Chub Frank: Back To Back Champion
By DOC LEHMAN

Chub Frank’s rise to one of the sport’s top dirt Late Model drivers shifted into warp speed in 2000. Numerous wins and achievements came Chub Franks’ way in 2000, capped by his first Renegade STARS Racing Series championship title and when the 2001 season rolled around, it was no different.

          And it ended no different. Once again, Chub Frank would reign supreme as the Renegade STARS Racing Series champion.

          But Chub Frank would be the first to tell you that he was on no gravy train ride to another championship.

          “I don’t know, but I will tell you it was a lot harder this time than it was the first time,” admitted Chub Frank freely. “It was a good year, but it was definitely a lot tougher. Haven’t really had time to think about it (laughs)! I started that house project last year and I haven’t really done too much with it.”

“I moved my stuff into the garage we re-did and we’re still re-doing everything. I just haven’t had time to think really because I know I only have about two months and only have a few weeks of good weather so I’ve been working trying to get all of that stuff done. But it’s a good deal but I really haven’t had time yet to enjoy it I guess.”

Frank, in typical fashion, wasn’t confined to just winning Renegade STARS Racing Series races. He won other events, including even more UDTRA features with a couple coming from tracks in the deep south where Frank had no prior experience at. In fact, Frank was picking up UDTRA wins well before he snagged his first Renegade STARS Racing Series this year.

“Yeah, the UDTRA stuff was easy but this STARS stuff wasn’t (laughs)!,” quipped Frank. “It isn’t like they are any easier, I don’t know what the deal is. When you’re running for points you’re not always running for wins, if you know what I’m saying. Sometimes you have to take chances. And sometimes you can take chances when it doesn’t really matter.”

“Like when we went down south to those UDTRA races I made some tire choices that no one else was doing. And when you’re running STARS I couldn’t do that because you’re running for points.”

“In fact Steve Francis and I were talking about it down at Fayetteville and he asked me what I was going to do for tires and I told him and he said, ‘man, I can’t do that’. And I said I know you can’t because you’re running for points. And it worked out for us, but then again, it could have went the other way, too. But I would have done the same thing he did if I were running for points. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get those finishes.”

Frank eventually picked up six Renegade STARS Racing Series wins by the end of the year, the exception in a year with the series marked by parity. Frank was asked which race of 2001 stood out the most when he looked back on the season.

“The Pittsburgher!” Frank quickly offered. “That is the one that took me a long time to get (laughs)! Thirteen times I’ve been to that one. There are other races that stand out but for the wrong reasons. Like the (ELDORA) MILLION. Things were good at the MILLION and I’m not going to say we had a chance to win it but we had a chance to run in the top three probably until I knocked the wall down and messed that up. That one was on the bad side.”

“At Pittsburgh that place is tough anyway and then you’ve got (Scott) Bloomquist and all them like (Steve) Francis, (Rick) Eckert, (Bart) Hartman and (Mike) Balzano. All them guys are tough. It just feels good to get that one finally. The last two years I had led it early on and lost the lead but this time I didn’t lead early on and ended up leading it the rest of the way. So it worked out for us.”

          There are others who will acknowledge Frank’s unfailing commitment despite having a somewhat tough start with the Renegade STARS Racing Series.

“I thought Chub had a real good shot going into this season and being a back-to-back (championship) winner,” stated Bret Emrick, Race Director for the Renegade STARS Racing Series, which is now known as the Renegade Dirt Car Racing Series. “And he really I think stepped up to the plate in 2000 when he got the championship. And this year, and the way he took off, let’s face it.”

“He sorted started kind of slow with us. He didn’t get his first win until July 13th at Hagerstown. It took awhile to get that but prior to that when we weren’t racing he would venture out and race with UDTRA and we all know what happened there (laughs)! Chub did real well this year when he ventured off the tour and it was just one of those situations where once they got the ball rolling he was going to be tough to beat.”

“And it wasn’t so much his wins as it was his consistency. And even though for a while Chub wasn’t winning he was getting lots of top five and top ten finishes. And of course when you’re chasing points that is what it comes down to, staying consistent. And he really did a good job with it.”

“And I think he really stepped up his program more this year, too. And when I say that we’ve always known that Chub is a hard nose racer out on the track and he’ll get110% out of his racecar and he’ll get 110% out of himself. This year I think it’s still the same type of situation but we’re starting to see that experience really starting to rise up right now.”

There are others who will echo Emrick’s statement about Frank’s focus and resolve.

“Chub is diehard!” exclaimed Steve Baker of Rocket Chassis forcefully. “I guess that’s how I want to say it. Chub has been with us almost from the beginning. There is no quit in the guy.”

“Over the years he has accumulated and accumulate stuff and that’s what got him to where he is today. He’s his own car owner and probably doesn’t have the financial backing a lot of other guys have, but he makes due with what he has and does a super job with it.”

“And Chub is another one who has helped out a lot of our racers and he helps us and helps us sell cars. That’s why we want to support someone like Chub Frank.”

Respect for Chub Frank’s dedication to the sport goes beyond his fervent efforts to give sponsors and supporters exposure and professional representation.

“Oh yeah, he sure is,” confirmed Emrick when asked if Frank was a good representative for the series and the sport. “Anything we have asked Chub to do, like any personal appearances and with our autograph sessions that we have, he is always one of the first ones to step up to the plate and help out. Chub is one of those, and I think he gets it from his Dad to be honest with you.”

“I’ve talked to his Dad Gerald quite a bit when we’re out on the road and Gerald says the number one thing all of us have to remember is it’s the people up in the stands that keep us going and Chub understands that and he is willing to do that. And he has a good relationship with the fans. After the races when you go down into the pits there is always a lot of people around his hauler getting autographs and buying t-shirts and he is always glad to meet the kids and sign the shirts and have a word with them. And the older kids, too.”

There is no doubt that Chub Frank, who came from the ultra-tough hardcore dirt Late Model region known as the Stateline-Eriez-Raceway 7 triad, has eased into the role as a professional race car driver with an understanding of his role and a willingness to deliver the goods off and on the track.

Frank’s on track success, according to the popular racer, goes to his tried and try formula: Rocket Chassis and Draime Racing Engines.

“Well, we have been with Rocket since basically the start of them,” explained Frank. “Actually I was with Mark before that when he was a Bullitt dealer. But three quarters through their first year we got a Rocket so we’ve been with them for the most part since they started.”

“And with Draime, we’ve been with them since ’91 and both of them just work so good for us and have been good to us. “We haven’t had any trouble, no motor troubles. They make good motors. We’ve proved that, you can run with anybody with them.”

“ I wouldn’t switch for nothing. I’ve been loyal to them (Rocket and Draime) and they have been loyal to me so it works out.”

The 38-year-old Frank is also quick to acknowledge the support he gets from his loyal and dedicated sponsors. During his 2001 STARS Championship title run Frank’s #1* carried sponsorship from Corry Lazer Technology, Biscotti's Restaurant & Winery, Draime Racing Engines, Rocket Chassis, Hoosier Tires, Carrera Shocks, Nystrom's Auto Sales, MAC Trailer, Flinner Decals, Slavic Custom Tee-Shirts, RebCo, Corry Rubber, Speedbear Fasteners, Outlaw Brakes, Sunoco Race Fuels, Scott Performance Wire, Hypercoils, HLH Trucking, Outerwears Co. Inc., Weld Wheels, Tuttle Truck Repair, Frankland Rear-Ends, Brinn Transmission, Woodard Racks.


Frank is also quick to point out that the reason his title win was tougher to come by was the level of competition.

“Well, I know they don’t get the press or recognition or whatever you want to say that the UDTRA guys get but they (Renegade STARS) are just as tough if not tougher than them guys. They race different. Both sets of drivers race different. Down south they race a little different than they do in the north. And these guys up here are just as tough if not tougher.”

“It’s probably going to get harder. Everybody has picked up the pace on their programs. Mike (Balzano) is tough every year, even when he wasn’t running STARS. Jackie Boggs came on this year. R.J. (Conley). I don’t know what the Conley boys are going to be doing next year but the Conley boys are tough.”

With  the annual Renegade STARS Racing Series Awards Banquet less than a week away, where Frank will be center stage and the star of the show, the personable driver still has a full plate with the start of the racing season only a short two and a half months away.

“Probably right now the same thing,” stated Frank when quizzed on his 2002 plans. “Right now I’m just trying to get things regrouped for next year. Right now I’m looking for a crew I guess you could say. My crew chief is retiring. He’s getting married. So right now I’m still working on that and getting everything ready for February. But I think we’ll do the same thing right now. I don’t think we’ll do anything any different. I just can’t travel quite as much as some of them other guys do.”

“Our program the past couple years has been working pretty good. Don’t ask me why. We haven’t really changed anything the past couple years. The only problem we had last year that I would really like to fix is we had too many DNF’s. We didn’t have a lot but we still had some. And that’s one thing I don’t like to do. I like to finish a race. I think we had them two or three STARS races, two in a row I know that, but I think we had like three at the beginning of the year which is why we go so far behind and it took until July to catch up to Mike in the points. The last two years before we ran all the races and didn’t have a DNF and then we had three of them right away. It makes it a long year to catch up.”

But not unreachable!

Not for one of the very best in the business.


©2001 DOC LEHMAN/Dirt America!
November 2001