The Scoop
DEREK JANKE – RELISHING THE UNDERDOG ROLE
Posted on: Sunday December 31, 2023
Derek Janke in victory lane at Shawano Speedway. (Kali Haufe photo)
At one point in time Derek Janke had dreams of moving down south and working full time in some capacity in NASCAR.
The 34-year-old New London high school graduate attended NASCAR Technical Institute in North Carolina. It was around 2009-2010 when the economy plunged into the toilet. After winding up volunteering his time doing anything and everything for Young’s Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Janke moved back home and started his career racing a Fastrak late model, beginning in 2012.
The Fastrak class has been long gone for a while. But Janke remains one of the true ‘underdogs’ in the local dirt late model ranks, where he battles regularly at his home track Saturday nights at Shawano Speedway and chases the Dirt Kings Tour when his schedule and resources allow him to.
As if the late model weren’t enough to keep on his plate, Janke bought an IMCA modified from Kurt Moeller and raced that last season. Janke doesn’t mind the underdog role at all. In fact, he relishes it. “A good night for me is a top five finish whether its in the late model or the modified,” said Janke, who resides in Manawa. “I know in the late model for example, I’m using a shock package that I have $2,200 in. I’m battling against teams that have between six to eight thousand dollars in their shocks.”
Derek Janke finds victory lane at Beaver Dam Raceway. (Mech Photography)
Janke has gotten creative in acquiring racing parts during the past two decades. “I can’t just go out and buy stuff so I build as much of my stuff as I can,” Janke said. “I used to always buy, sell and trade stuff. I’d usually do well when I was able to buy an entire racing operation from someone who’s getting out of the sport. I’d often use my tax return money every spring and purchase stuff then. I clean everything up and what I plan on using, I keep. I part everything else out and sell it. That’s how I’ve been able to keep going.”
According to Janke, the shock packages (at least with the late model) have become a more critical element than the motor. “Shawano or maybe Mississippi Thunder Speedway (Fountain City) are really the only two tracks in the state where you need a pretty decent motor to be competitive,” Janke suggested. “At most tracks you can get away with a 650 horsepower WISSOTA-type motor that we run. You can have all the horsepower in the world but when these tracks dry out, it’s all about your shock package. It really is.”
For Janke, his love for racing began as a toddler, watching his uncle Lyle Janke race his IMCA modified at Shawano and sometimes on Friday nights at Langlade County Speedway in Antigo. “I would bug Dad and say, ‘it’s Saturday, let’s go watch Uncle Lyle race,” Janke recalled. “We almost always had a ton of chores to do on the farm. But we would usually make it to the races.”
It was around 1996 and 1997 when Derek would accompany Lyle to help him out on the pit area. Lyle was a truck driver and there were times when he couldn’t always make it back home in time to go racing. “That’s when my cousin Gary got involved,” Janke said. “He started driving when Lyle couldn’t get home in time. Gary and his friends were always maintaining the race car while Lyle was on the road during the week. So, what happened was eventually Gary took over.”
Growing up in the Bear Creek area, Janke’s befriended a couple of well-known racing families with roots deep in Shawano Speedway and the old Shiocton racetrack – The Paul’s and the Miller’s. “I’ve known T.M. (Miller) and Chad (Paul) forever,” Janke said. “I grew up with Rocky and A.J. (Miller). I used to call Rocky almost weekly when he was pitting for Terry Phillips in the USMTS (United States Modified Touring Series) and he would offer some pointers on setups for me. He’d tell me stuff that would work for them on the road and sometimes I’d apply it to what we are doing around here.”
When Janke was 14 or 15 he cashed the checks he received from raising hogs that sold at the Shawano County Fair. “I bought my first go kart with that money I earned from raising the hogs,” Janke said. “I’d race mainly at GSR Kartway in Clintonville, and we’d go to Monster Hall and Cecil (now called Little Buckaroo Jr. Motorsports Park) once in a while.”
After graduating from high school Janke moved to North Carolina and attended NTI. To make ends meet while attending school Janke worked as a small engine mechanic. “I was fighting for a paycheck and the NASCAR truck team couldn’t afford to pay me,” Janke explained. “I was down there two and a half years. It’s racing central but then the economy took a real bad turn. I remember Denny Hamlin showed up at a birthday party my buddy threw for me. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s place was eight minutes from my house. I wanted to try it and see if I liked it. But it’s not all it’s cracked up to be in NASCAR. Those guys that go over the wall – they take some real physical abuse on their bodies. The teams can afford to not pay you or pay very little because as one team owner once said, ‘if you don’t want to do the job down here there are 100 other monkeys waiting to get in the door.’ Everyone wanted to be a part of the NASCAR wave for a long time. They’ll volunteer just to get their foot in the door. Anywhere.”
Not long after his return home to Wisconsin, Janke bought a 2003 Fegers chassis from Ryan Huettl. He was going late model racing. “I really loved that Fastrak deal, and I ran it until it went belly up,” Janke said. “Looking back on it maybe they could have done some things differently. It still stumps me to this day that the crate late model deals just won’t take off in our region. It’s a bigger deal in Illinois and even further south. I realize crate motors aren’t cheap either. But I’ve had numerous modified guys say if there was a crate class in northeastern Wisconsin for late models, they’d make that switch.”
Janke takes pride in racing on a fraction of a late model budget compared to his competitors. (Dirt Kings Tour photo)
Driving styles vary between the modifieds and late models. With the late models there is a softer, wider tire with more grip while with IMCA modifieds race on a harder, narrower tire that contains plastic and is often referred to as racing on four hockey pucks. “I don’t think I’ll ever go without having a late model but the modifieds are fun to drive too,” Janke said. “After running the modified this year, I now realize how mod guys can jump into a late model and just take off. In the modified I must lift sooner and have the car drift more. You get so used to your lifting and setting points with modified and throttle control it’s a finesse thing. With a late model you carry your speed more right into the corners.”
When it comes to routine maintenance with the late models and the modifieds, Janke admits the late models take a little more shop time during the week. “When you breakdown the cost of things the modified is still a little bit cheaper, but not by much. Going out and buying a new or used car the prices are close to the same. With the late models we have adjustable shocks. With the modified you don’t have those adjustable shocks and you are carrying two or three sets of shocks and as many options for those sets, too.”
Janke has garnered some late model heat wins while a feature win has to date eluded him. Janke points to a highlight of his late model career back in 2016: “We ran the Corn Belt Clash deal at Oshkosh Speedzone. There were 63 cars there and some pretty good drivers. Jimmy Mars. Jason Fegers. Bobby Pierce. I had my car with a little bitty motor with $2,500 in it. We even ran a wet sump motor and hardly anyone runs those. We were able to make the show racing through the B main. For having a small motor and an obsolete shock package back then I was one of the 24 to make the show against a stacked field of some guys who were pretty good on the regional level.”
Pit crew members are a trio of friends Randal, Branden and Parker who chip in with Janke’s racing operation when they can.
When it comes it sponsors like most teams, Janke is always searching. One of his sponsors, the River Rail Bar and Grill, burnt down in 2023. His Uncle’s business Janke Stump Grinding won’t be able to help much this year due to a family members illness. “We’re proud of what we’ve done so far with the racing budget we have,” Janke said. “We’ll be racing most Friday and Saturday nights whenever we can. I’ll be at Seymour either with the modified or the late model when they race them. I’ll be at Shawano most Saturdays with the late model. And as far as traveling with the Dirt Kings Tour we’ll hit as many of them as my work schedule allows. With our tight budget and time constraints with work we’re sort of forced to focus on the closer-to-home races first and foremost. I’d love to travel if our budget would allow it.”
To view a sponsorship deck or inquire about marketing options, call Derek at 920 572 1302
Other sponsors who backed Janke in ’23 include Performance Corporation of Seymour, Classic Chevy Enterprise, Creative Electrical Solutions, Pure Romance by Tara Zweirs and Make It To You Photography.