Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Series
RoC Family of Series Back in Action on June 14 at 'The BullRing'
Jun 10, 2025
Out of this year's five Kulwicki Driver Development Program finalists, one knows what goes into representing Alan Kulwicki over a season of racing.
Derek Gluchacki was a finalist one year ago, finishing second to Ty Fredrickson in the pursuit of the Kulwicki Cup. He was honored with a second year as a finalist in 2025, giving him another chance to share Alan's legacy.
"I never expected to get in the first time, never mind twice," Gluchacki told Racing America. "It's really special. I'm really fortunate to have this opportunity and super thankful for everyone in the program for making this happen.
"I think we had a really strong performance last year, finishing second to Ty. He had a really good year on the race track. You know, congrats to them again for that. I think we did a lot of really good charity stuff last year, so we're just really trying to build on that some more."
A Small Team With Big Dreams
The Milton CAT American-Canadian Tour is among the toughest Late Model circuits in North America. Each of the first four races of the 2025 season have had at least 30 cars, averaging 33 entrants per event. Those four races have also seen four different race winners.
"The ACT, I think it's one of the hardest tours in the country," said Gluchacki. "There's probably 15 guys that can win every race. It's really awesome. They get almost 40 cars every week. It's tough to be one of the guys up front.
"Fortunately enough, we put a lot of hard work in over the offseason and week-to-week. We normally show up with a really good race car and able to contend for those wins."
Gluchacki is no stranger to putting in the work. Once he graduated from quarter-midget racing, his career depended on finding a way to make it happen on his own.
"My dad got me into racing and all that, we never really had the money to outsource that stuff," Gluchacki explained. "Once we got out of quarter midgets and into Legend Cars, he was like, well, if you want to keep doing this, you're gonna have to learn to do it yourself, because we just can't pay someone to do it.
"I just started out slow and once I got old enough to pay attention and learn more things, once I was probably 15 or so, I started on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with the Boehlers on the No. 3. So that was really cool, I learned a lot from them.
"Basically, my first week, they were like, here's a Modified. It's gonna be taken apart, so figure it out. Good luck. That was really awesome. To do that and take me under their wing, building bodies and pretty much just building an entire car, they just taught me how to do it."
While the Kulwicki Driver Development Program shines a spotlight on its finalists, Gluchacki is also honored that he can share that spotlight with the small team that helps him at the race track each and every week.
"It's such an honor," he said. "Everything he stood for and just being a little guy in a big person sport and the big teams and his small team. It's really awesome because you know, on the ACT Tour, we have bigger teams and smaller teams. We're one of the smaller teams that run up front and contend to win races. It's really awesome. Everyone on my crew, it's such an honor for everybody."
Gluchacki's Emphasis on Philanthropy
KDDP finalists always have an eye towards using their platform for a greater good away from the race track. Gluchacki has been outgoing in his efforts to raise money for charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
"We raised over $7,000, so our goal this year is up to $10,000 for Make-A-Wish and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Just trying to have a solid year on the race track like we did last year and improve upon the charity stuff where we can."
The focus on mental health through his work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is particularly important for Gluchacki.
"In racing, everyone's so hard at it and focused," he explained. "No one wants to show any weakness. Everyone's going through something behind closed doors and stuff like that. Being able to open the doors up and say, hey, it's okay to be you and have stuff going on outside of racing. It's perfectly normal and okay.
"That's really special to me. Not many people have chosen that charity and that kind of thing to do yet. Being one of the first to do it has been really awesome. We do the booths and stuff at different racetracks. Having fans and other drivers go up and share their stories and struggles, stuff like that, has been really eye-opening and something that I never expected out of it.
-Photo credit: Will Bellamy
