Hoppes to Compete in Two Divisions

By Ken de la Bastide

(March 27, 2011) – Randy Hoppes was only six months old when he first went to Anderson Speedway to be with his father, who used to race at the track.

Entering the 2011 season Hoppes, 38, is coming off back to back fourth place finishes in the Street Stock division point standings and has plans to also run a Late Model at the track. He has never finished outside the top ten in Street Stock points in six years of competition, including 6th in the standings in his rookie year of 2005.

“I always wanted to race,” Hoppes explained. “We put two ThunderCars together in 1999 and I won the championship.”

He raced ThunderCars through 2001 and after racing at Mt. Lawn Speedway for several years returned to Anderson in 2005 to race a Street Stock. At one point in time, Hoppes competed in the Front Wheel Drive Pro Series.

Hoppes said his best memory was capturing that first Street Stock feature win in 2009.

“Been trying since 2005,” he explained. “I had been close many times, but something would happen.

“I will run the Street Stocks for points this year,” Hoppes said. “I don’t know how often we’ll run the Late Model. I’ll run all the CRA Sportsman Late Model events at Anderson.”

He purchased a Sportsman Late Model from a driver in Wisconsin and has been preparing the car for the up coming season opener on April 2.

“Just something different,” Hoppes said of the decision to run a Late Model. “It pays a little better.”

Hoppes and his father do most of the work on the two racecars with some assistance from Jeff Perry.

“I had decent luck last year,” he said. “We’ve changed a lot during the off season. I got caught up in a wreck on the last weekend.”

Hoppes considers Anderson Speedway is home track and said he has made a lot of friends in the racing community.

“We help each other,” he said. “Winning isn’t everything. The idea is to put on a show and have fun. The drivers have to respect each other.”

Hoppes said he does side jobs for a living, mostly mechanical work, while is work has a full time job.

He watches the couple’s children and there are plans to travel to Florida this spring.

“The family come first,” Hoppes said. “My youngest, who is 13, wants a race car.”