Sports

Actions

Sports Xtra: Robert Ballou returns to Indiana Sprint Week

Posted at 9:40 PM, Jul 22, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-22 21:40:05-04

TIPTON — Welcome to Tipton where you'll find sweet corn, a town that honors its hometown heroes and champion sprint car racer Robert Ballou.

Ballou works on his own cars — one of the smaller teams routinely competing against the biggest ones.

"So, when you go out and beat a team that's fully funded, it makes the gratification that much greater," Ballou said.

And he's had plenty of that.

The trophy shelf barely has any extra room. He's 13th on sprint's all-time wins list. But, it's one he had a year ago last June that he still thinks about.

"I'm coming off of four and seen the guy hit the outside fence," Ballou said. "Never would've dreamt that it would cause any issues."

As Ballou was set to take the checkered flag at Kokomo, he ran into the back of a spinning Koby Barksdale, swerving just in time to miss the fuel tank on the backside of the car.

"I was turning to miss him because the worst thing, the worse fear for anyone that races is fire," Ballou said.

But the impact causing a compound fracture of his right arm. Four surgeries and a skin graft later, he finally returned to the track this spring.

Ballou still has the seat that took the brunt of the contact, a memento of an accident that could've been so much worse.

"This is all aluminum, but obviously, this is the toughest seat on the market," Ballou said.

This week it'll be back to Kokomo for the first time since the accident, hoping to get back to the wins and celebrations. That 2015 series championship banner still hangs on his wall today.

The focus is real. This week the famed Indiana Sprint Week — seven races in nine nights. At 31, his little team has only just begun to go after the big ones.

"It's all I've ever done, you know?" Ballou said. "The grind sucks. When things aren't going your way, they really suck. But, the reward is huge."

The people in this area are familiar with this farmhouse — Blue Moon Farm. It's been here a long, long time. But, Ballou just moved into it in 2016. His race shop is inside. He'd love to fill it with even more trophies and even more rewards.

Indiana Sprint Week begins Friday in Gas City.