2011 Winner Looking for His Second Redbud 300 Win
Kevin Ramsell, Anderson, IN – The memory is still fresh in his head as if it happened yesterday and not two years ago. Steve Dorer surprised many when he won the Redbud 300 in 2011 and almost repeated in 2012. To say he is eager for this weekend is an understatement.
Dorer, who now calls Lakeland, Florida his home and owns Racecar Engineering, won the 2011 event on by making a last lap pass on Chase Elliott.
“What was funny about that race is we didn’t have much of a pit crew. We were running 12th at the halfway break and my friend Doug Lane asked if I was worried,” Dorer recalled. “I said how many laps are left and he said 150, I said we have plenty of time.
“Our car worked well on the outside and we were third with are-start with five laps to go. I got to second with two laps to go. On the white flag, I gave it my all going into three on the outside, and I knew I had Chase at the line. It surprised many. We didn’t practice the day before. We showed up on race day, practiced on old tires and weren’t near the top of the charts. No one counted on us to win.”
Last year, he almost defended his 2011 win, but finished second to Ross Kenseth.
“We had a late restart and that came down to which lane Ross was going to choose,” Dorer said. “At first I thought he was going to choose the bottom but wisely chose the top and that is how he got the win. If he chose the bottom, I would have one because my car was good all day on the top groove.”
For Dorer, the Redbud 300 is an event he always has circled on his calendar for two reasons.
“The Redbud 300 is one of the top short track events in the country,” Dorer explained. “Also, I really like Anderson Speedway. My two favorite tracks are Anderson and Slinger (WI) Super Speedway. I love the high bank quarter-mile tracks. Both are mentally and physically tough, especially at Anderson when you are doing 300 laps at 11.5 seconds each lap.”
While the on-track memories are still solid in his head, there is one other story that Dorer still laughs about today regarding the 2011 win.
“My spotter Danny Mcendarfer, or as we like to call him Danny Mac,was spotting for me that day,” Dorer said. “Danny was full of dirt from helping me all day long. He came down to victory lane looked at me and said, ‘For 299 laps, Bill Elliott didn’t know whom I was, but on lap 300 he knows me now.’For Danny that was a big deal for him and it is something will help with the memories of that day.”
Dorer has some good momentum coming into the Redbud 300. He recently finished fifth at the Slinger Nationals. By the way, Dorer mentioned that they discovered the other day that he ran that 200-lap race with a broken sway bar.
He ran his Outlaw Late Model in Michigan over the last two weeks where he finished second in the Tom Rosebrugh Memorial at Whittemore Speedwayand third this past weekend at Springport Motor Speedway.
Click this link towatch Dorer’s winning interview with Speed51.com in 2011 and click here to see afan’s video of the thrilling finish. www.speed51.com