A Mechanic by Day, a Race Driver by Night

Written By: Julia Biggs

HIGHLAND, IL (January 22nd, 2010) – It’s almost like he lives a double life. During the week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., he’s a typical, hard working, reserved guy – working as a diesel mechanic in Highland. But nearly every evening and on the weekends, he’s Bobby Dauderman, race car driver.

Those who follow the sport of DIRTcar racing know the name well. Bobby is certainly living proof that when you do what you love and pour your heart and soul into it, the success will follow. Earlier this month, Bobby was named the 2009 UMP Pro Late Model National and North Regional Champion at the UMP’s DIRTcar Racing’s Night of Champions Awards Banquet in Springfield.

Bobby’s father Joe commented on his son’s dedication to the sport saying that once his day at work was done, “after that, he is all about racing. He spends three to five nights a week in the shop working on his race car and he has been (doing that) for the last three years.”

Bobby’s interest in racing began when he was about 5. “My parents always went to the races, and I started going with them and watching,” Bobby said.

By the age of 8 Bobby was racing go carts and by age 14 he was helping with another driver’s stock car. A Highland High School 2006 graduate and now age 22, Bobby is a regular on the DIRTcar circuit. He said he began actually racing stock cars about four years ago.

During the weekday evenings, Bobby is busy working on his car, but by Friday night during the DIRTcar season, he’s preparing to race. He’s certainly not alone in his racing quest. “It’s kind of a family deal,” Bobby said.

Bobby’s brother Michael, cousins Chet Schuster and Nick Henschen, and friend Jeff Schulte serve as Bobby’s crew and routinely travel with him to race. “We got a dually truck, and we get in there and wheel to races,” Bobby said. “The five of us – that’s mostly the pit crew and the ones that help me work on the car through the week and are down there helping during the races.”

Joe's wife and Bobby’s mother, Deanna, along with other relatives, join in to support Bobby at the race tracks too.

“It’s usually a Friday-Saturday night thing,” he said. “We usually race in Granite City on Friday night. We usually race at Lake of the Ozarks on Saturday night. We’ve raced as far away as Alabama, Tennessee, Montgomery, Mo., – it’s a lot of travelling.”

Although racing is just a hobby for Bobby, when he wins a race, he also wins a monetary prize. “I’ve been lucky the last two years and done pretty good,” Bobby said. “I was pretty fortunate that the first full year that I did it I won 20 something features and made almost $26,000 but it broke even by the time I paid for everything. If you break even in racing, you’re doing pretty good.”

While all of his winnings go back into his car, Bobby also has several local sponsors that he said help him with the expenses. His 2009 sponsors were: TMCI Transportation Inc, Highland; Dauderman Monument Sales, Alhambra; RJR Farms, Highland; S. Horn Construction, Highland; Popeye’s Chop House, St. Rose; Voigt Racing Inc, Marine; Contegra Construction, Edwardsville and Chesterfield Mo.,; Gerstner Plumbing, Breese; Dauderman’s Detail & More, Alhambra; Performance Plus Fuels, Highland; WRP Speedshop, Highland; Camobooty.com, Denver Colo., and Walters Web Designs, St. Louis.

“I would like to move up to probably a super late model kind of deal, but that’s not really in my budget,” Bobby said. “You get up there and you’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

When he talks about racing, it’s clear that Bobby doesn’t do it for the money. “For me it’s just fun. It’s what I like to do,” he said. “I like being around cars and going fast.”

Bobby also explained that there’s more to racing than meets the eye. “I guess a lot of people would think it’s just get in there and go fast, but there’s a lot of engineering and figuring things out that go along with it – different set ups and gearing – to me it’s kind of like a puzzle. The tracks are always changing. It’s very challenging to me, and I like doing that. I like working on it.”

Certainly he’s committed to his sport as he’s typically working on his car four if not five days a week. “After I get off work, I’m working until nine, 10, 11 o’clock at night. Whatever it takes,” Bobby said. “I never get tired of it. I just love it.”

During the 2009 season, Bobby achieved a new career high by winning the UMP national points standings for the Pro Late Model division. These national standings are determined using the drivers’ best 30 finishes and points earned through the place finished in these races.

The national championship title came down to the last race of the season which took place Oct. 3 at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach. Bobby was two points behind points leader Tait Davenport of West Paducah, Ky. Bobby needed at least a third place finish and one that was ahead of Davenport to win the points title.

Although Randy Korte of Highland took a commanding victory, the fight for second and third was a fierce battle that would ultimately affect the points championship. Joe relived the accounts of that night in a newsletter he produces for his son’s fans. “Aaron Heck, Mark Oller, Bobby Dauderman and Bryan Collins fought back and forth, swapping the positions around lap after lap,” Joe wrote. “In the end, Bryan Collins would cross the line in second with Bobby Dauderman taking third, which was exactly where he needed to finish to secure the Championship over Davenport.”

Bobby’s recent success has somewhat made him a local celebrity of sorts. He’s found people recognize him more frequently – sometimes at the strangest times. He was recently in a local hospital with his brother visiting his grandfather, Bob Dauderman, when someone recognized the name. “My grandpa comes in the ER and someone down there knows you. We have the same name. It’s pretty cool,” Bobbie said humbled by the attention.

“I guess I consider myself real low-key,” he said. “I don’t consider myself great or anything like that. I guess I’m good at it, but I certainly have a long way to go, and I want to get better. I’m always striving to get better.”

Exhibiting signs of someone who truly loves his sport he noted that “Even if I win, I usually have a complaint of something I could have done better. That’s what I think I like about it. You always got to work harder and try to make yourself better – just like any other sport.”

Bobby’s season starts back up in March and race fans can follow his upcoming 2010 schedule and results on his Web site a www.BobbyDauderman.com. Over 260 fans already follow him on his Facebook site, Bobby Dauderman Racing, which was just started recently.