Published Wednesday, Nov. 5, 1997
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AUTO RACING
Mercer football player Snyder likes his speed, too
Mercer football player Derek Snyder is also making a mark on race tracks.
(Tiffany Wolfe/Herald) |
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
If Derek Snyder had a choice of facing down a charging nose tackle or racing down a long straightaway, there would be no hesitation in his response.
Snyder, 17, a son of Alan and Theresa Snyder, Mercer, is the starting center for the Mustangs football team who also just happens to quench his thirst for speed by driving micro sprint race cars.
``I don't think anything beats speed, at least to me,'' said the 5-foot-9, 170-pound junior. ``I'm sure my football coach (Frank Makarevich) wouldn't like to hear that, but in my case it's true. I love speed.''
He also loves winning, which until recently was something the first-year driver hadn't experienced. Then on Oct. 11 at Deerfield (Ohio) Raceway in what was approximately the 30th race of his career, Snyder finally captured the checkered flag in a Micro Sprint feature.
After winning a heat that night _ his second heat victory of the year _ Snyder started 6th in the feature race, which boasted some 20 cars.
``We picked cars off and got the lead about halfway through,'' Snyder said. ``The car was strong, everything was smooth and the motor was fine.''
Snyder, reaching speeds of more than 80 miles per hour on the straightaways, never lost that lead on the 1/8th-mile oval and eventually secured his initial victory, a good half-lap ahead of the runner-up.
His reaction?
``Finally!'' he said. ``I was real excited. We had been working so hard all year and it finally paid off.''
His family, friends and racing team, which includes car co-owners Tom Mayerchak of Choice Chassis and his father, were equally fired up.
``They were real excited,'' he said. ``They were jumping up and down because it was my first win. They knew how much it meant, especially for a rookie to win.''
It didn't take quite so long for Snyder to register his second win, however, as the following week he bested an 18-car field in a 15-lap micro feature at Deerfield.
While they haven't dropped any cute nicknames _ say like Bash and Dash _ on their car-racing, football-playing classmate yet, Snyder said his friends at Mercer have also followed his brief career with enthusiasm.
``A lot of my friends are interested,'' he said. ``They always ask how I do and they were real excited for me also. They thought it was pretty neat.''
And despite the fact football and auto racing appear to be at opposite ends of the sports world spectrum, Snyder has found one similarity which carries over to both.
``A lot of it is mental,'' he said. ``You can't get down, you can't get frustrated and you can't let the little things beat you on the track or on the football field.''
In addition to his football and auto racing activities, Snyder is also involved with chorus at Mercer, is the assistant editor of the school paper, Hoofbeats, and still finds the time to maintain a 3.2 grade point average.
As for his future?
``I'd like to move up to to full-size sprints, but it'll take time,'' he said. ``As far as school goes I definitely want to go to a four-year college.''
Where he said he is torn between majoring in business or communications.
How about both, which wouldn't seem all that far-fetched for a guy who has already mastered Bash and Dash.
