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Anything With Wheels Fuels Kapish's Desire to Compete

By Gene Ostrowski
July, 2006

As a youngster Jeansville, PA's Tom Kapish, Jr. (TJ) grew up around Dodge trucks and when he grew older began racing in mud drags and "Tuff Truck" racing. Tuff Truck racing is basically an obstacle course with jumps and other obstacles, similar to a motocross/enduro track, along with short drags that contain jumps. They are typically run on the monster truck courses. Although he enjoyed the competition, TJ left the series after five years. "I felt that the rules starting getting into a money game and the whole aspect of what Tuff Truck racing was originated from became completely changed around and too over competitive, so I decided to get out of it", he noted.

He has been four wheeling since he was sixteen years of age and became involved with Paragon Adventure Park in Hazleton, PA since their inception. Paragon Adventure Park is an ATV and off-road vehicle riding ground that consists of 150,000 acres. TJ has worked as a guide, and in doing so he has guiding off-road vehicles through the park and through their toughest courses.

Moving to a different type of competition, Kapish hand built a rock crawling buggy in '01 and began to compete on the rock crawling circuit, where he continued in competitions until last year. "As I experienced before, rock crawling became a big money sport and required at least a dozen or more of good sponsors to even survive, so I have put that aside for now, and use my buggy for trail riding. Since hanging up my rock crawling shoes I got picked up as a spotter by another team will be doing that this year", he said. TJ continued "One day a friend of mine talked me into trying the NEETS enduros at Mountain Speedway for something to do during the off season, so I figured why not"? Since then Kapish hasn't won any enduros, but has learned a whole new aspect of competition, and something that he has seemed to pick up very naturally.

For his first two-circle track races TJ competed in the NEETS Holiday Sock Car Series at Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, PA. Amazingly, it was the first car that he has ever driven, as he has always owned Dodge trucks! The first of two four cylinders he purchased to run was a Chevy Cavalier, which cost a mere $100. After it's short-lived journey, he then purchased a Dodge Shadow for $50, which TJ ran in the January "Beaters with Heaters" event in 2005. Unfortunately he wrecked it, but admitted that had a ball doing in doing so. His next choice of vehicle moved him up to the 6/8 cylinder enduro division. The car of choice was a Chrysler New Yorker with a $100 price tag on it from a local farmer. He has been racing it and tweaking his driving skills since then. As many enduro cars are decorated, Kapish's ride seems to really take notice to the fans, as "Oscar the Grouch" rides along on the roof of the car. When asked about Oscar, TJ responded by saying "I initially wanted to put something on the car so I can be spotted on the track, so I came up with the big Garbage can. My girlfriend took it one step further with the idea of putting Oscar the Grouch in the can, so my Mother found me the 3 ½ foot stuffed Oscar. I painted the car green and it's been on the car since the very beginning. We have found that it is a favorite car among the kids at the track and since I have signed autographs and had kid get in my car for pictures. Needless to say I'll be keeping the Oscar theme."

Only 85 point out of finishing in the tenth spot in the '05 NEETS point standings, with a best finish of 8th, Kapish has minute goals for the remainder of this season. "My goal for this season is to make the top ten in points for the year. I think it's an achievable goal, but I didn't take off to a good start. In the first race I got taken out in a wreck early, which bent up my lower control arm. I would love to win a race this year but also think there are some well-tuned cars out there with veteran drivers that won't let that happen. No matter what, I just go out to have a good time, try to run hard, but still think it's all for fun", he noted.

As a 30-year old competitive guy would have it, TJ has lured many of his friends into the sport of racing in circles. He continued by saying "I have currently been getting more and more people involved in the enduros and we have four 4-cylinder drivers, and also six 8-cylinder drivers in our group".

When asked about the NEETS series in general, TJ went on by saying "As for the series goes, I think Billy (Bartley) is doing a great thing with the parties and practice, he does a lot. As far as the rules are concerned, I have actually seen it change since last season. I am all for the safety rules, but also think with certain cage rules and tire stagger, I could possibly see it getting out of hand and not be a budget/fun racing series. I can only see the tire stagger rule making fast cars faster, and the cage rule compensating for the high speeds. In my opinion, as long as Billy keeps the series from getting out of hand and keeps it as it is, it will be fun and enjoyable for many years to come".

Although enduro racing is what helped fuel the fire to TJ's short track racing habit, he plans to tour the 1/3rd mile at Mountain Speedway in one of the regular Saturday night divisions, the thrillers. Thriller cars are similar to the full size enduros, but with added safety measures, track tires and more flexibility with car set up. If everything pans out, Kapish is planning on running a thriller race or two this season, once he gets his car within the division guidelines.

As many racers' families are involved in the sport, TJ's is no different. His parents Tom and Mary Ann have been to the track and have watched every race that he has run so far. He's also looking forward to the September 30th NEETS "Fem-Duro", which is basically a female/male tag-team event. "My Girlfriend for 4 years has been my passenger in the enduros from the start. This year I am definitely pressuring her to run the Fem-Duro", he said.

Excited, Kapish closed by saying "I have a blast racing and we have all been planning to race other tracks this year, and also to get involved with the thriller division at Mountain. I don't necessarily have a proudest moment in the sport, but seem to get a little better every race, and I'm proud of that".

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