If I was going to use one word to describe Dave Dotter, it wouldn’t be sentimental.
Dave wouldn’t use it either. We laughed about that the other night when we talked at Dean Patterson’s garage.
Dotter is great when it comes to working on race cars. He’s very good and supportive when communicating with the driver he’s working for. But when he gets angry, Dotter can be a boatload to handle for a racing official, an opponent — and even sometimes a reporter.
On this night, he was a kitten. Dotter was helping Patterson get his late model in order. I was there to talk with Dave about him being inducted into the 2024 class of the Mazon Speed Bowl/Grundy County Speedway Hall of Fame.
Those who know him might not believe me. But trust me, it’s true. He got sentimental — and humble.
On Saturday, Aug. 31, one of the best at building and preparing short track race cars will be honored in a ceremony at Grundy before the Fall Brawl 200 Enduro. He’ll be joining his father, Bob Sr. (2005), and older brother Bobby (2023).
“I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” Dotter said, smiling. “At the level I’m at, the tracks I’ve ran and the tracks I’ve been around with drivers at, it’s obviously the highest honor.
“I don’t think I’ve really grasped it yet. I think that day, when I’m standing there, maybe I will.”
Dave can’t touch the driving accomplishments of his father or Bobby. But the amount of victories he has been involved in during his long career as a fabricator/crew member more than likely surpasses both of them combined.
I can’t vouch for these numbers, but I’m sure he was close when he guesstimated.
“Championship drivers, the number is only around 100,” Dotter said. “I’ve had more than 300 drivers from the time I first built and/or majorly modified my first race car in 1976.”
Whatever the numbers, the impact is clearly legendary.
“My thing, the thing I looked forward to, was helping people who couldn’t afford the expensive help,” Dotter said. “They couldn’t afford the store-bought race car. They couldn’t afford the high-dollar help.”
Now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty stuff.
Dave has operated more or less in the shadow of Bob Sr. and Bobby. Both made names for themselves on the national circuits. Bobby still owns the SS-Green Light Xfinity racing team.
I have often wondered how the two brothers got along. Dave set the record straight.
“I crewed for Bobby his original season, and I helped him for four or five different seasons along the way,” Dave said. “But we were oil and water. We couldn’t spend a lot of time together.
“He was a good student in school. He was the perfect kid. He followed the family and did as he was told. I didn’t really do as I was told, and I didn’t do very good in school.’”
At the track?
“We’re just different,” Dotter said. “I’m the dirty, ‘Let’s get it done, yeah it looks good enough, let’s throw some tape on it and go.’ He’s the, ‘No, we need a new part and we’re going to paint it and it’s going to look good.’”
Dave joked once with me several years back about his anonymity in some circles.
“They did an article in Stock Car Racing magazine about my dad and my brother,” Dave recalled. “The article talked about my dad losing his arm (in an industrial accident) and Bobby running All Pro and Busch. All it said about me was that Bob had another son David, who chose other roads in life.
“I laughed at that. Yeah, I got married at 18 and took a year off here or there from racing. But for the most part, I’ve been here for 30 years.”
Now, you can make it almost 40.
These days, Dotter helps myriad lower division drivers find success at Grundy. But no one knows him — and appreciates him — better than childhood friend and eight-time super late model track champion Eddie Hoffman.
Back in the day, Dotter built enduro and championship Mid-Am cars for Hoffman. He still works with him on his late model and works for Hoffman at his trucking business. They also build playgrounds for children and recreation facilities.
“He’s at my beck and call,” Hoffman said, smiling. “But he loves street stocks. He has worked on late models and he can do late models. But he loves the street stock and Mid-Am stuff. He’s very intelligent at what he does.”
And kitten or lion, I think he deserves a roar.
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
