Three-time Glen Ridge Motorsports Park Modified Track Champion Looking for Fourth Consecutive Title in 2016; Eyes Return to Fulltime Competition at Fonda Speedway behind the Wheel of the Famous Dover Brake No. 00
Story and Photos By: MATT NOLES / RACERSGUIDE.COM
SPRAKERS, NY- April 13, 2016- Track championships are often won by sheer determination and consistency. The driver who is the best of the best, the proverbial cream of the crop for the entire season generally reaps the rewards at years end.
Yet there are other factors that go into the making of a champion; factors that are sometimes overlooked by the masses because the struggle, the fight goes on away from the public eye. Though Bobby Varin used the aforementioned character traits to garner his third consecutive track title at the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park [in Fultonville, New York] in 2015, there is one that truly takes precedence over all; overcoming adversity.
With motor troubles, and that statement is putting it lightly, plaguing the Sharon Springs, New York native during the second half of the season, it’s nothing short of incredible that Varin was able to win two out of the final three modified features on the last night of points at the ‘Fastest Quarter-Mile on Dirt’ and add yet another crown to his substantial career résumé.
Even with all the headaches and adversity that last season brought to the Dover Brake team, the year still ranks among the better times throughout his nearly 30-year racing career. “Last season is somewhere in the top-ten for us,” stated Varin. “I’ve definitely had more successful years but we won nine features and a title so I guess I don’t have too many reasons to complain.”
Varin started his career at the historic Fonda Speedway in Fonda, New York and it’s certainly a speedway that he holds near for numerous reasons. Last season, the six-time track champion left behind some unfinished business as constant motor issues prevented him from completing every event on the schedule.
“Finances were tight last year and we weren’t able to finish out the season at Fonda,” continued Varin. “We had a lot of motor issues early in the season that put a lot of stress on us and it was tough, but we overcame and were still able to get the title at Glen Ridge. I guess you could say everything worked out in the end.”
Though his season was cut short at Fonda, he still managed to add another accomplishment to his legacy at the ‘Track of Champions;’ he surpassed legendary modified pilot Pete Corey on the all-time winners list. “To be listed among the top-five group of winningest drivers at Fonda is pretty big for me,” said Varin. “Just to be in the top-ten at Fonda is an accomplishment and to be listed in the top-five is that much better.”
The aforementioned motor issues are still an unsolved enigma for Varin and his team; one they hope is finally behind them for good as the 2016 season is set to begin. “We had some previous issues with our preceding engine builder and they really came to a head last year,” Varin stated. “We switched to another engine builder but we really didn’t give him the ample time he needed to get everything right and it just snowballed into a catastrophe for us.”
A catastrophe is putting it lightly. As the season neared its conclusion, Varin’s point lead at Glen Ridge dwindled down to merely a shadow of what it once was. With his motor program in disarray, his title hopes seemed to be placed precariously close to the edge of failure.
“We were able to pull through it but we’re still not over it,” remarked Varin. “We still have some engines that need to be rebuilt and taken care of but we do have two fresh ones to start the year and we’re working on the others. A lot depends on how our season starts this year.”
With Fonda Speedway changing hands after the abrupt departure of Matt DeLorenzo at the conclusion of the 2015 season, there was some speculation concerning which drivers would return and which ones would not when Pete Demitraszek was named the new promoter this past November. Varin is among the former for 2016.
“We’ll be back at Fonda and Glen Ridge this year,” continued Varin. “I’d like to hit some special shows if we can at places like Utica-Rome [Speedway in Vernon, New York] and then at the end of the year, if we have a good supply of equipment, I’d like to hit some series races. I’d love to be able to follow the whole series but the financing just isn’t there right now.”
It’s one thing to win a track championship; it’s an entirely different accomplishment to win three consecutive titles, with two different car owners no less. Yet that’s exactly what Varin has been able to achieve at Glen Ridge since 2013. “We won two of those titles driving for the Nelson Racing Team,” said Varin. “Then we brought the Dover Brake car up there and backed those two titles up with another last year.”
In all reality, Varin should probably have more titles than he does at the Fultonville, New York facility; but late-season issues kept him from climbing atop the podium earlier in his career. “We probably should have had a couple titles when we were driving for Andy Romano,” Varin stated. “It never seemed to fail that we would run into some problems at the end of the season. We let it slip through our fingers a couple of different times, but it’s water over the bridge now and we just have to keep moving forward.”
With the season opener merely days away, the expectations for Bobby Varin are growing as talk of a fourth consecutive modified title at Glen Ridge increases. “Winning the title is always our goal and we know that we can do it,” said Varin. “Hopefully we have the equipment we need to get there again. We’re running the same stuff we have run for the last two years and I have all the guys in the right places. It really just comes down to the cards you’re dealt and what you do with them.”
With age comes wisdom; with wisdom comes the understanding that life only gives you a limited amount of time. It’s this mindset that cause fans and fellow competitors to wonder how many years Varin has left behind the wheel of a northeast dirt modified. With a career that is nearly three-decades in the making, time may, or may not be running out for the veteran driver.
“I look at guys like Dave Lape and Jack Johnson that raced well into their 60’s,” continued Varin. “I don’t know if that’s in the cards for me or not. Racing has changed substantially since I started and even in the last five years I’ve seen a lot of things go a different way than what I think is good for the sport.”
The cost of operating a competitive race team certainly weighs heavily on his mind and as far as the near future is concerned, costs show no indication of coming down to a more reasonable level. “The costs of purchasing new motors are going up and the purses for competing have come down,” concluded Varin. “Racing is getting more and more difficult as far as finances are concerned. It’s getting to be more of a yuppie club than anything and I don’t fit into that demographic very well. I’m definitely not a yuppie; I’m a racer.”
Matt Noles is a contributing writer to Racers Guide and Speedway Illustrated. He currently resides in Sprakers, New York.
