Following in his father’s tracks: Dean McGee idolized his father. Now the Galesburg man emulates him.

Written By: NATHAN LINDQUIST

(GALESBURG, IL - July 8th, 2008) – Racing cars runs in the blood. How else to explain the famous racing families like the Earnhardts, Andrettis, Pettys and Unsers.

One way or another, the son of Burrell “Fibber” McGee was going to be a race car driver, even if it was by osmosis. Dean McGee has been going to race tracks with his father since he was knee high.

So it made sense that Dean is following in his father’s footsteps on the track.

“He was all my inspiration and still is,” Dean said. “If I could be as good as he was, I would be very happy.”

Fibber McGee made a name for himself by winning the Illinois state championship twice. Back in his day, the old stock cars— the old coupes and sedans — ruled the race tracks. Eventually, Fibber got into running the super modified race cars.

Dean started racing back in 1973 in Burlington, Iowa racing sprint cars. The Galesburg native has since moved on to modified racing and 35 years later, he’s still going strong.

Mike Horton Sr. wanted to be a race car driver too. Mike and Dean actually went to junior high and high school together in the 1960s. But Horton soon found out racing the cars wasn’t his calling.

“His brother Daryl built my first car,” Horton said. “I tried to drive it myself one year and that was enough. When I decided driving wasn’t for me, I asked Dean when he came back from Florida if he would drive it.”

For the past 22 years, they’ve been a team. Horton owns the modified car and McGee does the driving on race days.

“This is all I do now,” McGee said. “I’ve run sprint cars, late models and I kind of got stuck on modifieds. Mostly for the competition. There’s a lot of them and they’re close to home.”

The results this year have been pretty impressive. On June 20th, McGee won the Mid-Season Championship IMCA Modified A-Main at Lee County Speedway in Donnelson, Iowa. It was McGee’s third win of the season at the fast 3/8 mile in southeast Iowa. The win also helped propel the Rheinschmidts Carpet Center/Tiffany’s On Main/Gustaf Engines/GRT team back into first place in the track standings.

McGee credits his new set of wheels for his current success.

“Mike bought this new car this year and it just seems to suit me,” Dean said. “We’re not getting married yet, but we’re hugging a little bit. It’s a real nice car.”

As far as his racing style, McGee calls himself passive-aggressive. If there’s a hole, he’s going for it. If not, he won’t press his luck. After all, they only have one car to wreck.
Dean has been fortunate to avoid serious injury in his racing days.

“I’ve destroyed a few cars,” McGee said. “The most memorable one was at Burlington. We were coming to the finish, there wasn’t room, and we ended up on the fence and upside down.”

Horton and McGee are both retired, so they’ll keep up their hobby at long as the money lasts.

“It can pay for itself if you do good in the races,” Horton said. “With the way fuel costs are right now, it gets a little rough.”

Even at age 57, McGee is still going strong. He’ll keep racing as long as he can climb into the car.

“I’ve always said when they throw the first shovel full of dirt on my face, I’m done,” McGee said with a smile.

To learn more about the sponsorship opportunities with Dean McGee and the H7 Racing Team, please visit the marketing page and/or contact page on the new H7 Racing Team website. They would be happy to go in to detail with you about how motorsports marketing can help your business grow!

The H7 Racing Team would like to thank the following marketing partners for their continued support: Rheinschmidts Carpet Center, Gustaf Engines, Tiffany’s On Main, Glass Specialty WLC, INC., Roberts Tire Center, Bob Harris and Race Tech Info, Midway Auto Parts and Salvage, Chris Damitz Photography, GRT Race Cars, Napa Auto Parts, Speedblitz.net, Brad Penn Oil, Shirts4Dirt.com, New Vision Graphics, R.A Benson Motorsports, and WaltersWebDesign.com.

Be sure to keep up on Dean McGee and the H7 Racing Team online at www.H7RacingTeam.com!