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Henderson Excels Out Of The Gate

A 17-year-old from the Buckeye State is among 29 drivers vying this weekend for 10 Drive for Diversity racing seats available for 2010.

Sloan Henderson, an 11th grader from Franklin, Ohio, will participate in the five-day Drive for Diversity Combine presented by Sunoco which opened Friday in Mooresville, N.C. During the five days of Combine events, drivers toured sites in the Charlottes area, attend Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and race Legends Cars at Concord (N.C.) Speedway. The group moves to Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., for on-track evaluations Monday and Tuesday.

Although only 17, Henderson is already a six-year racing veteran. She started out in Quarter-Midgets in 2004. After moving through Bandoleros and Legends Cars, in which she won races and championships, Henderson moved to full-size stocks cars in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in 2009. She competed in NASCAR Late Models full time at Kil-Kare Speedway in Xenia, Ohio, and frequently at Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway.

Henderson and her parents, Steve and Shelley, partnered with team owner Gary Estes for the 2009 campaign. Estes, himself a 30-year racing veteran, owned cars for 300-win veteran John Vallo, who drove to the 2008 Ohio NASCAR championship before retiring from racing.

In her rookie season, she posted six top fives and 18 top 10s in 29 starts, which brought her the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Ohio state Rookie of the Year Award. She finished sixth in points at Kil-Kare.

“I learned so much from Gary this year. With his experience, he really helped me a lot,” Henderson said. “The first time I got on the track, I got to within four-tenths of a second of the track record, but it took me about five races to really get comfortable.

“You really have to be patient with these cars, and have some strategy,” she said, noting that the smaller, lighter cars she had driven previously were much quicker in response. I didn’t have that much of a problem. Getting the feel for the harder tires was a struggle like it would be for anyone else moving from Legends cars. But I’ve always adapted quickly to new tracks.”

The pair of Ohio tracks she raced at in 2009 are certainly challenging. Kil-Kare is an unusual, meandering .375-mile paved oval where each turn’s radius and banking are different from the next. Columbus is a .333-mile semi-banked paved oval that is nearly circular, meaning drivers are always in a turn. Henderson had prior experience at both tracks in Legends or Bandoleros.

Henderson remembers the moment she decided racing cars would be her career destination.

In her first year of racing, driving Quarter Midgets in 2004, her dad made her a deal. If she won in her third start, he’d take her to the division’s Eastern Grand Nationals in Connecticut. She won, and went on to the big event. The Nationals were held at The Little T, the small banked paved oval located at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway. The Little T is the same oval that gave birth to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Joey Logano’s career. Henderson scored a come-from-behind victory in the Senior Novice feature event, which helped shape her outlook.

“That’s when I knew racing would be my life,” Henderson said. “That’s when I knew this is the way it’s supposed to be for me.”

In addition to being Henderson’s car owner in 2009, Estes also crew chiefed the effort. Crewmen include Steve Lutz, Dick Polakovics, Link Burgess, Mike Broaddus, Jerry Dankin and Larry Gard in addition to many other volunteers.

Car sponsors include Cincinnati country music station Rebel 105.9, Dayton Christian Schools, Drake Heating and Cooling, MotorCar Auto Body and Repair, AAMCO Transmissions of Miamisburg, Sign-A-Rama, First Command Financial, Dempster Tire Sales, Springboro Hardware, Line-X of Dayton, Green Pro Services, Xponex Web Services, Silverhart Rentals, Bond Machine Company, Two Scoops Ice Cream Parlor, Estes Oil Company, Miracle Welding, Trio Media + Marketing, Salon 1 Twenty Two, Koehike Components, Jim’s Towing, B-Safe Driving Instruction, Edison Saw Company, Franklin Truck Wash, Susan G. Komen Racing For a Cure, Lyn St. James, Susan Carmack, Terry Wells and Sloan’s parents, Steve and Shelley.

“I’m looking forward to the Combine,” Henderson said. “There will be a lot of people from the NASCAR community looking at us, and hopefully us drivers will share a great learning experience with each other.”