Northland Sports Online

Esse Returns To Late Model Racing


Wes Vork-NSO

July 23, 2012

Wes Vork-NSO

After a horrific wreck a year ago that totaled his Late Model race car and sent Dave Esse to the hospital, Esse and the #21 car recently returned to the local racing circuit. Esse recently made his 2012 debut at AMSOIL Speedway in Superior.


Esse’s Original plan was to make his first start at Proctor Speedway on July 8, but the car, which is owned by his father Tom, required a few finishing touches and was not quite ready in time. This allowed Esse the opportunity to get back in the saddle at the same track where he was bumped and sent into the wall at nearly 100 miles per hour on September 10, 2011.


Esse faced his demons head on when returned to AMSOIL Speedway in Superior…on Friday the 13th none the less, neither of which fazed the veteran driver. “I was excited as heck; I have never been that excited to get back in the car.” Esse explained. “I like Superior; it’s a great track, and a wider track. I like the speed of the track and
I think it’s just a lot of fun over there.”


While racing in the feature event, Esse was tapped going into turn three and sent up onto the concrete retaining barriers and winding up in the retaining fence, designed as the last line of protection for spectators. The fence did its job, retaining the car and protecting the onlookers; one of whom used a fire extinguisher from his personal vehicle to put out an oil fire on Esse’s car.


Esse, who was initially knocked unconscious, was propelled forward into the steering wheel and steering tube. Esse’s chest bent the steering wheel back about six inches and the better than 1” steering tube was bent into an “S” shape.


After being removed from the vehicle by emergency track personnel, Esse was driven to a local hospital and admitted with a bruised chest cavity among other injuries which forced him to take a time of work to recover. “I missed a week of work and to feel good probably took about eight weeks. I still can’t do a push-up because my right wrist is still kind of messed up.” Now, nearly a year later, Esse is fit and ready for the rigors involved in competing in the sport.


One thing which goes largely unnoticed is the amount of athletic ability required of race drivers. Esse, who was a star defenseman in high school and college and is in the UWS Hall of Fame is quick to point out that racing is much harder than most sports. “I like to think that I am athletically inclined and can play most any sport; kind of a jack of all trades and master of none. But this is so much harder than anything I have ever done. You have to have hand-eye co-ordination, foot co-ordination, along with reactions and the mental part and physical part. There are not a lot of guys racing that are overweight.”

Esse explained that the Late Model car, which is capable of speeds well in excess of 100 MPH on the local 3/8 mile oval tracks, was totaled with very few parts useable. “At best we used about one third of the car. From the rear end all the way forward, pretty much part of everything had to be replaced.” The main chassis was beyond repair and a new one was purchased out of Feggers in Delano, MN. “Mike and Skip Meger out of Cloquet hooked me up with (Feggers) to get the chassis. They had a Rocket chassis on the showroom floor for a couple of years and gave us a great deal on it.”


Besides getting the mechanical of the car back together, several thousand dollars was spent for added safety equipment and his car now well exceeds the already stringent WISSOTA safety requirements. New safety equipment includes a collapsible steering shaft, a new style padded steering wheel, a new fire suit and gloves, and a new helmet.


Although it is not required, Esse also purchased a Hybrid head restraint system similar to the HANS device required by NASCAR to protect the head and neck. “I think if we would have had all this safety equipment when I crashed, I probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt; I would have maybe got my bell rung, but not gotten hurt.”


Making his second start of the season on July 22 at Proctor Speedway, Esse finished sixth in the Late Model feature race while continuing the complex process of setting up the new car.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com

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