Brian Birkhofer rolls down the highway, eyes front. I-80 Speedway in Nebraska is the destination, with his Muscatine, Iowa shop growing steadily smaller in the rear-view mirror. It’s another racing weekend, another road trip, another chance for Birky to ply his trade as a professional race driver.

It’s been an unusual season thus far for the 40-year-old racer, at least by his standards. The man with over 170 career victories has this year triumphed only twice in 22 starts, an uncharacteristic MORE