DeCaire Joins Growing Children’s Dream Fund 50 Field

INVERNESS, Fla. – Troy DeCaire added his name to the growing talent pool for the March 2 Children’s Dream Fund 50 at Citrus County Speedway on Wednesday.

The entry for the $10,000-to-win winged asphalt sprint car event was confirmed by Decaire and Charlie Norman Motorsports owners Danielle and Chaz Hambling.

DeCaire will pilot a Hurricane Chassis with a 410 engine for the event, a co-sanctioned show between the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series presented by Perfit and the BG Products Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series. He’ll be part of a three-car team, alongside Scotty Adema and Ryan Adam.

“Scotty Adema was one of my first shock customers. He’s stuck with me since I first started building shocks, and I’ve kind of stuck around him,” DeCaire explained. “Scotty and Chaz Hambling have teamed up and bought two cars that I either drove or owned at one point. I’ve built a reputation of being a Hurricane Chassis specialist, and they wanted me to help get them ironed out.”

“They asked me if I’d be in town March 2 and would want to run a car for them. It’s an old car that George Rudolph and my dad Terry had at one point that I’d driven, and when I heard it was for sale, I called a bunch of people trying to get them to buy it. It just so happened Chaz ended up with it,” DeCaire added. “Chaz wanted me to drive it in this race. He told me they had a brand new 410 [motor] coming from Engler, and I told him we’ve got something good coming together then.

“It’s one of the old [chassis]. The old Hurricanes are the ones you want. He bought it and called me to help him with it, and now he wants me to drive it.”

A Florida native, Decaire hasn’t been behind the wheel of a sprint car since Sept. 23, when he was injured while competing in the Pink Lady Classic at Meridian (Idaho) Speedway.

In that race, DeCaire made contact with another car that hurled his machine violently into the turn-three catchfence. The car was caught in the fencing and hung several feet off the ground before being extricated by safety workers.

DeCaire suffered a severe concussion among his injuries, which also included cracked ribs and a separated shoulder.

While DeCaire indicated he may not be completely healed from his September crash, he feels healthy enough to get back in a car knowing there’s a $10,000 winner’s check on the line.

“I’m as ready as I can be. I broke a couple of ribs. My shoulder at one point was dislocated, I know that much. I also had a pretty bad concussion,” DeCaire detailed. “I couldn’t drive a streetcar for about a month or two, because I was getting really bad vertigo [from the concussion], but I’ve healed about as good as I’m going to heal. This will be my first time back in a car since the crash.

“We were already committed to do the Children’s Dream Fund 50 when it paid $5,000 to win. What got my attention is [that] it’s an hour from where I’m living,” DeCaire added. “Ten grand is nice. I approach them all the same, no matter what it pays [to win].”

When it was brought to DeCaire’s attention the field of top-notch talent he will be battling, including Jimmy McCune, Davey Hamilton Jr., and Aaron Willison, the two-time Must See Racing national champion said he’s not concerned about how deep the field is. He wants to beat the best competition.

“I’m excited they’re all coming. This is the first time in my career they are all coming to my backyard,” noted DeCaire of the northern stalwarts. “I’ve had success across the country, but I’ve been playing in their backyard. This is the first time they’ve had to come to me. No disrespect to any of them at all, but I raced against Dave Steele for 10 or 15 years. The best in the country have been here [in Florida] the whole time, I think. The roster is great, and I love seeing the diversity in the drivers that are coming.

“To be honest with you, racing against Dave Steele was the hard part. He was the benchmark for the whole country,” DeCaire added. “I think he still is, even though he’s no longer with us. Back in the day, we had some hitters. Doug Heveron, Wayne Reuittman, Bo Hartley, Dude Teate, and all three Butlers were here. … I’m glad guys like Jimmy and Aaron are coming to support it and help build this. I’d like to see this become something we can all meet down here in Florida to start the year off. I think that’s what we really need right now.”

When DeCaire won the first two points titles in Must See Racing history, in 2010 and 2011, the field of drivers included names like McCune, Jason Blonde, Brian Gerster, and JoJo Helberg, all of whom would go on to become champions in their own right.

Though Gerster and Helberg have since retired, McCune and Blonde, among others, remain competitive night in and night out – something that DeCaire likened to the early days of Must See Racing’s existence.

“What really helped prepare me for everything I’ve done since was Must See Racing when it first started,” he said. “I still don’t think we’ve seen a roster like that since, but I think it’s starting to get back to what it was.”

As one of the home-state drivers competing at Citrus County, DeCaire hopes to defend home turf and remind the competition he’s still one of the best behind the wheel of a winged asphalt sprint car.

He’s also passionate about the bigger purpose of the Children’s Dream Fund 50 – to raise awareness and funds for the Children’s Dream Fund, which helps to make dreams come true for terminally ill children from ages three to 21 in South Central Florida.

“I’m proud to fly the Florida flag at the ‘Childrens Dream Fund 50,’” DeCaire said. “I like what J.J. Dutton is doing with this. Cancer is something I’m close to in my family, with my mom having it. Anytime we can do something to raise money for an organization that’s taking the fight to cancer, I’m all for it. If we can help pavement sprint car racing grow, and raise money for the Children’s Dream Fund organization, that’s a dream come true for everyone involved. I’m just glad I can do my part in all of this.

“I think what he is doing is incredible. Win, lose, or draw for me, being involved with this race is about as good as it gets.”

The Children’s Dream Fund is a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based, non-profit organization that was founded in 1981 with the purpose of fulfilling dreams for children from the ages of three to 21, living in West Central Florida, who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

Dreams are organized by doctors, nurses, child life and social workers, friends, families, and even other patients.

Since its inception, the Children’s Dream Fund has made dreams come true for more than 4,000 children. More than half of all dream costs are covered by in-kind donations.

Live streaming coverage for the Children’s Dream Fund 50 will be provided through Racing America in partnership with Must See Racing.