By Shannon Sturgis Tony Bruce of Kansas raced at the I-30 Speedway and won the $15,000 purse.

LITTLE ROCK — Jake Simmons' white and black sprint car lacks the flashy graphics of many of his fellow competitors. There's no tire advertisers nor oil company endorsements splashed across the frames and wings. Just a simple No. 71 and a Power of Pride sticker.

But the 26-year-old from Terre Haute, Ind., isn't into sprint car racing for the fame and glory.

"It's just the thrill of being out of control but being in control of it," he said. "That's the [paradox]. It's keeping it under control while being out of control."

Simmons grew up in the shadow of the I-30 Speedway, moving to Bryant in 1994 from Dallas. He started racing sprint cars in 2002, following his graduation from Bryant High School in 2000 and while a student at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.

He was introduced to the sport of sprint car racing by his father Tim Simmons, who also races them, and worked his way up from sprint car mechanic to sprint car driver. His run at the 21st annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals is his last race of his season, which runs from April through October. Working a factory job in Indiana, Simmons races on the weekend and used vacation days to return to Little Rock.

"It's a hobby," he said. "It's just fun. I'd like for it to pay the bills, but I'm just in it for the fun right now."

It's not about making friends on the track. At least that's the mantra of Tony Bruce, a 24-year-old sprint car driver whose friendly off-the-track personality is replaced on the track with a look-out-for-No.-18 attitude.

"This is a race I want to win more than anything," said the Liberal, Kan., resident three days before the 21st annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals at the I-30 Speedway.

"When I started racing, this was the biggest race to come to. This is where I grew up, racing here."

It's the five-year sprint car veteran's fourth time to race the nationals at I-30. His best finish is 17th, with blown motors and other problems keeping him from capturing the checker flag.

A member of the World of Outlaws sprint car national tour sanctioning body (where NASCAR drivers Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne started), Bruce's full-time job from late January to November is racing sprint cars. The month of December is used to construct sprint cars for the upcoming season. Last December, Bruce and his crew built six sprint cars and as the 2008 season closes, the team is on No. 8.

Sponsored by Best Well Service, Bruce and his crew of two drove from a race in San Jose, Calif., to reach I-30. But the long drives in a semitrailer is the business end of the sport he loves.

"I just love the riding," he said. "Just getting behind the wheel. This is practice night, and I've already ridden in 75 races this year, but I'm out here going around the track. I got a go-kart when I was about 10, and I've been racing for the last 14 years."

There's already snow on the ground in the tiny dot-on-the-map town of Ramona, S.D. But resident Ryan Bickett is embracing the warm late-October Arkansas weather as he prepares for the 21st annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals at the I-30 Speedway.

"I'm not in it for the money," said the 25-year-old of his eight-year race career. "I'm just trying to go out and have fun. Seeing the countryside. Taking advantage of my youth."

Sponsored by N-Rich Starter & Foliar Fertilizers in Humboldt, S.D., Bickett's dad has been racing for 35 years, mainly in stock cars, but he also spent two years racing stock cars. Bickett started in stock cars, but when a friend allowed him to hot lap (non-competitive track racing) a sprint car, Bickett was hooked.

"I was like, 'It's way better doing this,'" he said.

The 2008 season for Bickett kicked off in Florida in January and included around 60 races across the country. The nationals at I-30 will be his last race of the season before returning to his full-time job of driving a truck, transporting grain to ethanol plants.

"We came here because there's still racing going on and back home is covered in snow," he said. "I feel pretty confident [about the nationals]. It's fun to come down here and race."