There’s Plenty of Dirt to Dig Up on Edenholm

For most racers, the TQ Midget class tends to be a stepping-stone, and 50 years old usually is a time to think about hanging up the helmet.

Not so for Greg Edenholm of Agoura, who has found rejuvenation racing on dirt after spending most of his life as a road racer in such series as Formula Vee, Formula Super Vee and Formula Atlantic.

Local fans will have two chances to watch Edenholm try to maintain his lead in the United States Auto Club MCI WorldCom TQ Midget Series points standings this week. The series stops at Ventura Raceway’s one-quarter-mile clay oval Thursday night, and moves to Irwindale Speedway’s one-half-mile paved oval Saturday night.

The transition from dirt to pavement means Edenholm, who calls himself semi-retired but laughingly adds he is working more than ever, will be in for a long three days between Thursday and Saturday.

“It takes a full day [approximately 10 to 12 hours] just to do the mechanical maintenance that the car requires after a race,” Edenholm said. “The pavement will be a little more time to prepare for, because we have to change the rear end and the front end. We’ll probably work from eight in the morning to one in the morning Friday, then finish up Saturday and head out to Irwindale.”

Although the TQ class has been traditionally contested on dirt tracks, USAC has been scheduling more races at asphalt facilities. Edenholm responded by installing several brackets on his car when he rebuilt it last winter, with the intention of making it easier to change the car’s setup.

Although the foresight was helpful, Edenholm credits more of his success to a rigorous workout program he started after he found himself tiring in the final laps of several races last year.

“I spend two hours every morning in the gym, because my trainer said it would make a world of difference in my concentration, and it really has,” Edenholm said. “Every other day, I start with an hour of cardio, riding a bike and treadmill-type stuff, climbing hills, then I do lower body stuff. On the other days, I do a full upper-body workout for two hours.

“I lost 18 pounds in five months and doubled my strength, and I am basically where I was at when I started racing Formula Fords at age 19.”

Edenholm was surprised at the demands of driving 20 laps on a short track.

“The cars bounce around in the dirt, and there is no power steering like the midgets and bigger cars have,” Edenholm said. “Driving a midget was like driving a Cadillac. I equate driving a TQ to taking a 20-pound weight and holding it straight out in front of you for 15 minutes.”

Edenholm discovered dirt-track racing after moving from Malibu to Agoura in 1995.

“I went out and saw a race [at Ventura] and started talking to people up there, and they told me what it takes to get into a car,” Edenholm said. “I realized that TQ’s are the most cost-effective form of racing there is. Formulas take 100 hours of work for every hour on the track.”

Edenholm found himself back in racing “school” after deciding to join his now 25-year-old son, Eric, in the sloppy grooves of a dirt track.

“It was really totally backward from what I was used to, and even on the pavement they were nothing like I remembered,” Edenholm said. “It’s probably more like NASCAR, having a solid axle rather than the live axle I was used to.

“It was a little frustrating, and I had to do some soul-searching. In a lot of ways it motivated me to see if I could run up front again.”

Edenholm started driving the TQ full-time after his son moved up to a full midget for the 1997 season. His son quit racing after walking away from a crash at Pikes Peak International Raceway that same year.

“He had the honor of being the first [driver] to flip a midget at Pike’s Peak,” Edenholm cracked. “He’s making money now, instead of spending it.”

Edenholm’s son moved up with the help of Dennis Hart, who is considered a chassis-building guru in TQ circles.

“We couldn’t get [Hart’s] attention until Eric started running as fast as the guys who were running for him,” Edenholm said. “Dennis has been a lot of help to us, especially with the pavement setup.”

Edenholm acknowledged that his driving became conservative with age, before his adoption of the workout program.

“My crew says they don’t see that this year,” he said. “Physically, I’m much better and much sharper.”

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Kathy Pierson of Camarillo painted a response for the chauvinistic idea that a woman’s place is in the kitchen on the rear of her International Motor Contest Assn. Modified car.

“This is my kitchen and I’m cookin’.”