HICKORY, N.C. — Dennis Setzer got a chance to shake off the rust Saturday at Hickory Motor Speedway.
Setzer, a veteran of 481 starts across NASCAR’s three national divisions with victories in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series, was back at his home track to practice his son Brandon Setzer’s super late model ahead of the CARS Tour MTP Tires 300 Saturday evening.
The younger Setzer, who owns multiple victories at Hickory, was at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway working for Kyle Busch Motorsports on the No. 46 truck driven by Raphael Lessard. With no way for Brandon Setzer to get back to Hickory to prepare the race car, his father pulled his driving suit out of the closet.
Brandon Setzer couldn’t have picked a better substitute. His father is a two-time track champion at Hickory (1983 and ’93). After his second track championship, Setzer launched his NASCAR career, running the full Xfinity Series schedule in 1994 and earning victories at Hickory and Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.
Dennis Setzer later transitioned to the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, which is where he found the most success in NASCAR. He earned 18 victories from 1998 through ’08 and was runner-up in the series standings three-straight seasons from 2003 to ’05.
“I ran a few laps last fall for Brandon. We thought I might have to do the same thing then,” the elder Setzer said. “I hadn’t been back in the car since then and before that it was probably six years. It’s a lot of fun though. He does a good job, I realized how good a job he does when I drove a few laps.”
Dennis Setzer turned the 14th fastest lap during Saturday’s first practice, but picked up the pace in the second practice by turning a 14.624-second lap to set the sixth fastest time.
That’s not bad for someone who hasn’t raced professionally in a few years.
“I just held my breath probably to start with,” Dennis Setzer said. “I always ran late model stocks. These things are awful fast. A lot of horsepower available and stuff. Hopefully I haven’t messed it up for him.”
Brandon Setzer arrived at Hickory Motor Speedway just before qualifying. He said Kyle Busch Motorsports let him leave Martinsville shortly after the race started, allowing him to make it to the track in time for qualifying.
“I really appreciate KBM for letting me leave right around the start of the race, a few laps in, that helped me out a ton to get back and make qualifying so we could have a decent starting spot,” said Brandon Setzer, who qualified sixth in the 20-car super late model field.
The elder Setzer’s efforts preparing his son’s race car proved worthwhile as Brandon Setzer led laps and raced at the front of the field before finishing second to Bubba Pollard.
“He did good,” Brandon Setzer said. “The car was awesome for (me) not having any laps in practice. Could have used a tick more tuning on it, but we’ll build on it and go to next time.”
After turning practice laps Saturday, does Dennis Setzer foresee himself getting back in a race car for a race anytime soon?
“Probably not,” Dennis Setzer said. “We don’t need two people with the habit like that. We can’t afford that. Our funding and garage isn’t big enough to handle two people with the habit.”
Brandon Setzer, on the other hand, admitted he wouldn’t mind seeing his dad take another turn behind the wheel.
“He’s really good. He’s unreal. I have no question he could get in this thing and go compete just like I could. It’d be cool to see that one day,” Brandon Setzer said. “I don’t think he wants to, but whatever he wants to do I’ll help him do it.”