July 31, 2013
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com Staff Writer

The 2013 season was supposed to pave the way for Rob Blair’s retirement. After a Super Late Model career of nearly two decades, the 43-year-old Blair of Centerville, Pa., believed it was time for him to cut back his own racing to make way for his son Max’s transition from Crate Late Models to Supers.

“I was ready to give it up and let him do most the racing,” said Blair, who planned to follow his limited schedule in 2012 with even less racing this year. “I’ve done my share of it and I guess I was getting kind of wore out with it.”

It didn’t take long for those plans to change. In April, while shaking down a new Rocket Chassis he planned to let Max drive later in the season, the elder Blair topped a close three-way battle with fellow regional standouts Mike Knight and Dave Hess Jr. at Mercer Raceway Park to win season-opening race for the NDRL’s ULMS Racing Series in a thrilling finish.

Something about that race and the performance of the new car convinced Blair that he still had more racing left to do.

“At the beginning of the year, the plan was for Max to drive this car more than me, and I was just gonna race a little bit here and there,” Blair said. “But the first night I won and the car was so good, I said ‘Guess what, I’m racing again.’ I guess I thought I had some more wins in me.”

Indeed he did have more wins in him. Many more.

What was supposed to be perhaps a farewell tour has quickly become one of Blair’s best seasons with the veteran racer posting gaudy numbers in running a mix of regional and weekly events.

Through July, Blair has claimed 15 victories in 24 races on the season, including a series-leading five wins while only racing select events on the ULMS Series. He’s been nearly unstoppable in the summer months, posting 11 wins and finishing no worse than second in 14 races between June and July. And in perhaps one of the best month-long performances ever put together at the regional level, Blair won all eight of the races he entered in July with two victories coming in ULMS action.

Blair has had great seasons before — he’s come close to the 20-win mark a number of times in previous years — but his performance in 2013 has well surpassed his own expectations. It’s a performance he finds hard to explain. The only thing different from year’s past is the new car — an orange-style chassis from Rocket that’s similar to the one Max drove to more than 30 Crate Late Model victories last season.

“Everything’s just lined up here lately,” Blair said. “We ain’t doing nothing different than we normally do. We got Max’s orange car last year and he won a lot of races. We got this one this year, and it really fits my driving style. Other than that, everything’s lined up. There’s no reason for it or explanation for it.

“It’s definitely one of the best year’s I’ve had. There were some years where maybe I didn’t win as many races, but I won a lot of big races in one year. That was pretty cool. But this year has to rank right up there with any of those.”

While Blair’s decision to keep racing may have delayed his son’s move to Supers, it’s given the two racers a chance to share a few special moments throughout the season. In the six years since Max began his racing career, only once did the father-son duo sweep Super and Crate Late Model features on the same night. They’ve accomplished that feat a whopping eight times this season.

“Max’s been racing for six or seven years now and we never did it until last year,” Blair said. “That’s pretty cool. I keep telling people it’s pretty hard to do, but for some reason it keeps happening. And it’s still special when we do it.”

The 2013 season has indeed been a special one for both Rob and Max. Along with the eight times they’ve visited the same victory lane on the same night, both drivers are having stellar seasons with Max already at 18 victories on the season, including his first Super Late Model win while driving Rob’s car May 4 at Marion Center (Pa.) Speedway.

As Max’s success continues, Rob knows he’ll likely soon have to make room for his son to take over the family’s Super Late Model full time.

“It’s not gonna be too much longer unless we get some more backing here cause we just don’t have enough for us both to do it,” Blair said. “I’m more into helping Max than I am into my own stuff. I’ve been concentrating a lot more on my own stuff this year seeing how it’s going the way it is, but I know I’ll have to really start cutting back here soon.”

While Rob continues to eye the inevitable, Max isn’t rushing him to retire. In fact, Max has encouraged his father to stick with it based on his continued high level of performance.

“I’ve talked about cutting back a couple times,” Rob Blair said. “I’ll tell Max to go ahead and race my car. He’ll say 'No, I can’t do that. You’re too good right now.’ I guess that gives me a little more time.”