PARAGON – Miranda Throckmorton stood quietly near her car, which sat idle in the Paragon Speedway pits during last week’s Johnson Memorial feature race for the 410 non-winged sprint cars.

The 15-year-old Avon High School sophomore wanted to be out on the 3/8-mile clay oval, but the racing fortunes have not been kind to the Coatesville racer the last two weeks.

Last Saturday, she was taken out of the last-chance qualifier that is the B Main, tangling with another car and finisher her night much earlier than planned.

“I got knocked out of the B Main,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m running for points, so that hurts. But we’ll be back, and we’ll do better.”

A week earlier, Throckmorton got turned around early in the Jerry Blair Memorial sprint car feature, had to restart at the back of the pack and finished near the back of the field.

Still, Throckmorton remains a viable threat going into today’s 7:30pm card of multiple sprint car features. The program also includes the street stocks, bombers and the first-year pure stocks.

Throckmorton established herself on May 19, when she became the first female sprint car driver in paragon Speedway history to win a feature race.

Throckmorton’s victory was an impressive one, as she jumped out to an early lead running the low line. But when she noticed some of the other top drivers were gaining ground while running the high line and using the berm on the on the outside of the corners for extra traction, Throckmorton adjusted accordingly.

She quickly moved to the outside of the track and won the race while outdistancing her closest pursuers.

“It was a good night. The car ran really well,” she said. “It was working low, but when I saw the others running well up high, that’s where I went.

“It helped that I was running up front. It was nice to have the motor that would let me there.”

Just being a contender is a pleasant change for Throckmorton, now in her second season behind the wheel of the red No. 22 sprinter.

“We had a lot of motor problems last year and ran only about 16 races,” Throckmorton said of her 2006 campaign. “There were only about five races that my car ran right.”

An impressive start This year, Throckmorton and her new Snyder motor have arrived in impressive fashion.

Most races, she’s running at or near the top of the feature field.

That’s where Throckmorton has been for most of her young racing career, which began at age 7.

“Dad (Bill) used to run midgets,” Throckmorton recalled. “I remember when I was 5, going to the track and watching dad race before I got started.”

When Miranda began racing quarter midgets, her father quit driving in order to assist his daughter’s budding career.

The younger Throckmorton learned well the lessons from her father. She won 10 quarter-midget track championships, five regional titles and five state championships.

By her count, Throckmorton racked up over 100 feature wins, driving in three different classes at every meet. She followed that by running a 600cc micro midget.

Two years ago, Throckmorton competed in the USAC-sanctioned Kenyon Midgets.

After finishing fifth in regional points, the family, including Miranda’s mom, Norma, decided it was time to take the next step.

While it was new for Throckmorton to drive a high-horsepower machine, going fast was already something she knew well.

“I’m a little more used to this place, because I ran here last year,” she said of Paragon. “I’m still learning a lot.”

The Throckmortons have doubled the learning curve, as Miranda also competes at Bloomington Speedway on Fridays.

So far, she has met with respect from her competitors.

“I get along with everybody,” she said. “I talk to most of them. I haven’t had any trouble with the sprint cars. Most of the other guys have been racing for a while. You’ve got to give them respect here.”

An array of sponsors respect Throckmorton’s efforts.

Her sponsors include Snyder Enterprise Motors, White Castle, PitFit Training, Shock Doctor, Bond and Associates, Brodex Heads, Rev Valves, QA1, Bell Helmets, Jockish Flowers, Ultra Shield, Hoosier Tire and Zinger Motorsports.

Miranda Throckmorton is also a driver with a plan.

“I’d like to continue to run for points here,” she said. Throckmorton is fifth with 634, trailing Chris Babcock of Bloomfield (674), Steve Rone of Bloomington (671), Adam Beliles of Martinsville (657) and Josh Cunningham of Spencer (656).

“Next year, we plan to run different tracks. Then I’d like to run the USAC series, if we come up with enough sponsorships. Then maybe an IPS (IndyPro Series) car.”

Throckmorton already has some pretty good connections. She keeps in shape by training at Pit Fit, where she routinely works out with Indy Racing League regulars Sara Fisher and A.J. Foyt IV. She’s also part of former Indianapolis 500 veteran Lyn St. James’ driver development program.

But for the present, there’s the points race at Paragon.

“We have a good car and a good motor,” Throckmorton said. “We can do better.”

How they stand Paragon’s Tony Reed is 13th in sprint car points with 521.

Dustin Beliles, whose car now also has the Red Top Rentals sponsorship and a paint scheme identical to that of his brother, is 18th with 494.

Street stocks Chris Hillman’s victory last Saturday pulled him to within one point of Mitchell’s David Woolston, who placed third last week. The Camby driver, a two-time points champion, has 741 points. Steve Hollars of Bloomington is third with 706, followed by Scott Fisher of Indianapolis with 677 and Jeremy Potts of Bloomfield with 656.

Mooresville driver Kenneth Kelley and Greg Logsdon rank 18th and 19th respectively, with point totals of 406 and 385.

Bombers Gib Ham III used his fourth win of the season last week to increase his points lead over fellow Martinsville driver Mike Moody to 769-756.

Mooresville’s Jeremy Payne is third at 717, followed by John Grenier Jr. of Quincy at 707 and Scott Sheeks of Martinsville at 696.

Pure Stocks Spencer drivers and kin Danny Ray Wampler and Dan Wampler continue to rank 1-2 with 772 and 764 points, respectively. Kyle Zike of Bloomington is third at 365 and John Dent of Martinsville is fourth at 307.

Gret Leitzman, who has turned his car over to Michael Nail, remains fifth with 244. Nail, who won last week, is sixth with 237.