Beyond his legacy on the track, though, Dave Steele was a man who was unassuming and yet left a footprint that was nearly unmatched in the sport, by way of all the young drivers he helped over the years.
Not only has his company, Steele Performance Parts, serviced and provided materials for numerous sprint car racers and teams across the country, but Superman was also a mentor for many drivers who got into racing the same way he did a quarter-century ago.
Current NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competitors Collin and Chase Cabre both started their careers racing sprint cars in Florida, and both sought guidance from Steele as they worked their ways up the ladder towards the upper echelons of the sport.
“He was such a mentor and hero for me,” Collin Cabre said of Steele. “Not many people know this, but I looked up to Dave a lot, especially when I was growing up and first getting into the sport. He was the one person that I thought was truly a wheelman when he got in a race car, and he was never shy on giving advice if we needed it. I asked him a lot of questions when I was coming up through.”
“Often times, you look at drivers and they just drive what they’ve got, but Dave wasn’t like that. He always tried to get everything he could and more out of his car. He was a special breed, for sure.”
USCS 360 sprint car winner Nick Snyder, Florida sprint car young gun Garrett Green and Dunlop Super2 Series driver Brodie Kostecki, who formerly raced K&N East cars in the States before returning to his native Australia, also count themselves among the expansive group that was guided through their early racing days by the ‘Man of Steele’.
But perhaps the best description of Dave Steele’s legacy came early Sunday morning from one of the friends that knew him best, long-time United States Auto Club media director Richie Murray.
“Dave Steele was considered by many to be a ‘specialist’ on pavement,” Murray said. “But to me, he specialized in simply being a badass race car driver. He truly seemed like Superman to me. There wasn’t a single pavement USAC race I went to in which I didn’t consider him the likely winner. Like the mid-range jump shot or a handwritten letter, Steele’s mastery of pavement sprint car, midget and Silver Crown racing might be considered a lost art in today’s world.”
“It’s not often you consider a driver to be spectacular on pavement and become one who transcends what is the norm, but Dave managed to do that during his career. I’ve never seen anybody like him before or since … and we may never see anyone like him again. Special is one way to describe it. And Steele was certainly a specialist at being just that.”
Just as Bryan Clauson was larger than life to the dirt racing community, Dave Steele was certainly as large to both his Florida family and the pavement open wheel world.
And as Richie said so eloquently: he was, indeed, special.
Godspeed Superman.
The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, the Performance Motorsports Network, Scorpion Radio Group, their sponsors or other contributors.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: editor@racechaseronline.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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