Pruchnik Excited For Sophomore Year In Lightning Sprints

Column By: RYAN HILL / RPW – NEW MILFORD, CT – 2016 was an exciting season for the Pruchnik family. The family has been involved in racing for over 20 years, but Jesse Pruchnik is the first driver in the family.

After two seasons of kart racing, in which Jesse won a championship at Oakland Valley Speedway in 2014, followed up by a 3rd place points finish at Lebanon Valley Kart Speedway and a 5th points finish at Dodge City Speedway in 2015. The family decided they were going to take a leap of faith, purchasing their son a Lightning Sprint for the 2016 season. Lightning Sprints are a midget chassis race car with a full sprint car wing powered by a 1000cc motorcycle engine. Weighing in at under 1,000 lbs these winged warriors put on a show wherever they go.

Jesse acknowledges that it was a big step up from his kart racing. “Before I ever drove a Lightning Sprint I figured I would finish last at every race, until I raced it for the first time. I finished 4th or 5th, and it gave us all a lot of confidence. We learned to work as a team to get the car figured out.”

Jesse carried the momentum from opening night through the season finishing 4th in the series points. They raced 12 races in 2016, Jesse racked up an impressive 5 top 5 finishes, 12 top 10 finishes, and 2 heat race wins. The heat race wins are what Jesse is most proud of from his rookie season.

“The heat race wins at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and Accord Speedway were a surprise to me. The wins felt great, and gave the team a lot of motivation. I’m proud that my family works so hard to figure out good setups for the car.”

The Pruchniks are certainly a family devoted to their son’s racing ambitions. The team comprises of Jesse’s parents Frank and Stephanie, Jesse’s Uncle Denis Pruchnik, as well as Jesse’s sister Amber and her boyfriend Sal. There is always work being done on their Spectro Oils 42 car in the garage at the family’s home in New Milford, CT.

Frank and Denis grew up watching sprint cars and Frank said “It is really neat to see Jesse taking this path and to do all the preparation, growing, dreaming, and winning and losing together as a family.”

Jesse’s Uncle Denis has been an asphalt modified car owner, worked for Michael Waltrip’s NASCAR Cup Series team, and crew chiefed at many levels. He has the utmost confidence in his nephew’s ability and passion for racing.

“Jesse has a huge heart, a good well rounded kid who loves racing. He started with the indoor karts and really took to it. I’ve actually spoke to drivers who used to drive for me such as Todd Szegedy and George Bessette who noticed Jesse back in the karting days. He has a lot of natural car control.

Denis fortifies the familial theme of Jesse’s racing when he added “I’ve always wanted to race dirt, and it has been a lot of fun, but getting to do it with my brother, sister in law and having my nephew in the car is the icing on the cake.”

Jesse has his sights set on 2017, and looks forward to hitting all the tracks but especially returning to The Great Race Place, Albany- Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY. “That is my favorite because it is so much fun and very fast, but Accord Speedway is a close second.”

In 2017 Jesse hopes to achieve some of his personal goals such as getting better as a driver, to race at more tracks , winning features, racing some bigger events against more drivers, maybe even getting into a full size sprint car one day like his favorite driver Davie Franek.

“I saw Davie race at Selinsgrove this year and he put on an amazing show! He finished second that night with his wing collapsing, bouncing it off the cushion. I walked right by him in the pits I wish I had gone up and said hi.”

That may have been the only time Jesse was too shy to go up and say hi. Jesse has a very natural way of fitting in with the other drivers and crews he races against despite the large age difference. He does a great job talking to fans, sponsors and competitors. Jesse encourages anybody that would like to learn about Lightning Sprint racing to stop by his pit and say hi, you will surely be engaged in a thoughtful conversation, and more than likely will end up sitting in the 42 at some point.

Jesse would like to thank all his sponsors Spectro Oils , Ballistic Machine , ALP Films , Blue Cord Media, CS Designs, Fragola Performance Fittings , New England Racing Fuels, High Side Race wear and of course my family.

Jesse opens his season May 5th at Albany Saratoga Speedway.