Brad Myers and fiancée Melissa Hansen love taking their car out for a Saturday night cruise in downtown Antioch.

But this is no romantic drive – the Brentwood residents enjoy getting down and dirty every week at the Antioch Speedway as a husband-and-wife-to-be racing team. Their car is white, adorned with the No. 33 and decals from a bevy of local sponsors. Their road is an 3/8-mile oval made of mud. Their ambient sounds are the deafening roar of a dozen other engines.

“It’s fun; it’s different,” Myers said. “Every week, she’s in there with me – an extra set of eyes looking for accidents around the corner. It’s kind of cool.”

As Myers, 31, drives the hobby stock car, the 28-year-old Hansen serves as the passenger, watching out for crashes and open lanes. Hansen also competes on her own, in the limited late model division. So far, the team has been doing quite well at the Speedway. They’re second in the hobby stock standings to Danville’s Jim Freethy.

Myers and Hansen met a few years ago as coworkers at Brentwood Auto Parts – now one of their car’s major sponsors. Friendship turned to something more serious and a couple years ago, they decided to turn their love for racing into something tangible. Though Hansen has been racing at the Antioch Speedway for 12 years, last season was the first for Myers, who has always been passionate about the four-wheeled sport, but had not taken a turn in the driver’s seat.

Last year, they raced as a team, alternating roles. But their quest for a championship was dashed because whoever drove the car got the points for that week. This season, the couple decided that it would be Myers steering the car and Hansen in the passenger seat.

“My first year racing, she definitely helped me out a lot,” Myers said.

Their relationship accelerated on Easter weekend last year, when they headed to Reno just to get away for a bit. Myers had been holding on to a ring for a couple months, waiting for the right time to make his move. The night before Easter, Myers popped the question and Hansen accepted.

Even though it’s been a little over a year since the engagement, the couple swerves around the question of “Have you set a date?” Hansen and Myers are content to put off thinking about tuxes and dresses until after the flame-retardant suits have been placed in the closet at season’s end.

Recently, their moms purchased a bumper sticker for them that jokingly describes the situation. “It says, ‘We interrupt this marriage to bring you the racing season,’” Hansen said. “That’s probably pretty true. We don’t want to miss a race. We’re planning the wedding around the racing season, pretty much.”