Troy Bergman-A Racing World Rarity

I would like to thank Rick Bergman for emailing me about his son Troy, a street stock racer at Boone County Raceway in Albion.  For most of the fans who attended the fair races, the highlight was the super late model shows put on by the WDRL and WoO.  I enjoyed these shows, but I enjoyed even more having the opportunity to meet seven drivers, including Troy Bergman.

 

I should probably thank Troy for spending a few minutes with me Sunday, as he may be the busiest driver around.  Troy is a rarity these days, as he builds his own chassis.  Call it a Bergman chassis, and there have only been two made, one four years ago, and one on his current street stock.  “We can’t afford high dollar cars,” said Bergman.  “We have a nice shop, and know how to weld.  We studied other chassis, looked at other cars, and ideas we liked we plugged into our car.  We don’t build our engines or gears, but we do everything else.”

 

Saving money is the upside of building your own chassis, but there is a down side too.  “If we have a problem, we can’t call a chassis maker and ask what we need to do,” noted Bergman. “We have to work at it and figure it out for ourselves.”  Building a chassis is a major time commitment, but Bergman races at both US 30 Speedway on Thursdays, and BCR on Fridays.

 

Bergman started racing go-karts in 1993, and moved to street stocks in 1996.  He was named Rookie of the Year at US 30 in 1996, and won the 150 lap Street Stock Nationals that same year. Troy has won a hobby stock championship at Butler County Motorplex near Rising City. 

 

Troy works for the City of Columbus Street Department.  He and wife Laura have a puppy named Molly.  Pit crew members include his mom Cheryl Smith, step-dad Tom Smith, dad Rick Bergman, and Big Tom.  “Everyone just knows him as Big Tom,” stated Bergman.

 

When asked if there was something unique about him that most fans would not know, Bergman said, “Well, I was a wrestler at Columbus High.”  He then confessed to something far more unorthodox.  “In 84-85-86, I was a trophy winning break dancer.”  (Author’s note: If there is any other writer who has interviewed an All-American football player and a break dancer who both are racers, I would like to know).

 

Bergman believes “the Lord has blessed us.”  Maybe no more so than in his relationship with his father.  “My dad is my hero,” noted Bergman. 

 

Troy had a difficult night at Albion on Sunday, but bounced back at US 30 Speedway on Thursday July 24^th, claiming the street stock ‘A’ feature win.  Who knows, a few more like that, and maybe someone will want to order Bergman Chassis #3. 

 

Thanks Troy and Rick, and thank you for stopping by.

 

 

~ by Ron Meyer on July 26, 2008.