Everybody knows that one kid. That kid that eats, breathes, and sleeps motor racing. The series might change, but the passion of watching cars turn fast laps for hours on end is infused in all of us. One kid that this was definitely infused in, was Devin O’Connell.
While he was born in Maryland, Devin spent his childhood growing up in Connecticut, a state filled with iconic short tracks like New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, and the place where his career would begin racing go karts, Stafford Motor Speedway, where he would develop his craft and very quickly start picking up wins.
Not long after he started racing, Devin was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of nine, a form of autism that Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button also has. Being at the track quickly became a place where he could easily be social. “I didn’t get along with anybody at school and racing was that thing that I hyper-fixated on. I wound up being pretty alright at it and it ended up becoming my outlet for everything,” he stated.
His career would wind up being a little better than “pretty alright”. In 2014, he would make the step up to Legend Car racing, and his results were quite impressive. Around this time his family had made a journey down south to North Carolina. At the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he would capture third place in his division in his rookie season with two wins and three runner-up finishes. Later that year O’Connell would also secure a runner-up finish at Winter Nationals at Auburndale Speedway and would capture a divisional track championship at Bethel Motor Speedway. In addition to his Legend Car racing, Devin would capture 10 wins and a championship in the Allison Legacy Series. Across all his racing disciplines, Devin would rack up 22 divisional wins in 44 top five finishes in 50 races.
The following season in 2015, O’Connell would increase the number of races on his schedule, but it certainly didn’t slow down his success. In 92 starts, Devin would go on to capture 42 divisional wins, giving him a 45.65%-win percentage on the year. For comparison, Kyle Larson’s historic year in 2021 saw him win 36 of 98 races, which is only a 36.73%-win percentage. While some might say it’s comparing apples to oranges, it’s still an impressive feat. In addition to his 42 wins, Devin would capture six titles during the year, including a track championship at the Stafford and two INEX national championships in the Semi-Pro Division, as well as the Semi-Pro National Championship races at Legend Car Asphalt Nationals and Road Course World Finals.
All of these accomplishments wouldn’t go unnoticed. Speed51.com, known today as Racing America, named O’Connell to their “Short Track Draft”, a list of the best short track drivers in the country. He would also be the recipient of the Bilstein Madonna Award, awarded to an individual who wins a championship in a major American racing series who displays sportsmanship and positive character traits on and off the track while overcoming adversities.
2016 would see Devin make another step up, going full time in Late Models while still dabbling in other disciplines like Legend Cars. He would win American-Canadian Tour Rookie of the Year honors, collecting three top-ten finishes in thirteen races in a field that would average over thirty cars a night. One thing he and his family would quickly learn is just how expensive racing can get. Running with a team was costing them thousands of dollars without even getting to own the car.
“My old man pretty much said if you want to keep going late model racing, if you want to build a program you gotta buy the car… So, I took the money I had saved up and sold my Legend Car.” The move would end up being beneficial for O’Connell. In 2018, he would go on to win the Granite State Pro Stock Series, a pro late model series that toured New Hampshire. He would rack up two wins and six top-five finishes across twelve races en route to the championship.
By 2019, price to be competitive had started to catch up to O’Connell. “Quite frankly, we just got priced out of it,” he said. Competitors started building pull down rigs and paying for highly rated crew chiefs to come help make their cars faster. As a result, Devin slowly started finding himself drifting further and further towards the back of the field. Eventually, Devin and his family would scale back their schedule entirely.
Normally, that is where the story would end for a lot of drivers. Eventually you stop racing all together because of how expensive it gets. The COVID-19 pandemic especially didn’t help local racers, as supply chain issues made it hard for people to get parts and made it difficult to be able to turn up to the racetrack. Some people might join a pit crew or become a spotter, while others just blend back into being fans or fall out of love with racing all together. However, this wasn’t the case for Devin.
He began to mentor his younger brother who wanted to get into racing. While looking for a car for his brother, Devin was able to find the same exact chassis he had raced when he was younger. Whether you call that fate or luck is up to you. Watching his brother drive rekindled his interest in Legend Car racing, and he knew he had to get back in the seat. Devin had dabbled in modified racing in his career and had a roller with a blown motor that he knew he was never going to replace, so he found someone willing to trade it for a legend car in good condition and hopped back into the seat.
“I just kinda forgot how fun these cars were. You get out there, road course racing, and you get four or five cars together, it’s essentially pack racing. It just so fast and so fun,” he stated.
Today, Devin works as a driving instructor at the Ron Fellows Performance Racing School in Nevada, while still competing in legends car races across the country. “Would I love to go through the ranks again? Absolutely, but in my current situation, I’m making a living doing what I love and I’m very thankful for it.” Just this year he has picked up wins in Nevada, Connecticut, and Oklahoma, as well as a runner up finish during the first weekend of Granite State Road Course Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. Looking to the future, his eyes are set on trying to get into the Trans-Am Series.
“If I get opportunities to move up, that’s awesome. In the meantime, I’m gonna enjoy Legend Car racing and doing this with my family.”