RPW Column: Change Can Be Hard: Keith Flach Makes Decision On Racing Plans For ’21

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – RAVENA, NY – Change can be difficult for anyone, especially when it comes at the very last minute. Keith Flach is learning that right now after making the decision, rather quickly, to change up his racing program for the 2021 season.

Flach, a feature winner at both of his two weekly home tracks, Albany-Saratoga and Lebanon Valley Speedway, had plans to return to each facility this season. That was, however, until a myriad of circumstances put his plans into limbo.

First off, a few weeks back, Flach unfortunately contracted the COVID-19 virus. That put him into quarantine for a few weeks…away from his family, his friends and the driver’s seat of his #43 Modified. He had plans to attend the Super DIRTcar Series opener at Can-Am but couldn’t and also had to forgo the season-opener at Albany-Saratoga on April 18th.

Once cleared to race, he was able to attend last weekend’s events at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway with the Super DIRTcar Series. Those two events took place against a practice session at Lebanon Valley, where track management had decided to hold a special time trial session for the two front row positions in the main event on opening night, May 1st.

This is something that Flach felt wasn’t right for those who didn’t attend the practice session and he let track management know.

“I spoke with Howard about the situation and I just let him know I didn’t think it was fair to anyone who went to run other places rather than attend their practice,” Flach said. “I want to see the track succeed and wish no ill will to them. We’ll be there for several events like my brother’s race (the JC Flach Memorial on June 12th), the two Super DIRTcar Series events and some other, but we won’t be there weekly.”

So where will Flach run on Saturday nights?

“After having a conversation with Brett (Hearn) down at Orange County, we’ve decided we’re going to race the Big Block events there this year,” he said. “That’s our tentative plan right now. They run about ten to 12 shows and do so every two or three weeks. Their format is conducive to someone like me to come in and do well. They do time trials and don’t handicap.”

The way Orange County determines their point champion for the Modifieds also played into Flach’s decision.

“It’s not that I think we’re going to go there and set the world on fire against those guys,” he said. “However, their format for points is like the NASCAR Cup scenario. It’s a win-and-your-in type situation and theoretically, we’re not a week behind from missing their opener. We are still in the hunt, per say, if we can pull off a win down there.”

It is definitely going to be different not seeing Flach run weekly at the Valley this season, not only for the fans, but for Keith himself.

“I just had a disagreement with speedway management about what they did,” he said. “I can agree to disagree with anyone who has a different opinion about it but I don’t want to start my season, on our opening point night, with what I feel is a disadvantage. I’m just standing up for what I believe in.”

This will also give the Flach team a chance to improve their program without the pressure they normally would have chasing the title at the Valley.

“This just seemed as good of a season as ever to do something different,” he said. “Now we can try to focus on getting ourselves better with the different suspension system. We’re probably two years behind on that right now. Yea, we finished second in points last year at the Valley, but I didn’t feel like we were our normal competitive team. I think we were able to compensate a little bit because I’m familiar with the track.”

While Flach’s not ruling out a smattering of events on the high banks, he said he may end up other places on Saturday evenings.

“If we want to take a Saturday and try some ideas at a track like Land of Legends or something like that, we might go that route,” he said. “We also have talked about maybe taking some Saturday’s and Sunday’s and going to do stuff with my family. The kids are getting a little bit older so if we’re doing the limited schedule at Orange County, maybe we’ll take time to visit family or just have time with the kids.”

As for his Friday nights, Keith and the team are going to see how things go with their first race at Albany-Saratoga before making any decisions.

“We’re going to try and run their Friday night (April 30th) and see how things go,” he said. “If we struggle and have a tough night, couple that with missing the first race due to COVID, we might try some different tracks on Friday’s as well to try and get better.”

Due to his positive test for the virus, Albany-Saratoga & DIRTcar gave Flach 20 points for a health-related issue. That, however, is just like a Did Not Finish, putting them behind. Another tough night with their first race at the track will probably have them rethinking their schedule.

“We’re going to try and do well at Albany,” he said. “However, if we struggle early, we might switch it up and go run some events at tracks like Brewerton so we can gain more experience or we may just take some nights off.”

Fans of the Super DIRTcar Series will also be able to see Flach run a good portion of the 2021 season as well. He had plans to run the opener at Can-Am but couldn’t and just completed both at Bristol. Now, he’s looking at running more.

“We’re going to try and hit as many of the Series races as we can,” he said. “I had a good conversation with Dean (Reynolds, Series director) down at Bristol. He knows we had anticipated going to Can-Am but physically couldn’t. We’re thinking about trying the event on Tuesday at Bridgeport and if they don’t go to Canada (not sure if the border will be open yet due to COVID), we should be able to hit a fair amount of them.”

As of right now, this change in Flach’s schedule is a one-year situation. He doesn’t know what the future holds but isn’t ruling out a return to the Valley full-time again.

“I wouldn’t rule out us heading back to the Valley in 2022 or later,” he said. “If we have success at Orange County this year, we’ll take things as they come. However, I wouldn’t say no because we have a lot of family history at Lebanon. I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be weird not going there this Saturday but this is what we decided.”

His team is ready for the change as well.

“I won’t say excited is the right word to use, but they’re definitely looking forward to trying something new,” he said. “It could go completely terrible down at Orange County for us but this will open up some new opportunities to possibly travel more and just learn more so we can get better with our cars.”

This season, already, has been one of change and confusion for Keith Flach. From his COVID diagnosis and missing races to a disagreement with Lebanon Valley management, he knows it’s a bit out of the ordinary. However, with the move to a new Saturday night home, he’s hoping to gain as much experience as possible to make him a better racer and make his team better as well.

Year 2020 was like no other for all of us. Keith Flach’s just extending that a bit, for himself and his team, in 2021.