NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

It's a family thing for Pro Stock's Robert River

They don't run the full tour, but you can almost always count on seeing a member of the River family in Pro Stock when you come to World Wide Technology Raceway.
28 Sep 2024
Kelly Wade
Feature
Robert River

It’s been an entire year since we’ve seen second-generation racer Robert River behind the wheel in NHRA Pro Stock, but he hasn’t been snoozing. The young driver – whose father, Dave River, brought the family operation to Pro Stock – has been racing a 1989 Camaro in Midwest Pro Stock Association.

“It’s very similarly equipped, a five-speed, so I haven’t been out of the seat entirely – just out of this seat,” said River, who followed in his father’s footsteps and licensed in NHRA Pro Stock in 2017 and now pilots the family’s 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt.

“We tested this car in May with my dad in the seat for the first time in a while because I had some family obligations, but we tested what we needed to test, and now we’re back out with it.”

The River Racing operation is co-crew chiefed by dad Dave and Robert’s sister, Amanda River-Fleck. The family maintains their engines in-house, a task probably made a bit easier by the fact that Robert is a machinist by trade, though in a bit of a different capacity. He machines government-regulated petroleum fuel tanks.

The Iowa-based River family has been racing Pro Stock since 2009, when dad Dave made his debut in the class at this event. As for the future, Robert says they’re mainly focused on what happens in the here and now, but they plan to continue to show up in Pro Stock in the Midwest.

“We just want to get through qualifying session No. 1,” he said. “As for long-term, as the Pro Stock cars get more and more advanced, it’s extremely hard to keep up with this class. But we’ll keep this car together and updated with safety equipment – and as much performance upgrades as we can do, as well. We’ll continue to do our own engine work and move forward with that, and when spring time comes, we’ll see what kind of testing we can do and then head out to Joliet.”

The River family is invested in Pro Stock with both heart and resources, and they compete with the support of sponsors Hardnosed Apparel, Dave River Construction, and Pro Standard Construction.