Darren Pfau’s #86C IMCA Modified has run pretty well in 2020 — even if the results don’t show it.
The West Fargo driver does have a feature win, on June 19 at his home track, Red River Valley Speedway. He has two top six finishes on the year. He’s also had two DNFs and finished 10th or worse three other times.
“The car’s been really good this year,” Pfau said. “We would have had quite a few top five finishes if we wouldn’t have had such bad luck.”
One night he was running in the top three at RRVS and a right front shock broke. Another night, he was running third and blew a right rear tire.
“We’ve had a good year; the results just don’t show it,” Pfau said. “We’ve had a lot of extremely bad luck.”
He’s even had some bad luck on the way to a race: he was traveling to Norman County Raceway in Ada for a show earlier this year when a transmission line blew on his pickup — meaning he never even got to the track.
Now in the fourth year in the IMCA Modified class, he had done some demolition derbies and enduros prior before hopping in a street stock.
“I’ve always done a little bit of everything,” he said.
His dad, David Pfau, was a long time racer in the region. After racing the street stocks he moved into the midwest modified class. That meant racing weekly at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks and Jamestown Speedway. He also made some trips to I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls.
Pfau, 30, never has won a track title although he’s been close.
“We came close a few times; we don’t usually race for points,” Pfau said.
In 2017 he moved into the IMCA Modified class, where he’s posted four feature wins. Moving to that division also allowed him to race at his home track in West Fargo.
“It’s way easier to be around here,” Pfau said.
It’s a busy time for Pfau: he and his wife, Nicole, are expecting their third child in October. His job as a mechanical engineer for Tecton in Fargo also keeps him busy.
But, he enjoys his time at the racetrack as well.
“It’s one my main passions — my main hobby,” Pfau said. “It’s my escape to get away from everything. It’s in my blood I guess, same as everyone else.”
Driver Profile
Darren Pfau
IMCA Modified #86C
Age: 30
Residence: West Fargo, N.D.
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