Peter Britten’s had enough.
He’s had enough of sitting around. He’s had enough of watching others make laps at dirt tracks he should be at. And he’s had enough of seeing his #21A Modified sit stationary in the garage.
After putting his racing on pause in August due to a finger injury, the Aussie is primed and ready to return for the biggest shows of the year – including Super DIRT Week 51 (Oct. 2-8) and World of Outlaws World Finals (Nov. 1-4).
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said with a whimsical smile. “I’ve had enough sitting around. I’m rested up. Let’s f***ing go! Let’s do something.”
He already had a strong return with a run from 17th to fifth during the Malta Massive Weekend at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Sept. 23.
Britten stated he feels he’s in his best shape and more prepared for Super DIRT Week than ever before, but also didn’t shy from his struggles getting to that point. He admitted his hiatus wasn’t always easy to deal with.
“There was definitely a couple week period where I wasn’t sane,” Britten said. “After I first had the realization that I couldn’t race, it was a pretty tough couple weeks. I probably drank a bit much a couple of times and just wallowed in my own self-pity. Then, I kind of snapped out of it a little bit and went and kind of saw some people I don’t really ever get a chance to go off and hang out with. I pulled my head out of my ass. Been watching a lot of movies. Thank God for all the streaming stuff, I was able to watch all the racing.
“I’ve gone through all the emotions. Pissed off at myself. Pissed off at the world. Sad. Happy. All that shit. I’ve come out the other side. Life is what it is. I’ve been able to take a break and kind of almost feel like my body is in better shape now than it had been in a while.”
Britten’s suffered back issues over the years, but a month off from racing has allowed him to take better care of it. Now, it’s the best it’s ever felt.
“Maybe there’s a reason I needed to take a break,” he questioned. “I don’t know.”
The break has also allowed him more time in garage. He admitted, year after year, having everything ready in time for Super DIRT Week was usually a struggle. Case in point, he was late getting to the event last year. With a week to go, he’s about ready to load everything up – even the team car with Rich Scagliotta.
It also allowed him more time to play with set up ideas. Whether that’s good or bad, time will tell.
“I might have learned something, or I might have confused myself even more,” Britten said. “In the day and age we’re in now, the springs and all that stuff are pretty important. I’ve spent a little bit of time on the spring smasher just messing around with different combinations. We’ll find out soon enough if I’ve just confused myself or whether I’ve learned anything. Even if you go the wrong way sometimes you can use that information to go, ‘Alright, we went this way and it kind of was worse, so let’s go back the other way.’”
Britten will be back behind the wheel of his #21A Big Block and #21A Small Block for Super DIRT Week 51, searching for his first Billy Whittaker Cars 200 title and second Salute to the Troops 150 title.
After a 14th-place run in the ‘200’ and a 32nd-place run in the ‘150’ last year, Britten said there’s unfinished business.
“I felt like we had a lot of good speed, especially at (Super) DIRT Week,” Britten said. “We just went with the wrong strategy and ended up running out of fuel. I don’t think we were going to win the thing, but I think we would’ve been on the podium. I guess as far as that goes we have a little bit of unfinished business there. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot last year. It’s all part of the learning curve. You live and learn.
“There’s a reason the guys that have been doing this for 20-40 years are as good as they are. They’ve shot themselves in the foot over the years and learned their lesson. It’s not an easy thing. From year to year, you can get the strategy wrong. I guess that’s what makes these races a challenge sometimes is the fact that it’s not all about being the fastest car. You’ve got to put the strategy together.”
With his body primed, his cars ready and confidence restored, Britten has had enough of waiting. He’s ready for Super DIRT Week 51 at Oswego Speedway.
“If we win (Super) DIRT Week and some of these other races (like the World of Outlaws World Finals) then I’ll be OK. It’ll make up for missing all these races,” he said.
For tickets to Super DIRT Week 51 and the event’s full schedule, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to Oswego Speedway, you can watch every lap of Super DIRT Week live on DIRTVision.
