Video by COOPER SLOUGH, Hays Post
By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
As any racer knows, getting there first is the only way to win and, with Briney Motorsports currently working toward opening in their new location at 600 E. Eighth, it would be hard not to visualize the checkered flag being dropped as an expected opening in November is drawing near.
The shop is the brainchild of local resident Billy Briney, who brings a wealth of experience from the area’s racing scene, as racer himself who currently supplies racing parts through a mobile unit.
“I wanted some kind of store,” Briney said. “The first part of this year, we started thinking about opening up a shop.”
But this foray into racing parts retail goes back further than the building itself when he found out about an existing parts supply business that he bought in order to “jump into an existing business,” which led to the mobile trailer that he sets up at area races.
“It was good for me, because I got a customer base,” Briney said.
But while business was good, he felt a desire to expand into a brick-and-mortar location that would make it easier to supply local racers and has been working to remodel a former car dealership that had been empty for years.
“I like the location. Eighth Street is a great street, and as an older building that has obviously been vacant a long time, it’s another bonus getting to renovate a new building,” Briney said. “It gives all the racers a place to come during regular business hours, get their parts and get what they need.”
For now, Briney is leasing the building, but hopes to move into a purchasing agreement as the business builds. He took over the building in the middle of August and quickly found much of the interior in desperate condition, with walls and ceiling falling in on itself.
Right after signing the lease, Briney, his wife and six children started the demolition process, an intense process considering the condition of the building.
“We have had to do everything. There was even no power coming to the building. We’ve got complete new power, full electrical through the building, it’s been a full gut job,” he said, including “a lot of jackhammer time, which was not fun.”
Despite the workload, Briney wants to have his shop open in November.
“I knew it was going to be tight going into it, but so far it hasn’t been too bad. We haven’t hit too many snags. I’m pretty much right where I want to be,” he said.
Even before the shop is open, Briney is already eyeing the future and plans to expand the business quickly.
“My plan is to eventually have a mechanic or two, whatever it takes,” he said, in order to do more shop and mechanic work. “Even without the store, I’m getting busy enough, with the parts business that I probably will be looking for someone to come in at the beginning.”
While the store will be unique in Hays, the setup will be unique as well.
“It’s not you normal parts store, where you walk in, ask for something and they go back and get it for you,” Briney said. “I plan on having most of my stuff on the shelves for the guys to pick up and bring to me.”
This will give racers an first-person view of what a part will do and look like, something they cannot get by looking in a catalog or online.
“There’s a lot of different parts that you could use, upgrades you can do, so if they can see it it just gives more options,” he said.
For more on the business and pictures of the work being done in the building visit the Briney Motorsports’ webpage or facebook.