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I certainly got involved in racing at a little later age than a lot of racers do. I used to go to Airborne when it was on
dirt at a young age with my parents, but that was nothing that was regular or that lasted forever. I never minded racing,
but was never exactly a huge fan. At least not while growing up.
Then, oddly enough, things changed once I was an adult. As "cheesy" as it sounds I became more interested in
cars after the first "Fast and Furious" movie came out. Between that and at the time I had an old pick up truck
that required maintenance to say the least. My brother in law, who is an excellent mechanic and would later become my crew
chief, helped me learn the basics of auto mechanics. So after this movie first aired I became more interested in working on
cars and racing. This was a bit after Dale Earnhardt's death, however during that event it did catch my attention because
of course everyone knows how great he was. Even non race fans. Then I started watching SPEED channel, various races including
some Hooters Pro Cup stock car races. That is what prompted me to catch NASCAR races on Sundays. In fact, my brother in law
was already a NASCAR fan so there was someone to watch races with.
That is basically how I became interested in stock car racing. This was all in 2002. I soon remembered that our local
town had a stock car track called Airborne. So I went the next Saturday night, and realized with my new appreciation of the
sport that live is much better than on TV. Lastly, how I became interested in being a driver happened at my first night in
the stands at Airborne. When the 4 cylinder street stocks were doing their warm up laps, the announcer mentioned that this
class was the easiest way for someone interested in the sport to get involved in driving. That is what sparked the idea, and
within weeks I was looking for a car to prepare for the start of 2003.
I ended up buying a Mustang hatch back style to enter in the street stock division. It was at the end of the 2002 season,
so we had all winter to prepare it. Upon registering for a racing license, I was lucky enough to get #14, my favorite number
of all time. This was the number I had when I played sports as a youngster, and just basically has always been my favorite
number. It was weird because when myself and my three crew members showed up to the first practice in 2003, it was the first
time we'd ever even been in the pits at Airborne, much less me on the track. I think the first practice went good, considering
we were basically clueless. I would call the first year a huge learning year to say the least. It actually took us a few weeks
to even have the motor good enough to finish a feature race-we had a major smoking and oil leaking problem at first. I feel
I gained a lot of respect amongst fellow racers. My best finish that year was a third in a heat race, and I think seventh
in a feature. The second from last race, however we had the car faster than it'd ever been. Turns out we were running several
races on only 3 cylinders, so no wonder it seemed to handle so good in the turns because it wasn't going as fast as it should.
So in that race, I went into turn 3 way too hot, spun myself out and was hit quite hard head on which bent the frame. So,
wanting badly to race in the last race of the year, being the day after my birthday especially, I rented a Neon from a newly
found racing friend to race in the newly formed Junk Yard Warrior division. This was my first time ever racing a front wheel
drive car and I learned quickly that they like to push to the outside and not be loose like a well set up rear while drive
car. I finished 10th in that race. Not as good as I should have.
Oddly enough, during the following winter, I traded the Mustang for that same exact Neon. Same deal, during the winter
we prepared it for what we believed would be an incredible 2004 season. And based on opening day, it would be. We went out
in the first practice and was the second fastest car out there and won our heat race nicely. This was also the day "Silent
Dale" was born. Justin St.Louis was then the announcer and created that nickname because we still had the muffler on
the Dodge Neon. We had about a month break until the second race, and I became quite overconfident from the big win the last
race. Starting then the bad luck started, and I got in wreck after wreck after wreck. I am still happy with 2004 season because
it was a lot of fun. Like most racers, I developed a couple of rivalries, none too serious because they all turned into friendships.
During this year, even with great sponsor help, I spent way more than what was in the racing budget. My wife and I agreed
that I should probably step back from this at least for a couple years to regroup. I know racing takes a ton of commitment,
both old fashioned wrench turning work, and cost. I did not want to put racing before my family which consists of two young
children so I agreed to attempt another approach for now.
So in both 2005 and 2006 I was the videographer for Big Jims Racing Videos. That was great, I really enjoyed the races
from atop the tower. I still got to go in the pits to deliver videos to race teams, so still got to enjoy that aspect. This
year in 2007, however, I became a race fan and used information for this website. I may race again someday, perhaps a limited
schedule in the near future in fact. Until then I will continue to gather information and photos to put on this website.
I also have and will continue to do the online sim racing that a lot of racers do on the side as well. That is quite fun,
and actually a decent simulation. But, most importantly my priority will be to be the webmaster for Dale's Race Place.
Thanks for reading.
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| This is the newspaper ad for the first race Silent Dale was ever in. |
Back to Silent Dale's Page
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