SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/555623
taking a highly-anticipated first win with it earlier this season. The development of all of these products comes from true experience. Fortin Sr. even goes as far as to say that he "liked designing more," and that innovation was the biggest focus for him. "Anytime we had a winning combination, someone would say, 'What are you gonna do?," and I'd say, 'We're gonna do something new'. Racing equates to design improvement, and if you don't have an open mind or continually change, your product or performance isn't going to improve. My old racing partner Donny Prim used to say, 'What are we gonna do to tip 'em over this time?'" The True Importance Of Racing For both Fortin Sr. and Jr., racing has always been much more than just the excitement of competition and the thrill of victory. For these two men, off-road racing has been a tie that binds their collective family together. "One of the best things FORTIN JR. PARTNERED WITH FRIEND CHARLIE TOWNSLEY FOR THE BAJA 1000 IN 2002 AND 2003, AND AFTER FINISHING SECOND DURING THEIR FIRST PAIRING, THE DUO CHARGED TO A TREMENDOUS OVERALL WIN IN '03, NEEDING JUST 320 HORSEPOWER FROM THEIR SCAT V4 POWER PLANT TO PUSH THEIR 1900-POUND JIMCO SINGLE SEATER PAST THE TROPHY TRUCKS AND INTO VICTORY LANE. about off-road racing regardless of design opportunities, was the desert, and keeping the family together," says Sr. Fortin Jr. echoes his father's sentiments. "The best thing about off-road is the bond it creates between people. It's a reason for friends I haven't seen since high school, aunts and uncles, employees with no other reason to go to the races, to all come out. It gave me the time I've spent with my dad for almost 45 years. Families that race, you can see it. Traditionally they stay together. Racing is way bigger than anybody realizes. It goes deep! You develop relationships with customers. Guys like Mike Stapleton- I consider like family. He's been bringing us trannys for 20 years. I can remember people spending the night on the living room floor at my parent's house, and my mom making sandwiches for them. The backbone of the sport is the families." Both father and son recall their time in desert racing with great fondness, easily falling back to tale after tall tale of the adventures of pre-runs and races gone by. "The deeper you got into Mexico, the cooler the people got," Fortin Jr. remembers. "I always had good experiences." Today, the family has turned its focus to the challenge of short course off- road racing, but Fortin Jr. hasn't written off the possibility of a return to the desert one day, and, of course, Fortin Sr. would love to see his son back in their old single seater. Wherever the Fortins turn their efforts, though, they are bound to be successful, for one would be very hard- pressed to find a more driven, determined, and inventive family than theirs. The Fortins are a family who has continued to score one for the little guy time after time, and they see no reason to quit anytime soon. SJ 071 SCORE JOURNAL