Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Professor Ablondi Dr. Ablondi frequently races mini-sprint race cars at tracks around the South.

A mini-sprint is a type of race car with a 600cc motorcycle engine that can reach 90-100 mph going down a hundred meter straight away coming off a turn. Not that the philosophy department's Dr. Fred Ablondi knows how fast his car is going when he's racing his mini-sprint, as it doesn't have a speedometer. In fact, the only gauge that his car has is a water temperature gauge. Two weeks ago Dr. Ablondi finished his second season as a race car driver.

"I've been a fan of racing for quite a long time, but I got tired of spending my time, energy, and money on it," he said. "If I'm going to cheer for one man, it might as well be me."

With that in mind he bought himself a mini-sprint. In Arkansas, there are six different classes of cars that are raced. One of the reasons he chose mini-sprints was because the camaraderie that is shared about among the drivers.

"Among the older guys, you get the feeling that half the fun for them is helping others," he said. Ablondi has had his fair share of trouble, like the race where his engine got so hot that one of the pistons melted. When he looked at the engine there was green anti-freeze everywhere and the radiator was empty. Over the past year he has picked up the finer points of setting up a car to race. Everything from the wing angle and tire pressure to the tightness can make a huge difference in how the car races.

"There are two groups of drivers; those who always wanted to race or did it when they were young and the young guys who are on their way up. Most of them have their father as a manager," he said. For the young guys the mini-sprints is a stepping stone to some of the bigger classes.

While Ablondi will tow his race car in a trailer behind his minivan, some of these younger fellows will bring their cars to the tracks in 18 wheelers that have a full garage in the back. He expressed amazement at where the money comes from seeing as the winners only bring home around a hundred dollars. Generally, Ablondi will take enough home for the gas it took to get the car to the track and race it and for some food.

"As races get closer I worry about crashes, imagining scenarios about getting hit and crashing. This might sound cliché but once you're in the car it goes all away," he said. "Although in reality there aren't that many crashes." Only once in his two years has Ablondi been in a race where a car was totaled, but both drivers in the crash walked away.

The races have between 15 and 20 drivers. The drivers do 20 laps around the quarter mile tracks. This season Ablondi finished tenth in the point standings after the seasons 14 races.
"Sometimes when things are going well, I think of myself as a race car driver who teaches philosophy for a living," Ablondi said.

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