craigdailypress.com

Watching NASCAR, a supportive boss and the movie "Talladega Nights" fueled Jason Rettman's interest in racing at Hayden Speedway.

Born and raised in Craig, Rettman has spent all but three of his 27 years in the Yampa Valley.

"I've always watched a little NASCAR," Rettman said.

An office manager at Ike's Automatic Transmission Shop for seven months, Rettman credits Ike's owner, Elwood Eisenhauer, for making his racing career possible.

"He brought this car back one day and wanted someone to race it," Rettman said in reference to his car. "We started fixing it, putting stickers on it and making it look pretty good. We did a couple hours after work for awhile ... it's just a never-ending process."

Hollywood also influenced Rettman.

With an innocent grin, he mentions the 2006 movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" as another source of inspiration.

Regardless of the source, Rettman seems to be a quick study.

Last Saturday, in his second race at Hayden Speedway, he was victorious after winning the Street Stock Heat 1 and collected $250 for winning the main event.

His victory and cash were temporarily taken away after a competitor protested the victory.

But, at Monday's Western Colorado Racing Association's weekly board meeting, Rettman's victory was reinstated.

"I've watched both of his races so far and he has really surprised me," Eisenhauer said. "He picked up kind of quick."

Rettman admits he entered his first race rather naive, but after some playful ribbing from his friends he is all smiles.

"When I first knew I was ready to race, they teased me and I knew I couldn't back out," he said. "But it's a lot of fun and there's a lot of good people out there. I just like how there's so many different cars in that class, and it's pretty competitive."

Rettman and his fellow racers will compete in the Super Streets Madness on June 30.