MYRTLE BEACH, SC :: When the 2012 version of the Myrtle Beach 400 at Myrtle Beach Speedway was rained out and postponed to March of 2013, drivers and teams were upset … well, except one.
Frank Deiny, Jr. was relieved when the race was rained out last November. He was out of a ride with Kiker Motorsports and was unable to get a car from his own FDJ Motorsports stables ready in time to make the trip. Four months later, he’s on his way to Myrtle Beach, SC and not with Kiker.
“Parting ways with Kiker Motorsports was hard,” said Deiny. “Travis and Eddie (Kiker) are my friends, so making the decision to step out of that ride wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve done. However neither of us were happy with the situation and not getting the results we knew we were capable of. Now we’ll race against each other, but we’re still friends.”
Deiny has won at Myrtle Beach Speedway five times in his career with four of them coming in the track’s most prestigious race, the Myrtle Beach 400. He knows his experience and knowledge on the track will help but he’s really just out to have fun.
“I’m a midget racer now,” laughed Deiny referring to the handful of Midget races he’ll run in the Midwest this year. “I still want to race and this will be a good opportunity since I don’t have any clients signed up to run anywhere this weekend. I’ll run five times or so this season and have fun doing it.”
Deiny also thinks that the concept of having this two big Late Model Stock Car races at Myrtle Beach Speedway this weekend is one drivers and teams should love.
“They’re really doing a good thing for the racers. Having these two big races on back to back nights is great. That’s my main reason for going down. We’ve got two chances for two big wins and I like it.”
Deiny says that, while racing himself will be the big focus this weekend, he’s also doing a little research and development for his current lineup of clients and future ones.
“We’ve been doing a lot of R&D this off season. I think we’ve got some good setups in the testing we’ve done but since we’ve got two customers driving cars at Southern National and Motor Mile, I haven’t been able to test them in race mode. This will be a good opportunity for us to do that.”
Deiny says that, while he has two clients (Hunter Devers and Craig Stallard) that will compete in the full “The Dirty Dozen” schedule at Southern National and Motor Mile, that spots are still open for new clients to join the FDJ Army.
“We’re always looking to make our product better and I think we’ve done that this winter. Seeing Hunter (Devers) lead laps at Southern National in the opener proved that and we’ve got the whole team running better this season. We’ve still got openings for some races this season and we’ve got some good opportunities available still.”
Deiny’s car will be sponsored this weekend by Family Drug of Neon, KY and he’s hoping to take them to victory lane both nights.
“Craig and Sandy Stallard are very supportive of FDJ Motorports and of me racing,” concluded Deiny. “I’d like to repay them with a trophy this weekend but I know we’ve got a long ways to go on Friday night having to start near the rear of the field and the competition will be strong as always.”