By Tony Veneziano

Hayden Campbell was just hoping to win a couple of races this season with the Eagle Jet Top Gun Sprint Series.

After starting the year off a perfect 4 for 4 in the win column, that goal has changed a little bit and the fourth-generation driver is now focused on contending for the championship with the Florida-based sprint car series.

The 21-year-old Campbell opened the 2018 campaign with a pair of wins during the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park in early February. He followed that up with a visit to victory lane at All-Tech Raceway on Feb. 24. Most recently, the native of Montverde, FL, won his third race of the season at East Bay on March 17. Campbell attributes the fast start to this season to changes last year to the team’s chassis, engine, and shock program.

“It’s been really, really good start for us,” said Campbell. “Everything started rolling pretty good about the middle of last year, and by the end of last year, we got everything put together where we wanted it and were really comfortable. I got a lot of seat time with the new package we had, so that helped a lot as well. It is very important to be comfortable with the car and know that the car is fast. Then, it’s up to me to put it where I need to on the track to make the best laps and get the most out of it.”

Can’t think of any better way start this season than winning 4 in a row! Thank you to all my sponsors without all the help and support we couldn’t be this successful!! @CH1Muddy @JJ_Auto_Racing @EnglerMachine @SmithTitanium @PenskeShocks @BulldogRears @championoil pic.twitter.com/7F1kphtZbd

— Hayden Campbell (@HC_racing5) March 18, 2018

Campbell had an inkling that he and his team would have a solid start to the 2018 season but was a little surprised by the four straight wins he has racked up. The victories have come on vastly different tracks: the weather-sensitive third-mile of East Bay Raceway Park and the sprawling half-mile that is All-Tech Raceway.

“To get four wins, I don't think you could have asked for a better way to start the year,” he noted. “We were hoping that things would carry over and this year would be a good year and to have four wins in four races is great. We’ve hit on some things that have really helped us, and hopefully, we can keep that momentum going the rest of the season. The car has a great feel to it and it is really fun to be at the track every night.”

Campbell will look to extend his win streak to five on Saturday, March 24, at Volusia Speedway Park. The home of the DIRTcar Nationals in February is one of just two half-miles that the Top Gun Sprint Series competes at, along with All-Tech Raceway in Lake City. The event at Volusia will be the first of two visits to the track in 2018, with the second coming on the Fourth of July for a holiday midweek show.

“Volusia changes things up a bit,” Campbell explained. “You have to do a few things different on the car, with fuel and setup, just because it is a lot bigger of a track. We did luckily have one race at a big track already this year at All-Tech. We’ve got one big track under our belt, which helps. Volusia is one-of-a-kind since you are wide open all the way around. The biggest thing at Volusia is to keep an eye on the track to see what it’s going to do.”

The Top Gun Sprint Series is the lone traveling series in Florida on the dirt for sprint car and is headed up by Don Rehm. Campbell and his fellow competitors will hit the track 17 times at five different tracks across the Sunshine State. East Bay hosts a series-high seven nights of racing, including the season finale on December 1. Campbell won the season finale at East Bay last year.

Hayden Campbell Wins Friday Top Gun Feature:

“The Top Gun Series is a great series,” Campbell said. “The Rehms work really, really hard. We get to race at just about every dirt track in Florida, which is awesome. It’s a good traveling series, with strong competition and the car counts are usually pretty good. It’s a good stepping stone if you want to continue sprint car racing in the future. It gets you familiar with the cars, different tracks, and the travel aspect of the sport as well. It’s just a great overall series.”

With the Top Gun Sprints, Campbell runs a limited 360 engine, per series rules. He and his team are working to get an ASCS-legal 360 engine, which would allow them to expand their horizons and compete outside of the state of Florida.

“We are in the process now of getting sponsorship,” he shared. “We’d like to get an ASCS 360 (engine) put together to be able to travel to some of the bigger races to see what we can do against different competition and at new tracks. Personally, I’d love to be able to. I would love to do it for a living and be able to travel.”

The ultimate goal for Campbell would be to race for a living one day, especially in a 410 sprint car series, such as with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series or Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. 

In the meantime, Campbell is planning for his future outside of racing, as he is enrolled in law school at the University of Central Florida.

“If the opportunity ever were to come to run a 410, I would certainly do it,” Campbell said. “To be able to race all across the country would be a dream of mine and would be something I would be interested in doing for the rest of my life.”