SPEEDWAY Stringer family gets ready for big race

The second annual Sam Stringer Memorial race will be July 20 at the Pahrump Valley Speedway.

It will be a 48-lap, main event with racers coming from Tonopah, California and Las Vegas. For local race fans, the sheer number of cars on the track should make it the most exciting race to watch.

Chad Broadhead said this race brought in just as many fans and racers as the harvest festival in its first run.

Sam Stringer’s widow Sheree Stringer organizes the race. She expects at least 16 to 20 West Coast Super Stock racers. Broadhead said all the other classes should be full too.

It is one year after the death of her husband, and Sheree spends hours of her days talking to people about the race. She seems to be at peace and in her element. To her, working on the memorial race is her way of remembering Sam the way he was.

Preparing for the memorial race means she gets to spend time with her four children as well.

“It’s a year-round thing. Once the race stops we start at it again designing for next year. We start with the art design for the T-shirts. We design the hats. We try to keep it simple. My children are the creative ones,” she said.

Whereas her daughters, LeAnn Long and Carrie Keaton, are the creative team, her two sons Steve and Joshua spend much of their time racing cars like their father. They help Mom by talking to other drivers about the the memorial race.

Sheree spends most of her time talking to people about donating money to her fundraisers for the race. It’s a family effort, which has brought them even closer together. The family does three fundraisers a year.

The goal is to raise enough money to pay off the winner of the Sam Stringer Memorial, which is $1,500. Anything extra goes to the Sam Stringer Memorial Scholarship, which was a $1,000 this year. Sheree hopes to grow the amount of money the scholarship offers each year.

She is very thankful for her family. She is also appreciative of all the volunteers and donations she has received over the year.

“We have plenty of contacts,” Sheree said. “We get a lot of donated prizes. The hardest thing to do is to go to business and ask for money.

“I was in business myself and I know it’s hard for people to open their wallets and give $100. We have a tremendous amount of support. I did 90 businesses and I was floored by how many of them sent checks or gift certificates. I was really surprised by the response.”

She said she is also grateful for Chad Broadhead, who goes out of his way to help. He donated the Superstock gate fees to the cause and, of course, provides the speedway.

Sheree really had no goals this year. She just wants everyone participating to have a good race.

“I want to have a good clean race,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to tear up their cars. I know what it’s like to have to pull out your checkbook. The first year Sam raced he blew seven engines. We had to pay for the first one and he had a sponsor for the last six. Times are tough and guys live on a shoestring. Racing is an expensive sport, so my biggest goal is that everyone comes out of it with a good experience.”