Independence Township resident Rob Huffmaster began his racing career at age 11 on a 1/8 of a quarter mile, clay oval track with a Go-Kart. Huffmaster got the love of racing from his father.
‘My dad has always been big into Motor-Sports in general. He raced snowmobiles when he was younger, Snowmobiles and dirt bikes until he was like 20. Then his dad actually made him stop, but up at our cottage at Houghton Lake we have always run dirt bikes and snowmobiles and all that stuff,? he said. ‘When my dad turned 40, my mom bought him a Skip Barber Racing school thing and he went out there for three days and that just got him hooked on road racing, so after that I was really interested in it. I helped him out a lot with it and crewed for him.?
Huffmaster raced Go-Karts for about three years, and then raced a 100cc road-kart for about half a year. At 15 1/2 years old, Huffmaster got a waiver to race at the Waterford Hills road course where he raced Miata Spec Cars. After that, hopped into Dad’s Mazda RX 7 raced that for a year, which led up to this year.
They actually have two cars, the 1990 RX 7 and a 2004 RX 8.
‘We kind of swap back and forth between the two,? said Huffmaster, now 21 years old.
The Mazda RX 8 was Huffmaster’s main car this season, a season championship that Huffmaster was not expecting. He earned his first Touring 3 National championship at the 2007 SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) National championship Runoffs at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.
‘It was pretty incredible, because the whole year was more spaced out than the past few years, racing wise. We’ve raced a lot more in past years. So this year I didn’t think that we were that far into it, but we had one big race at the end of the year and we’ve never been to the SCAA National runoff, so I had no idea how I would stiff up to the competition. I had a pretty open mind going into it,? said Huffmaster. ‘After qualifying, I was called up to third, so I was pretty happy with that. I thought a podium would be amazing for my first time there, then the morning of the race it was raining a bunch and thunder storming. One guy spun out in front of me and another guy got black flagged because his car was too loud and that put me in the lead. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe I did it my first time that I went down there.?
Huffmaster said 2007 MX-5 champion Jason Saini was a ‘huge help? on the set up of the car, and helping him improve his lap time on the track.
Huffmaster will be leaving on Wed. Oct 28 for a 25-hour race with four other drivers at Thunder Hill raceway in California, to give him seat time in a Miata MX 5. In another two weeks, Huffmaster will race a one-day competition against five other drivers who have also won championships this year in a Mazda. The winner will receive a Miata Mx-5 pro race car and the parts to build it.
‘We all get in the MX 5’s and do lap time, post race interview, like a mock interview, talk with engineers to see how your input is on the car, judge you and announce the winner a couple weeks later,? he said.
Huffmaster had originally just thought of racing as a hobby after this year, but once he won the championship and got a chance to win a pro-car, his mind has changed a little.
‘I am trying to do my best for the next two years to put myself in the best position to try and become a professional driver, but it’s so hard and a lot of things have to go your way, but it’s definitely a really good start,? he said.
Even if he doesn’t become a pro-racer, he would still like to do something with racing, whether it is a race car instructor, working for a race series such as Grand-Am or at a race track.
‘I figure if I stay around racing and I get enough seat time, you never know if later on I might get an opportunity to do something.?
Huffmaster’s favorite part of racing is the competition.
‘I have always been very competitive at anything from air hockey to racing on the tracks,? he said.
He has also managed to stay out of major trouble on the track as well.
Fortunately, I haven’t had any major off track crashes that did serious damage to the car, but I have had numerous entanglements with other cars that did a little bit of body damage. In general I do not lose my head when I am on the track, I am a pretty clean racer, I don’t try to hit anyone. I am racing on my dad’s budget. I got to be pretty clean,? he said with a laugh.
Huffmaster has also worked on his car by himself this year as well.
‘Earlier when I was 15-16 (years old) I didn’t really work on the car because I didn’t know much. As the years have progressed, I definitely have become a lot more hands on. This year I have pretty much prepped my car before every race and I’ve done that by myself, just because I feel better as a driver when I make sure the car is ready myself.?
Huffmaster is currently going to school at Central Michigan University for an Entrepreneurship degree and a Legal Studies minor. However, he is not exactly sure what he wants to do at this point.
‘I could always go into my dad’s company. He owns a security company; my other two brothers (Ray, 26, Ryan, 25) work there now. That’s always an option for me, but I would like to try to do something outside of the family for at least a few years, test the waters, just some sort of business job. I mean if I could ever start my own business, that would be great. I’m sure I would have to start working for someone first.?
Due to racing, he has missed a lot of class time this year.
‘In general my priority is racing at this point. I can always retake a class, but can’t redo that race,? said Huffmaster.
He grew up in Rochester Hills, and has been a Clarkston area resident for about a year. Huffmaster’s race on Dec. 5 will be broadcast on the SPEED TV channel at 1 p.m. Check www.huffmasterracing.com .