Does it matter which car he will be in? Dave can win in just about any car! As long as it's not a **** box!! Good luck Dave!
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By Brett Bowman
Tribune racing columnist Pharos-Tribune Tue Apr 12, 2011, 12:31 AM EDT
The USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series kicks into high gear this weekend with stops at Gas City on Friday followed by visits to Lawrenceburg on Saturday and Kokomo on Sunday.
Entering the three races, Lincoln veteran Dave Darland is on quite a roll after bagging a pair of big money events at the Twin Cities Raceway Park and the Lincoln Park Speedway in the last eight days.
The daunting thing facing the rest of the field is that Darland was not even wheeling the car he will be in for most of the season. Granted, the equipment he was in for the two wins (Jeff Walker Racing) is on par with any team around, but after a roller-coaster 2010, Darland has his plans in place for the new season.
After being replaced in the Scott Benic No. 2B just prior to the 2010 campaign, Darland looked to have everything in place when he teamed with Keith Kunz Motorsports behind the wheel of both the No. 67 sprint car and the No. 67 midget.
In the early stages of last season, the funding ran low on Kunz’s sprint car, leaving Darland without a ride in the series he loves. He stayed with Kunz aboard the midget, but needed the aid of the Gene Goodnight Racing team for his sprint car ride.
After pairing with Goodnight and crew chief Brian Cripe, Darland and the team rattled off some impressive wins and came within a lap of capturing his second Bob Darland Memorial event. After such a strong campaign, it seemed apparent that an encore was in order.
However, that wasn’t the case.
The Goodnight team let Darland know that it was going to scale back its schedule for this year. For Darland, who is for all intents and purposes a full-time racer, that means taking a hit to the wallet which again meant he was scratching around for an opportunity to showcase his talents.
He didn’t have to wait very long as opportunity knocked in the form of Darrell Tate and the Dan Roberts race team. The Roberts team has fielded cars for the likes of Dickie Gaines and Kevin Huntley behind the wheel over the years.
“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity,” said Darland in the days prior to winning the $6,000-to-win event at Twin Cities. “That team has always been solid and has always had good race cars that are capable of winning every night. They are putting together a deal that will give me an opportunity to go after another USAC championship.
“I’d really like to get another [championship] in the sprint car,” he continued. “It seems crazy. I’ve won a lot of races, sprint weeks and everything, but I’ve only won the one championship [1999, with the Hoffman Racing No. 69]. I’d like to get another one.”
For non-sanctioned events that the Roberts team won’t compete at Jason Goacher, owner of the 5G that has seen locals Shane Cottle and Tony Elliott pilot, will field a car for the popular veteran.
“Jason and I have talked and he is going to put a car together for weekly programs so I can race at Kokomo and Gas City when there isn’t a USAC show somewhere,” said Darland. “He’s helped out in the past and always has strong race cars. I am fortunate to have the cars available to me that it looks like I’m going to have this year.”
Of his season with the Goodnight team, Darland was grateful for its help.
“I really can’t thank Gene and Matt [Goodnight], Brian Cripe and the sponsors that helped out with that team a year ago,” he noted. “I really had a lot of fun last year and would have liked to come back this year but this is a business and I have to make a living.”
After three decades of toiling on tracks across the country, Darland is peppered with the question about how much longer he plans to keep racing and he admits he’s finally thinking about life after racing.
“To be honest, I do think more about [retiring],” he stated. “I would like to slow down some and not be gone so much. I suppose if I got a full-time job where I wouldn’t have to rely so much on the racing I would think even stronger about retiring. But I’m not going to keep racing for the sake of racing. When the time comes that I have to start sacrificing the equipment I drive just to race, then it will be time for me to move on.”
Following putting Walker’s No. 11 into victory lane twice, the soon-to-be 45-year-old grandfather appears to have pushed the sun back up a little higher in the sky to maybe give race fans a little bit more summer.
When the likable driver does step aside, the up-and-coming talent out there will have some big shoes to fill.
• Brett Bowman is the Tribune’s lead auto racing columnist. He may be reached by e-mail at
brettbowman29@aol.com or through the sports department.
