Teenage Dirt Racer, with FlexCom Sponsorship, Drives Family Pastime
Adriana Danyluk, with a boost from FlexCom, is carrying on the family tradition.
The 14-year-old from Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley is a three-time dirt car racing league champion, a two-time league runner up, and has more than 100 podium finishes in her career. Not bad driving for a high school student who’s not even old enough to have a driver’s license.
The Northern Lehigh High School freshman received immeasurable help and advice from her father, Eric Danyluk, who raced cars when he was a teenager. This season, Adriana’s also received help from FlexCom, which manufactures industrial expansion joints and dampers practically within earshot of Adriana’s racetracks.
FlexCom sponsored Adriana’s 2022 seasons in the Blue Mountain Quarter Midget Association and the Keystone State Quarter Midget Association.
“Children who participate in quarter midget racing gain an appreciation for machinery, its construction, its maintenance, its fine tuning, its safe operation and, overall, the care and attention to detail required to leverage machinery for top performance. These values align tightly with the values of FlexCom. Our engineers and entire staff are dedicated to optimal industrial machinery and FlexCom is proud to contribute to instilling these values for Adriana and potential future engineers,” FlexCom President Jim Wall said.
FlexCom engineers learn to optimize machinery through years of study and continuing research. Quarter midget racers learn to optimize machinery through the weekly fine tuning and upkeep of their vehicles.
The drivers are responsible for the car’s camber, toe, and caster. Camber is how much the wheels tilt in or out vertically. Toe is how much the wheels tilt in or out horizontally. And caster is the angle of the steering alignment. Each can be optimized for speed and cornering.
The drivers are responsible for maintenance: tightening nuts and bolts and inspecting for damage and safety.
Quarter midget race cars are smaller versions of midget race cars. The quarter midget cars feature a tube frame, full suspension, fiberglass and aluminum bodies, and chrome-molly roll cages. The paint job is typically of the racer’s choosing, and Adriana’s is adorned with FlexCom insignia.
The air-cooled engines are single cylinder and produce between 3 and 14 horsepower, or more with modifications. Adriana’s World Formula style quarter midget car has reached 63 miles per hour and her Unrestricted Animal style car has topped 58 miles per hour.
A typical competition consists of a 10-lap qualification followed by a 25-lap feature. Adriana’s leagues race on dirt tracks in the Lehigh Valley area.
As Adriana, who has raced since 8 years old, sought sponsors for the 2022 season, she turned to family. Mr. Danyluk has been friends with Bob Groff at least from the time they raced late models and NASCAR modifieds together in high school. Mr. Groff is also Adriana’s godfather, a FlexCom engineer, and brought the sponsorship request to Mr. Wall.
“Quarter midget racing cultivates a passion for top performing machinery, a value that FlexCom holds dearly,” Mr. Wall said. “FlexCom also appreciates family time, as well as the bond that common interests can form between generations. When we were presented with the sponsorship opportunity, we were pleased to be able to support both top performance and family.”