The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will make its inaugural visit to the state of Montana this week for the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts Bonus Challenge 150 at Montana Raceway Park in Kalispell on Saturday, Aug. 7.
"Jack Sellers has used his racing team to promote awareness of the Greyhound Adoption Center, which finds homes for retired racing greyhounds. His team has also donated winnings to the San Diego area-based organization."
The event, the eighth of a 12-race schedule this season, is slated to be televised to a national audience on SPEED at 3 p.m. PT on Aug. 12.
It’s an event that has generated a lot of excitement in the series. For some competitors, it will be their first visit to Montana. For long-time series veteran Jack Sellers (No. 15 Greyhound Adoption Center Chevrolet), however, it will be a return to a state he visited many times as a hunter.
“I hunted up there off and on almost every year for about 10 years,” said Sellers, who celebrated his 66th birthday last week.
It’s a picturesque area that Sellers anticipates everyone will enjoy seeing.
“It’s called ‘big sky country’ and it’s got big sky,” he said with a chuckle. ”You look at those mountains and the sky is so big. It’s aptly named.”
The Montana event will mark Sellers’ 238th series race. The Sacramento, Calif., driver is closing in on the record for the most races in the modern era of the series (1971-present). Asked his thoughts on setting such a mark, Sellers responded with the same humor he has been known for throughout his career.
“I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or just a sign of not giving up,” he said. “It’s not something I set out to do, that’s for sure. It just kind of happened that way. It fell into place.”
Sellers, whose family owns the Coca-Cola plant in Sacramento and who was seldom without his cowboy hat in his early days of racing, became known as the “Coca-Cola Cowboy.”
When he ran his first series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., in 1985, Sellers said he had no idea what was ahead in the years to come.
“It was just something that I was starting to do,” he said. “I enjoyed racing. I had run (late model) races at Roseville, Altamont, Anderson, Ukiah and Carson City. I had about five or six tracks under my belt before I got into this series.”
Sellers ran five races that first season in 1985, finishing as high as 11th on two occasions. He quickly became a regular competitor in the series, which was then known as the Winston West. By his third season, Sellers had landed a top-10 spot in the championship standings and he went on to finish in the top 10 in points six more times. He considers the 1993 season, when he finished fifth in the standings, among his favorite memories in the series.
Sellers also has fond memories of competing in the prestigious 500-lap races held at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., each year between 1985 and 1993.
“I did have a lot of fun doing the 500-lappers at Monroe,” he said. “Those were the days when you brought every tire you had in your shop. You brought them and you ran them and ran them. I didn’t finish anywhere near on the lead lap, but I finished. That was an accomplishment in itself. Those 500-lappers were grueling.”
In addition to being a driver, Sellers has played a significant role as a car owner in the series, often fielding additional entries.
“When I started, the series was short on cars,” Sellers recalled. “If I had an extra car or two in the garage, I would bring it and put a driver in it.”
One of the drivers he gave a ride to was Ron Hornaday Jr., who made his first series start at Saugus (Calif.) Speedway in 1989.
“That was the first time he got a ride in a Cup-type car,” Sellers said of the driver who would go on to win four championships in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. “I remember he qualified ninth and I qualified 11th. He was going to the front and got up to about sixth when somebody stuffed him into the wall.”
Sellers has also been known for stepping in to help other drivers in need – including a young Bill McAnally, when he was attempting to establish himself in the series. After vandals destroyed McAnally’s only car on the eve of the season opener in 1994, Sellers provided him a ride in that first race.
For his role in the series, Sellers was honored with the Sportsmanship Award in 2005.
Known also for his love of animals, Sellers has used his racing team to promote awareness of the Greyhound Adoption Center, which finds homes for retired racing greyhounds. His team has also donated winnings to the San Diego area-based organization.
