Teammates, opponents remember Dave Steele as a racing legend

Everybody had to stop and look at the bright orange Lamborghini parked outside the Garden Of Memories Funeral Home, where the first of two visitation services for Dave Steele was held Friday.

Some decided to snap a photo from the front, with teeth lining the front bumper, a Superman logo on the hood, and Steele’s name, date of birth and date of death printed over the “S.” Some gawked at the detailed printing over each of the back tires, where a head shot of Steele and a photo of his sprint car accompanied a message:

“R.I.P. Dave Steele,” it read, “5/7/74-3/25/17.”

The parking lot outside Garden Of Memories on the eve of Steele’s funeral served as a memorial in miniature for the accomplished sprint car driver who died in a crash at Desoto Speedway on last Saturday in Manatee County. The orange Lamborghini, with the logo for Corsa America Rally on its side, was in a parking lot of vehicles that signified the presence of the racing community Steele was so important to in Florida. There were vintage cars and Mustangs with racing stripes, decals for motorsports companies and pickup trucks with racing equipment in the back.

Mourners walked into the funeral home wearing button-down shirts and baseball caps with checkered-flag patterns or collared shirts with the name of a racing team printed on their chests.

Only six days earlier, some of these same people were at Desoto Speedway, where Steele drove for the last time. The 42-year-old, who had the 14th-most wins in United States Auto Club (USAC) history, clipped the back wheel of the driver in front of him and spun off into a wall. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

It was the first race Jack Knowling had attended in probably two years.

“I don’t know why I went,” Knowling said, “but my daughter wanted to go, and he said he wanted me to come down.”

Steele began his career driving for Knowling, who has been described as, “the man who made Dave Steele.” Even though he’s not directly involved in racing anymore, Knowling was one of Steele’s most important mentors. When Steele made a brief stint in NASCAR, Knowling was the one Steele had look over the contract.

Knowling shook hands with Steele before the race at Desoto Speedway. Steele told Knowling he had to quit smoking. Knowling laughed and agreed.

Knowling knew right away the crash was pretty bad. He talked to a track official he knew, and the official told Knowling that Steele was bleeding badly. Knowling had just suffered a heart attack in January. He didn’t want another. He took his family out to the parking lot to leave.

“If there was any way he wanted to go,” Knowling said, “that’s how he’d have wanted to go.”

Troy DeCaire was on the track at the same time as Steele and was one of Steele’s closest friends in the racing world. DeCaire, a Tampa native like Steele, grew up idolizing the driver, and as soon as he had proven himself enough as a go-kart driver to get a shot in a sprint car he was picking Steele’s brain for help.

As a 17-year-old, he frequented Steele Performance Parts, the Tampa car shop owned by Steele’s father, just trying to steal a few minutes with Steele.

“One day in 2005, it was my second season,” DeCaire remembers, “his dad was like, ‘Hey man, you want to run a USAC race?’”

He traveled with Steele to the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. DeCaire finished 16th in the National Sprint Car Series race. Steele finished second.

“From that day on it was like training camp,” DeCaire said. “I was his b----h. Apprentice would probably be the better slang, but he treated me like a b----h and that’s what I needed.”

Anywhere DeCaire went during his career, it was hard to question his decision-making. He always had a trump card: “Dave Steele taught me.” For most people, that was all they needed to hear to trust DeCaire’s credibility.

“He’s probably the greatest to ever do it. I’m sure a lot of people will tell you that,” DeCaire said. “He was David Steele, man. There probably won’t be another one.”

This story was originally published March 31, 2017 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Teammates, opponents remember Dave Steele as a racing legend."