A Brief History of DFC

DFC was formed by Bob Wengerd and Rich Holmes in 2000.  We started out with a badly beaten race car that was donated to us by fellow racer, John Holmes. Without his kind donation and weekly support, we would have never made it. THANKS John!

We spent the winter months of 2000 rebuilding the car in order to get it together in time for opening day at Wayne County Speedway in April.  With a little luck and a few borrowed parts, we were ready to start our first racing season.

We used the first half of the season to get some greatly needed experience.  Each week we seemed to improve at least a little bit.  Our car was still underpowered but we were actually becoming competitive.  Rich was getting more comfortable in the seat each week and we just kept making small changes to improve our performance.  By the end of the season, we were able to upgrade to a little more motor and we were on our way towards the front of the pack.  With the help and support of some of our fellow racers,we were finally able to run with the "big boys".  We are also very proud to announce that Rich won the Rookie Of The Year at Wayne County Speedway for the 2000 season.

For the 2001 season, we completely rebuilt what was left of our car.  This included replacing the front sub-frame and rebuilding the rear frame.  That ugly body was finally replaced with a shiny new red one.  We also stepped up our motor program.  This car was a huge step up from where we started.  For most of the season,we were able to run with just about anybody out there.  We ended the season with another awesome run at the Dirt Blow Out at Lakeville.  Unfortunately we used up most of the car there too and it was time to retire it.

For the 2002 season,we built a brand new car with the help of the legendary Bill Franks.  We also stepped up our motor program once again and made the chassis adjustable for a change.  This is by far the best car we've had to work with yet.  For more details on our rebuild process, check out our the TeamDFC news articles on Rebuilding.

2003 was the first time ever that we didn't have to build a new car or completely rebuild the one we had. That gave us more time to do some extra research and kick around a few fresh ideas to make the car even better. Well all of that paid off on opening night when we hit the track with the best car we've ever put out there. It was beautiful and it was fast but our luck ran out in the feature that night. The car was virtually destroyed but once again DFC Racing bounced back. With the help of Bill Franks, and the rest of our crew, we returned to the track the following week! We struggled for a few weeks getting the car back up to speed but we were soon rewarded for our hard work. Richie picked up his first career win on June 21st!! It was a night that none of us will ever forget. We continued with a strong finish to the season and ended up 8th in the points. Richie was also awarded "Most Improved Driver" for the 2003 season.

2004 was a shortened season for DFC Racing but it brought many changes too. Once the Pure Stock was parked, we got busy with the new toys for the 2005 season. Bill and Kim Franks decided that they were ready to become car owners so not one, but two Late Models were brought home and prepared for the next year of racing. Randy Pollock was offered the seat in the Late Model that we plan to run and we're very happy to say that he has accepted the offer. The other Late Model still has no definite plans yet but we're working on that.

What the !@#$ does DFC mean?

There have been some inquiries about what DFC really stands for. Let me try to explain that. While building our first car, Rich and I kept asking each other for opinions on how certain things should be put together. We both seemed to give the same reply each time -- "I Don't Fu@%ing Care".

While the car was getting lettered (thanks Dave Hines), we were asked if we had a name for our team. We both gave the same old reply, and the rest is history!

-- Bob

Published on: 2002-05-21 (1385 reads)