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Kirkpatricks have had good success at Skagit Speedway this year

ALGER — Father and son Danny and Brian Kirkpatrick are making the 360 Sprints division at Skagit Speedway a family affair this season.

Brian is first in the division, and his father, Danny, is third going into this weekend’s 360 Nationals and are both in contention for the division title.

Earlier this year, the pair notched a rare double win, claiming A Main victories in back-to-back weeks; it was the first career A Main victory for both.

They say racing against each other adds some spice to the weekly races — as does their relative ranking at the top of the points standings.

“When we’re side by side, we don’t look at who we’re racing with other than each other,” Danny said. “He’d rather beat me and I’d rather beat him more than anything. We race harder against each other than anyone else.”

Years ago, a friend brought Danny to some races. That was enough to hook him on the sport. First he worked on a friend’s team, and about seven years ago he began racing on his own. He began at Skagit, then spread out to races in Oregon and California, too.

“The thing about it is it’s the biggest challenge I’ve faced in my life,” Danny said. “It’s not as easy as people who sit in the stands think. It takes a lot of effort. You have all the challenges in racing you have in life. You’ve got to stick with it.”

Brian raced some growing up, starting with quads, but took a break to concentrate on school and sports — “I had more of a social life,” he noted about his time away from racing. But when he started helped out his father with his sprint car racing, he got the same racing bug that Danny did.

“I kept bugging him, telling him, ‘I could do that. I’d love to get in one (a sprint car).’”

He got his chance soon enough, starting in Sportsman Sprints, before graduating to the 360 division.

Last year was fairly good to both the Kirkpatricks. Both landed in the top 10 in the points standings: Danny was fifth, Brian 10th.

But so far this year’s been even better, with both in the top three. Brian is first with 980 points, Alan Munn is second with 968, Danny is third with 920.

They also pulled off an improbable feat, winning on back-to-back weekends, with Danny claiming his first career A Main victory on June 28 and Brian taking the checkered flag July 12. Danny held off charges from Cory Chamberlain and Steve Broers for his win; Brian held off a challenge by Chamberlain for his.

“I never thought it would happen. It was exciting,” Danny said. “You have had seconds, thirds and begin to wonder if you’re going to pull it off.”

On his victory, Brian said: “It was a relief. I held it on such a high pedestal it was hard to reach. Now that I have it, I’m more relaxed. Things are ... easier.”

This weekend, they will face each other again at the 360 Nationals, one of the Speedway’s premier events. While the racing won’t count toward the regular-season points standings, Brian said he looks forward to the event all the same.

“Every year I look forward to it,” he said. “The first year (I competed) I was top five in qualifying.”

While Danny and Brian are friendly and supportive of each other’s racing, that doesn’t mean they restrain their competitive spirit.

“We do some trash-talking depending on where we finished,” Brian said. “We talk about it all of Sunday. It’s a Sunday of talking about racing.”

Danny showed the same competitive zest as his son.

“For me, it’s as exciting to see him win as it is for me to win,” Danny said, before adding: “Well, maybe not quite as much.”

• Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at