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Earning His Five Flags Stripes: Bomber Driver Soles No Longer a ‘crash fest,’ Enjoying Career Season

By Chuck Corder

With the white flag waving fiercely behind him, Tracy Soles’ No. 6 came off Turn 1 and the 17 year old couldn’t control it any longer.

The car was as fine as a Kate Upton. His emotions, however, were a hot mess. They were about as unpredictable as a carnival ride.

And so before the Tate High School senior collected his first career Butler U-Pull-It Bombers class checkered flag, he was bawling like a baby.

“It finally happened,� Soles remembers thinking. “It was unbelievable. I had to slow down, hit my marks and make sure I was not going to lose this chance.�

He gripped the steering wheel tight and brought the car home safely across the finish line on the opening night for 2013 at Five Flags Speedway.

That night was the first of two wins in what has been a breakout season for the young man who doesn’t have the traditional background one might expect from a teenager driver.

“I had never driven anything before four years ago,� Soles said.

My, how times have changed. Soles is a fixture these days at Pensacola’s high banks in his winning No. 6 and hopes for another trip to Victory Lane on Friday when the Bombers return alongside the Pro Late Models, Pro Trucks, Sportsmen and Bombers.

The gates open at 5 p.m. Friday; pits open at 2 p.m. Admission to the grandstands is as follows: $10, adults; $8, seniors, military and students; $5, children 6-11; and free, under-6.

Despite his two wins, Soles sits fourth in the points standings after four races — a fact that is easily explained by an unfortunate disqualification in March.

On that night, Soles appeared to have gone back-to-back, winning for a second consecutive time after his monumental win the previous week.

But technical inspection overturned the victory for a brakes issue.

“That let the mood down,� Soles deadpanned.

But instead of letting the correct decision affect him negatively, he used it as fuel for the next feature.

Soles dominated the April 12 race, leading every lap and pulling away to a full straightaway margin en route to his second (official) win.

“I had to prove a point,� Soles said. “That win told me I got a rocket ship. And I can drive now. It was a confident boost. The car’s not gonna fall apart. And I just have to worry about the driving now.�

That’s many laps from where he started four years ago.

Soles had been turning wrenches on friend and fellow driver Courtney Rodrigues’ Bombers car when he decided he wanted to try his luck.

To say that first year was a nightmare is being nice.

“A crash fest,� Soles summed up succinctly. “It was trial and a lot of error. Really it was getting seat time. It was wreck after wreck, but I think it helped me because I learned a lot about fixing cars.�

The good-natured and self-deprecating Soles also quickly learned that the community along pit row is more often family rather than rivals.

Each time Soles needed an assist or asked for advice, someone was there to offer a hand or a suggestion.

“I don’t have any enemies out there,� he said. “Everybody around that racetrack has helped. It’s awesome. Everybody wants to see everybody do (well).�

If Soles keeps up his winning pace, though, those good Samaritans providing invaluable insight might be a little bit more out of sight.

The future Marine knows although success has come quickly this year, his learning curve remains nearly as steep as one of the famed half-mile asphalt oval’s banked walls.

“After that first win, people say it’s easy. That’s not true. You gotta work,� Soles said. “It took me forever to learn where to go on that track. I’m still trying to learn how to set the cars up — when they’re tight in the corner, knowing what to do to loosen them up; making sure everything is running right to where we can keep finishing races.

“That’s how you win. Once the car starts to hold together, you can work on winning.�

Winning certainly looks sharp on Soles.

Perhaps, not as sharp as Marine’s uniform, though. Soles, who graduates from Tate in 3 weeks, is all set to follow in his father’s footsteps and enlist in December.

A few weeks prior, though, he hopes to add an historic trophy to his rapidly growing case.

“If I could win the (Snowball Derby), I’m never gonna get to sleep again,� Soles said. “To say I won the Snowball Derby, I’d grab hold of that for a lifetime.�

Just imagine the waterworks if that dream were to come true.

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