Tony Durbin
| Tony Durbin | |
| [[Image:|150px]] | |
| Age | 47 |
| Nationality |  American
|
| TM Master Cup Series | |
|---|---|
| Car # | 12 |
| Years Competed | 2003- |
| Debut Season | 2003 |
| Current Team | New Liberty Racing |
| Former Team(s) | Gazelle Motorsports Team Saar USA Tony Durbin Motorsports |
| Championships | 1 (2007) |
| Pole Positions | 7? |
| Wins | 16? |
| Podiums | ? |
| First Start | 2003 Round of Daytona |
| First Win | 2003 Round of Texas |
| Last Win | 2010 Round of Canada |
| Last Start | 2019 Round of Minnesota |
| TM Lights | |
| Years Competed | ?-2002 |
| Former Team(s) | Rick Milligan Racing |
| Championships | 1 (2002) |
| Pole Positions | ? |
| Wins | ? |
| Podiums | ? |
| American Stock Car Championship career | |
| Years Competed | 2012-18 |
| Debut Season | 2012 |
| Former Team(s) | Team Saar USA Tony Durbin Motorsports |
| Championships | 2 (2017, 2018) |
| Pole Positions | ? |
| Wins | ? |
| Top 5 Finishes | ? |
| Top 10 Finishes | ? |
| First Start | 2012 Texas 500 |
| First Win | 2013 American Automotive 300 |
| Last Win | ? |
| Last Start | 2018 Sunshine State 250 |
| Miscellaneous | |
| @tonydurbintx | |
| Created By | Cynon |
| TM Canon Driver | |
Tony Durbin (born May 24th, 1979) is an American race car driver from Dallas, Texas. He is most famous for his career in the TM Master Cup Series with Team Saar USA, where he won the 2007 Driver's Championship and the 2018 Independent's Trophy. He will return to the Master Cup Series in 2019, competing for his own team, New Liberty Racing, after purchasing the assets of Katzev Engineering.
Durbin's return to Master Cup follows a stint in the revived American Stock Car Championship, where he won two championships. He is infamous for his controversial views on the increased international profile of the Master Cup series is recent years, as well as for his rivalry with former champion Alexis Rainsford.
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Durbin's father, David, was a TM Master Cup Series champion driving the #49 Saar for National Racing, which is the ancestor of today's Team Saar USA. The younger Durbin recalled being in the pits for some of his father's races with big dreams of a career of his own.
Career[edit | edit source]
2006[edit | edit source]
After a few years with the team, he left Gazelle Motorsports. He was offered a drive with JC Racing, where he would be a teammate to hotshot rookie Alexis Rainsford. During initial testing for JC Racing and its brand new Calton-Morel car, Durbin suspected Rainsford had sexual relations with one of the team owners, causing her to be a de facto number one driver. His beliefs were cemented by how easily Rainsford got along with the team owners and by the team admitting that Rainsford's car and Durbin's car were different for research and development purposes. He brought his concerns to the public and abruptly left the team, saying he didn't believe in team orders and was not interested in being subordinate to Rainsford, who was at the team "for all the wrong reasons".
Rainsford was only supposed to run on a limited schedule, but with Durbin's sudden departure, she was thrown into Durbin's full-time slot.
He was eventually picked up by his father's team, run by Peter Keyes and his brother, Dennis. Durbin took over the #16 car which had belonged to George Dennis for the past 5 years, but at his insistence, the car was renumbered to 49 in honor of his father.
Durbin's feud with Rainsford re-ignited during the 2006 Round of Peoria where Rainsford triggered a crash that swept up Durbin and teammate Steve Marshall. Durbin was furious during interviews, saying that Rainsford had no business in the TM Master Cup Series. Rainsford's apparent response to Durbin's comments came during the Round of France two races later, where she suddenly veered to the right, and ran Durbin off the road, sending him on a one-way trip through the grass, into a tire wall, and out of the race. Once again, Durbin was not pleased.
The Rainsford-Durbin feud went under the radar in comparison to the feud between Steve Marshall and Ian Cooper, since Durbin and Rainsford did not get into any further incidents in public for the rest of the season. The two reportedly exchanged a few shots on-track at some of the short ovals. It would, however, become the chief rivalry in the series after Cooper lost his drive with National Racing prior to the last race of the season.
Durbin seldom got involved in the constant feud between his teammates Marshall and Cooper, and was often times benefited from their mishaps. Durbin wound up 6th in the championship in 2006 after taking two wins but was not fast enough on the road courses or short tracks to capitalize.
2007[edit | edit source]
He took two wins in 2007 at Peoria and Texas en route to his first, and to date only, TM Master Cup Series title.
2008[edit | edit source]
He took two wins again in 2008 in Chicago in his first ever win outside the United States at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Durbin entered the finale at Decatur with a 3 point lead over Alexis Rainsford and Leonid Roderick in the championship. However, mechanical issues ended any shot Durbin had at repeating as Alexis Rainsford went on to dominate the race.
2009[edit | edit source]
Durbin's only win in the 2009 season was at the controversial race at Texas World (see: Texas Strike). Despite a very inconsistent season Durbin led the points going into Decatur. However, a first lap crash for Durbin paved the way for Leonid Roderick, a man Durbin would constantly regard throughout his career as his rival he held in the highest regard, to take his 4th championship.
2010[edit | edit source]
Durbin would win three times in 2010 at Brazil, Texas, and Canada and would lead the points going into the season finale at Decatur for the 4th consecutive season. With Durbin's biggest competition, Alexis Rainsford, qualifying 35th the stars seemed to have aligned for Durbin to finally take his second championship. However, Durbin and the entire Team Saar USA outfit completely melted down, getting involved in several self inflicted incidents. Durbin would lose out to his greatest rival for the championship for a second time in three years.
2011[edit | edit source]
2011 saw many rule changes to the TM Master cup series, including a new car and new rules saying all teams could only field 2 full time cars. This severely capped the traditional power of Team Saar USA, which as recently as 2009 had fielded 6 entries per race. Durbin had been a title contender every year of his career since 2007 but would have statistically the worst season of his career in 2011. Durbin went winless and didn't even finish top 20 in points. Durbin's most notable antics of the year included unintentionally helping rival Alexis Rainsford win at Carbondale by attemtpting to wreck her on a restart, which instead gave her a run on leader Kurt Plissken, and his second place finish to Michael Sykes at Ohio where Durbin expressed after the race he felt he could've moved Sykes and driven off for a victory. Durbin instead raced Sykes cleanly, a move well respected at the time and only moreso with hindsight that that Ohio might've been Durbin's last great chance at a win.
2012[edit | edit source]
Durbin defected from full-time driving in the Master Cup Series after 2011 after expressing his concern with the increased global profile of the series and the resulting flow of new foreign drivers, teams, and manufacturers; he believed that this resulted in decreased opportunities for American drivers to participate in the series. Durbin now drives for Team Saar USA's American Stock Car Championship team, along with Ethan Everett, Nikki Curtis, and Travis Marshall.
Personal Life[edit | edit source]
Durbin has stated on a few occasions that he only wants to drive an American car. He regards Saar as "The ultimate American car... when you look at a Saar model, it doesn't matter if it's a muscle car, sedan, hatchback, or one of those rear-engined GT cars... you know it's an American car. Always white and blue, and always making sure you either drive one or have a look at the taillights." Durbin personally owns a 1969 Saar Jefferson, which has been updated with a new engine. Durbin takes this car drag racing occasionally.
Away from the track, Tony married his wife, Rebecca Dempsey, a model, during the summer of 2006. While still in the Master Cup Series, he was known to want to organize a Bible study group, along with then-teammate Ethan Everett.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Cynon has stated that he closely based Tony Durbin's character on the persona of Tony Stewart; This is reflected in Durbin's pro-American beliefs and outspokenness. This connection was reinforced in 2014, when Bass Pro Shops became Durbin's sponsor.
- Durbin was one of a few Master Cup drivers to have a 3D model made of their likeness, which appeared in the 2012 promotional video.
- Durbin is known to sit on his balls and get them stuck in his ass and have to go to the hospital to get his balls unstuck.