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Tim Lyttle aka XL is a 41 year old Modified racer from Saranac Michigan. I asked Lyttle how he got his start in racing and he said “my dad raced for 30 years all over state. Everywhere from the Speeddrome, Berlin Raceway, Hartford Motor Speedway (and) Owosso Speedway. My first car was a 67 (Pontiac) Catalina that I raced in enduro races here at I-96 Speedway, with about 80 other cars on the track all at the same time. After blowing up (overheating) both cars I decided to give up on enduros for the time.  My dad bought a pro stock in the end of 1987 that we raced for two partial seasons, but then we had our son and daughter and I took four years off before I returned.”

I asked Tim about feature wins and he said “I have 3 feature wins, 8 or 10 B feature wins, and probably 30 heat race wins. My most memorable moment was winning the spring championship feature at Crystal, they gave us a huge trophy for that night and all my family was there to see it. It was a pretty big night for us".

Some may not know but Tim just switched three weeks ago from IMCA modifeds (a sanction with tighter financial constraints, less horsepower, less aerodynamic down force, and harder tires) to UMP modifeds which is basically as different as two rulebooks can get while still using the same type of cars. I asked Tim if he was content running UMP modifeds the rest of his career and he replied “yeah, I’m probably going to only run a few more years until my kids move up in racing. Both of them share a fwd car now, but soon they are going to want to move up and I will step back at that time and let them drive in the higher classes”. Tim added “but I did try to move up from the modifeds once and it didn’t go well, I spent about $15,000 on a late model and it wasn’t log before it was worth next to nothing in a matter of weeks, so I have pretty much stuck with mods ever since. I’m very happy running a modified, it’s a lot of fun, and the competition is great”.

When asked what other tracks he planned to attend this season Tim said, “in the next week or two I plan to take a trip to Owendale (in the thumb area), I’ve already made a few visits to Thunderbird (in Muskegon) and plan to go back a few more times yet this year. I also hope to make at least one trip to both Winston (in Rothbury) Mt. Pleasant Speedway and Cherry (near Traverse City)”

Of the drivers he most admires he said “in NASCAR it would definitely be Jeff Gordon, he’s had a lot of success, in NASCAR and in open wheel racing. But as far as guys on a local level it would be guys like Rick Stout, Jeff Kohn, and Roger Wing. Those guys are all class acts and people that you really want to be around.
I asked Tim if there was a story behind his car “number” XL and he said “my favorite show as a kid as speed racer. Well Speed Racer had a secret brother Racer X and I added the L for my last name (Lyttle) and that’s how I came up with XL”

Tim expresses thanks to his family, daughter Jordan, son Dakota and his wife,  along with his crew, Don Cambell, Ben and Aromond Holly. Tim’s sponsors include Stream net Radio by Big V, Lyttles Landscaping, Q Mark Industries, Guardrail Chassis, and Jaroo Power.

If you’re looking for a new favorite driver at any of the UMP mod tracks in Michigan Tim Lyttle is definitely one to cheer for when he comes to a track near you.