Hired Gun: A Chat With Doorslammer Veteran Rob “The Gangsta” Valden

VALDEN

Every kid growing up around motorsports has the same dream — to one day be the guy strapped into the racecar blasting down the track. Some get the opportunity to chase that dream to a certain level, but real life reminds them that there are limitations to what they can spend and how far they can go.

Rob “The Gangsta” Valden spent most of his childhood around racing, and it was that time that fueled his desire to be “the guy” in the car. Now, he’s living his dream, becoming one of the best wheelmen in the business. Rob has surrounded himself with a life that revolves around racing, even working for fellow racer Kyle Huettel at his plumbing supply business as an outside sales representative.

Rob grew up in the fertile racing grounds of Texas and has spent his entire life in the Lonestar state, currently residing just outside of Houston with his wife, Lauren. His father being in the commercial trucking business exposed him to motorized things at a young age. Plus, there were always hot rods around for him to help work on.IMG_3459

A Life Around Racing

Rob’s first taste of racing, interestingly, came on two wheels, as he shared. “Since the time I was around seven years old, my dad had me on dirt bikes. I raced motocross competitively for many years, up until I was about 15 years old.” Between his time on a bike and being a star athlete in sports growing up, Rob developed a razor sharp competitive edge that has stayed with him until this day.

Soon he’d be exposed to the world of drag racing and his life would be forever changed. “The town I grew up in had a local 1/8-mile track called Lonestar Dragway, and I started to go there often with my cousin. I would also go to the NHRA national events in Baytown, so that really got the interest going in drag racing for me,” he says.

My cousin had one of the original small tire-type cars that originated in the south during the late 1990s. I was constantly going to the race track with him and watching, just being exposed to a lot of racing.

Spending time at the track fostered his interest in drag racing, and it has never stopped. “My cousin had one of the original small tire-type cars that originated in the south during the late 1990s. I was constantly going to the race track with him and watching, just being exposed to a lot of racing. They also had the Quick 8-style Pro Modified races here once a month as well, so I fell in love with door car racing pretty quickly,” Rob explains.

At around the age of 16, he was injured in a serious motorcross accident that closed the door on his two wheeled adventures, but kicked the drag racing door wide open. “I had a 2002 Mustang GT that was my daily driver to school and work. I started going to a lot of the local street car meets and building my car up to go faster. Soon, that car had turned into a full bolt-on car that saw a lot of street racing action,” Rob said.IMG_3585

The bolt-on modifications wouldn’t be enough for Rob, though, as the car progressed, getting additional suspension work, nitrous oxide, and other go-fast parts to feed that need for speed and to compete. “The car got more serious, and soon I was racing all kinds of LSX cars, for what at the time was considered big money… $100 here, or $200 there.”

Those who underestimated Rob learned the hard way, and so did their wallets.

The Next Level

We talked about buying a built car, or building mine and my uncle really was the one to pull the trigger and said let’s do this

By the time Rob was graduating from high school and getting ready to leave for college, his Mustang had become more of a race car than a street car, and wasn’t going to be that practical for college life. Doing well in school, his parents rewarded him with a new daily — a 2003 Cobra Mustang to start his next chapter in life with. Soon though, the need to compete returned and changed his life yet again.

“At about this time my dad, uncle, and I started talking more about drag racing. My uncle was a bit less conservative than my dad so he was willing to really get into it. We talked about buying a built car, or building mine up, and my uncle really was the one to pull the trigger and said ‘let’s do this,’ ” Rob says of how he got the next phase of his racing career going.

After spending so many years now around door cars and racing, Rob had a very good idea of what it would take to make this new racing venture work properly, what classes were out there, and most importantly, how to win.

“We knew that the car would need some chassis work to get it to the level we needed, like a full 25.2 build and ladder bars, because my car was just a street car with bolt-on suspension parts.

Taking a look at the classes, we decided to build the car to run in Super Street Outlaw in the NMRA and in the local Clash of The Titans series, since the rules were so similar. This way, the car would also still fit True 10.5 rules to run other races in our area,” he says.

The car was outfitted with a Bennett Racing Engines motor paired with a 91 mm turbocharger, and did quite well. “We took that car out and won the first three or four races with it here in Houston right out of the gate,” Rob says.IMG_3584

Soon, Rob was back in school and had to travel between campus in Austin and his parents shop outside of Houston. “I took a year off of serious racing in 2005 to concentrate on school, so we ran a pretty limited schedule because of this,” he says.

Even while still in school, Rob spent time at the track, since most of his friends were still racing, and this would lead to him back to racing. “In 2006 ORSCA opened their rules up a bit more to let back-half type cars in Limited Street. So somehow, I convinced them to update the car, and soon it was cut all apart and Jimmy Blackmen at Straightline Race Cars had turned it into a state-of-the-art 25.2 spec car, with an updated twin turbo small-block Ford engine from Proline Racing Engines,” he shares.

The car made its debut in 2007 with great success in Texas, and in the ORSCA series. It would go on to become the quickest small-tire car in the country, with Rob doing the driving. Around this time, he also began running in the grudge racing scene in Texas, where he’d make a name for himself running in numerous high-dollar races.

Another one of Rob's rides was behind the wheel of Andrew Alepa's Mustang

Another one of Rob’s rides was behind the wheel of Andrew Alepa’s Mustang, which was campaigned from 2012 to 2015.

“I got into grudge racing cars mainly because I was at the track all the time, was physically a lot smaller back then, and was really good on the tree. I started driving grudge cars locally and won some significant races with those cars,” Rob explains. The grudge racing experience would help keep his racing career going, as in 2010, due to the family businesses slowing down, his father and uncle decided to park their own twin turbo Mustang. That put Rob out there as a full-time hired gun in the drag racing world.

Some of Rob's driving experience includes wheeling the Cornfed 1.0 truck on Street Outlaws for Flaco.

Some of Rob’s driving experience includes wheeling the “Cornfed” grudge truck on Street Outlaws for Sergio “Flaco” Gonzalez. Regular viewers of the show will recall that, in a rare miscue for Valden, he ended up rolling the truck over during filming.

“The SAM School contacted me around that time to start running their NMRA cars, since they heard I wouldn’t be driving my own car anymore. So I was racing the SAM cars all while still driving some grudge cars in the Houston area, as well,” he says.

The Street Outlaws Experience

Rob had a unique chance to showcase his skills when he got the call to drive for Sergio “Flaco” Gonzalez on Street Outlaws. “The Street Outlaws appearance was a short notice opportunity for me. I got a call from Flaco on the Thursday before the weekend of filming in Houston, and he told me that he needed a driver for his twin turbo truck, dubbed ‘Cornfed’,” Rob says.

Rob talked with his wife about the opportunity and decided to take Flaco up on his offer and drive the boosted truck. After making some test hits, getting used to the truck, and acquiring data, Rob felt he was ready to race “LS Kilr” Brandon Smith and his turbo mustang.

As soon as I was able, I strapped back into a race car about two months later and made a four-flat hit at 200 mph. Racing is my life, and I had to jump back on the horse.

When the race with Brandon went down, Rob brought his A-game like he always does at the track, but things went south really quick. “As the truck made the gear change, it started to move around a bit. I went to pedal the truck while trying to drive it to the stripe and the last time I pedaled it, it made a big move to the left and got into the gravel on the side which made it come around.

“I did what I could to try and stop, but then it hit the driveway lip of a business on the street and the truck went into a barrel roll, rolling four complete times, eventually coming to a stop in a tree,” Rob explains.

Rob wore all of his usual racing safety gear, but still suffered four broken ribs and a separated shoulder from the violent wreck. “Flaco gave me great support, coming straight to the hospital to check on me. He was understanding that racing accidents happen and was supportive of my driving.

As soon as I was able, I strapped back into a race car about two months later and made a four-flat hit at 200 mph. Racing is my life, and I had to jump back on the horse,” Rob says.

The Alepa Connection

Rob was driving for various car owners in 2012, including doing testing for the likes of Jason Michalak and Kyle Huettel; but a phone call would change everything in an instant. “Andrew Alepa purchased Dave Hance’s Mustang and had been working with Josh Ledford and said he needed a driver. Josh and I have been friends for a long time and he recommended me for the job. So I slowed down the grudge racing stuff and decided to make racing for Andrew my primary focus,” Rob says.

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The new Alepa Racing C7 is already setting records and winning races with Valden behind the wheel.

This new team proved to be very potent right out of the gate with their new ride, as they quickly became “The A-Team” in how they handled business. “We took the car to Donald’s [Long, promoter of Lights Out and No Mercy in South Georgia] race and it went from running in the 4.60s to going 4.44 with Andrew and Josh working on it — that’s the fastest it had ever been, and was within a tenth of the record at the time.”

After that, Alepa wanted to step things up and go even faster, so with Rob’s recommendation, a call was placed to Pro Line Racing Engines to upgrade the engine to a 481X, and the Mustang went to Rich Stevens at Stevens Race Cars for a major overhaul. “We raced that car from 2012 until 2015, when Andrew decided it was time to step things up again — he wanted to build a new car since the class was getting faster and we were at the limits of the Mustang chassis we had,” Rob says.

The Alepa Racing Mustang joined the three-second club with vision of Andrew and driving of Rob.

With that, Andrew decided to build a top-level radial car using a C7 Stingray chassis with the new Pro Line Hemi and their tuning services for Rob to drive. This type of dedication to winning is paramount to the team’s success and Rob realizes how fortunate he is to race under their banner.

IMG_3737

Andrew Alepa is a very hand-on owner who is not afraid to get dirty and wrench on the car.

“Alepa Racing really is an awesome team, Andrew and his wife give us the best equipment and guidance possible. Their whole operation is top notch, and he’s dedicated to his program, not just from a financial standpoint, but a working, hands-on role, too.

Alepa Racing really is an awesome team, Andrew and his wife give us the best equipment and guidance possible.

“From a driver’s standpoint you can’t ask for anything better. Andrew is constantly asking if there’s anything else that I need or something that will make the racecar better. He’s not just an owner, but a great friend too,” Rob says.

The goals for this team are always lofty, and in 2016 they’re looking for titles. “Currently, we’re leading the RTRA points championship, and we want to finish this series off with a title. The team has missed a few of the NMCA races, but we plan to finish the year off racing with those guys, as well. I would say most of all, with the recent performance of the car, we want to win Donald Long’s prestigious Super Bowl of radial racing, No Mercy, this fall.”

The Future For The Gangsta

Rob has been around the racing world his entire adult life and doesn’t have any plans to change that. Growing up after the racing bug bit him, Rob really wanted to drive an NHRA Pro Stock car; over the years that’s changed some, but his dream still involves big slicks and doors on the race car.

“I have a major spot in my heart for Pro Modified and would love to have the opportunity to run in that class. It could be NHRA Pro Mod, Pro Boost, Pro Nitrous, or Pro Extreme … I wouldn’t argue with anybody who wants to give me a chance,” he says.

Even with his love of door cars, Rob wouldn’t turndown the chance to race something different if that opportunity presented itself. “When I was younger I also wanted to run a fuel car, and I still would, however, I’ve been so involved in door car racing for so many years now, that it’s hard to get away from it now,” he says.

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Don’t let the Pro Mod talk fool you, though, as Rob has a laser focus on his current goals and that could spell trouble for the rest of the Radial vs The World class. “I plan to keep racing for Andrew and running the radial car. Our goal is to win championships. I’ve set records with Andrew and got a win, but I want to get titles. To win one of Donald’s races is an achievement we want, and it would be great to bring that home to Alepa Racing,” Rob explains of his immediate goals.

Rob’s years of being an elite driver come from his passion for racing and his desire to surround himself with it. You can ask just about anybody — Rob is well-liked in the pits, and counts many among his friends due to his approachable personality. But when it comes time to put the cars in the beams, his competitive side shows up. Rob’s nickname “The Gangsta” was not given to him, it was earned, and he’s not afraid to show anybody at the track why he’s known by that moniker.

About the author

Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
Read My Articles

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