WILLIAMS GROVE, Pa. — With roots that run deep -- the bloodline is a racing formula for one family. Nash Ely became the fourth generation driver to start a sprint car race at the famed Williams Grove speedway.
When you hear of a driver coming from a racing family, you would expect them to jump in the seat before they even learn how to walk.
That wasn’t the case for Nash Ely. It took a race with his sister to get him hooked.
“My little sister actually started racing. She wanted to race and we both went at the same time, to a go-kart track, or something it see. She knew in 30-seconds that she didn’t want to do it and I knew in 30-seconds, it was something I wanted to do," said Nash Ely.
Don’t knock it until you try it, Nash was a little late to the game but that hasn’t put the brakes on what he’s trying to achieve. With his dad, Dave by his side, he felt like the time was right to test the power of a 410. Nash made his 410 debut just over the boarder in Ohio and Western Pennsylvania; running at Sharon Speedway then Mercer Raceway and finishing sixth and third in his first two starts. That's a good way to get the ball rolling in the right direction before tackling the paper clip.
“You have to go both feet in, you have to do it eventually and the Grove, in my opinion, is really a pretty good place to do it. You get spaced out pretty good and get to circle some laps yourself and it gets you up to speed. So, no better place to do it," said Nash Ely.
“He was a late guy to the party, so to speak. He didn’t see me race a lot. He knows what I did or where I raced and who I raced against. Probably when we first brought up about, hey, why don’t we put a 410 in and just run some races to gain some experience. That particular day, he started asking a lot of questions, where was your first 410 race, when did you start to race here weekly?," said Dave Ely, Nash's dad and former racer.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Nash is around the same age as his dad when he jumped in a 410 for the first time. The competitive edge runs in the family, Nash is the fourth generation to start a 410 feature at Williams Grove, with his father Dave Ely, grandfather Mike Ely, great-grandfather David Frank Ely, uncle Donny Kreitz, Jr. and great-grandfather Don Kreitz Sr.
A win at the track, would mean even more.
“It would be pretty cool to be a fourth-generation winner at Williams Grove. All the three generations, before me, have done it. It would definitely be cool to be a fourth-generation winner but no very cool. There’s no better place to start running sprint cars, in my opinion, in Central Pennsylvania. If you want to do it and you want to make that commitment, here’s the place to do it and it’s the toughest place in the country, to do it," said Nash.
He's still in a trial period racing the 410. The goal is to run races that make sense and continue to gain experience, while also finishing out the 358 season as he continues to carry out the family legacy, racing in Central Pa.
“I’m very proud of Pennsylvania and the sprint car scene, here, and I think there’re some of the toughest racers in the country. To hopefully, one day, try and compete with those guys and earn the respect of those guys, means a lot to me," said Nash.
“It’s a heck of a challenge, the cars are impressive, the speeds are impressive and it’s a sport filled with great people," said Dave.
The family hasn’t ever stepped far from the track, with jobs working in behind the racing scenes. Dave has been a long-time employee of Diversfied Machine Inc. (DMI) and Nash works at Hyper Racing as the head of their fuel injection department.