Hughes drawing attention at ODS

Tyler Hughes is turning heads in Legends at Old Dominion Speedway.
The 13-year-old Cordova, Md., driver has racked up three top threes in his first three races at the track, including two seconds. He is also second in points, only four points behind leader Ryan Polenz.
“I’m real happy with the start of the season,” Hughes said. “My car’s been right, and I’ve been running upfront. I can’t ask for anything better.”
Hughes’ most exciting race was the opener when he finished third. He started 11th after his clutch went bad in qualifying and threaded his way through the field to nab a top three in his first outing in the division.
“That was a good race,” he said. “I had to gain more ground in that one than in the past two races.”
“He does a great job on the track,” said Hughes’ dad. “He hits his lines really well.”
Hughes also led his first laps in last week’s race before Kevin Yeatts passed him in lap eight.
“Leading laps was fun,” Hughes said. “I kept hoping Yeatts wouldn’t get by me, but I just made a mistake and that’s all it takes, just a little mistake.”
Hughes’ goal this year is to finish in the top five in points and maybe get a win or two along the way.
Hughes is well-acquainted with victory lane. He had 70 wins in quarter midgets over eight years and about 20 wins in Modifieds Lites over three years.
He started racing when he was five in Quarter Midgets and has competed in some 300 races and 60 to 70 in Modified Lites. At one point, he was racing in three classes at two different tracks.
Hughes won a Quarter Midgets championship in 2006 at Honey Brook, Pennsylvania. He won another championship in Modified Lites in Middleford, Del. in 2007, his first season in that division.
Last year, he moved up to the adult division in Lites, the 1,000s, so he could prepare to race Legends this season. In his first four races, he won three.
Hughes said it was fun racing against older, more experienced drivers in the Modified Lites’ 1,000s series.
“It was a lot more power in Lites and more challenging,” he said.
Last season, Hughes practiced a Legends car at ODS six or seven times so he would be prepared to race the division this year.
“I learned a lot practicing and kept picking up speed,” he said. “So when I came into this season, I was pretty much ready to face whatever was coming at me.”
Hughes’ smooth adjustment to Legends was aided by his racing dirt in Modified Lites. His Legends car is a coupe, which is looser in the corners, so it’s second nature for him to drive a loose car after racing dirt for years.
“Racing Lites taught me how to drive a loose car,” he said. “If my car is loose off the corner, I can easily save it.”
Hughes is keeping his fingers crossed that he’ll make it to victory lane this year. “It’s going to be tough,” he said. “I’m going to need a little more seat-time and learn from other drivers.”
He said he loves the adrenalin rush from racing. “It gets my blood going,” he said.