By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

His parents didn't even know he was on the track.

Later, they found out what had happened.

And in the end, Dylan Sherfick found out just how much fun it was to drive a modified.

It was all thanks to longtime family friend Jerry Phillips, an IMCA modified driver for many years.

"He actually got me started in it,"  Sherfick said about the modified class. "I used to help him out, and he let me hot lap the car at WaKeeney (about three years ago) before my parents got there. Jerry thought I did a pretty good job."

That he did.

"I'd let Travis hot lap my modified before," Phillips said about one of Dylan's older brothers, who races stock cars. "One night, Dylan got out to the track before his folks came, and I told him to grab his suit and get in it and go out for hot laps. He had a blast. You wouldn't believe the look on his face when he crawled out of there."

Sherfick and a host of other modified drivers will begin another weekend of races at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at RPM Speedway in Hays.

The recent WaKeeney-Trego Community High School graduate is tied for fourth in track points at RPM entering Friday night. His 121 points are tied with Dave Hardesty.

Phillips leads the pack with 149, followed by Corey Lagroon (132) and Chris Vogan (128).

Sherfick is in just his second year of racing in the modified class. And with a year of experience under his belt, he's proving he can run with some of the top guns.

"I think I got most of it out of the way," Sherfick said about the learning curve. "I wanted to try to get out early this year and get some track time and experiment with some things."

He's coming off his best finish at RPM two weeks ago. His fourth-place outing in the feature was the best of his young career, tying with a fourth-place finish in Stockton last summer.

"He's real smooth, and he likes to keep the car straight," Phillips said about Sherfick. "Him and his dad work together well to take care of the car. Me, him and his dad put the car together to help fit his style."

Having Phillips' knowledge of racing is a big bonus for Sherfick. After all, it was nearly 25 years ago that Phillips brought the first modified car to WaKeeney Speedway. In the years following, the modified class has become one of the fastest growing in the state.

Phillips credits Sherfick's grandfather, Nick, with getting the class off the ground in the area years ago.

"People don't realize how much he did for it," Phillips said.

But now it's the 66D of Dylan Sherfick making waves.

He knows his first feature win could be right around the corner. He's heard that thought echoed by other drivers as well.

"I've been told that by a few people," he said. "They've said it's just a matter of time."

But Sherfick isn't about to get an inflated ego. Instead, he's going to continue to learn the ins and outs of the class and take in the advice of Phillips.

And the veteran Phillips knows once Sherfick becomes as comfortable diagnosing the car as he is off the track, racers could see the blue and yellow modified consistently at the front of the field.

"When he gets that, it's going to be trouble for other drivers," Phillips said. "He's just so smooth and so in control."