Family keeps drive to thrive alive

T.J. Clark’s team of five race cars was pitted, with most under portable canopies for protection from the sun.

Those involved with the team were facing an emotional night. A monument was to be unveiled to honor track champion Spencer Clark, a 19-year-old budding star who had died a year earlier in an off-track auto accident.

It didn’t seem right to the Clark family to be there getting ready to race without Spencer.

Unexpectedly, a wind gust blew through the Clarks’ pit area, sending many of the colorful shelters airborne. Clark said theirs was the only pit affected.

The Clark camp knew then Spencer again had decided to make an impact on the Bullring — just as he had done so many times on the track.

"That was Spencer messing with us," T.J. recalled this week, a satisfied smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "Just another one of Spencer’s shenanigans."

Spencer died May 21, 2006, when a wind gust caused the truck in which he was riding to lose control and crash on a New Mexico highway. He and crew member Andrew Phillips, who was driving and also was killed, were hauling a rebuilt race car from North Carolina. Neither was wearing a seat belt.

The Clark family lost a son and brother. And a desire to race, they thought.

Spencer won track and national championships when he was 13 driving Legends Cars, which are five-eighths-scale replicas of early race cars with motorcycle engines.

He jumped in with the big boys in Super Late Models two years later and gained top rookie honors. He won 12 Super Late Models races in a too-brief Bullring career, including eight in 2005, in the premier stock-car division at the local three-eighths-mile oval.

In 2005, Clark signed with the same motor sports management company that represents Nextel Cup star Tony Stewart. He finished 35th for a low-budget team in his debut in the NASCAR Busch Series on the facility’s superspeedway two months before his death.

It was the biggest run on his course to national recognition.

The fatal crash was a parents’ worst nightmare.

After spending his adult life in motor sports, T.J., a former professional racer, had no desire to return to a track.

His vocation had rubbed off on Spencer and daughter Candice, 17. Racing, next to God, was the most integral part of their family life.

Though the grieving process never will end, the Clarks realized the need to forge ahead to honor their son’s devotion.

Late last year, they created the Spencer Clark Driven Foundation, which is fielding five cars this year at the Bullring in a variety of classes.

"It’s called ‘Driven’ because Spencer was driven," his father said. "You have to be driven by your heart and desire to succeed in this sport."

The team consists of Southern Nevadans Dylan Kwasniewski, 12, who has won three times in Bandolero competition; Legends drivers Candice Clark, Dusty Davis and Nick Parmelee; and Tom Lovelady, third in Super Late Models points with two victories.

A regional NASCAR Grand American stock car, which Spencer had raced, awaits the next young gun, who likely will be Lovelady.

Several other cars in various Bullring divisions are part of the program and receive technical support and mentoring from T.J.

As difficult as it is for the Clarks to be around their 5,000-square-foot shop in North Las Vegas and racetracks, they know they have little choice.

"Sometime I’d rather be doing something else," T.J. said, "but when I start feeling like that, Spencer kicks me in the butt.

"Spencer was always the first to help other drivers, and I want to keep that going."

Lovelady, an 18-year-old senior at Spring Valley High School, and Parmelee, 22, were close friends with Spencer and are two of the speedway’s top young racers.

"When I started in Legends, Spencer was the guy who helped me the most," Lovelady said. "He was the first guy there."

Without the program, he said he probably wouldn’t be racing this season for lack of funds.

But Driven does not provide a free ride. All drivers are required to work on their cars. For Lovelady, that’s 20 to 25 hours a week.

Said T.J.: "You have to understand the characteristics of the car. Races are won in the shop."

The shop is filled with memories of Spencer, from the times he would play racing video games as a kid to when he spent countless hours taking every possible measurement of a car chassis before inputting the data into his computer to help formulate his car’s setup.

"He was like a mad scientist," said T.J., shaking his head but again smiling.

Drivers are asked to commit time, not money. The program is developmental in the purest sense.

Sponsors, donations and fundraisers support the Foundation. A poker tournament is being planned for this year at a yet-unnamed major resort, with several top NASCAR drivers committed to participate.

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The program’s Web site — SpencerClark.com — is being updated. Call 647-5432 for information or to apply for the program.