Less than a few months into the 2025 season, Danny Bouc suffered from two hurt engines, a damaged front clip and then a wrecked rear clip. On a (sort of) positive note, Bouc cleared off just thousands of dollars of bolt-on components after he said another car squeezed his into a yuke tire during a heat race at Grandview Speedway.
“It’s tight quarters as always, when racing at Grandview Speedway,” said Bouc, of Pipersville, Pennsylvania. “Regardless, in the modified division, everyone should have enough skills to make it around the track without crashing into someone else.”
While his Bicknell modified took a ton of damage, the impact did not injure Bouc. He sat in a Kirkey full-containment seat, with a Simpson five-point harness. Bouc wore a Bell helmet and a HANS device.
After the crash, he drove it into the pits and his team replaced the front axle, two shocks, radius rods, drag link, tie rods, two hubs and sheet metal.
They finished repairs in time to send Bouc out for the consi, where he finished second. That earned Bouc a spot in the 50-lap main. Starting in 22nd among 24 cars, he finished seventh, earning the hard charger award.
“That didn’t pay for the damage,” Bouc said of his finish. “It’s been a bad year — $30,000 in damage so far. I already passed 75 cars this season, but that doesn’t pay the bills.”
Misfortune has followed Bouc this year.
“The Port Royal Speedway race was a story in its own,” said Bouc. “I drove two-and-a-half hours to the track, blew up an engine. Drove back to the shop and got the spare car — seven-and-a-half hours on the road. I qualified, made the show. Started 15th and made it to 10th, only to get pushed around, destroying the front clip.”
His luck didn’t improve the following week.
“Front clipped that car, went to Bridgeport Speedway, got pushed around again, and had to replace the rear clip,” Bouc said. “That car was finished.”
Danny Bouc and his car owners/sponsors, Craig and Leslie Pondish, then bought a new Bicknell chassis.
“Whether it is a new car or an old one, there is nothing worse than building and then rebuilding a race car,” Bouc said. “We managed to rebuild three cars two times in a couple of months. Yet, we’re not giving up.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
