CALEB SAIZ
BEHIND THE WHEEL | DAVID BURNS RACING · No. 42
“Controlled chaos.” — that’s how he describes it inside a sprint car at full speed.
Racing Since
He Was Eight
Caleb Saiz has been racing since his grandfather Lonnie put him in his first quarter midget at Sandia Speedway in Albuquerque. The racetrack wasn’t just a hobby — it was home. As he puts it, “my earliest memories are being at the racetrack with my grandparents.”
By age 12 he was competing in mini sprints, winning Rookie of the Year as the youngest competitor in New Mexico. Over the next six years he racked up 6 wins and 12 top-5 finishes across six tracks in the state. At 20 he made the jump to full sprint cars and never looked back.
Today Caleb Saiz is the all-time winningest driver in the Desert Series, a 7-time sprint car champion, and in 2026 made his debut in High Limit Racing — the premier national 410 sprint car series..
“David takes his team seriously. DBR brings more of a professional environment — we still have fun but also treat it as a business.”
— Caleb Saiz, Driver
7×
#1
30
2008
410
From The Track To Your Screen
The Caleb Saiz Story
2008: Where It Started
It started with his grandfather Lonnie putting him in his first quarter midget at age 8 at Sandia Speedway. For Caleb Saiz, the racetrack wasn’t just a hobby — it was home. As he tells it, “my earliest memories are being at the racetrack with my grandparents.”
By age 12, Caleb was competing in mini sprints at Hollywood Hills Speedway with the New Mexico Modified Midgets club — sponsored by the Unser Racing Museum and Alchemy Hair Studios. He was the youngest competitor in the field. He finished tenth in the final standings out of all mini sprint competitors in New Mexico and took home Rookie of the Year.
Over the next six years he racked up 6 wins and 12 top-5 finishes across Hollywood Hills Speedway, Napa Speedway, Aztec Speedway, Grants Speedway, Southern New Mexico Speedway, and White Sands Speedway. The kid who grew up in the grandstands was becoming the driver everyone else had to beat.
2016: The Year Everything Changed
At 20 years old, Caleb Saiz made the jump from mini sprints to full sprint cars — one of the biggest leaps in motorsport. It was the same year he connected with David Burns through Truman West and joined what would become DBR Racing.
In his very first season behind the wheel of a sprint car, Caleb earned NMMRA Rookie of the Year — the same honor David Burns had earned in his own first season back in 1999. Two rookies of the year. One team. That’s not a coincidence — that’s a culture.
From day one Caleb did most of the work himself — learning engine maintenance, car setup, and race prep under the guidance of David Burns, Steve Nix, Clyde Hill, and Russ Hein. The firefighter with the flexible schedule who turns wrenches all week and races on the weekend. As Caleb puts it — “David takes his team seriously. DBR brings more of a professional environment — we still have fun but also treat it as a business.”
He didn’t just join a team in 2016. He found his people.
2018-2021: Championship Years
By 2018 Caleb knew he belonged. He captured his first POWRi NMMRA championship that year — and didn’t stop there. In 2020 he won the title by just 7 points over Spencer Hill in a COVID-shortened season where every single point felt like a full race. Three championships in four years. The kind of consistency that doesn’t happen by accident.
But 2021 was different. That year David Burns put Caleb behind the wheel of the Hank Arnold tribute car — honoring the Arizona racing legend and Burns family uncle who had been a true ambassador for motorsports in the Southwest. It was a responsibility Caleb didn’t take lightly. As he puts it, “it meant a lot to me that David thought highly enough of me to represent someone like Hank Arnold.”
Caleb won the championship that year. The tribute car. The title. The legacy honored. To him, the championship was the cherry on top — but carrying Hank Arnold’s name to victory lane was the moment that meant everything.
2026: Going National
Every championship, every late night in the shop, every mile logged across New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming was building toward this. In March 2026, Caleb Saiz made his debut in High Limit Racing — the premier national 410 sprint car series — at Vado Speedway Park. The kid who started in quarter midgets at Sandia Speedway was now lining up against the best sprint car drivers in the country
He arrives at that moment as the all-time winningest driver in the Desert Series — a record that speaks for itself. But records aren’t what drives Caleb. As he puts it, “now we have to work harder than we have worked before to stay there.” That’s not false modesty. That’s the mindset that built seven championships in the first place.
DBR Racing isn’t chasing history. They’re making it — one race night at a time.
Built On Championships
Also competed at: Chili Bowl Nationals — Tulsa, OK (Cory Kruseman Racing)
Family. Faith.
The Long Road.
Caleb is married to his wife Amira. His grandfather Lonnie — the man who put him in his first race car — still comes to races when he can. Racing is a family thing for the Saiz crew.
Outside of racing, Caleb is a firefighter with BCFR. His flexible schedule gives him the time to work on the cars throughout the week — engine maintenance, setups, prep — and race on the weekends.
He grew up in a religious household and still practices his faith today as a member of the Knights of Columbus. His personal motto: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, soul, and all your mind.”
What would surprise most people? “That I grew up in a religious household and still practice my faith today.” Simple. Genuine. Exactly who Caleb Saiz is.
Firefighter By Day. Racer By Night.
Caleb Saiz is a firefighter with BCFR — and the schedule works perfectly for someone who also races sprint cars across the Southwest. While most drivers have traditional nine-to-five constraints, Caleb’s flexible rotation gives him the time to be fully invested in the car all week long.
He doesn’t just show up on race night. He does the engine maintenance, works on setups, preps the car — all of it. That hands-on ownership is what makes DBR Racing different. Nobody knows the No. 42 better than the guy who drives it and builds it.
EMPLOYER
BCFR — Bernalillo County Fire & Rescue
EDUCATION
New Mexico Military Institute · Roswell, NM · 2010–2015
HOMETOWN
Albuquerque, New Mexico
FAITH
Catholic · Member, Knights of Columbus
What racing feels like
“Controlled chaos.”
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