where are they
Photo: Mike Ruefer
Photo: Dave Hill
NOW
JOHN VANDENBERG By Eric Arnold
KYLE LARSON HAS set the world on fire with winning sprint car AND late model races. Soon thereafter social media was on fire that this feat had never been done before. One of the few drivers who had success in both disciplines – outside Donny Schatz - was John Vandenberg, a driver who has qualified for the A Main of the Knoxville Nationals (2004) and twice in the Late Model Knoxville Nationals (2004-2005). Vandenberg has not been behind the wheel of a race car since 2010. Born and raised in Pella, Iowa, he was a one-of-akind talent who didn’t have the funds to make it big. So, what exactly has the Flying Dutchman been up to over the last decade. DIRT EMPIRE: Did you see or hear your name being tossed around on social media with Kyle Larson? JOHN VANDENBERG: I’m not big on social media, but I did hear about it through some family and friends. Terry McCarl messaged me and let me know that I was being talked about and I thought that was pretty cool!
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DE: So how does a kid from Pella become a race car driver? JV: My father (Jim) and grandfather (Jerry) took me to Knoxville every Saturday night. In fact, they were at the first race ever at Knoxville in 1954. We would park across the highway from the track when the Bingley Sale Barn was there, so late 1970s probably. From an early age I always wanted to get into a sprint car. We didn’t have the extra money to race, so Dad told me if you want to race, you’re going to have to figure it out on your own. Some friends of ours - Johnny Menninga and Dean Whitten - had a two-car go-kart team and at age 15 Dean gave me my first ride. So that’s how it all started. Then later I got a chance to race at Oskaloosa in a stock car and a modified. DE: How do you get to sprint cars? JV: The first sprint car I drove was one of Bill McCroskey’s cars at the Front Row Challenge. With Terry McCarl and Bill promoting the event, they were trying to get a local driver in it. That was a great introduction to race on a track I already had a lot of laps on. Then I bought a used
DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 06 - 2021
Schnee chassis from Troy Renfro and we figured out how to get an engine. Somehow we made it Knoxville to race. DE: The 2004 Knoxville Nationals you make the Knoxville Nationals A-Main. You start thirteenth and finish tenth, ahead of a young Donny Schatz. What can you tell me about that race? JV: Yeah, that was a good year. We finally had a motor that was comparable to everyone else and we could keep up. My friend Clyde Nagel bought a Wesmar and man that thing ran well. We had an experimental wing that Lynton Jeffrey gave us as well. I remember in the A-Main that Steve Kinser was behind me and there was a yellow. He come up beside me trying to intimidate me a little I suppose and swerved at me. But I thought, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain so I swerved right back at him! DE: How do you get into late models? JV: I was still racing modifieds and somewhere I ran into Billy Moyer and asked him to let me drive one of his Late Models
