled things in 2012. “If we could get a win, I’d be really happy.�

He’ll have to contend with a loaded XSS field that also includes the man that set the current overall Five Flags track record last season when the Must See show rolled into town.

Six different drivers held the record at one point during that unseasonably cool March evening last year. When the debris and engines settled, Brian Gerster was on top.

Gerster’s mark of 13.203 seconds equates to a speed of more than 136 mph. It was nothing new for the Fishers, Ind., native who set the track record (12.742) at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2011.

It marked the first time a pavement sprint car had run a qualifying lap of more than 150 mph at any venue in the world.

Gerster backed up the fast time with a win at Bristol, something he wasn’t able to do at Five Flags last year.

“Pensacola is a neat place,� said Gerster, a design engineer by day. “It’s unique — the shape of it, some of the intricacies — it’s not just a perfect oval. It’s tricky to get around it fast.

“I’d really like to get a feature win down there. That’d be pretty cool for me.�

Gerster has extra motivation now that his friend Erik Jones is the two-time defending Snowball Derby champion.

Gerster has served as spotter for several late model drivers and, unlike Helberg, was well-versed in the rich history associated with Five Flags when he arrived last year.

“There’s a lot of prestige that goes into running at Pensacola,� he said. “No matter what, the fans are going to get a great show. They’ll get to see racing they don’t typically get to see.

“I’m very respectful of Pensacola and that’s why it makes racing there so intriguing to me.�

 

Helberg’s appreciation for Five Flags and other tracks of its ilk continues to mature.

He has had struggles in past years, including 2013, at intermediate tracks. There was a small setup change that Helberg’s team didn’t figure out until after they left Pensacola.

A welder, Helberg is confident he has the setup soldered together.

After the expedited education he received on Five Flags, plus other certain amenities the area boasts, the California kid expects the cross-country trip to be well worth it.

“I wouldn’t wanna miss Pensacola,� Helberg said. “We can’t wait to go and get some good, Florida shrimp, some good racing and see good people.�

It might have taken longer than most who fall madly in love at first sight, but JoJo Helberg has become a believer in Five Flags, inside and outside the oval.

All that’s missing now is a win.

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