Danny Dietrich doesn’t race sprint cars for a living.
The 34-year-old navigates the same everyday obligations as most — a job, familial matters and more, but he doesn’t let that limit his annual racing calendar.
Every year, Dietrich, who helps operate Racers Used Parts Warehouse, ends up near the top of the list of those with the most sprint car starts across the country, and this year will be far from an exception for the driver of the Gary Kauffman Racing No. 48 sprint car.
In January, Dietrich grabbed the attention of the sprint car community when he revealed his schedule for the year totaled 123 nights of racing. Plenty of evenings at the tracks near home, a few big road trips and a partnership with another team for select nights combined to equal the eye-popping number. The schedule will lead Dietrich to his busiest season yet.
Some of the more notable statistics surrounding Dietrich’s schedule include that he has four months with at least 15 races planned and seven months with at least 10. One particularly grueling stretch from late May to mid-July will see him take on 33 races in 52 days.
With a schedule that brings Dietrich to a race track for over a third of the calendar year, it’s natural to wonder if he set out with the intention of reaching a personal record of nights behind the wheel.
Danny Dietrich (Paul Arch photo)
However, Dietrich notes it was merely the result of having options.
“It just ended up being a big number,” Dietrich said with a laugh when asked if he intended to construct such a lofty schedule. “We have a lot of racing here in Pennsylvania. We don’t miss too many races here in Pennsylvania, and when we do it’s to go to Ohio Speedweek.
“The way we’ve kind of done our schedule is we like to go down south, go to Florida or Georgia and kind of just knock off the rust, which makes us, I think, much more of a contender at the beginning of the season here in Pennsylvania. We also gain an extra eight to 10 shows a year by going to Ohio Speedweek.”
The bulk of Dietrich’s racing will be with his familiar Gary Kauffman team, but he’s also partnered with a different crew for a handful of nights that helped push his schedule to new heights.
Last year, Dietrich was one of many drivers who had their interest sparked when Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet announced the lucrative High Limit Racing Series. Once the 12-race schedule was revealed for this year, Dietrich wasn’t sure it would be feasible for he and the No. 48 crew.
However, he noticed their dates were commonly near where the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars were racing. Who better to strike a deal with than an Outlaws team? Conversations between Dietrich and Randy Gass, father and car owner for Noah Gass, began shortly after.
“When you think about it, their guys are going to be around the area where the High Limit Series is,” Dietrich said. “I waited for High Limit to put out all of their dates and all of their purses and just see what they had going on as far as confirmation of dates. I knew the Kauffman team couldn’t run the High Limit deal.
“That’s where I get into saying it doesn’t financially make sense for us to, even though they pay such good money, drive to Kansas City or Iowa or Missouri. All of my guys still go to work on Mondays. They’ve got to take off work to go on these trips.
“When I saw the High Limit Series come out with their purses and what they’re going to pay, it was like, ‘OK, I’ve got to get a little serious about this if I want to do it, and I wanted to make sure I did it right,” Dietrich continued. “With me being a tall driver, it’s not as easy as just going and finding somebody’s car and jumping in it. I’ve got to make sure I fit in someone’s car, and Noah is pretty tall, and he’s got cars just like mine. Also, it’s not just me going to race for them. I’m going to try to help them with their program as well.”
Dietrich is feeling especially confident about the partnership after his initial conversations with the team’s crew chief, Cody Cordell.
“I’ve got to thank Cody Cordell a lot,” Dietrich said. “He’s been a big supporter behind it. He’s going to build a race car. We’ve been working hand in hand together pretty well as far as him asking questions. The questions he asks make me feel even more comfortable about going racing with him. He seems to be a pretty smart fella just based on talking to him the little that I have so far.”
Assembling a 123-race schedule is one thing, partaking in it is another.
Keyword: Dietrich: Sprint Car Racing’s Busiest Driver