The Scoop
DAVE LYTIE – FORMER SHAWANO CHAMP BACK AFTER 21 YEARS
Posted on: Sunday May 15, 2022
Dave Lytie, shown here with his limited late model at Shawano Speedway, is making a return to racing after a 21 year absence. (danlewisphoto.net)
The last time Dave Lytie scored a track championship at Shawano Speedway Brooks & Dunn’s song “Only In America” topped the country music billboard charts.
George W. Bush was the president of the United States and the country was reeling from the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001.
A lot has changed in the racing world since then too. Lytie was a limited late model division champion on the famed half-mile, clay oval. The LLM class is no more and a new division – IMCA northern sportmods, have been in place at Shawano (and other area ovals) for many years now.
Lytie, who will be 59 years old in July, is making a comeback this year after being away from the cockpit for more than 21 years. The Ogdensburg native who now resides in Scandanavia, plans on making his return to racing Friday, May 27 at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour and then Saturday back to Lytie’s old stomping grounds at Shawano in the IMCA northern sportmod.
“In many ways it seems like just yesterday we were racing every Saturday night,” explained Lytie, who works as a traveling E.R. nurse across the Midwest. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve been out a race car for even a month now. But after 21 years we’re going to give it a whirl.”
Ironically it was an impromptu visit to Shawano last August which sealed the deal, coaxing the former track champion out of retirement. “I was in Tuscon, Arizona for more than seven months last year,” Lytie pointed out. “We got back in August and my wife Susan out of the blue said to me on a Saturday ‘why don’t we go the races in Shawano tonight?’ I had purposely stayed away all those years because I knew how easy (racing) would be able to suck me right back in.”
One week later, Lytie bought himself a sportmod. “I actually was able to obtain an older BMS chassis through Jeff Curtin,” Lytie said. “I put the word out there and Jeff led me to this older car. In fact, it may be the oldest car on the track. But it’s straight and looks good.”
According to Lytie the car is a former championship car once driven by third-generation racer Lucas Lamberies. “I’m hoping to get out there and at least be somewhat competitive,” Lytie admitted. “I don’t think I’m going to tear the place up. Some drivers are very well versed in these cars. But we’re running on a tire I’ve never raced on before. This IMCA tire is more like a hockey puck. Plus, the sportmods have nowhere near the braking system or horsepower that the limited late model had. This will be a very different experience for me. I’m going to have to really finesse this car compared to how I drove the bigger limited late model.”
Dave Lytie poses with his new-to-him IMCA northern sportmod. The car was once driven by former track champion Lucas Lamberies.
On most nights at Shawano Lytie will likely be the one of the oldest drivers in the sportmod class, which in recent years has featured a number of teenage drivers – many of whom who’ve come up through the local kart ranks at tracks like Little Buckaroo Jr Motorsports Park in Cecil or GSR Kartway in Clintonville. “Heck, I raced against guys like Steve Klosterman and Scott Clements and now their sons (Andy and Bryce) are racing,” Lytie joked. “What’s even more funny is a lot of these kids I’m going to race against weren’t even born when I won the title at Shawano.”
And like everything else in this world the cost of racing has soared in the last 21 years. “When I raced the IMCA modified tires were $70 apiece,” Lytie said. “Now they are $140 apiece. Also, the shock technology is mind boggling compared to years ago. It’s almost like your racing team needs to be working with some sort of engineer of some type or you’ll likely be out to lunch. I’ve got some friends who are in the sportmods so I have been able to do my best to follow up on their technology and what not. I wasn’t going to spend the kind of money the late models are spending and as far as that goes the IMCA stock cars aren’t far behind. I wanted a humbler return to racing and the sportmod class does the trick for me. I want a $10,000 investment versus a $60,000 or $70,000 investment. I’m not going to have that much financial outlay and what happens if I find out I cannot physically or personally do this anymore?”
One of the reasons Lytie decided to return to racing was he needed an outlet from his job that burned him out with the Coronavirus pandemic. “As a traveling ER nurse I was very much ‘pandemiced’ up to my eyeballs and really needed something else to tax my brain with,” Lytie confessed. “I worked some ridiculous amount of hours. Right now, I’m working for an Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota and I made a deal with them. I told them I’d work for them every other week six days straight so when I’m home it looks like I’ll race Friday nights at Seymour and Saturdays at Shawano.”
When Lytie made the decision to return to racing it didn’t take long to ‘get the band back together’ per se. One of his main crew members during his racing years was his brother Jon Lytie. “Jon is pretty excited about it,” Lytie admitted. “When I walked away from it, Jon sort of did too because his job required so many hours he stayed away as well.”
Another key crew member Lytie is counting on in his return to racing in ’22 is Curt Rush. “Curt has been bugging me for the last five years go get back into the racing game and get a sportmod,” Lytie said. “Curt traveled for 20 years with (late model racer) Troy Springborn pitting for him. Curt caught me in a weak-kneed moment, and I jokingly remind him of this often.”
Lytie had every intention of making the Shawano opener in April, but it just wasn’t in the cards for a few reasons. “The car I bought had been through at least a couple of different car owners and I when I tore it apart, I found a lot of things I thought I needed to change to be competitive,” Lytie said. “The car is literally so old it’s tough to get some parts for them, like the upper control arms, for example. A company in Pennsylvania had to custom build them for me and that wound up being an almost eight week wait. I rebuilt the car. Then I discovered some frame damage on the left front corner, so I had that old jalopy straightened out too. I figured if I wanted a hope and a prayer with this car, I had to update it.”
Lytie’s racing experience in Wisconsin has been almost exclusively at Shawano’s half-mile. “We’re gonna spread our wings and race whenever or wherever our schedule permits with a focus on Seymour and Shawano,” Lytie said. “We may hit some specials at other racetracks from time to time. I’m hoping that experience at a minimum will at least by on my side.”
With so many unknowns surrounding his own return to racing after 21 years, Lytie is heading into 2022 without a sponsor on his car. “I really don’t have anytime to find sponsors, especially for a guy who hasn’t been in a race car so in so long,” Lytie explained. “I just didn’t feel comfortable going out asking for money. So, my sponsors are Dave Lytie family and friends!”