DREVICKI PREPARES TO DEFEND TITLE

DREVICKI PREPARES TO DEFEND TITLE

2014 American Racing Drivers Club Champion (ARDC), Steven Drevicki expected to begin the defense of his title at the beginning of April.  But Mother Nature had other ideas.
A heavy shower over Jonestown, PA late on Friday afternoon April 3rd, forced the cancellation of the night’s scheduled events at Linda’s Speedway and that included the 2015 season opener for ARDC.   The season opener for ARDC has now been postponed until Friday night, April 17th when the wingless midgets will give it another go at Linda’s and then move on to Path Valley the next day for race number two on the 2015 schedule.

On his way to the 2014 Championship, Drevicki picked up three wins and an unbelievable twelve top five finishes in twelve races.  Drevicki finished in the top ten in every event.  His record was the direct result of a lot of hard work and dedication by Drevicki and his team, led by his dad, Dave Drevicki.  After a very disappointing 2012 season – plagued with engine problems and electrical issues –  an Esslinger power plant was purchased for the 2013 season.   With a dependable power plant under the hood of the #19, attention could now be devoted to set-ups.  The 2013 season laid the groundwork for Drevicki’s championship season.

But after his performance last season, how does a champion prepare for the next season?  “By doing the same thing we did last winter,” Drevicki responded.  “By spending the time to go over everything and check everything again – just like we did last year.  You’re always going to have those things that you can’t prevent but the idea is to keep those things to a minimum.”  Drevicki hopes to become ARDC’s first repeat champion since Andy Martin in 2006-07.

Drevicki headed to Tulsa, OK for the 2015 Chili Bowl but the trip was a disappointment for the championship team.  A poor run in his qualifying heat found Drevicki deep in the alphabet soup of Saturday’s competition.  “The Chili Bowl is the Chili Bowl,” Drevicki said at the time.  “It’s eight laps against about eight or ten other cars.”  There isn’t anything like it.  And while the DeGre Engineering team returned home disappointed, “it’s just made us that much more determined for this season,” Drevicki added.  And anxious to get started!

So when the rain forced the postponement of the season opener, Drevicki was more than happy to travel to Lanco the next day to participate in a practice session.  With a special ARDC show scheduled at Lanco on July 4th, the track’s practice session was opened to the ARDC competitors.  Several of the current ARDC drivers are “graduates” of Lanco’s Micro Sprint ranks – including Drevicki.  “I was really looking forward to going there,” Drevicki explained.  “After racing there all those years, I know a lot of people there and I was just looking forward to going back.”  And the practice session would serve as somewhat of a test.

Any question about Lanco and the feasibility of the wingless midgets racing there were quickly answered with positive results during the Saturday evening practice session.  Seven ARDC drivers – Drevicki, Ryan Greth, Trevor Kobylarz, Jim Radney, Danny Stratton, Brett Wanner and rookie, Jared Esh – put on quite a show!  Not only were doubts erased but a lot of enthusiasm was created for the July 4th event.

“The track will only be better when we go there to race,” Drevicki explained.  With snow still on the ground a little more that a week earlier, track prep had to be kept to a minimum in order for the track to open for practice this weekend.  The midgets found the high line around the top of the track to their liking.  “And you get a run on the inside,” Drevicki explained, “but it the inside was there coming off.  If we can run the inside, we will really be able to put on a good show.”

ARDC is know for its side by side and three wide racing and it will becoming to Lanco on the Fourth of July!