MILWAUKEE — There are super fans, and then there's Dan Margetta. He is a local racing enthusiast who already has his schedule mapped out for 2022.
After he's done with his job as a South Milwaukee police records clerk, he's using his free time and paid time off to go to races and film them.
Dangerous Dan, as he's nicknamed, also does racing write ups. If you couldn't already tell, you're sure to see him at a local track next year.
"My dad took me when I was like two-years-old," Margetta says. "I went and I saw the USAC stock cars at the Milwaukee Mile, and the Superbirds were running and I actually cried. I didn't like it I guess. I went home. I got back home, and I wanted to go back again and it was too late. I've been going ever since. So, since I was about two or three-years-old, we went to Hales Corners Speedway every week."
Margetta was hooked on racing from nearly the start. Then he started recording them.
"I was just looking for something to do one night," Margetta says. "I brought the video camera we had at home just to have something, because I didn't want to just sit and watch the race by myself. I had something to do and caught a couple of the action and stuff, and then people liked it. One week I didn't bring it. It was like where's your camera? So then it was like a given that I had to bring the camera every week because people wanted to, you know catch all the action later on to see what happened."
Margetta went to 65 races last year. This year he plans to bump it up to 75.
"The action draws you in. The people is what keeps you here," Margetta says.
But as far as driving? Margetta will leave that to the pros.
"I ran a celebrity race at the Hales Corners Speedway. A bunch of radio people. I led the first lap and then I spun out while leading the thing. I had all my friends there and somebody said boy, that guy's dangerous!" Margetta says.
