CHARLOTTE :: Slater Blickensderfer is one of the most impressive young guns in Dirt Modified racing today and he may soon give asphalt Late Models a shot in the next stage of his development.
Blickensderfer is the 13-year-old son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief, Drew, and the grandson of four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. He is the apple of their eye and a well-regarded up-and-coming wheelman in his own right.
The elder Blickensderfer admits his fair share of bias, but he really believes his son has the moxie and makeup needed to make a name for himself in racing if that’s what he ultimately chooses to do. A former motorcross racer since he was five, “Slater Bug” took some time off before getting the itch to drive again in 2013.
“He’s really impressive,” Drew Blickensderfer said. “Slater ran motorcross since he was probably five years old. He was top-10 in the country as a motorcross racer and he got to the point where we were going to have to home school him and travel a circuit and go acrooss the country.
“Obviously, with the job I have, I couldn’t do that. My wife couldn’t do that. My father-in-law, Ron Hornaday, couldn’t do be doing that. So we kind of fizzled off on the motorcross.”
Slater played stick and ball sports for awhile and then, like many pre-teens and teeneagers, discovered cars. His dad said that “cars were cool again,” leading him to his current hobby as a UMP Modified driver.
“A year and a half ago, we started racing again and he was unbelievable in everything we put him in,” Blickensderfer said. “We asked ‘how is he doing this?’ He doesn’t pay attention to racing, even though he has all of us around him. So we started progressing him.”
Slater wants to drive Sprint Cars eventually but his dad and granddad put him in full-bodied cars for safety reasons for the time being and he has excelled in nearly every capacity. While Slater is currently interested in dirt, his family wants to try him on asphalt just to let him experience the difference and decide for himself if he wants to continue pursuing dirt or take a closer look at NASCAR racing.
As a result, Drew Blickensderfer wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up at Hickory or Concord testing a Late Model Stock Car in advance of a start later in the summer or by next season.
“I think there is a chance we could see him in a Late Model,” Blickensderfer said. “We’ve talked to some people who are interested in taking him to Hickory and testing him and maybe start running out there or some other places. We think we’re going to do that, just to give him the option.”
Hornaday was a widely successful car builder on the west coast during his own motorcross career before moving east to drive in Truck Series for Dale Earnhardt Sr. Drew believes that will also be an advantage when Slater decides to give asphalt racing a shot.
“I think both of us want to take him to asphalt just to see him experience it because that’s both of our forte, but he doesn’t seem to have a huge interest in it right now,” Blickensderfer said. “With that said, he’s also a 13-year-old kid that wants to drive anything and everything. So I think by the end of the summer we will have him in a car.
“I’m not sure that we’ll do any races yet but pretty sure we’ll put him on asphalt just to give him the opportunity and chance to see if he wants to do the NASCAR thing or stay on dirt.”
Meanwhile, Slater will next compete on 13 nights during Daytona Speedweeks at Volusia County Speedway, North Florida Speedway and Bubba Motorsports Park. Blickensderfer will also get to watch him race during his off-time away from the speedway, something he is looking forward to both as a dad and a racing fan.
“We see something in Slater that is, look we’re biased, but he seems to have it,” Blickensderfer said. “He doesn’t have fear and is very respectful. I don’t know when he will make the transition to asphalt if he ever will. We’re going to try to get him into an asphalt car later this year just to let him experience it. But he’s having fun and he’s doing well against many of the best dirt drivers in the region and country and we’re having a lot of fun. It’s pretty neat.”
