Growing up around the "dirt tracks" of Eastern Iowa, Dan knew that racing would be a part of his life forever; hoping
to someday be a driver like his father and two older brothers. Ironically, it was an asphalt track in La Crosse,
Wisconsin where he got his first behind the wheel experience.
Dan has been a faithful member of
N.A.S.S. since joining the now defunct Off-Line league in '97. In '98, bored
by the A.I., he accepted the invitation to join the On-Line series and has felt "at home" ever since.
While not a driver known to dominate events, the 2002 season was a turning point as Bailey finally broke his five year
160 race winless streak by grabbing the checkered flag at the
N.A.S.S. CHARGER Division UAW-GM Quality 200 at
Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte.
In 2003 Dan accepted the invitation to step up to the highly competetive
N.A.S.S. LIGHTNING Division - a move
that he has enjoyed immensely. Since that first LIGHTNING DIVISION start, on February 18th, 2003, Bailey has shown his
committment to the Series and the Division by not missing a single start. That's right, 4 complete seasons (144
consectutive starts since his promotion to the Division) has produced 21 top-5s, 75 top-10s and 3 Pole Awards as well
as winning the 2005 LIGHTNING Division ShootOut). Additionally, Dan has made it into the
LIGHTNING Division's
top-10 "Chase for the Cup" all three season's that the scoring premise has been used in that division (2004, 2005 &
2006).
2006 included another major high-light as Bailey finally picked up his first
LIGHTNING Division regular season
(points paying) race win - the May 2nd "Aaron's 225" @ TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY! During the '06 season Bailey also
enjoyed another high-light when he set the new track record at Texas Motor Speedway turning in a blistering qualifying
lap of 27.823 seconds - 194.084 m.p.h.! "I've never been known as a strong qualifying", beamed Bailey after that Pole
winning lap, "So, I'm going to enjoy that one for a while!"
Bailey continues to attack his
LIGHTNING Division events the same way he has always attacked them, "I want to
race as hard and as clean as I can while still having fun and simply enjoying the on-track action with my fellow
racers."
"The level of competition in the
LIGHTNING Division is absolutely amazing", continued Bailey, "I know that I'm
not the type of driver who can compete with these guys for wins on a weekly basis, so I rely heavily on my consistency.
Consistantly showing up for races and running as hard as I can a finishing every race as strong as I can."
In 2003 Dan also returned to the
THUNDER Division to run the final 8 races of the season before joining Pat
McGhie as a Co-Director of the Division in 2004.
2004 turned out to be a banner season for Bailey in the
THUNDER Division. Collecting four wins
- The February 23rd "Goody's Headache Powder 120" @ NORTH CAROLINA SPEEDWAY (A.K.A., "Rockingham")
- The April 19th "Pepsi 140" @ LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY -- Winning from the 'Pole" and leading the most laps (61 of 94)
- The October 25th "Sam's Town 'He Dared To Rock' 150" @ MEMPHIS MOTORSPORTS PARK
- The "Season Ending" November 22nd "Ford 140" @ HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY -- Winning from the 'Pole' and leading the most laps (50 of 94)
, with four
N.A.S.S. ONLINE SERIES Pole Awards,
- The April 19th "Pepsi 140" @ LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- The May 3rd "Stater Bros. 150" @ CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY
- The June 21st "Meijer 140" @ LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- The "Season Ending" November 22nd "Ford 140" @ HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY
Bailey raced his way to 20 top-5 and 31 top-10 finishes through the 34 race season - ending up with the highest
average finishing position of the entire Division roster (5.5) and tying Barrett Canning for the
THUNDER
Division Championship (the championship was evantually awarded to Canning as both drivers had four wins, but
Canning had 22 top-5 finishes compared to Bailey's 20).
In 2005 Bailey enjoyed another successful season in the
THUNDER Division, grabbing three wins
- The April 18th "O'Reilly 150" @ TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- The May 30th "Carquest Auto Parts 210" @ LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
- The August 15th "Zippo 80" @ WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL -- Leading every single lap of the 32-lap event!
along with 19 top-5 and 30 top-10 finishes throughout the 35 race season.
The 2006
THUNDER Division season presented Bailey with a mixture of positives and negatives. Through the
35-race year, Bailey wracked up a couple wins
- The July 24th "Goody's 150" @ MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
- The September 25th "Dover 120" @ DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
as well as 13 top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes. But he also suffered through an uncharacteristically high amount of 'off
nights', including his first D.N.S. (Did Not Start) since returning to Full-Time
THUNDER Division competition
back in 2003, which relegated him to a disappointing fourth place finish in the Point Standings.
In addition to his committement to enjoying his Sim-Racing, Bailey is a dedicated competitor - Bailey is
third in the all-time starts list in the
N.A.S.S. THUNDER Division (167) and currently holds the
N.A.S.S.
THUNDER Division record for Consecutive Starts - 80 straight (from September 29th, 2003 until March 6th, 2006)
. . . a streak which would have continued much longer if it weren't for his ISP failing him on Monday March 13th.
Bailey also led the all-time starts list for the
N.A.S.S. CHARGER Division (95 starts with 1 win, 22 top-5s, 62 top-10s, and 2 Pole Awards) during that
Division's existence.
In addition to his personal accomplishments, he was also over-joyed when "C&D MOTORSPORTS", the
THUNDER Division Team comprised of himself and his Father
Chuck, brought home the
2005 THUNDER Division TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP title! Proving that he is a 'team player' this
is Bailey's third career
N.A.S.S. TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP --
1999 THUNDER Division TEAM CHAMION ("3rd
Millennium Motorsports" with Norm Adkins) &
2003 LIGHTNING Division TEAM CHAMPION ("MINT Motorsports - Team MI"
with Dean Moll).
While not enjoying his Sim-Racing addiction, Bailey spends every free moment he can with his two children (Zachary and
Allison).
Bailey is also a huge supporter of local racing - on Friday nights he can be found behind the microphone as the
Speedway announcer at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY in Arcadia, WI - the rest of the week he's either maintaining the FOX RIDGE
SPEEDWAY web site (
www.foxridgespeedway.com),
writing racing articles for the local newspaper (Winona Daily News - www.winonadailynews.com, All The Dirt Racing news
- www.allthedirt.com, or a handful of other racing web sites and/or monthly glossy racing magazines), or preparing for
his racing radio show on KG 95.3 FM (www.winonaradio.com). It's safe to say that racing is in Bailey's blood . . . and
it doesn't appear that it will be gone none to soon!