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2001
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| David 'Buggy' Pletcher Makes Big Move | Florida Racer Moves Team to Heart
of NASCAR in Bid to Run in Big Leagues
by Tom LaPointe
 For all the millions of people who picture themselves behind the wheel of a Winston Cup stock car, there are thousands who grab hold of that dream and drag their iron to the track on Friday or Saturday night each week. And among those small track racers, there are a select few take the steps to move up into the big leagues. David L. Pletcher of Mulbire Motorsports is one of those drivers.
In a strong move to succeed in his team's five-year plan to climb into NASCAR competition, Pletcher and owner Mike Mulbire moved their #51 Chevy USAR Hooters ProCup Series team (lock, stock and racecar) from the gulf coast of Florida to Mooresville, N.C., the heart of NASCAR country. "Mooresville is a great learning and training ground to make the step into NASCAR", said Mulbire. "If teams are looking for a driver, they aren't going to Clearwater [Fla.] to find one. They'll look in their own back yard". Pletcher, nicknamed Buggy at birth by an uncle who commented that his eyes bulged out of his head at that time, is living a life that most racers only fantasize about: his sole occupation at present is to help prepare the car and drive it in competition.
Period.
But he certainly did plenty of work to get into his current position.
 Buggy officially started racing 11 years ago at the age of 20. But for teenage stubbornness, it could have been a lot sooner. Buggy's father, Dave Pletcher, is legendary among racers at Florida's short tracks as a talented Late Model driver. He capitalized on that talent and now owns and operates Dave Pletcher Racing, building motors and chassis for other racers in their shop in Pinellas Park, Fla. You might guess that his fathers wisdom and success has given Buggy a leg up on the competition with a head start. That's not the case. "Dad never really pushed me to race", says Buggy. "The opportunities were always there, but I had to go get [them]". Buggy describes his first attempt to start racing in his mid-teens as one that ended when "my father didn't think I was serious enough about racing. I was a teenager and thought I knew everything", he humbly admits. Pletcher began his second attempt to start racing on his own in 1990 when he started in mini-stocks. Two years later he won the points championship. While his father did help, Buggy is proud that he did it primarily on his own.
"I went half a season before he knew I was serious and would help me", says Buggy. He emphasizes that his father let him learn things mostly on his own for much of his career. "The help has always been there, but I had to ask for it. Even when I was running late models, he was helping other drivers more than he was helping me; heck, he even raced against me. I guess that made me that much better and pushed me to run", adds the hot foot, who raced open-wheel modifieds successfully before moving to late models.
That competitive spirit is what drew Mulbire to the 6-foot driver with an easy smile and a competitive fire in his eyes. A racer in his own right with experience in open-wheel road racing, Mulbire had sponsored drivers in the past. The 48-year-old Orlando native knew in the mid-90's that he eventually wanted to own a team. "I first found out about Buggy when I saw a picture of him on the wall of a business that was sponsoring him," says Mulbire, a senior executive with Verizon. He explained that at the time, Buggy was racing with another team, but they talked about prospects for the future.
As Mulbire tells it, during the 1996 late model racing season at Sunshine Speedway, the Clearwater, Fla., quarter mile asphalt track, "Buggy called me on a Tuesday and told me he'd lost his ride. On Thursday we bought a car and on Saturday he finished eighth. He went on to finish the season as the local points champ."
The following couple of years the team competed in several Florida series, including Hooters ProCup, so Buggy could gain valuable experience. In 1999 they began their five-year plan to get Buggy into NASCAR by running in the Florida Series, a couple of Hooters Pro Cup races and others. The 2000 racing season was Buggy's rookie year in Hooters Pro Cup, and he led the rookie points race for much of the season before finishing 10th overall. That, however, was with the aid of sponsorship. Like many teams at even the highest levels of competition, Mulbire is working frantically to line up a sponsor for the rest of the season. MAC Tools helped with a partial sponsorship for the first race by providing some much-needed pit equipment, but for now, they are still going it on their own.
 When Buggy and his lone full-time crew member, Brian Hoggy Fischer, finally made the decision to move, it wasn't difficult where to turn in the Mooresville for help: John Josey, an in-law of Dave Pletcher with years of experience in vehicle construction and the world of NASCAR. "During the off-season, we spent a lot of time rebuilding the car from the ground up", Buggy says. "Without a sponsor, we didnt have the budget to replace some of the parts we would have liked, but we spent what we had to keep the vehicle competitive."
Josey, a racing parts distributor who spent five years with Cale Yarborough Motorsports, serves as Buggy's coach for vehicle preparation. The veteran crewman also serves pit leader and spotter, and overall advisor, since the elder Pletcher is now some 700 miles away. Oh yeah, Josey is also Buggy and Hoggys landlord while they work their way into the big leagues. Though Josey fills several roles, the team has no official crew chief. "Everyone on the team is pretty much an equal", says Buggy. T"he team hopes to bring on a full-time chief once a sponsor is lined up to run things, though". For now, Buggy is responsible (with close supervision of Josey) for getting the vehicle prepped for the race in North Carolina. Hoggy, who moved with Buggy from Florida, drives the transporter and attends to many details of vehicle preparation. For now both he and Buggy work day-to-day for the love of team and being a part of the sport they enjoy. They currently have only the funds than they need for basic subsistence, but they are appreciative of the opportunity they have to compete.
The elder Pletcher, who builds the teams engines, meets the team at tracks within a days drive and brings a stern, guiding hand to the team on race day. Mulbire flies in from his Dallas office and brings a calming sense of stability to the team.
"When considering the move, we drew a 100-mile circle around Mooresville, and realized most of the tracks were in that ring", explains Mulbire, who describes the team as his wife, children and college funds all in one.
"Ideally, we could show up at each track and have a notebook full of notes. As it is, we have to adapt to each one as we go", says Mulbire. "Before last year, Buggy had never raced outside the state of Florida". Mulbire is hoping that inexperience on the circuit will be offset by having the team closer to the heart and soul of stock car racing. In addition to reaping the benefits of their proximity to the big leagues and NASCAR veteran Josey, their new locale has had other benefits. Buggy explains that their home is right up the street from (Hooters ProCup champion) Bobby Gill, who has pointed out things the team can do to be more competitive
"He obviously isnt going to tell us everything, because I'm his competitor, but whenever he points things out, I listen", he says. Though he lives in the neighborhood of NASCAR stars and lives what many would consider a dream lifestyle, David Buggy Pletcher still has to battle race by race to learn the valuable lessons necessary grab hold of the next rung of the racing ladder.
And while this season has begun with a few disappointments, Buggy and crew learn more each week as they tap into their personal character and strength as a team.
Tom LaPointe
email:stockcar33@go.com>
[For more on David L. Pletcher visit his web site!]
[More on HOOTERS PROCUP is available at the KARNAC.com Hooters ProCup Report]
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