Napa Valley Auto Racing: Another year, another title for Rob Krider – Napa Valley Register
Napa’s Rob Krider recently wrapped up his 2021 racing season with his sixth consecutive championship and 10th career motorsports title.
“That’s a lot of dusty trophies my wife doesn’t want in the house,” he quipped.
His latest championship was in the Sports Car Club of America, San Francisco Region Street 4 Class. The S4 Class victory is the first time the team raced in a combined class series, having to be the fastest in both the G Street and H Street classes all year long. The season was won with Rob racing his brother Randy’s 2015 Honda Civic Si and earning enough points to secure the championship.
Their father, Jim, provided advice as the season went along.
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“Winning a championship is very different from winning a single race,” said Rob. “A championship takes massive amounts of dedication and a little racing luck over an entire year. You don’t have to always be the fastest, you just need to have the most points at the end of the season. Consistency is a key component.”
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Rob wasn’t the fastest in S4 all year. It was his own brother, Randy, who beat him in an extremely close race. Just 7 thousandths of a second separated their times.
“I only won the championship this year because I went to more races than my brother did,” admitted Rob.
“For two people to drive the same car around a track and be within 7 thousandths of a second is statistically incredible,” Jim said of his sons. “Of course, if those two people are brothers with the same bloodline and racing experience, then I guess it isn’t that crazy. They’ve been doing this a long time and either one of them can win in any race. It’s a toss-up.”
With a racing career that began in 1991, Rob found a way to highlight his 30 years of racing by earning both his 100th victory and his 10th championship in 2021.
“Those sort of statistics make racing sound really easy,” he said. “The reality is, there is only one thing in racing that’s easy, and that’s losing. And I really hate to lose.”
Rob credits his success behind the wheel to hard work, good car preparation, solid race strategy, and a never-quit attitude. He said he learned those traits directly from his father, Jim Krider, who raced go-karts in the 80s before a tragic racing incident left him in a wheelchair.
“I was 9 years old when my dad had his accident,” Rob recalled. “For obvious reasons, that day was a game-changer at our house. My dad had to learn how to live without the use of his legs. I watched him do this with immense self-determination and grit. I never saw him let his disability slow him down.”
Jim Krider went on to a life of politics, becoming a Napa City Planning Commissioner, a City Councilman, and the Vice Mayor of Napa. He raised two sons and never gave up on his love for all things automotive.
“My dad would climb down out of his wheelchair and slide underneath a car to fix it. Nothing would stop him,” said Rob. “He and I restored an El Camino from the ground up together and then when my brother Randy was old enough to drive, he restored a Camaro with him. Watching my dad work on cars, regardless of his physical limitations, inspired me to never let anything in life hold me back.”
The vehicles that Jim Krider restored with his sons soon found themselves at the racetrack. Both sons had the racing bug and Jim supported each of them as the defunct crew chief and main mechanic — and did all of this from his wheelchair.
“I loved going to the track with the boys,” said Jim. “If there was a race coming up, we would annoy our poor neighbors as we thrashed on the cars late at night, and then head to the track to do our best the next day. That’s how Krider Racing was born, right in my driveway when my sons were teenagers.”
As the years progressed, Jim’s sons went from drag racing at Sonoma Raceway in the cars he helped restore, to autocrossing at the Oakland Coliseum, rallys, car shows, the destruction derby at the Napa County Fair, the 24 Hours of LeMons, circle track, time trials, off-road rallycross, hillclimbs, Silver State Classic, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, One Lap of America, to multiple national championships in the Honda Challenge series.
The racing went from Jim’s driveway in Napa all the way to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
“It didn’t matter how far away the event was, my dad was always there,” said Rob. “It also didn’t matter how long the event, dad was still always there,” said Rob. “I remember a particularly cold 25 Hours of Thunderhill where it was three in the morning. Most people were huddled in the RVs trying to catch some warmth between pit stops. I found my dad sitting in his wheelchair listening to his radio, watching my brother Randy make fast laps around the track all night long. Dad never missed a thing and is always looking out for us.”
As the team moved from different motorsport styles and multiple racing series, they continued to model their approach after the never-quit determination they learned from their dad as they watched him overcome his disability.
“I think about what my dad went through and I am amazed how strong he is,” said Rob. “I don’t know if I have the same strength inside me to do what he did. Sometimes when we are at the track and things aren’t going our way, a broken axle or a bad shunt from another driver, I just think, ‘What would my dad do? He’d climb down out of his wheelchair onto the concrete and fix this car to get us back out on track. If my dad can do it without legs, our racing team of 10 healthy guys with all of their limbs can certainly get it done.’”
As the decades have gone by, nothing about Krider Racing has changed. It is still Rob and Randy driving cars and it is still Jim Krider providing guidance and wisdom.
“Not only is my dad determined,” said Rob, “but he is a living encyclopedia of racing knowledge. He has been on the planet longer than me and he has seen stuff I haven’t seen. He is our own human version of a Racing Wikipedia to help us out.”
That guidance helped Rob win more than 100 races and 10 championships.
Rob gives additional credit to his father for helping the team amass tons of sponsorship help.
“I think it was watching my dad’s success in politics that helped me realize how important honest communication is, how to under-promise and over-deliver. It’s from his tutelage that our team was able to connect with so many industry partners and create great relationships.”
Those partners for Krider Racing/Double Nickel Nine Motorsports are Carbotech Brakes, Yokohama Tires, I/O Port Racing Supplies, T.E.M. Performance, B & G Tires, Smart Racing Products, Sampson Racing Communications, Tactical Ops Brewing, Skunk2 Racing, Performance In-Frame Tuning, Bay Ex, Insane Shafts, Autopower, Hasport Motor Mounts, AEM Electronics, Phase 2 Motortrend, Economy Stock Feed, Sanger Tire, C.J. Fix Bookkeeping and Cadet Blues-the novel.
With 30 years of racing, 100 wins and 10 championships under his belt, what is next for Rob Krider?
“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “I think the three of us will get together at Christmas, drink too much Double Nickel Nine IPA, retell some racing stories with outlandish exaggerations and figure out what challenge next season we want to accomplish as a team.
“Whatever it is, the plan is to win — and to win together.”
Visit team559.com or follow KriderRacing on Instagram for more about the team and its next race.
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Rob Krider drives his brother Randy’s car, a 2015 Honda Civic Si.
