by Jacob Hord, @HordRacewatcher
Even midway through the season, Trey Jacobs wasn’t sure if he was running Attica Raceway Park for points. He was even in the thick of the championship hunt with Cole Macedo and DJ Foos. Trey and his family’s team were taking it week-by-week, but every Friday, they showed up at Attica. It paid off in a big way; Trey’s first two Attica wins, strong showings with the Outlaws and All Stars, an engagement, and to top it all off, the Attica 410 Championship trophy will have Trey Jacobs’ name on it.
“We started the year out and we weren’t going to do any points, and we were going to race whenever, wherever.”
The team didn’t set the world on fire in the first few races, coming home 14th in a race that he felt got away from him, and fourth in the first two local shows, followed up by a 12th during the Attica Spring Nationals with the All Stars. Another two weeks passed by with an additional two top ten finishes- things were starting to look up for Jacobs. A second place run to Zeb Wise proved that he had the speed to compete with stout competition, he just had to put together solid nights.
The World of Outlaws visited on May 21st, and that’s when Jacobs turned heads. He furiously held off Carson Macedo for a spot in the dash, and then proceeded to propose to his girlfriend Makayla during the dash redraw on the horsetrack. Contact early in the feature ended the night early, but again, it proved that Jacobs could race with the best of the best.
Starting in July, Jacobs got hot. A near win was followed up with a career best Outlaw finish of 11th at the Brad Doty Classic. Jacobs then had to finish second one more time to Cale Conley before finally breaking through for that elusive first win (it took five or six runner up’s) on July 30.
“Once we got the points lead, we decided that we needed to stick it out and try to win the points deal. It pays a good amount to win the points here, and for a little team like ours, that’s huge.”
“I had a win before this year at Wayne County, but it’s a lot different when you get a win here. I’m not taking anything away from them, but the competition level here and at Fremont, and the guys that race around here are the best in Ohio. Once I was able to win one here, it meant a lot and it gave me the confidence going forward that I could race with anyone here.
Coming out of the two week fair break, Jacobs was still riding that wave of momentum. He came back with a third place run, and then got his second win on August 27th. That was a streak of five-straight podium runs in local competition for Jacobs, a streak that really set him apart from Cole Macedo and DJ Foos.
Going into the final three races, two of which were show-up points only, Jacobs had a commanding 42 point lead over Macedo, and it would take something catastrophic to lose the title on Season Championship night. On Season Championship night, it may not have been the race Jacobs wanted, a 13th place finish, but it was all he needed to win his first career track championship, ten years after his father, Dean, won the Attica title.
“We were consistent this year, unfortunately our last night here was by far our worst. We had a big enough lead going into tonight that I knew I just had to finish and I’d have the track championship locked up,” said Jacobs. “I’m excited, it’s something really good to put on the resume, and to be the second father-son track champion is really cool.”
The Jacobs name may be synonymous with Wayne County Speedway (Trey’s great-grandfather Pete built the place), but Trey considers Attica Raceway Park to be his home track: “Attica Raceway Park’s my home track. I’ve raced here more than I’ve raced anywhere else; I’ve been coming here my whole life. It means a lot, and it’s been an awesome year here at Attica. I got engaged here earlier in the year, I had my best Outlaw finish- this place is home for me and I love it.”
Jacobs wasn’t afraid to admit that points racing wasn’t his cup of tea, but looking forward to the future, he knew it would be an invaluable experience to have.
“It was really stressful,” Jacobs said. “Points racing isn’t my favorite thing, but until we get out on the All Star deal, then I’ll want to do it again.