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Balkum Puts Past Disappointments in Rearview, Happy to See Other Bombers Succeed at 5 Flags

By Chuck Corder

Robert Balkum comes across as Mr. Nice Guy.

Always willing to lend a helping hand on a rival’s engine, Balkum has taken an honest, albeit, peculiar approach to the rest of 2013.

After missing a Bombers feature earlier this season and getting DQ’d in two others, the 35-year-old son of Army man understands his mission.

Out of the points race and the track title that comes with it, which would be a first for Balkum at Five Flags Speedway, he has decided to play the role of friend rather than foe.

“We’re gonna try to push Tracy Soles or Michael Nelson to the championship,� Balkum said of the two drivers that currently sit fourth and first the points standings, respectively. “Soles, he’s a good kid that’s going into the military at the end of the year. He’ll never get to race for a championship again most likely.�

If that philosophy seems a little counterproductive for his own success, well, then you haven’t experienced the generosity of Robert Balkum.

Just listen to the top three drivers in Victory Lane come Friday night when the Bombers return to Pensacola’s high banks along with the Allen Turner Pro Late Models, Modifieds and Sportsmen.

Chances are pretty good the winning cars will have gotten there with an assist from Balkum Automotive at some point during the week.

“I could run up front every night depending on the car,� a confident Balkum boasted.

The gates open at 5 p.m. and admission is as follows: $10 adults; $8 seniors, military and students; $5 for children 6-11; and free for kids 5-under.

Balkum enters Friday night sitting 12th in points despite the misfortunes that have plagued him through the first three months of the season.

A dirt-track demon, Balkum stalked Southern Raceway in the early 2000s in nearby Milton, right around the corner from his grandparents’ home.

“Everybody else was showing up with hog cars,� Balkum remembered. “We had a beater with junk motors. It’s not always all about the fast car. It’s about getting ’round the track.�

Balkum did that well. By 28 and just a few years competing at Southern, he had already racked up a pair of track championships.

Balkum is still looking for his first career feature victory at the famed half-mile asphalt oval. He thought he had a win right out of the gates in 2005 after a jaw-dropping debut at the Snowball Derby.

“Racing Five Flags was about the Snowball,� Balkum said. “We wanted to win the biggest race of the year.�

So without any experience on pavement, he tried to do what neither his father, Rickie Balkum Sr., nor his brother, Rickie Balkum Sr. had ever done: qualify for the Bombers Snowball Derby.

“My dad didn’t think I’d do (well),� Robert said. “He didn’t think I’d make the race.�

Never one to back down from a challenge, Robert Balkum proved his father wrong by not just making the race, but sitting on the outside of the front row.

Sight unseen, he qualified second to current Sportsman track champion Brannon Fowler and ran in the top three most of the night.

Implausibly, Balkum took the lead late and the rookie shocked a jam-packed house by holding off the field to hoist the checkered flag.

“It was a big night,� Balkum recalled. “We went out there and just stomped ’em. We pretty much had a rocket.�

Unfortunately, the Cinderella story didn’t last long.

It was ruled in post-race, technical inspection that Balkum’s headers were illegal. Balkum continues to have trouble coming to grips with that controversial decision.

“I’m still not sure if they were illegal,� he said. “Getting disqualified at the end — that was a killer.�

But the outcome never once waned the love Balkum holds for both Five Flags and the sport itself.

He loves bringing his wife and two kids to the racetrack and believes he’s diagnosed and corrected a fuel cell problem that had been giving his familiar No. 52 fits all year.

“It was sucking air inside the fuel cell that’s been causing us problems on the restart,� he said.

And just because Balkum has made his sacrificial declaration for the season, when the nitty gritty arrives, he won’t be afraid to flex his muscle against either Nelson or Soles.

“When it comes down to the white flag, at the last race of the season, that’s where I’m gonna get (them),� Balkum said. “I’ve got no problem pushing those guys. But, they’ll see me on the last lap at the end of year. That’s where I’m gonna get ’em.�

No more Mr. Nice Guy.

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