Gregg Satterlee is probably one of the calmest, laid-back drivers in Dirt Late Model racing, so it’s not exactly easy to tell what he’s feeling at a given moment. Is he excited? Is he happy? Is he frustrated? Is he tired of the grind?

But as Satterlee stood alongside his familiar, black-and-blue No. 22 in the Williams Grove Speedway pit area Friday after finishing second in the historic Mechanicsburg, Pa., track’s 40-lap World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature, there was a sense of comfort in his current situation emanating from his otherwise cool demeanor. At 36, the racer from Indiana, Pa., has settled into a routine with his father Gary’s team that doesn’t include traipsing all across the map chasing major events or a national tour.

“I’ve only raced in Pennsylvania (this season), other than Florida and Georgia (during February’s Speedweeks) and Eldora (the Ohio track’s June Stream Invitational), and that felt like a year ago,” Satterlee said. “It works out. We’ve had some success this year. We’re having fun and I’m enjoying myself. That’s all you can ask for.”

Satterlee raced, and proved himself, on a national level during the 2010s. After becoming a prolific winner at his local tracks — most notably Marion Center Speedway — in the late 2000s and early ‘10s, he began branching out upon hiring veteran crew chief Robby Allen in 2012 to handle preparation of his equipment. Satterlee soon established himself with three WoO triumphs in two years (Wisconsin’s Shawano Speedway and Pennsylvania’s Selinsgrove Speedway in 2013, Delaware International Speedway in ’14), a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph in 2016 at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway (by passing Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist on the last lap!), a runner-up finish in the 2017 World 100 and two seasons as a Lucas Oil Series regular (10th-place points finishes in both 2017 and ’18 and a victory at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, in ’18).

Last year, though, Satterlee decided to pull back his heavy travel schedule, stepping off the Lucas Oil Series in the spring and shifting to regional action with a handful of longer trips to crown jewel events mixed in. He proceeded to struggle through ’19, garnering just two victories — in May at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway and August at Path Valley Speedway Park in Spring Valley, Pa. — among his modest 13 top-five finishes in 52 starts.

Focusing on an even more Keystone State-centric schedule this season, Satterlee has effectively returned to the form that saw him average nine triumphs per year from 2012-16 running selected races in the Mid-Atlantic states and beyond. He’s won six features to date — going 4-for-4 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway and 2-for-2 at BAPS Motor Speedway in Newberrytown, Pa. — while registering 12 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 31 starts (22 coming at Pennsylvania tracks).

All seems well now for Satterlee, who has found an equilibrium with the various facets of his life — family, work, racing and leisure — that suits him.

“Oh, it’s good,” Satterlee said when asked if he misses following the Lucas Oil Series. “It is appealing to be with all those (national) guys, racing the big races. It’s just … I like being home. I just enjoy being home. There’s stuff I like to do with my family. I like having Sundays off … I mean, I work five days a week.

“It’s fun going to those races. It is fun going to new tracks, seeing all the fans, seeing all the big races at all the different racetracks. But it’s a lot of nights sleeping in the Wal-Mart parking lots and eating fast food, or not eating at all, and driving all night long. I mean, there’s a lot more that goes into it than even what it looks like. Even when you’re sitting at home, you think, Ah, I miss doing that, and then I think, Ah, I gotta drive (five hours) to Eriez (Speedway in Hammett, Pa.) tonight (if he was chasing WoO points), or if you’re running Lucas, you’d be in Batesville (Ark.) tonight (for the Topless 100), which is like 80 hours from my house, it feels like … it’s like a day to get there.

“But now,” he continued, “we get loaded up tonight, I’m two-and-a-half hours from home. I wouldn’t get home till tomorrow if I was racing tonight at Batesville.”

Satterlee certainly has the means to pursue a career as a full-time Dirt Late Model driver. His father has the resources, through the family’s successful William G. Satterlee & Sons Inc. Petroleum Sellers in Rochester Mills, Pa., to field a top-notch effort that can stack up formidably with the best teams in the sport. And while Satterlee works at the family business — his office duties include dispatching trucks for all the company’s local routes — he could conceivably concentrate on racing if making it his living was his ultimate goal.

Throwing himself head-long into that pursuit, however, has never quite appealed to Satterlee. He was a quasi-full-timer during his 2017-18 Lucas Oil travels, but he noted that he continued to work at the family business when he was home and “it just never transpired” for racing to become an occupation for him.

“I mean, as much as you want to think you can do something …” Satterlee said, his voice trailing off for a moment. “I’m not saying I can’t (race for a living), but it’s just … not easy. You’ve got to take a lot of kicks in the face out there. Not saying I gave up on it, but there’s other things in life that I enjoy every bit as much as racing.”

According to Satterlee, his decision to make racing a very involved hobby rather than his weekly paycheck goes beyond the fact that he doesn’t possess that extra incentive of having to, as many full-timers like to say, “race to eat.”

“No … it’s just, plain and simple, there’s other things in life I enjoy just as much as racing,” said Satterlee, whose wife, Kelsey — the daughter of former western Pennsylvania sprint car standout Rod George — delivered the couple’s first child, Prudence, in 2018. “It’s a blast coming here and running well. It’s awesome. But I like golfing. I bought a boat a couple years ago; we have a lake a mile from my house and I like to do that. Hang out with my kid. Go camping.”

Significantly reducing the number of miles he puts on his hauler the last two years has, in a way, refreshed Satterlee. Transitioning away from long, extended trips to primarily weekend racing has given him a jolt of energy that seems to be showing up in his performance.

“I think when you have the means to maybe step away from it, or just step back, it’s a good thing for you, because it’s a grueling thing (to race full-time),” Satterlee said. “It never ends. It gets to where you just don’t want to do it. I mean, I don’t even work on the car full-time and it wears me out.

“You put your mind in race mode and you don’t ever take it off until probably about December, and then you better be ready to put in back in race mode again by about February. When you’re doing that, there’s nothing else going on in the world. That’s your world —racing. And if you can get your mind set that that’s all you’re gonna do, it’s good. I enjoyed my time doing it, it’s just …

“I think when everything falls our way and our car’s good, we’re good. We sometimes struggle to get there consistently. I think when our car’s really good we can run with anyone, but consistently doing it, night in and night out and every track all over the country, it’s tough. It’s tough to make the right calls. We try and we do a good job, but those guys that do that (full-time) are very talented. They’ve got a lot of years and a lot of nights learning how to do that.

“What we’re doing now, it just works out better,” he added. “It’s way more fun racing this way for me. We probably don’t make as much money, but we’re certainly spending less and not tearing stuff up. One day something might happen and we may not be able to race, so we’re just racing how I want to do it. I’m happy with where we’re at, and we just keep cranking away with what we’ve got.”

Make no mistake — Satterlee understands how lucky he is to have found a balance between his life at the track and away from it.

“Yeah, it’s good,” Satterlee said. “We’ve got a really good thing going with Robby; he does a really good job with our cars. And Drew (Covert Walters) is our tire guy, and we’ve got a guy, John, who comes and helps us drive the truck. We just got a really, really good thing going on.

“I’m just real fortunate to be in the position that I am to pick-and-choose and race how we want. I’m fortunate that I can leave work when I need to to go race, and when we don’t want to race we don’t have to.”

The past eight years have brought Satterlee especially close to Allen, the 50-year-old mechanic who grew up helping the many drivers who drove his late father Bobby’s Dirt Late Models and spent an especially successful decade toiling as Rick Eckert’s crew chief before becoming Satterlee’s right-hand man in 2012. Satterlee’s entire racing operation of XR1 Rocket cars and Durham engines is maintained by Allen at his shop near Hagerstown, Md., freeing Satterlee to truly exist as a helmet-carrying driver.

“It started out definitely as a business thing, but it seems like anymore we’re just … I think he’s a really good, close friend,” Satterlee said. “He works for us, but we get along really well. I talk to him almost every day on the phone, and half the time we don’t even talk about racing. And I have a lot of respect for him. I know he’s done this a long time and he’s got a lot of different options that he can probably do, but I think he’s kind of where I am. He’s done a lot more than I have, but I think he likes being at home, and I think when we race close to home like this and run well, he’s happy.

“He does a good job. He’s pretty sharp. Our cars don’t ever break down. We never have any mechanical failures that are avoidable. I mean, we have the best prepared cars that we can ask for. I couldn’t ask for anything else. I’ve never had him show up with everything other than 110 percent, and that’s the sincere, honest truth.

“Hopefully he’s happy working where he is,” he added. “His shop is at his house, so he gets to stay at home every day and work on the cars. I go to work every day (at his home nearly three hours away from Allen’s residence). We meet him at the track or meet somewhere, like a truck stop, and go, and about Saturday night at this time we go our separate ways and I’ll see him in a week.”

While Allen has often said of Satterlee that he sometimes has to “remind him that I think he’s better than he thinks he is,” Satterlee credits the crew chief known in the pit area as Hoghead as the the reason he’s developed into a contender.

“He’s taught me more than I could’ve learned racing by myself in 50 years, I’m certain of that,” said Satterlee, whose roughly 100 career Dirt Late Model wins have come at a notable 22 tracks in seven states. “And (Allen’s critiques are) not varnished. It’s not censored. You get it all. I gave up a redraw spot in the heat race tonight and his question was pretty much, ‘Do you even know what you’re doing out there?’ He was like, ‘Why do you do that?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.’

“I’m way more aware of when I make my mistakes than I used to be.”

With Allen guiding him and his father still fully involved in fielding a Dirt Late Model team, Satterlee is in a good place.

“My dad, he’s pretty easy going. He’s a good guy,” Satterlee said. “He’s definitely got a passion for (racing) because he’s been doing it his whole life, too, and he’s still riding the wave. He’s still on board, so I guess we’ll keep racing. Everyone’s enjoying themselves and still having fun and that’s all that matters here right now.”

Ten things worth mentioning

1. Satterlee couldn’t be more pumped about the next stop on his 2020 itinerary: the Aug. 27-29 Lucas Oil Series tripleheader at Port Royal Speedway. “Oh, yes, I’m excited,” he said of the weekend that features $10,000-, $12,000- and $15,000-to-win programs. “I think that’s got the biggest circle around it all year. I’ve been waiting for that race … since even before we started the season, I’ve been excited about.” Of course, Satterlee’s perfect record at Port Royal this season will be on the line. “I’m hoping my winning streak doesn’t get broke,” he said with a smile. “I’ve raced there four times and we’ve won all four. That’s gonna not be as easy starting on Thursday, but I think we have a pretty good car.”

2. When Satterlee speaks of his crew chief Robby Allen, he notes that Hoghead owns an impressive resume of race victories. “He’s won all the big races,” he said. “We do need to get him a World 100 though.” Satterlee paused and then added with a smile, “That should be easy, huh?”

3. Satterlee’s beard isn’t quite as thick as it was at one point last year, but he’s grown much of it back and now combines it with long hair that he’s kept following the spring coronavirus lockdown. Satterlee’s flowing locks had WoO official Tyler Bachman calling Satterlee “Jesus” during last weekend’s races, and I’d have to agree on the resemblance.

4. Veteran racer Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., was working alongside his son, Max, during last weekend’s WoO events at Lincoln, Williams Grove and Eriez speedways, but he’s still not back to 100 percent following the July 19 pit-area incident at Bradford Speedway in Rew, Pa., that left the 50-year-old with a serious gash on his lower left leg and ankle. The wound, which occurred when a neighboring team’s trailer gate that didn’t have cables to slow it come down hard on Blair’s leg and foot and required four stitches outside and 27 inside to close, continues to heal. “I’m still hobbling around,” said Blair, who wasn’t on crutches but had his left foot wrapped in a bandage and wore a sandal without a back to help his comfort level.

5. Max Blair’s 2-year-old son, McLane, displayed quite a collection of Matchbox-size Dirt Late Model cars alongside the team’s trailer at both Lincoln and Williams Grove. He had a wide array of machines in addition to his dad’s and could identify the names of all the drivers. McLane even had a comment when asked about WoO regular Cade Dillard’s No. 97: “He spanked my daddy’s ass,” he said, referring to Dillard’s Firecracker 100 victory over Blair earlier this year at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.

6. Speaking of Dillard, the 29-year-old driver from Robeline, La., declined a possible invitation to participate in the Sept. 10-12 Intercontinental Classic at Eldora Speedway because his 6-month-old son, Caden, is scheduled to undergo eye surgery. “He’s got an issue with one of his eyes kind of crossed,” Dillard said. “They say it’s a common deal; they go in there and do something to a muscle behind the eye. They said his vision was fine, but if they left it like this, over time, he could eventually start losing vision with age, so it’s definitely something that had to be addressed. They say it’s fairly common for kids, but I guess it’s just the fact of having to put him to sleep and all that kind of freaks me out.”

7. Dillard, who has emerged as a consistent national contender in his second season as a WoO regular, was ready to bring his Shane Sprinkle-owned car to Eldora for his second career start at the high-banked, half-mile oval. “I really hate that I couldn’t come,” he said. “I was kind of looking forward to it this time. I’ve only ran there once — I ran heats and B-mains (on Thursday night of the 2018 World 100) and then then it rained out (the final two programs were postponed one month).” Dillard looked good in his brief Eldora appearance, too, running third in his Thursday heat until he was felled by a flat tire that ultimately left him a non-qualifier on the first preliminary night.

8. Running WoO events last weekend in his backyard at Lincoln and Williams Grove certainly agreed with Rick Eckert of York, Pa., who was a center of attention in the pit area both nights. There was nary a moment when Eckert wasn’t seen in conversation with somebody before, during and after the races. When I said to Eckert’s wife, Kristal, that he’s the “social butterfly” of the pits, she quickly agreed. “He is his father’s son,” Kristal said, referring to Eckert’s always talkative late father, Junior.

9. The best T-shirt on the grounds of Williams Grove last Friday night belonged to Rick Eckert’s sister, Candy, who dug into her stash of racing apparel and pulled out a roughly 30-year-old shirt featuring the Dirt Late Model and 410 sprint car — both numbered 0 — that Rick drove early in his career. That’s a throwback that I say Eckert needs to reprint for sale today.

10. Seeing Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., driving a No. 1J car, rather than his usual No. 99B, in last weekend’s WoO events at Lincoln and Eriez was definitely strange. There was a simple reason — Briggs just purchased the XR1 Rocket from Jake Finnerty and didn’t have time to change the wrap — but his crew chief, Shane Winans, enjoyed offering another explanation. “I just keep telling everyone that it’s our Davey Johnson tribute car,” Winans said with a laugh.