Local racer preps for spot at IRL peak, Saturday, March 17, 2012

Brandon Wagner is picking a tumultuous time for his best shot at the apex of his sport, and that’s the way he wants it.

The IndyCar Racing League is ushering in a new era on the heels of one of its most horrific tragedies, and it is into that maelstrom that the Lafayette native will make his strongest bid yet for a seat among the top racing names attached to the famed Indianapolis 500. A 2005 graduate of Lafayette Central Catholic High School, Wagner has made his home on Lake Freeman since graduation as he has pushed his racing career from the go-kart tracks of Benton County and local midget racing leagues to the doorstep of an Indy 500 opportunity.

“There’s nothing like it in the world. The Daytona 500 can say it’s the best race in the world, but it’s not even close to the Indy 500. Everyone wants to win the Indy 500, or at least be a part of it. It would just be nice to be one of those people in the event,” Wagner, who has raced four times at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the IndyCar Light Freedom 100, said.

Building the Future

Beginning with his family racing team in the United States Auto Club circuits, Wagner’s racing potential skyrocketed after an opportunity to test on an IndyCar Light racecar led to an introduction with IRL driver Davey Hamilton. Now a four-year veteran of the final stop before the IZOD IndyCar Series, Wagner took his first win at the IndyCar Lights level in the final race of the 2010 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He followed up with three top 10 finishes in 2011, pushing his career total to six, while building a reputation for speed and smarts that led to his carrying another team’s number in the final races of 2011.

Team Moore Racing, based in Pittsboro, Ind., needed a driver to carry its No. 22 car through the final races of the season after a fast start was put in jeopardy by original driver Gustavo Yacamán’s financial woes. Owner Mark Moore asked Wagner to race the final races in combination with Davey Hamilton Racing, and wound up with the best finish among four replacement drivers that season, fourth at Kentucky Speedway, and was the only driver to take on more than one race for Moore.

“A lot of time when you get called up like that, it’s because they know you’re good but that you’re also going to respect their equipment,” Wagner said. “They know you won’t wreck their car. Obviously things happen, we all know that, but they at least have faith that you’re going to run hard, give them a chance to win, but they know that you’re going to bring that car home with all four corners on it.

“It was a respect thing, that he called me and said hey, we want you to do this. And it was nice that he put that trust in me.”

Wagner is now hoping to use those top finishes to convince financial backers to take a chance on a young racer. With Hamilton’s help, Wagner has been put on a publicity tour that puts the young racer in the comfortable position of talking about racing but also in the new position of building relationships as a brand spokesperson.

“The part people don’t see behind the scenes is the meetings and the trips. It’s so much marketing and advertising. You’re selling yourself, so you’re meeting with sponsors all over the country about all kinds of things,” Wagner said. “Companies want to sponsor a guy who is well spoken, that doesn’t go out there and make an idiot of himself, who isn’t arrogant and mean to people, they want people to go out and be the face of their company. So they’re putting trust in you to go out there and make their company look good on track but also off track.”

Wagner’s hopes are as high as he will allow them to be after several stalled attempts at the same goal. He hopes to be able to run a full IndyCar Lights schedule besides Streets of St. Petersburg on March 24 while participating in four oval track races on the full IndyCar level. Having been brought up on ovals, as opposed to road courses like most international drivers, Wagner’s learning curve will be a steep one, but he hopes to have company on the slope.

Now or Never

Wagner’s spur to action comes as IndyCar introduces its first new chassis since 2007 as well as its first introduction of new engines since 2006. Wagner hopes that the new components will set each team back a step, allowing him to make up some ground as a rookie, even while the powerhouses like Chip Ganassi Racing and Penske Racing use their resources to get the quick advantage.

“It’s a good time to come into it, because it’s going to be a little more of an even playing field. The big guys, like Penske and Ganassi, have a leg up because their budgets are huge,” Wagner said. “But the old car, they’ve run it for about 10 years, and they have endless amounts of data pretty much … but it’ll be a more even playing field on the new car and it’s easier for me to come into it while everybody else is still learning. I’ll be learning no matter what, so as long as they’re learning also, my learning curve will still be steep but they’ll be on a learning curve as well.”

The car won’t be the only change. The IRL will begin the 2012 season without one of its top names, as British driver and 2011Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon lost his life in the final image of the 2011 IRL season in a 15-car crash in Las Vegas. Wagner said this year’s Indy will be surreal, given how the most recent champion’s face graces the tickets of each 500, but that he has grown to accept the dangerous nature of his sport.

“You know something can happen, but you want to be pushing it every lap, and if you have that doubt in your mind, that’s when you should get out of the car. You’re going to be worried, you’re going to be running slow, and that’s when things can happen,” Wagner said, adding that his own experience with the crowded field in Vegas for the Lights race was an intense one.

“After the race, I said that was a lot of fun, but it was crazy. Even our Lights race was insane. I had three tires with wheel marks on them from hitting tires, and you just don’t do that in IndyCars.”

Family Ties

What began as a family endeavor has become much more for Wagner. Combined with his partnership with Hamilton, a racer who has seen everything that IRL has to offer in the form of a second place series finish in 1997 and a crash in 2001 that put him out of racing until a return in 2007, Wagner now hopes to take his local roots to racing’s biggest stage while completing his other family legacy.

The son of Dr. John and Shari Wagner, Brandon is pushing himself to complete his pre-chiropractic degree at Purdue University in between his racing career so that he might follow in the steps of his father and sister Julia in the family practice. His current career, however, is more based around his and brother Nick’s passion, as the brothers grew up challenging each other on the race track.

For the Wagner family patriarch, the new team combinations that have led to Brandon’s push to the top of IRL have given him the chance to take a step back as team owner and step into a more familiar role: Dad.

“We just enjoy spending time with all three of the kids … We’re supportive of all of our kids and we’re excited for (Brandon),” John Wagner said. “If I tell you that I’m not nervous watching him getting into the car, then I’m just lying to you. That is definitely an emotion. But I trust his skills, I trust the passion he puts into it, and seeing him accelerate has been so much fun.

“When both (Nick and Brandon) get out of the cars after they race, they always thank me for allowing them to be in the cars. Brandon doesn’t get out of an IndyCar Light car without giving me a hug and thanking me, and I just say, ‘I’m your dad, Brandon.’ It’s an emotional rollercoaster some days, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Brandon now hopes to take on the Indianapolis 500 with his local roots still intact. Carrying several Lafayette-based sponsors like Triple XXX Family Restaurant, Nine Irish Brothers and Harry’s Chocolate Shop, Brandon holds on to hope that a born Hoosier can find the track in May.

“I live on Lake Freeman still, love going out to The Sandbar on the weekends when I’m not racing, and it’s nice to have the local support,” Brandon said. “When you go to places like Indy, where you have a lot of (racers) who are (from) oversees, and everyone says Indy is so special and I think it is special, but it’s so much better for people who are from the state and really realize just how big the history is of the whole racing at the Indy 500 and the speedway is just unbelievable.

“I’ll just be happy and be very pleased just to have my name attached to and be a part of the best racing in the world.”

- Feature article on local racer on the verge of finalizing deal for a ride and spot in qualifying for Indianapolis 500.