Christian Briggs Starting New Chapter As NEMA Owner In ’17
Column By: MATTHEW WIERNASZ / RPW – MATTAPOISETT, MA – Christian Briggs will transfer from owner/driver to just owner for the 2017 NEMA Midgets Season. Briggs ran in the NEMA Lites but has decided to move to NEMA with Mike Horn as his driver. The team purchased an Esslinger engine. Most of the NEMA Lite cars have been sold to cover the cost of the new engine. Briggs will step out of driving for a while to focus on wins for his team.
They are building a mid rail NEMA Lite with a new focus motor. Briggs will drive that car along with other drivers from other series. He does not think the car will be ready this season.
Briggs decided to step into the owner role to focus on winning and providing a ride. Briggs felt he needed to learn some things along the way to provide the winning ride He brought in Mike Horn as he believes Horn is talent behind the wheel and at the shop.
The team is planning to run 7-9 races in NEMA throughout the season. As an owner, Briggs is looking forward to the Allan Cantor Memorial at Riverhead Raceway. He has never been to the Long Island quarter mile oval and believes Horn has a shot at winning. Briggs also believes Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park stands out on the schedule for him as Horn has a true passion for Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
The team is planning to stay local and not make the trip to Wiscasset Speedway. Briggs is a driver for a 24 hour Lemons race in October and may travel to Anderson Speedway in Indiana in October if the race were to happen.
The team had a rough 2016 season. The cars weren’t ready and Briggs felt he got in way over his head and had too many cars. When the throttle got stuck and his best friend Juris Kupris got hurt. Briggs felt it was time to regroup.
Briggs always believe races are won at the shop.
” When the cars show up at the track. They have to be ready to win right there. You can’t run around at the last minute. It just doesn’t work. So now I have made it simple with one car to focus on.” Briggs Said
Why NEMA Why Now ??
” The direction of the club seems to be the right one. I believe that my friend Tim Bertrand will do great as the President. I also feel that Russ (Stoehr) did a great job the past few seasons. Also the lite series has a lot of up and coming drivers and that’s great but there’s also a lot of quick decisions that might result with your night ending up on the hook. With the experience teams in the NEMA division. I think we can add to their already great show and it looks like there are several other teams returning to competition so we should have a great field of cars.” Briggs Said
Briggs feels if he does his job as a car owner and if Horn does his job as the driver then they could be a competitive team race after race during the 2017 season.
” I personally look forward to standing and watching the races as an owner with the likes of Tim Bertrand, Mike Chambers, and the other great owners in NEMA’s top division.” Briggs Said
The goals for the team for 2017 are to have to solid finishes and a win or two.
The NEMA Midgets will kickoff their 2017 season at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Sunday May 7th. The NEMA Lites will kickoff their 2017 season at the Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway Motiorsports Park on Saturday April 1st.
