Dan Anctil story of persistence Part 1

Episode 413

November 15, 2022

Dan Anctil Story Part 1 

It has been over one year since I sat down with Subaru Motorsports USA Director Dan Anctil in the conference room at Vermont Sports Car, Milton, Vermont. We sat overlooking the main working area at the 75,000 square foot  state-of-the-art motorsports facility which opened in 2018. Joining us was Bangor, Maine native John Cassidy V who works in the composite department at VSC.

I am intrigued about the almost parallel stories of Dan and his brother Ken “Butch” Anctil as two young men who grew up in Rochester, New Hampshire and now working for two premier world-class motorsports organizations.

My plan is to tell Dan’s beginnings along with his advice for those wanting to get into a career in racing. Then I will show how his and Ken’s careers evolved. Mixed in will be the story of John Cassidy V who grew up in a household where his dad rally races yet Cassidy the younger had little to do with the team growing up.

The interview with Dan Anctil Subaru Motorsports USA Director 

This interview was conducted less than one week after Subaru Motorsports USA driver Travis Pastrana set the record at Climb to the Clouds 2021 at Mt. Washington with a time of 5:28:67 eclipsing the old record owned by him by about 16 seconds. Pastrana was driving Airslayer STI in that event. So the interview began by asking Dan what is your hometown, where were you born?

Anctil: I grew up in southern New Hampshire in Rochester.. I was born in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire just north of where I grew up.  I think the important aspect to this story is the fact that we had a family summer camp on Aziscoros Lake in Maine where I spent my summers. The roads around our camp were some of the roads used by the New England Forest Rally (NEFR), which is where my passion started.

And when we conversed earlier this week you mentioned that you really didn’t have a motorsports background that somehow this Forest Rally became the incentive for you to get to where you are today. 

Anctil: That’s right my family had no history in motorsports prior to myself, instead we were in the right place at the right time to watch these cars race. I remember my grandfather saying, “Hey why don’t you go on up to the end of the driveway to the road. There is going to be these cars that go by”.

I had no idea what was going on since I was probably 10-years-old at the time. I found it fascinating right from the start. We started to plan our trips around when my grandfather would get the flyer in the mail that said the road was going to be shut for this race. We’d say, “Let’s go up there and be a part of that”

We would watch the rally cars for a number of years. When I was 15-years-old, just prior to getting my driver’s license, Wojciech Hajduczyk and co-driver Cesary Fidller in their Plymouth Laser actually crashed right near where we were.

From Poland, Wojciech Hajduczyk and co-driver Cesary Findler at speed in 1999 during what was called the Maine Forest Rally now New England Forest Rally (NEFR). The pair are in a Plymouth Lazer on SS3 near where the Anctil’s vacation camp was located. (Jerry Winker ComicOzzie Autosport Photography)

We gave him some food and water since he had to hang out because the race has to finish for him to be able to depart.

I interviewed Hajduczyk from his Trenton, New Jersey, home and asked if he remembered the two young men from the 1999 rally?

Hajduczyk: “Of course, I remember,” the Polish native replied quickly though it happened 23 years ago. “I broke the left rear suspension off when we hit a tree sideways. After we got the car parked in the trees out of the way of oncoming cars, these two guys showed up and we talked about cars and rally while waiting for sweeps. I told them a car like ours would be a good place to start. I did not dream that these guys would go on to pursue careers in rally.”

The Plymouth Lazer of Polish driver Wojciech Hajduczyk before ripping the left rear suspension off at 70 mph near the camp of Dan Anctil’s family on Aziscoros Lake. (ComicOzzie Autosports Photography)

Anctil: I was very interested in the car he had at the time, it was a Plymouth Laser, turbo all-wheel drive thing. I was getting into this on more of a mechanical side level of interest. He told me go buy one of these; you can buy these as a street version if you’re interested.

I did exactly that.  My father and I went out looking around because we were getting ready for me to get my license. I had a paper route at the time. I had saved a bunch of money and we went out and bought one of those cars as a streetcar. It was the start of my education into the sport on the mechanical side of things and it just grew from there at a young age.

My version was the Eagle Talon edition of Diamond-Star Motors (DSM) group They had the Plymouth Laser, the Eclipse, and the Talon. I became involved with local motor sport clubs. I was living in New Hampshire at the time and made friends in circles around motorsports.

I continued to follow the racing at New England Forest Rally (NEFR) completely unaware that there was a national championship going on, I just knew that. “Hey this happens and I’m going to go watch”.

I modeled my car after these rally cars as a lot of fans do.  I would go up and watch every race weekend. I remember this crazy story because I know these roads, I mean I grew up on the roads that they’re using. My brother, Ken and I when we were probably 17 or 18-years-old would go out on those roads at sunrise before they closed down in order to find a good spot to watch.

I remember we were on a certain intersection up on the Parmachenee stage which is about where the gates are located. This SUV comes around the corner and it’s John Buffum, (America’s most famous rally driver and Maine Forest Rally Race Director), he said “What are you doing up in here?”

We said “We know the roads where we want to watch the race from”.

Buffum gave us $200 and said, “Stay on this corner and don’t move all day. I’m going to trust you’re going to do that”.

We were like “Oh wow, okay” and we held our word, we stayed on that corner. Buffum left to continue running the road to make sure it was all safe and clear.

Oh my word, did you know who he was?

Anctil: I knew of John because at that point I was poking around service areas and watching the Hyundai Tiburon team. John was doing team management and all that type of thing with his stepson Paul Choiniere II. Choiniere was winning rallies at the time for Libra Racing.

When I first met Richard Petty I was kind of like I can’t believe I’m getting to meet  Richard Petty! What was your reaction to meeting John Buffum?

Anctil: Same reaction, Same reaction because you put these people, rightly so on this pedestal. You are seeing them over the fence line and seeing them do their job. Then I was are seeing them in course opening cars and you’re learning the history of what they’ve done in their career.

Then at 5 in the morning, there he is at an intersection in the middle of nowhere handing me cash and saying, “Stay put son, Watch the race from here I can’t have you on the roads anymore” and trusting me to do so and I did.

Ken and I parked up in the grass and that was it, just a fascinating thing. Our intention also that particular year was to pull the cars that have DNF’d back into town because we learned at that point these cars have broken and they get stranded. I wanted to be a help with that, so that’s what we were doing

So did you actually pull some of them out?

Anctil: That one year, Noah Lawler had crashed off to the right down into the woods. His car stayed there for a good week because they couldn’t get it out. Another red Mitsubishi Evolution had lost its gearbox and my younger brother Ken, who was with me, towed him all the way out to race headquarters, which was a good twenty miles plus miles.

With a tow rope?

Anctil: Yeah, with a tow rope they supplied yep pulled him all the way out

Did you lose your clutch or anything?

Anctil: Nope he kind of held back and I stayed in second gear while he was the brakes I knew exactly where I was going. He said, “You know where you’re going?”

I said, “Yep, just trust me. I’ll get you right there.”

It’s unbelievable how this happened. but my other passion in life was as an ice hockey player.

Dan and Ken Anctil in Rochester hockey league. Both played hockey from an young age and continue to do so recreationally. (Anctil family photo)

I played prep school hockey, Junior Hockey and I was slated to go to play for  probably UVM, UNH or UMass-Amherst. I had an accident on the ice my junior year of high school. I ruptured my spleen and needed emergency surgery. I lost my senior year and lost a lot of the scouting that was happening. I ended up at Saint Michael’s College to play, which was right down the road from Vermont Sports Car which was located in Colchester at that time.

I went to school for Business and Marketing and in my junior year I needed an internship for credits. I thought what better place than Vermont Sports Car (VSC). At this point, I had kinda poked around a little bit and learned that Chris Yandell was the marketing manager at that time.

I would stop in once every 2 or 3 days to VSC and because they didn’t have an internship program or anything like that, I would say, “Hey let’s do something, Chris”.

He would say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ok. Whatever”.

It got to the point one time where I walked in the door I swear, his office was to the right, he rolled his eyes like, “Dan’s here again. He’s going to ask me for this internship”. Long story short, I ended up getting it and I worked as an intern through summer semester. Once I was in the door, they couldn’t get rid of me. I wanted to turn this into a job.

The front door to the old VSC shop in Colchester that Dan was referring to. (HTF Motorsports photo)

At the old VSC facility in Colchester this is the rallycross car prep area. Drivers at that time were Dave Mirra, Sverre Isachsen, and Bucky Lasek.  (HTF Motorsports)

Paul Giblin, I think maybe you know Paul, was the business manager for Vermont Sports Car at the time. He and I sat down together resulting with them offering me $28,000 a year to work for VSC. I was graduating with a lot of student loans which was difficult.  I had to get a second job but it was the passion and so I turned it into that career and away we went.

Would it be safe to say you were the first intern?

Anctil: Yes, myself, Dan Farley, who’s our engine guy, and Michael Hayes started just about the same time.  Dan was looking for the same thing as me. Dan and I stayed with VSC while Michael went on to become the Global Head of Digital & Technology for Ben and Jerrys.

So began Dan Anctil’s career in motorsports from Vermont Sports Cars first intern to Director of Subaru Motorsports USA. In a future episode we will follow Dan on the road to will the present. It is a story you will not want to miss.

Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Matthew 5:16)