By GUY LORANGER, The Herald-Sun

It’s fitting that Durham’s David Triplett kicks off his 2002 racing season tonight with the Coca-Cola 270 at Orange County Speedway. After all, he’s out to prove he’s "the real thing."

Triplett is coming off his best season in four years of competing in the track’s NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Stock division. He took the pole five times, won six races and finished in the top five in 12 events while placing third in the final points standings.

Though the season didn’t produce the sponsors that Triplett expected to attract this off-season, it’s only further fueled his competitive nature.

Until they do come around, Triplett is out to show that, like friend and role model Scott Riggs, he can make it on talent and desire alone.

"It’s come to where, if you have money, you can get in a ride," Triplett said. "But Scott’s one of the few who’s got to where he’s at without lots of money, just pure talent and being at the right place at the right time."

Riggs is the Bahama native who went from running Late Models at OCS to competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He now drives the No. 10 NesQuik Ford in the NASCAR Busch Series — one step away from NASCAR’s major league, the Winston Cup Series.

"I hope to be up there one day," Triplett said. "All I need is a shot, and I believe I can win them over. It’ll be up to me, but I guess I’m a true believer that things happen for a reason."

The 22-year-old Triplett — clean-cut, chestnut-haired and with an image that could make him a stunt double for Riggs — has enjoyed steadily rising success since he started racing go-karts 10 years ago and claimed titles in four World Karting Association divisions.

He moved up to the Allison Legacy Series — half-scale, mini-Winston Cup cars — in 1997 while still a student at Southern High and needed just 10 races to place seventh in the N.C. Region standings. He also set the OCS Legacy car record that season and, the next year, won the N.C. Series title.

"It gave me a lot of good experience, especially traveling in the summer," Triplett said. "It got me accustomed to running at different tracks."

Triplett caught a break in 1999 when family friend Bobby "Pops" Gullie gave him a car before passing away from cancer. That Pontiac — "He was like a second dad to me. That car won’t ever be sold," Triplett said — allowed him to jump into the Late Model Stock class at OCS.

As a rookie, Triplett teamed with Gullie’s son, Jason and placed 12th in the standings. The next season — in a Pontiac Grand Prix he purchased from Townsend Race Cars — Triplett finished ninth in the standings.

"I just went out each week and tried to learn something new," he said. "There’s some big-name competition out there, and with me being a rookie, I just tried to learn all I could from them."

During the off-season, Triplett worked with his crew — father David, a former OCS and South Boston Speedway driver, Doug Watson, Brad Brown and Rick Carpenter — and hit on a set-up that clicked from the start.

"We finally got it figured out for my driving style and were blessed with a great year," said Triplett, who also earned a degree from the new Motorsports Management Technology program at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. "I’m not that aggressive. I try to smooth it, be patient and take what the car gives me. I don’t try to overdo it."

The highlight of 2001 came in the season-ending Bailey’s Fall Classic 325. Triplett won the pole with a 14.20-second time and, despite going to the rear of the field after a spinout on lap 140, rallied to take the checkered flag. Two weeks later, he won another pole — for the Sleep Inn 400 at Myrtle Beach Speedway.

"A lot of it was just seeing things pay off, each step along the way helping me," Triplett said. "Without each of those steps, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today."

Today, Triplett is among the favorites to capture the title at OCS, though it should be your usual dogfight of a season.

The mix includes proven veterans like six-time champ Barry Beggarly — in a white, not black-colored car this season — and Maurice Hill and a hungry group of young drivers like Triplett, Terry Dease, Ryan Gray and Timothy Peters, the Baileys-backed driver who created a buzz while finishing runner-up at South Boston last season.

Triplett’s car will feature decals from 15 sponsors — including his father’s company, Triplett’s Towing — though he plans to stay in the hunt for more so that he can run a full schedule (it required an estimated $50,000 for last year’s full slate).

What’s most important to Triplett is to make sure he stays in that title hunt. Win, and the rest will take care of itself.

"I love a challenge," he said. "That’s why I’m in racing."