'From the Driver's Seat ' series

Stories and photos by
Terry Spradley

Fifth in a Series

Young Gun follows traditions from out in front

 

With only 8 points separating father and son in the Speedway point’s chase, I once again packed up the tape recorder and headed to Town & Country Repairs in Lindsborg for the latest scoop from the driver’s seat.

Born on his father’s birthday, Loren Dauer, Lindsborg, has been following his elder’s footsteps in

Loren prepares for another Saturday night of sliding corners at Salina Speedway in the L99

many ways. However, he does not always follow from behind. Less than three weeks prior, Loren led his father in points by a slim margin, but a good performance by the elder Dauer the following week put Ron up by eight points. Going into the May 21 race, competition between the yellow 99s should be interesting.

Two months shy of his twenty-second birthday, Dauer already has three-plus years behind the wheel of an IMCA Modified racer. Dauer started out his racing career in the ground-rumbling modifieds at the age of 18.

“I never drove anything except for a modified,” Dauer said.

He seems well suited for the task. As of May 14, he was ranked ninth in a field of 41 drivers currently showing on the points sheet at Salina Speedway. His father held eighth, and uncle, Rick rounded out the top 10. While well suited for piloting the sideways sliding modifieds, at 5’8” Dauer relies on a little ‘lift’ to create the optimum driving position. Before climbing into the L99, one of the last things Dauer does is install his custom seat cushion. A large yellow foam cushion with ‘ Speedway ’ emblazoned on it in black letters provides about 4 inches of lift to the young Dauers driver’s seat.

“We call it his security blanket,” Ron Dauer said. Others just refer to it as his booster seat.

Being the youngest and the newest driver in the 99s, his learning curve has brought a few entertaining moments. Before the start of his first race, he asked, “What does the yellow flag mean?” Ron Dauer could only reply with, “Oh lord...” The yellow flag stands for caution. It is used in case of accidents or debris on the track. Drivers must slow down; maintain position and line up single file for a restart when the track is clear.

Dauer’s first race was in Beatrice Neb. It turned out to be a night that drew all the top names in the modified class. Most were in Dauer’s heat. “I never got lapped.” Dauer said. “I probably should have.”

In his first season of racing, Beatrice was the first of two places Dauer would roll the yellow 99. The second was at Salina ’s speedway. “Coming down the back stretch, I did a little wheel hop with Breeden,” Dauer said. “Both times it was expensive.” Dauer has help straightening things back out after a night of racing. Crewmembers, Brad Carlson, Chip Ellis, and Garret Johnson work on both of the yellow 99s tuning suspension, and smoothing out bent sheet metal.

When not in the driver’s seat or working under the hood of his racecar, Dauer also works with his dad at Ron Dauer’s Town and Country Repairs. As well as working on vehicles in the shop, he does much of the customer’s location service provided by Town and Country.

This year the father and son team are racing almost exclusively at Salina Speedway. In years past, they frequented some of Nebraska ’s dirt ovals and one year even made the long trek to Las Vegas for a weekend of racing. “I flew out there a few days early,” Dauer said, “blew all my money!” Money was not all the young Dauer blew at Vegas. His car was handling and running well in the city of bright lights and fast money, but racing gremlins can strike even in the best of places. “I blew up (the engine) about 4 laps in,” Dauer said.

Another car owner recruited Dauer to drive one of his ‘Dirt Works’ cars after a disagreement with its current driver. “The car was all whacked out. We spent several hours on it, but it just wasn’t quite right.” Dauer did not win back any of his blown money but he did gain some knowledge and experience both on the track and on the strip.

A bond between father and son is apparent when talking with either of the Dauer drivers. Loren’s youthful exuberance and passion is balanced by the experience of his father and friends like Terry Malm, one of the teams many sponsors and fellow driver.

The night of our interview Dauer was just returning from a trip to Belleville Kans. A deal is currently being brokered to sell one, if not both of the current 99s to a California car owner and replace them with new ones. When asked if he thought he needed the new car to make up the 8-point lead Ron had on him, Loren joking replied that he did not.

May 21, Dauer had a good run in his heat qualifying for the ‘A’ main. His father also made it into the feature event’s starting line up. Both raced hard on the fast but slippery track. Young Dauer fought through the pack working his way into the top five, while dad battled traffic a few cars behind him. With fading brakes and dad hot on his heels the young gun managed to power the yellow L99 to a fourth place finish. With dad a few places back, the gap if not the order in the standings may see a little change.

New cars or old, 8 points or 80 you can be assured that the two teammates will push each other harder and higher in the standings as they battle with the rest of the field for the top spot. After the races Saturday night, a couple fans were talking about the final feature. “Two of those 99 cars were banging into each other over in turn two,” Salina resident Cameron Havel said. “The two yellow ones?” his friend asked. “Yes the two yellow ones.”

Check out all the local drivers at Salina Speedway every Saturday night through September. Gates open at 5:30 PM , racing starts at 7:30 .

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