Daren “DJ” VanderLey

- - a third generation racer who has grown up in the racing world with a grandfather in the NHRA Hall of Fame who also holds Bonneville land speed records, and a father who owns VDL Fuel Systems and builds Holley carburetors for all levels of racing across the country. DJ began racing at age 5 in an A-restricted kart, moved into a Junior Champ kart the next year, and won his first championship at age 7 at J&J Speedway, a dirt track in southern Alabama. He won the championship again in 2001 after the track was paved and became Sunny South Raceway. The next step for DJ was INEX Legend racing, and at age 11, he won his first feature race. The following 2 years were spent traveling the southeast, learning new tracks, making laps, and winning a few races in his Legend car; and competing on road courses in the Pro Division of the Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series. He also attended 2 car control clinics offered by Skip Barber Racing to fine tune those natural skills and smooth reactions.

With that experience behind him, DJ and his team entered their first Pro Late Model race in October 2006 at the San Antonio Speedway ASA event. It was the best and worst of nights as he recorded a 6th qualified position and then a DNF when a cut tire put him in the wall on lap 22 of the race. Two weeks later, DJ went to the Nashville Fairgrounds for the ASA All- American 400. With no team points, he needed to qualify for the “open” eight spots, and did not make the show. The team was not defeated and quickly set their sights on the Snowflake 100 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. The rookie driver qualified 8th out of 61 entries, and then finished the race in 8th place.

2007 started with a major rebuild project: DJ and his dad completely disassembled the car and rebuilt it as the Cell Phones For Soldiers Pro Late Model Ford #2. DJ’s first race was at his home track of Mobile International Speedway, and it was also his first victory. But, then it got even better. Two weeks later, DJ put that Ford on the pole at Mobile and broke the track record for Pro Late Models. The year reached another high point at the Snowflake 100: DJ made his #2 the #1 Pro Late Model of the race by taking the pole position from 63 other qualifiers. The race was full of drama for the young team as inexperienced pit strategy led to a 7th place finish.

2008 began with the 100-lap season opener at Five Flags Speedway in which DJ qualified 5th out of 23 but chose to call it a night on lap 83 because the handling of the car had deteriorated. The Mobile 100-lap season opener was another story when DJ was put into the turn 4 wall on lap 72. The decision was made to sell the crashed car, and start over with a Grand American racecar built by Frankie and Augie Grill. The job was complete in July, and the first race out was Five Flags’ mid-season championship with DJ qualifying 3rd and finishing 8th. Then, he attacked Mobile International Speedway:

August 2 – pole position and 3rd place finish
August 9 – pole position and 1st place finish
August 30 – 2nd qualifier and 1st place finish

The rest of the season was full of ups and downs for the team. The car got destroyed twice at 5 Flags Speedway due to unavoidable wrecks, but both times was quickly rebuilt and sent back out to gain more experience. As DJ’s driving progressed, the team also competed in six races in a Super Truck at Lanier Speedway and Peachstate Speedway north of Atlanta during the summer and came home with 2 poles and 1 victory. In high spirits, the team headed out for the 40th annual Snowball Derby in Pensacola, FL. DJ put the #2 in the 6th starting position and was running a very solid race until around lap 80 when a pile up on a restart ended with DJ hard in the wall. Distraught and upset, the team went back home and went to work for 2009.

For the 2009 season, the team decided to concentrate on bigger 100 lap events to try and gain more maturity for both the driver and the team. The season started out big with an ASA event at Mobile International Speedway. The race was the best that the team had ever run, running in the top three all night. With two to go, running third, DJ got punted coming off of turn one and ended the night just a mile short of a spectacular opening. The car was not hurt badly, so the team went home and got it ready for the next event. The rest of the 2009 season continued with DJ and the team competing in South Alabama Speedway’s Viper Series and running a few select GAS races at Lanier Speedway and Watermelon Capital Speedway in Braselton, GA, and Cordele, GA, respectively. The team has been very successful in their endeavors, rarely finishing outside of the top 5. Along with the outstanding season in the #2, DJ was offered a ride in the #72 pro late model owned by Darrell Leachman and Gary Barnes. DJ and the guys connected well and won their second time out together. Also, Phillip Cumberland out of Gulfport, MS, offered DJ a ride in a winged ASCS 360 sprint car. DJ has run about 8 races for Savage Race Cars and Phillip Cumberland and has done pretty well for his first season ever on dirt with a high finish of 3rd place. With only two months left in the season the team has a USCS sprint car national event along with two test dates in November for the 42nd annual Snowball Derby which will culminate in the teams 4th Snowflake 100.

DJ is a senior at UMS-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, Alabama, where he is taking AP courses in preparation for earning a double major at Georgia Tech in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. In his career at UMS, DJ has been accepted into both the National Honor Society and the Mu Alpha Theta National Math Honor Society and has made a 33 on his ACT. He is also on the Headmaster’s list with a weighted GPA of 4.24. At school, DJ is very active in the Key Club (a service organization) and also the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

2010 will be an extremely busy season for the team with engineering school, the #2 car being converted into a super late model, the #72 being run as a pro late model, and the winged #2 being run on prominent dirt tracks across the country. Hopes are high as the team finishes 2009 and looks forward to an even better 2010. The only thing left for the team to do now is to simply persist without exception.