5 minute read
Short Track Stars – Daniel Robinson
short track
STARS
Ewing, Illinois
DANIEL ROBINSON · MORE THAN A MOMENT
By Bill Blumer Jr.
IT TOOK A DECADE and a half before Daniel Robinson became a household name in midget racing circles. His method for gaining that status, “The Bird Heard Around the World,” as it’s come to be known, probably wasn’t what he had in mind. When he passed Sammy Swindell during a 2021 Chili Bowl Preliminary Night race, Robinson put his arm out the driver’s right side and showed his elder who was number one. Thousands of people, most watching on TV from their living rooms due to the pandemic, witnessed it live.
The moment was big enough to dominate racing conversations for a spell and produce a commemorative T-shirt. However, just using this instance to define Robinson would be selling him short. He’s worked hard to become a respected midget pilot and was busy doing positive things for other racers, prior to his few minutes of fame. He is one of those active racers from a fading era who doesn’t have to buy rides or worry about his image like the kids of today do. For this he is grateful and it’s why he gives back to the sport he loves.
Robinson hails from Ewing, Illinois and figures he’s been racing for 30 of his 36 years on earth, including his karting and micro days. It’s been his dream to work his way up the ranks of open wheel racing. In the micro years, his class often raced in support of the midgets. He admired the skill of drivers like Mike Hess, Steve Knepper and the Camfields, while running MARA and POWRi events in the Midwest.
He got his break in 2007 after a championship micro year, when Stephanie and Jerry Meents rewarded him with a couple of nights in their midget late in the season. On his first night, with 50 midgets checked in at Belle-Claire Speedway in Belleville, Illinois, Robinson won the B-Main and worked his way up to eighth in the feature before flipping. He followed that “Little Belleville” run with a twelfth-place finish at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. He’s been a hired driver ever since.
He’s best known for piloting the black #37s of AJ Felker and the #57 cars of Bill Ecker, who he has with since 2011. “We met at a POWRi race at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois,” Ecker recalled, “I watched him racing someone else’s car and could tell he’d be good. He was a little out of control, but fast, and I was alright with that.”
It wasn’t until the next season that Ecker asked Robinson to be his full-time driver. The two campaigned primarily with the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association, winning at Ecker’s hometown track of Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and nearby Beaver Dam Raceway.
It was Ecker’s car that Robinson drove at this year’s Chili Bowl. Due to restrictions and the virus, Ecker didn’t even make the haul to Tulsa - he just told Robinson to come get the car. Ecker lists Robinson as one of his favorite drivers, out of the 20 or more that have piloted his cars over the last 30-plus years. “He doesn’t tear up a lot
Photo: Brad Plant
of equipment and he’s a fun guy to be around. He can draw a crowd with his stories,” noted Ecker.
It’s not just stories about racing Robinson can offer. Today he’s a successful businessman as a subcontractor for a major home improvement chain. He recounts his first meeting for the job, “During the interview, they asked me if I had done many fences. ‘Oh, yes, a bunch,’ I said. Well, they gave me the position and as my partner and I headed out to do our first job, we were on YouTube trying to figure out how to build a chain link fence because I hadn’t built a fence in my life.”
Robinson also has a second job. “My wife Dianna and I own The Barn Bar in Wittington, Illinois. I don’t have a 401K so this is kind of it. Besides, if I didn’t put money into the bar I’d just spend it on race car parts,” he said. He goes on to say he chose to be self-employed so he can arrange his schedule around racing and his four children, Wrigley, Granger, Madelyn and his oldest, at age 11, Aiden. The latter of which has started his racing journey, currently running junior sprints.
When micro driver, Brian Carber, won the 2020 Keith Kunz Motorsports Giveback Classic at Millbridge Speedway in Salisbury, NC, he had a choice. He could take $10,000 in cash, or a chance to run a KKM car at the 2021 Chili Bowl. He chose the cash. Robinson, hearing the news, felt bad. “In racing, $10,000 isn’t that much. You can lose an engine and that’s $10,000 right there. I’d watched Carber. He was a good clean racer. I’d chased Kunz cars and knew what an opportunity it was to drive one,” he said. And with that, Robinson spearheaded a successful effort to get the cash for Carber so he didn’t have to give up the KKM ride.
Robinson has assembled his own midget but he’s relegated himself to owner status. For a handful of races in 2020 and the 2021 Chili Bowl he put Aiden Purdue behind the wheel. “I scrambled my eggs a little bit at BelleClaire and I didn’t want to drive weekly, plus I don’t have the (guts) to run the fence anymore,” he admitted.
In March of 2021, they brought the car to the Midwest Winter Nationals, indoors at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois. Purdue scored his first national midget win. To simply win one together, was the only goal the duo had. Robinson knows he can only take Purdue so far.
“I would not be in a midget at this point if it were not for Daniel,” noted Purdue.
“I’ve told Kevin Olson, I’ll take over for him when he’s done,” said Robinson, referring to the comedic and ageless racer. He takes the thought further and makes it clear he is not retiring, “It’s a life altering decision to race, it’s like drugs, really.”
Photo: David Campbell
– Daniel Robinson on his decision to hire young Aiden Purdue to run his Midget.
Photo: Brad Plant
