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By Buffy Swanson
Photo Alex and Helen Bruce Photo
Cortland, NY’s Dale Planck, a multi-time NASCAR and DIRTcar Series champion, will be inducted posthumously into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame. This year’s ceremonies—free and open to the public—will take place on Thursday, July 24 at the Hall of Fame Museum on the grounds of Weedsport Speedway in New York.
Tapped for Hall of Fame induction in the Class of 2025, Planck tragically didn’t make it: on June 22, 2024, at the age of 53, he died suddenly on his way home from Brewerton Speedway.
Prior to his passing, he made his mark. A second-generation driver, Dale watched his dad Denny wheel to small-block championships at Weedsport, Brewerton and Skyline in the 1970s.
“I ran against Denny in the 320s on Wednesdays at Weedsport,” former rival Jim Mahaney recounted. “Denny was an excellent driver. Anytime you have that in your blood—that probably went to Dale. That’s why they called Dale ‘The Natural’—he just naturally had it.”
Although you wouldn’t have guessed that at first. “For my debut, we went to Champion Speedway in Brewerton. Went for like two or three weeks and I spun out in every corner on every lap!” Planck had recalled his start in Karts as a little kid. “So I quit. A month went by. The car was just sitting there and I said, ‘Let’s go try it again.’ We would spin out maybe once per race—so I thought we were making good gains! Might as well stick with it.”
It didn’t take long. “They didn’t have a two-stroke class for kids so I would run my dad’s Kart against the adults when I was 10,” said Dale, who by that time was pronounced a young prodigy.
Denny put him in a 4-cylinder Mini-Mod when he was barely 14; the following year, 1985, Dale was standing in victory lane at Five Mile Point and Dundee.
The move up to small-block Modifieds, in ’86, didn’t produce results right away. For two years, Dale didn’t even qualify for a feature event. It wasn’t until the team towed into Fulton in 1989 that things began to click. “I think I won my fourth time there. My first-ever win with the Modified,” he said of that milestone.
And Planck found his home: on the Fulton high-banks he took down 61 victories in his career, four track championships and the 1994 Victoria 200—his most cherished win with his dad by his side.
The Outlaw Circuit—consisting of Fulton, Brewerton and Utica-Rome in the ’80s and ’90s—was Dale’s playground. He was a 42-time winner and five-time champion at Utica-Rome. Competing under NASCAR sanction at Fulton and U-R, Planck was regional champion in NASCAR’s Winston Racing Series three years running, from 1994–96—all by the time he was 26 years old.
“I’d never been to anything like that before,” Dale had said of NASCAR’s national banquets. “I was one of 10 regional champions—and they treated us like kings! Dirt, asphalt, Late Models, Modifieds, from all across the United States—they brought us all together on a huge stage and it was unforgettable.”
In July 2006, Speedway Illustrated featured a spread naming the All-Time Top 25 Drivers in NASCAR’s Weekly Series—and Dale Planck was on that list, alongside high-profile heroes like Denny Hamlin, Richie Evans, Ted Christopher, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer.
Later on, he stormed the rival DIRTcar ranks with equal success, claiming Mr. DIRTcar 358 Series titles in both 2009 and 2012 against the likes of Danny Johnson, Pat O’Brien, Billy Decker and Brett Hearn—Hall of Famers all.
“Guys who had a bunch of success on the Outlaw circuit basically didn’t transfer over to have a lot of success with DIRTcar. It was like a line in the sand,” Dale’s son Brandon pointed out. “It’s tough, New York slick-track DIRT racing—it’s exceptionally difficult. The Outlaw circuit was on big drag rubber and alcohol. DIRT racing was never like that. The tracks get so polished and slippery and technical.
“But I think that’s one thing my dad really excelled at: when it got really slick and really tough, he was rolling the middle where other guys couldn’t. I think that really spoke to his driving ability, to adapt to the DIRTcar side of things.”
Planck showed well everywhere he went. Across the Northern border, he was a star at Cornwall Speedway, a three-time track champ. At PA’s Grandview Speedway, he outright stole a $6,000 special from the regulars by half a car length. The rabid Pennsy locals were so incensed “we had beer bottles thrown at us,” wife Leslie remembered.
Ultimately, Planck is credited with 203 certified wins at 21 tracks in three states and two Canadian provinces and a dozen individual track championships, in addition to the five series titles.
By 2015, life on the road as a professional racer had taken its toll. The following year, Planck gave up the wheel to launch Dig Race Products with his son Brandon, specializing in shock absorbers and suspension tuning for the Modified trade.
“It’s really special to be able to get out from behind the wheel and still be involved as fully as I ever was,” Dale said at the time. “I grew up going to the races, I always knew I wanted to race. Unfortunately and fortunately, my father wouldn’t let me race until I learned how to work on every single part of these cars. Looking back, I’m glad he did that because you really need a knowledge and understanding of these race cars—number one, in order to be a successful racer; but also, now that my driving career is over, I can use that knowledge to help other racers. So it’s extended my involvement.”
Dale would lean on his personal story and struggles during his lifetime to get his point across to customers.
“Early in my career—not qualifying for two years and actually sticking with it for that amount of time—was tough. So guys that are up-and-coming or just getting going—I really enjoy trying to accelerate the whole learning curve for them,” Planck had enthused. “And I also enjoy working with established guys like Jimmy Phelps, Mike Mahaney, Erick Rudolph; trying to figure out what each team and driver needs to go faster.”
According to Brandon, his dad was a sterling ambassador for the sport.
“He worked on the craft so much that it came full circle for him. And I think he enjoyed giving back more than he did driving himself. Which was really, really cool,” the proud son observed.
“Most racing is a father-son effort—a dad and a kid going racing. He understood that. Not only did he have that grit of, ‘Hey man, you got to put your chin down and drive your ass off!’ He also had that human side, that compassion, to say, ‘I know your dad is being really tough on you right now but he wants to see you do good.’
“Whether he was talking to the father or the son—he related to both,” Brandon recognized. “Family matters the most. He wasn’t just a traveling cowboy. He was a great dad, too.”
