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Chub Frank: Chubzilla’s Season of Highs & Lows

By Doc Lehman

October, 2004

Chub Frank, once known as the ‘Shoestring Traveler’ and these days more commonly designated as ‘Chubzilla’, has marked 26 years of dirt track racing and winning with a season that has seen the highest highs and lowest lows, literally. The four-time Renegade Dirt Car Series champion embarked on the newly formed World of Outlaws Late Model Series as a member of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ in February and since then Frank has been challenged and blessed.

The early part of 2004 found Frank, his wife, Mary, family, team and friends dealing with the devastating loss of the popular driver’s mother, Janet and the complete loss of his race shop from a fire that swept through the building destroying nearly all the contents, including 25 years of worth of trophies, awards and memorabilia.

But there have been bright spots. Wins with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, MACS and others and he was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame this past August in addition to signing a major sponsor in Lester Buildings.. The highlight of the year and perhaps most likely his entire racing career suddenly occurred almost a month ago when he captured dirt Late Model racing’s #1 ‘crown jewel’ event, the 34th Annual WORLD 100 at Eldora Speedway.

To say that Chub Frank had a roller-coaster year would be to understate matters.

Chub Frank got into his first racecar back in 1978 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY. Frank, a product of the ultra-tough Eriez-Stateline circuit, spend many years reaching the top of the “local” region out of his Bear Lake, PA base of operations. For years Frank raced, and won, at Eriez Speedway, Stateline Speedway, Raceway 7 and McKean County. One thing all those tracks have in common is the talent.

Those racetracks have produced, and continue to produce, some of the toughest and most competitive groups of racers in the country. Frank’s roots are steeped in an abundance of outstanding competition. He spent his formidable years racing with some of the baddest-to-the-bone racers which, along the way, made Frank all that much better. It was perfect grooming for the step up to traveling series.

And since going “national” Frank has won numerous national sanctioned events with series like Renegade, Xtreme Dirt Car Series, MACS Late Model series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. He has, since his early years, steadily became a fan favorite, well beyond his original boundaries. People like Chub Frank. They root for him. Chub Frank represents the “blue collar” aspects of dirt track racing. And the blue collar fans, probably 80% of dirt Late Model racing’s fan base….relates. Plus Frank is just a dandy of a hard charger. Frank is the epitome of flat-footed racing. His wins across the sanction spectrum proves that. He can win anytime, anywhere, against anyone.

“I feel old (laughs)!” joked Frank when asked about his long tenure in racing. He was asked if he thought, during his rookie season, if he would still be racing over a quarter century later. “No, I might have thought I’d be racing but not doing it for a living, let’s put it that way. It wasn’t intentional starting out to do it as a living but after awhile I thought, what the hell, I like it and enjoy it and you’ve got to like what you do for a living I guess.”

So what memories does he have from his first season? Was he anxious and nervous?

“Back then we just did it for fun,” said Frank. “We won a race I think the second of June the first year we ran. We were running Spectators that first year which are like Street Stocks I guess.”

“I got a million miles on the race track (Frank’s father, Jerry, was a co-owner of Stateline and Eriez in Frank’s youth) before I ever got into a race car. I started at the racetrack when I was four. I was probably nervous the first night but just because competition wise and the beating and banging.”

“The first (Late Model) I ever drove was Southwell’s in ’85. I ran Limited Lates and Sportsmen and Late Models and I drove two different cars during the year. I didn’t own my own until the next year or year and a half after that.”

Frank was asked to take a look at his career, especially the beginning of his Late Model career, retrospectively. What memories pop up?

“We ran second the first night we ran Late Models and we were going to win the second night out but we were leading with two to go and they black flagged us because we were smoking (oil leak) so I was a little upset about that. But I came back the next week and won though (laughs)!”

Frank worked hard for years and was finally able to strike out on the road with a series, choosing the STARS/Renegade sanction where he eventually broke the consecutive championship record by scoring four consecutive titles with the series last season.

“It was a little harder to get the fourth,” stated Frank. “I knew Mike (Balzano) would probably be the toughest and there are other guys who have stepped up their programs and stuff, like Robbie Blair and Rod Conley, they are all running a lot better and more consistent. I knew Mike would be the toughest, and Davey (Johnson). I didn’t know what Davey’s plans were, if they were going to run the whole deal or not. But you don’t worry about those guys, you just worry about the guy that you know is going to be the problem (laughs), which is Mike.”

“We knew it would come down to no DNF’s basically, and top finishes. We knew we had to finish all the races and we did I think. I think we ran all of the laps except four of them. I think we lost two laps in Florida the first or second night so there are two of the laps right there (laughs)!”

“We were fairly consistent. I would have liked to have run better at some places where I thought we should have ran better.”

With the start of the 2004 season Frank became a charter member of the Dirty Dozen and hasn’t looked back. He likes the series for a variety of reasons and the direction it has taken.

“I think it’s a good idea because they are asking the drivers for input and it doesn’t mean that we’re always going to agree because not all drivers agree either,” explained Frank. “We’re trying to make it fan friendly and everything else but the racers also have to make some money and the promoters have to make some money or basically we’ll be out of business. I think this deal is definitely going to help that because we’ll have a say in where we race and when it comes to the rules. As for the rules, we’re not changing the rules or anything but like I said before, we won’t have things stuffed down our throat, at least we’ll have a say in the matter.”

Hard times this season first hit on Tuesday March 23 when a huge fire swept through the shop of Chub Frank Racing located near Sugar Grove, PA. Seven fire departments responded to the early afternoon blaze that was declared a total loss. Dirt Late Model driver Doug Eck arrived at Chub Frank Racing around 2:00 PM only to discover the rear of the shop was ablaze. Working inside the shop was Chub Frank and his father, Jerry Frank. The Franks and Eck were able to pull one of Frank’s Rocket Chassis racecars out of the shop with the second car being pulled out with the assistance of Toby Jordon who arrived shortly after.

“I got an outside wood boiler,” explained Frank. “I still don’t know what happened but somewhere it started it that building and the wind was blowing just right and blew it right to the garage. Doug Eck, who I race against up here, actually if he wouldn’t have shown up I probably wouldn’t have gotten my cars out of the garage. He’s the one who told me it was on fire and he’s the one who helped me get stuff out of the garage or otherwise I would have lost everything. I almost lost everything but just not ‘every-everything’ (laughs)!”

A little more than a month later Frank had another, far more devastating tragedy when his mother, Janet Frank of Sugar Grove, PA, passed away on April 30, 2004. Mrs. Frank, was a co-owner of Eriez Speedway in Pennsylvania and Stateline Speedway in New York for many years with her husband, Jerry Frank.

As the next couple months passed by Chubzilla was able to win more races and start to catch his breath somewhat when some good news finally arrived in the form of a new national corporate sponsor in Lester Buildings. The union came about when Frank began researching purchasing a new building to replace the one that was earlier destroyed.

And, to Frank, it was a win-win deal with Lester Buildings and beneficial to Lester due to the demographics that dirt Late Model brings to the table.

"I think they are getting in the ground floor with us to connect with their ASA program and perhaps have access to additional TV coverage, which is on the horizon," said Frank. "The demographics for dirt Late Model racing include farmers, business owners and all sorts of regular folks who enjoy boating, RV-ing, collecting cars, motorcycles, etc. They tend to have these toys that need to be stored in some kind of structure. As I understand it, this personal storage building market is their largest market, so it sure seems like a perfect fit!"

But, from the competitive standpoint itself, the best was yet to come for Chubzilla.

His stunning WORLD 100 win September 11 at Eldora Speedway was significant, poignant and memorable on a variety of levels. The 34th Annual WORLD 100 offered up a new first-time winner of the sport’s most prestigious crown jewel during a season that was fraught with obstacles and hardships for the popular Pennsylvania racer. It also will be remembered, possibly more than any other in years to come, as the WORLD 100 where Earl and Berniece Baltes announced the stunning news that they were stepping down after a half-century of stewardship of the sport’s most famed dirt track.

“I just wanted to win here because this place is the hardest to win at, and then to win it at Earl’s last WORLD 100, that will be a history type thing,” stated Frank. His impressive WORLD 100 victory earned him $37,000. “There are no words to describe that and there are no words to describe winning the WORLD 100 to start with! I can’t believe it.” For Frank, winning the WORLD 100 helps ease the stress of a season that saw the driver and his wife and family face adversity on a large scale the past seven months. A fire that destroyed his shop and the death of his mother, Janet Frank, weighed heavily on the driver, family and team all season and although the WORLD 100 victory cannot take the heartache of those previous events, it does help lift the cloud on a season of highs and lows.

“This is the highest,” declared Frank. “It’s been a long year with the fire and death of my Mom but my team, we never quit, we race hard and they take care of the equipment. My wife, Mary, totally supports me. It’s been a long year and it sometimes like everything we do it feels like takes two or three time to do since you’re in a different garage.” (Frank has been operating out of Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs’ truck garage. Briggs is also the crew chief for Chub Frank Racing.)

“My Mom, she didn’t raise a quitter and before she died she told me to keep racing. She would be jumping up and down and she would be real happy if she were here. She was always nervous when we raced. My Dad (Jerry Frank) is the same way. He would have been standing at the fence climbing it if he were here tonight.”

Frank’s win came aboard his Lester Buildings/ Corry Rubber/Allstar Performance/Nystrom's Auto Sales/Draime Racing Engines/Rocket Chassis/Pierotti Motorsports/Slavic Custom T-Shirts/Farr MotorSports/Corry Laser Chevrolet Monte Carlo #1*.

“I guess the third time is a charm or the icing on the cake or any of those old clichés,” commented Mike Farr, a long time friend of Frank’s who is in charge of the team’s marketing. “It was great seeing someone win like Chub, knowing him for so many years finally taking home the most prestigious award in dirt racing winning the 34th World 100.”

“I don’t really think it has sunk in yet for any of us. Chub was surrounded by fans till the wee hours of the morning congratulating him and getting autographs and all that. It was really cool to see his excitement as well as Mary and all the 1* team. Just to think of the horrible year he has had losing his mother than the shop, he has kept a positive outlook all season and maybe this was the turning point for him to take and run with the rest of the season.”

“It was also exciting having Lester Buildings there to support us and see the biggest win of Chub's career as well as many other sponsors.”

“I have also got to thank Lester Buildings, this was a boost we needed from them to get us here,” stated Frank. “They helped us get back in business and we’re looking forward to next year.”

“My wife Mary, she is my biggest support other than my Dad. Boom has been with me all summer. It’s been a good effort by the crew. I’m glad we could win this last one that Earl was a part of.”

“I just want to thank all the fans for all their support all year. It’s been a long year and it’s been a bad year, bittersweet, but all this helps make it good, too.”

Photos Courtesy of Tony Hammett, Rick Schwallie, Perry Hintz, Chub Frank Archives.

For more information on Lester Buildings visit: www.lesterbuildings.com

Thanks Doc!

From The Entire 1* Team

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Chub Frank Racing

Rt.1 Box 146

Lottsville Niobe Rd.

Bear Lake, PA 16402