Dick Anderson's chassis design...
Dick Anderson's chassis design (foreground) will be skinned for David Pollen Jr. Anderson.
He stopped counting feature wins many years ago, long after he had already earned the distinction as the "King of Florida Short Tracks." Dick Anderson was a threat to a racer's hope of success when he lined up on the grid. His record includes one season of 51 wins in 64 starts, including 19 consecutive wins.
With a pedigree like that, you can see how important the idea of winning is to Dick Anderson. With limited starts in the past few seasons, Anderson may not have been driving, but his presence has been felt in Florida's Super Late Model circles.
Anderson went from the driver's seat to the drawing board, designing a new chassis. The results were fast from the first night and have shown no sign of letting up.
"This is just a hobby," Anderson admitted. "I've had a lot of ideas from all my racing. It seemed like every car I raced had some good points. I just thought I'd like to take all those good points and put them all together on one car, and now I'm able to do it."
In his shop in Wildwood, Florida, Anderson went to work. He didn't reinvent the wheel, but he made the wheel go faster.
"It's really a 30-year-old design with modern technology," Anderson says of his chassis. "A lot of chassis builders have been doing the same thing for 20 years. The cars are getting lower or lighter, but the ideas that work are still being used. This car has all the locating points from a design of 30 years ago."
The driver's compartment is...
The driver's compartment is spacious, but the driver will feel well protected inside the framework.
When the time comes to work on it, though, there are some immediate time savings. "You can change a spring or a shock in about half the time it takes on some of the other cars," Anderson says. "We have the front springs in the center of the lower arm where most have them out by the ball joint. It takes about a minute to change a shock and about two minutes to change a spring."
When the time comes to work on it, though, there are some immediate time savings. "You can change a spring or a shock in about half the time it takes on some of the other cars," Anderson says. "We have the front springs in the center of the lower arm where most have them out by the ball joint. It takes about a minute to change a shock and about two minutes to change a spring."
"It looks strong and safe," Pollen observed.
A look at the right side of...
A look at the right side of the car shows another example of the solid construction.
"Pretty darn safe," Anderson emphasized.
"I'm only building them for myself and select people," Anderson said. "It's hard to get help. Good fabricators are hard to find. Once these cars are built, though, they're easy to work on. They're easy to clip if you need to. It's a pleasure to work on this car once you've worked on some of the others."
Of course, in racing as in life, imitation is the finest form of flattery. Anderson is prepared to be flattered.
"It's going to happen," he says. "If it keeps running like this past weekend (after a Super Late Model win by Boyd), they'll copy it. I don't know how to stop it. It's happened to all the others."
 The adjustable rear suspension...  The adjustable rear suspension will give the crew quick access to needed changes on nights when the setup is just off. So far, the car has been fast off the trailer |  Anderson designed the car...  Anderson designed the car to allow quick and easy changes for the springs and shocks. The spring is aligned to the center of the lower arm, unlike some designs that push it out to the ball joint. |  David Pollen Jr. (center)...  David Pollen Jr. (center) receives his 2004 Fastruck Winter Heat prize from NASCAR Nextel Cup racer Mark Martin (right). |