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BRENT RHEBERGEN AND
BRUCE STEADMAN START ANEW IN 2003 by Brian Spaid In a little over six weeks, the 2003 season will commence at Tri-City Speedway, and the track’s top winning team is getting ready for a new onslaught against their RE/MAX 1st Oil Country E Mod competitors. Over
the last two years, Clymer, N.Y., racer Brent Rhebergen and his car
owner, Bruce Steadman of Centerville, Pa., tallied 22 E Mod feature
wins at the Venango County half-mile dirt oval. They captured the 2002
season title, which was the first championship for each man. And they
did it with a trusty steed nicknamed “Little Dude.” Built by
Midwestern chassis specialist Bob Pierce of This season, Rhebergen and Steadman will be without the “Little Dude” No. 69 because the car was sold to former E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stock racer Jamie Shetler of Cochranton, Pa.. Instead, the duo will use a new Pierce chassis in its victory endeavors. “I
think this will be a good measure of our team,” said Rhebergen
recently while working on another Pierce E Mod chassis for fellow
racer Kari Gasser of A Late Model racer for many years, Rhebergen never achieved great success in the full-bodied class. He earned a handful of wins, including a 1997 triumph at Tri-City. As a result, his prowess in the E Mods was a surprise, and many attributed it to the car. Yet, Rhebergen’s consistency and talent behind the wheel shined in Steadman’s machine. “We could have won eight or nine times in 2000 when Bruce and I started, but we suffered from some unlucky mechanical problems. Then, in 2001, we put that streak of 10 wins together and it just clicked.” Rhebergen won 11 features that season at Tri-City. Then, in 2002, Rhebergen and Steadman accomplished the feat again to the amazement of all. “That was unbelievable. Bruce and I just work so well together. The car was part of it, don’t get me wrong. Bob Pierce built an excellent chassis and it is just absolutely fun to drive. I know that we’ll still win with a new Pierce car this season.” Rhebergen
will continue to focus on his own Late Model team each weekend. On
Fridays, he will compete at Raceway 7 in “It is so much easier to have a ride like the Steadman car each week. I just show up and I give a little technical help once in a great while. For the most part, Bruce, Kathy and Rick are ready to run.” The
driver and team combination was so good in 2002 that they only made
one serious mistake all season. On Aug. 18, an unheralded Matt Swanson
of “Bruce and I questioned the right rear tire compound we put on the car, but decided it was alright at the last minute. The tire never fired on the track and we didn’t have the right setup as a result. It was the only mistake we made all year, and we did it by second-guessing ourselves.” That rare mistake shows Rhebergen and the Steadmans are human. When running well, they still seem unbeatable. Yet, Steadman thinks this season will be tougher for him and his driver. “Every year it gets harder,” said Steadman. “People set their sights higher. There are now about 11 Pierce cars in this area. I never thought we’d win 11 races two years in a row. It was a fun deal, especially because it was Brent’s first championship.” With a track title in their back pocket, Steadman would like to branch out a little bit from his hometrack in 2003. “ We’re planning on running at Tri-City every weekend. We might try something different a few times. I know that there are a couple of York Triathlon E Mod races at Eriez Speedway (near Hammett) this season that we might try out. Also, there’s talk that Raceway 7 may eliminate their rule that allows a driver to race in only one division each night. We could race our E Mod there the same night Brent races his Late Model.” Regardless where Rhebergen and Steadman race, on any given night there is no question that they are a force to be reckoned with, even if they have a new car.
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