---

VanderLey Reflects on Wild Championship Run, Looks to Back it Up at the 'Flake

By Chuck Corder

Dan and D.J. VanderLey were stuck in reverse.

The father-son combo was riding home to Mobile, lamenting the Allen Turner Pro Late Model title that apparently just had slipped through the cracks in the Five Flags Speedway asphalt.

The road went on forever on that miserable hour-long drive as crew chief and driver dissected the season.

The younger VanderLey took ownership for some mistakes throughout the season and so did the elder.

“You know what really lost for us?� Dan VanderLey said. “We I ran you out of gas earlier in the year.�

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,� responded D.J. VanderLey, who never hesitates a chance to needle his old man.

Then, as they were pulling into their shop to begin the slow unloading process at 1 in the morning, D.J. VanderLey’s cell phone rang.

“I was busy trying to get the car out, so I just didn’t answer it,� he said. “They called again, and I thought I probably should answer it. Good thing that I did.�

Good thing he did indeed. The caller informed the VanderLeys that they were needed back in Pensacola. Neither Bubba Pollard’s winning car nor Mike Garvey’s runner-up were going to make it through post-race technical inspection.

As the fourth-place car, VanderLey was in line for a second place with Brandon Bendele moving up two spots to collect the victory.

More importantly, that Allen Turner Pro Late Model track championship he thought was lost? VanderLey found it after Pollard, the initial class winner, had to forfeit his points for an illegal camshaft.

The deeper meaning of a crazy night meant VanderLey successfully had defended the Pro crown he first hoisted in 2010.

He also captured the Midwest Cooling Towers Pro Late Model championship earlier this month at Mobile International Speedway for a second consecutive year.

Few 19-year-old racers can boast such a back-to-back, back-to-back stretch on a Pro Late Model resume.

“It is so surreal — four championships in a row,� VanderLey said. “Having completed every goal that we set out for ourselves over these past two years, it’s a very rare thing that actually happens.

“Our program went from a decent program to running up front with some of the best guys in the country, like Augie Grill and Bubba Pollard and guys like that.�

The only thing missing from his program is a win. VanderLey has yet to solve the century puzzle (not to be confused with the puzzle of the century) since the series went from the 40 lappers he dominated in 2010 to 100 this year.

But with a trunk-full of top fives and top threes his breakthrough victory seems just around Turn 4.

“Like I’ve said all season: our car’s there and our team’s there,� VanderLey said. “I feel like I’m just as capable of a driver as these other guys. It’s just a bit of luck and timing we’re missing.�

There’s no better timing than the present.

With Snowball Derby week (Dec. 1-Dec. 4) fast approaching VanderLey has his eyes fixed squarely on the Snowflake 100.

Johanna Long, the NASCAR trucks rookie and VanderLey’s Super Late Model teammate, was winless coming into last year’s Derby. All she did was hoist the Tom Dawson trophy amid a crowd of adoring fans and camera flashes in Victory Lane.

VanderLey hopes to follow in her footsteps and back up his back-to-back, back-to-back achievements with a Snowflake checkered flag.

“To have a championship season without even winning one race is kind of amazing in its own right. It’s definitely an extra boost of confidence,� he said. “If all our cards fall right on Snowball Derby weekend, it very well may be our first and biggest win of the season.�

And provide quite the father-son conversation on the ride home.

 

Back to News