On the track again, Ty Tipps logs fast time at Evergreen Speedway

Community and family worked together to make possible a day at the races on Saturday, when Ty Tipps competed in Monroe at the Evergreen Speedway, racing in a brand-new Chevy S-10 mini truck.

Tipps competed in the Northwest Pro4 Truck series races held at the Evergreen Speedway on June 27 where he posted the best lap time in the B Heat qualifying race with a time of 20.7 seconds. 

The track was getting slick from rain. "We had to back it down a little bit or get stuck in the wall," Tipps told The Star over the phone on Monday. 

Because of the rain, the rest of the races in his series were cancelled, but he'll be back there on July 11 to race some more. 

Tipps describes the truck he's driving as something of a hybrid, "basically a Chevy S-10," he said. "This is a brand-new truck that we built from the ground up. Before qualifying, it hadn't seen a lap on the track. That was our first lap on the track. We didn't know what to expect."

Tipps is quick to recognize the work that people put into the truck and enabled him to compete. 

His cousin Terry Warren built the truck in Everett. 

"He's the mastermind behind all this," Tipps said. 

Tipps also said it "wouldn't be possible" without sponsors and helpers Electric City Bar and Grill, Coulee Hardware, Anytime Fitness, Horn Construction, Robertson Repair, Woodpecker Graphics, who supplied the graphics for the truck, and more - businesses owned and operated by family and friends.

"It's kind of a family affair," Tipps said, adding that Jeff Bird of Bird's Autobody helped build the engine, and Lucas Bird, a racer himself, helped, as well. 

The biggest sponsor is my wife Stephanie," Tipps said.

Tipps's pitt crew included his brother Kevin Tipps, cousin Terry Warren, and Kurt and Kevin Steinke.

Having started racing at 4 years old, Tipps eventually came to racing trucks about eight years ago but had taken a break from it. After filling in for his cousin last year in a race, "the bug bit me again," he said, "and so we decided to build one and have some fun."

"This time was pretty nerve wracking," he said about racing the new, untested truck for the first time. 

"In all actuality, when you turn your fastest lap, it feels slow because everything just comes together," he said. "It is a lot of fun."

"You can't ask for a better group of racers," Tipps continued, saying that fellow racer Doug Wilkerson supplied a couple of parts necessary for his team to compete in the race. 

 "We're all there to help each other. It's a tight group. Everyone's there to lend a hand." 

The Northwest Pro4 Truck racing series will take him to tracks from Wenatchee to Stateline, Idaho, to South Sound Speedway and again at Evergreen Speedway on July 11.