Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – EAST GREENBUSH, NY – The 2023 season was a tail of two years, so to speak, for Bobby Hackel.
Now, he’s hoping the momentum he showed at the end will propel him and his team to an amazing 2024 at Fonda Speedway, Utica-Rome Speedway and on the Short Track Super Series.
That’s because Hackel knows that the only way to get better is to race, and race a lot.
Towards the end of last year, Hackel and his Killer Crate #97 team made a chassis change, switching from PMC to Bicknell, and his performance picked up instantly.
They ran extremely well right from the first green flag, even holding off Stewart Friesen at Fonda Speedway to score Hackel’s first career win at the track.
“Winning at the Track of Champions meant a ton,” Hackel said. “Especially, to hold off someone, I believe, is the greatest of our generation at Fonda (Friesen), I feel that made me earn it that much more. It also meant a lot more knowing that I didn’t just start on the pole and run away with it. Beating Stew was huge.”
It was at that point that you could see a flip in Hackel and his team with how their performance skyrocketed. Does he believe 2023 was the type of year he wanted?
“The second half of the season was a success for us,” he said. “We did a lot of racing which helps. If I want to get on the same level as the guys like Stewart Friesen and Matt Sheppard, I have to be racing more. I have to be out there, building a notebook and that’s what we’re doing.”
This off-season, the East Greenbush, NY and his crew are working hard to make sure they hit the ground running for the upcoming year.
“We’re building our program right now and that just takes time,” he said. “When I moved to Modified and was struggling early on, I talked with Kenny Tremont and he put things in perspective for me. He said that I’m going up against teams that have taken lifetimes to build. Success wasn’t developed overnight.”
Hackel took those words from a legend to heart.
“I’ve adapted that motto to our efforts,” he said. “I know this takes a lot of time, effort and money. I have some great people behind me that are helping our program and hopefully this year we can implement a lot of things we learned in 2023.”
His success late this past season is a combination of hard work by Hackel and the team as well as the introduction of the new Bicknell chassis.
“Everything worked well with the chassis change,” he said. “Our stuff was fresh and new. We had so many who were helping with the transition and guiding us to where we needed to be.”
His success can also be attributed to the tracks he’s running. Since splitting with his former car owners in June of 2022, Hackel made the switch from Lebanon Valley to Fonda Speedway as his Saturday night home.
He’s since added Friday nights at Utica-Rome Speedway to his weekly itinerary and Hackel believes that’s been a huge help in his development as a driver.
“I feel like being at Fonda and Utica, the places I’m running now, and racing against the caliber of competition that I am, is only going to make me better anywhere we go,” he said. “It just seems like the guys that are successful at Fonda have been successful at the highest levels when they venture out on the road.”
That’s why Hackel soaks up as much as he can when he’s battling some of the best drivers in the Northeast.
“I just hope that if I can keep following those types of guys,” he said. “I want to keep learning things and hopefully get to the point where we can beat them.”
In 2023, Hackel and his team competed in over 50 races with their weekly tracks, following the Short Track Super Series and running several specials along the way. It’s that type of schedule that the fourth-generation pilot believes is setting his learning curve on warp speed.
“The more I’m sitting in the race car, I’m always learning,” he said. “That’s what the guys I’m racing against are doing. Racing at places like Utica and Fonda weekly, there are no slouches there. There’s really no slouches anywhere in Modified racing right now. Everyone has great equipment.”
It’s not just the equipment, though. It’s also the experience that Hackel’s competing against. That’s what makes racing as much as possible even more important for him.
“Racing at Utica, I’m racing against guys like (Matt) Sheppard, (Tim) Fuller and Billy Decker,” he said. “Those are drivers I grew up watching my entire life. They’ve probably forgotten more than I know. However, racing against them every week helps me to learn things I can apply at the following race.”
Does Hackel have any ideas as to what 2024 will look like for his team?
“We’re pretty locked in to where our weekly program will be this coming season,” he said. “We’ll be back at Fonda and Utica. We just want to do better and try to win more races.”
Fans will also get to see the Killer Crate machine at some of their favorite tracks as well.
“We’re also going to follow the Short Track Super Series North Region, 100%” he said. “I’m looking to do as much of the South Region as I can. If we start the season and we’re doing well, I don’t want to drop off. We’re going to play it by ear.”
Hackel’s also being realistic. He sees the type of events that promoter Brett Deyo has on tap for 2024 and wants to be a part of those as well.
Brett has a lot of big races planned,” he said. “So scheduled wise, I’ll have to pick and choose, based on our equipment and funding, so we can make those but we’re gearing up to run all of it and some specials here and there.”
That seems like a lot, but Hackel’s up for the challenge.
“We’re looking at running about 60 to 65 races this season,” he said. “We’ll sprinkle in some sprint car stuff for my buddy, Brandon Wright, as well. I just want to stay behind the wheel as much as I can.”
Thanks from Bobby, in his own words…
“I have to thank my Uncle Ed, Bob Godgart, my Grandfather, my entire family, my Mom & Dad and my girlfriend. I have a crew that’s been behind this team since my dad raced. It takes everybody and it takes so many people that have helped to get to this point.
I also have to thank all of the sponsors that support our efforts because they truly are helping me live out my dream right now. We’re really looking forward to 2024 and just building the program up.”