Dave Trute in victory lane on June 12 (Jeff Blaser Photo)

Part One of Four Introducing Dells Raceway Park's 2010 Champions

by Matt Panure
Racing has always been a part of Dave Trute's life. Although the 31 year old from New Lisbon has been turning laps for almost two decades now, 2010 marked a first - his first official championship.

Trute, a past super late model competitor, claimed top honors in the Dells Raceway Park (an ASA member track) pure stock division this season. With eight wins and 12 fast qualifying times Trute claimed the championship by 136 markers, the greatest margin of victory by any champion at DRP this season.

"It was the first championship I ever got credit for," Trute explained. "I've won a couple before but I never got credit for them."

Perhaps one or more of those championships came when racing against his brother at a young age. Trute's parents owned Tomah-Sparta Speedway from 1982 to 1996. The entire facility was family owned and operated, which meant Trute had plenty of opportunities to turn some laps at the quarter-mile.

"My brother and I did different jobs until we started to race," Trute said. "I must have turned about two trillion laps. When you live there, it's a free-for-all."

After his tenure at Tomah-Sparta, Trute made his move to DRP. He began in the super stock division where he raced from 1997 to 1999. Trute then took a break from his racing career to attend Western Wisconsin Technical College. He now works in sales for Uninterruptable Power Supplies.

Upon his return from living in the Rhinelander area, Trute was destined to return to racing. He made his return to DRP in 2005 and worked his way up to super late models by the 2008 season.

Trute recalled a very steep learning curve in the high horsepower machine. "The first year was brutal. It's a lot of work when you don't know anything about them," he said. "There is so much going on as far as adjustments. When you're racing against guys like [Ken] Reiser and [Jeff] Kendall if the car is off just a little bit, it's bad."

In his second season of super late model action, Trute faced another tumultuous season. "Everything on the car broke at least once. We didn't wreck it, it just kept breaking down," he said.

But the team hit its stride in the late portions of '09. The hard work paid off with Trute winning the final super late model feature of the 2009 season. After recording what was the last weekly super late model feature at DRP, Trute was offered a new ride for 2010.

"I haven't owned my own car in maybe three years," Trute explained. Enter pure stock competitor Bill Zeman, who wanted to see Trute behind the wheel again in 2010. "I told him I needed a car, he built it and here I am."

Although the cars are completely different, Trute said, his past super late model experience paid off in the pure stock class. "Everything is in slow motion. When you're in a super late you have to be on top of your game," he said.

With speeds down about 50 miles per hour, Trute said there was more time to react, and more time to let the lessons process. "You take things you learn from the super late and apply it to the pure stocks. It makes things a little more elementary."

The pace also gave Trute more time to be patient working his way though traffic, he said. "I could afford to be patient because the car was so fast. I could wait for things to sort out then pick them off one at a time."

Being a top competitor, Trute said he enjoyed his new surrounding this season. "The environment was fun. When you're car is fast and dominant like that it's fun."

Although plans are up in the air for Trute in 2011, he said another season in the pure stocks looks most likely. After dominating a season, Trute set some new goals for next year, including helping out a new teammate. "My goal is to win my car owner a championship. My teammate Nick Lang is going for rookie of the year. My goal is to get them a championship and rookie of the year."

Lang should be in for a treat with the veteran Trute there to guide him. Trute already had some advice to drivers looking to start their racing careers. "You have to work on your car. Races are won in the garage," he said. "If you don't have a good handling car and engine that is reliable, you're never going to win. Reliability is everything."

In 2010 Trute was sponsored by Hillstead Heating and Cooling (Lake Delton), J&M Collision Center, Jason Schultz Automotive Repair, Dan Clark Plumbing, TJ's Glass all of Mauston, Swagger Inn of Lyndon Station, CJ Construction of Tomah, P3Power of New Lisbon, Jon Wafle Memorial Poker Run Jan. 22nd 2011, and M$R Chassis of Baraboo.

Trute and his fellow champions will be honored at the Dells Raceway Park Championship Banquet on Saturday, Nov. 13 at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

For more information visit www.dellsracewaypark.com or www.chulavistaresort.com.