Derrick Schwabauer

Chief Mechanic

At Nine Racing, Chief Mechanic Derrick Schwabauer helps orchestrate the inner workings in the shop, and helps Team Manager Kelly Drake, whom he's known since he was 13, in any way possible. On a typical race weekend, Derrick and Kelly go through their notes and Derrick sets up the cars, doing the shocks and anything else that needs to be done. There isn't necessarily one specific task, but rather, Derrick's job duties are all encompassing, and he leaves no stone unturned when readying the race car. On race day at the track, Derrick typically helps driver Kody Swanson with everything from tire setup to chassis adjustments.

Derrick's roots are in racing. He was influenced by his father Ron, who was crew chief for car owner Terry Klatt in the early 1980s, and has been involved in midget racing since he was about two years old.

Prior to joining Nine Racing, Derrick built cars for Bob East, for whom he started working in 1999. He was part of JJ Yeley's 2003 USAC Sprint Car championship, and in 2004, 2005, and 2006, won USAC Ford Focus Championships in the Carolina region with driver Chase Scott. The timing was right for Derrick to make a switch to Nine Racing in October of 2007, and his first accomplishment with the team came quickly, with the win at Copper World Classic at Phoenix with Dave Steele. It was big for him--and everyone else on the team. For Derrick, the best part about working on a Nine Racing midget is seeing the fruits of his labor--when the team wins. It's gratifying because of the hard work the team puts into it.

Derrick finds Belleville High Banks to be a very special place. Not only has he been going there his whole life (since age two), but it's also fast, hard to get around, and not everybody can succeed there; he relishes its challenge. While Derrick has never had a desire to drive a race car, he thoroughly enjoys working on them--as he spent years helping his dad work on race cars. Making them as fast as possible is his forte.