Dirt Empire Magazine - Issue 10 - 2022

POLE POSITION

OWNER/PUBLISHER

Adam Cornell

EDITOR

Justin Zoch

SUBSCRIPTION COORDINATOR

Abigail Cornell

WEBSITE COORDINATOR

Shaun Cornell

WORDS

Ashley Allinson, Ashley Zimmerman, Bert Lehman, Bill Blumer Jr., Bob Mays, Brett Swanson, Chad Meyer, Chris Romano, Cyndi Stiffler, Danny Burton, David Sink, Doug Kennedy, Doug Seeger, Elizabeth Madley, Eric Arnold, Gary Costa, Greg Soukup, Jessica Jenkins, Joanne Cram, Joe Duvall, Kelley Carlton, Kevin Oldham, Larry Weeks, Lee Ackerman, Melissa Coker, Mike Spieker, Odell Suttle, Scott Erickson, TJ Buffenbarger, Todd Heintzelman, Vahok Hill

PICTURES

Adam Mollenkopf, Andy Newsome, Bill Miller, Bill Taylor, Bob Mays, Bob Yurko, Brad Plant, Brandon Anderson, Brendon Bauman, Brian Bouder, Bruce Palla, Buck Monson, Buzz Fisher, Carey Fox, Chad Wells, Chris McDill, Chris Pederson, Conrad Nelson, Dan DeMarco, Danny Howk, David Campbell, David Giles, David Hill, David Pratt, Dennis Krieger, Don Laidlaw, Donna Rosenstengel, Doug Burgess, Doug Vandeventer, Glen Starek, Gordy O’Field, Greg Stanek, Greg Teel, Heath

FOR SUBMISSION INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT SENIOR

JUSTIN ZOCH:

Lawson, Jacy Norgaard, Jason Orth, Jason Spencer, Jason Wells, Jeff Bylsma, Jim Collum Jr., Jim DenHamer, Jim Zimmerline, Jimmy Jones, Joe Orth, Joe Secka, John Dadalt, John Lee, John Rothermel, Jon Holliday, Joseph Swann, Josh James, Ken Kelly, Lee Greenawalt, Leif Tillotson, Mark Funderburk, Mark Sublett, Matt Butcosk, Michael Diers, Michael Moats, Mike Campbell, Mike Damic, Mike Feltenberger, Mike Howard, Mike Musslin, Mike Ruefer, Millie Tanner, Patrick Miller, Paul Arch, Paul Gould, Quentin Young, Rich LaBrier, Richard Barnes, Rick Neff, Rick Sherer, Robert Wing, Rocky Ragusa, Ron Gilson, Ron Sloan, Ryan Northcote, Scott Swenson, Seth Stone, Steve Walters, Tara Chavez, Terry Page, Tim Aylwin, Tim Hunt, Todd Boyd, Tom Macht, Tony Hammett, Travis Branch, Troy Junkins, Tyler Carr, Tyler Rinkin, Zach Yost,

Modified, Late Model or NASCAR, it doesn’t matter, Stewart Friesen is bringing his A game. Get a glimpse into this top-tier driver’s 2022 season.

14 COLE FALLOWAY –#DEASKS

We checked in with Kentucky teenager Cole Falloway to pick the brain of one of the rising stars in the modified business and asked him your questions about 2022, how to keep tires on a race car these days and who has relied on to teach him the business to this point in his career.

20 STEWART FRIESEN – MASTER TRANSFORMER

Publisher Adam Cornell put in the time to track down Stewart Friesen as he crisscrossed America early in the season chasing big money modified shows and NASCAR Trucks glory. Friesen talks about what it takes to make it all work in a family that is all in on a racing lifestyle.

34 NATIONAL SPRINT CAR HALL OF FAME – CLASS OF 2022

We partnered with the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, to produce the official biographies of the 12 inductees into the class of 2022. Learn all about the drivers, promoters, owners, announcers and photographers that were inducted into immortality off the second turn of the famous Knoxville Raceway.

–

HOME FOR LATE MODELS

A deep look into the effort that Port Royal Speedway has put into growing their own late model division as well as attracting the top tours and biggest names into the heart of winged sprint car racing. Its been a huge, intentional effort that is starting to pay dividends for the speedway.

PAGE 20

Photo: Josh James

fore WORD

LIVING IN THE GOLDEN AGE

building track bucket lists after watching an online stream and wanting to see the track in person. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that if people could be at the track on race night, they would be. Streaming keeps them excited about the next time they can come to the track.

By Adam Cornell

AS MUCH AS I have heard about the “good old days” of racing being far in the rearview mirror, when you look at the dirt track racing scene as it stands today, one has to take a moment to appreciate that we may be living in the golden age of dirt track racing right now.

Certainly, for the racing teams, especially lately, there has been an immense squeeze from rising cost in fuel and components and a lack of availability of parts, perhaps most exemplified by the tire shortage. For fans, however, has there ever been more dirt track racing action available for consumption with just a click of the mouse or the swipe of a finger across a smart phone screen?

I remember the days when you would have to stay up until two in the morning to catch a half hour recap of a race that was already two weeks old on one of those secondary cable sports channels. It was never as exciting as actually being at the race. It always felt like they were just throwing it on to fill out half-an-hour of programming so they didn’t have to run an infomercial.

Even as recently as the last couple of years, promoters were not inclined to allow streaming of the races at their tracks, for fear people would stay away and just watch at home. These are the same promoters who would run a race and most people in their local town wouldn’t even know there was a dirt track just miles away because of the lack of publicity and marketing. The notion that folks would not attend if they could watch a stream has slowly given way to the fact that people have started

Now with a number of streaming options available, like FloRacing, DirtTrackDigestTV, DIRTVision, RacinDirt, MAVtv and more, it is an absolute feast of dirt track racing action for even the most voracious of appetites.

I can’t be the only one who has three different monitors, an iPad and a phone all streaming a different race on a midweek night, can I?

And yet, I was asked the other day about why I would continue to publish a print magazine in the age of streaming?

It’s a very simple answer. What you get from the pages of Dirt Empire Magazine is completely different than what you get from watching a race live in person or streaming on the television or computer screen.

We work with the best photographers in the business because a still photo of a fast-action event is like a time machine. Watching in person, if you blink, you miss it. Watching a stream, you might get a replay, but streaming video, even when you have a high-speed connection, can only provide so much resolution. A photo captures that split second moment in time and allows you to study all the detail. It is a record of history itself in all its detail.

I love the beauty and art of this sport. Even as we have more streaming options available, we have also come upon the golden age of dirt track racing photography. The talent we are allowed to publish in each and every iteration of Dirt Empire Magazine is simply amazing. Every issue I revel at the opportunity to scroll through the race albums of photos captured by our talented contributors. Most of the photos we publish are available in high resolution from the photographers. So, if you ever wanted

a poster of something we’ve printed, you can check the photo credit, go to the back of that issue and contact the photographer directly to arrange to purchase prints. Can you remember a time in history when you could get a poster-sized print of an amazing photo within weeks for such a relatively low cost? Such a concept was just a fantasy dream even ten years ago. Now it’s a reality.

With all the negativity going on, I try to find a reason for joy each and every day. And with Dirt Empire Magazine, I try to provide a reason for joy with each and every issue.

As long as there is racing, I firmly believe there will always be room for a print publication that allows you to capture the beauty and excitement of the sport. And as long as I’m around, I’ll want to have a part in creating it.

Despite all the struggles going on right now, the fact that we have racing so readily available to us in all the different formats one could hope for, I have to say, does it get any better than this?

Let’s find out. Let’s go racing.

Photo: Melissa Tousley

from the EDITOR

THE GETTING THERE

By Justin Zoch

WE ARE INTO the summer doldrums now and a good chunk of my energy is spent trying to find something productive for my boys to do that doesn’t involve YouTube or a character from Zelda but I feel like just spent the last few months as an unpaid chauffeur getting them to track, piano, orchestra, student council and several other activities. I didn’t realize how lucky I was.

I heard a clip on our local sports talk station with actor Jeff Daniels talking about his own experience as a hockey dad. While he’s talking about hockey and stick-and-ball sports parents, he could easily have been talking about racing parents. Just like there are millions of parents who have gone every extra mile with their kids in various sports, think of all the families that have spent hours upon hours in a toterhome or a pickup truck together chasing racing. I found his thoughts paraphrased as “we’ve got a pretty close family. Just ended fourteen years of travel hockey with two boys. My daughter was always a part of that… As I tell idiotic, stupid, youth-sport parents, it’s about the drive there and the drive back, not about the trophy or how your kid played. We’ve always had a good relationship with our kids. You’re driving with them and talking to them at the age of eight. It became this adventure and they learned to love it. You connect, you really do.”

This is so well said and crystalizes that those mundane moments are the ones you usually really want back. It got me thinking about my own childhood. I never played sports and wasn’t really involved in anything much in high school

that required a lot of shuttling until I was old enough to get myself there. However, looking back, my drives to activities were much longer, much more involved than a three minute journey back from tennis camp or a quick drop off to McDonald’s for work.

My after school activities involved getting to as many dirt track races as I could. I’d regularly convince my dad that we needed (NEEDED!) to be at every sprint car race within 200 miles and when the tours came though, like the World of Outlaws or NCRA Northern Tour, we had to make as many of these shows as we could too. I never got involved in any meaningful way with a race team as a pitside helper working on cars and my dad, while extremely mechanical, never passed any of that ability or interest on to me.

He did, however, seem to appreciate the fact that racing gave me what I was looking for and helped to nurture the things that appealed to me about the sport, like traveling and oddball characters who live life on the edge. We got there early and stayed late so I could talk to the drivers and crews after the races and start to feel like I was a part of it. He helped me buy every possible piece of racing media from programs to yearbooks and patiently sat next to a know-it-all-wanna-be race announcer while I showed off everything I’d learned from them.

There were plenty of late nights when we got home at three and he got up at five and I didn’t. He sacrificed a lot of time with his wife and other kids to drive me to Rock Rapids, Iowa, on a weeknight to sit through a long rain delay. I used to keep meticulous notes on every race and still have them but outside of Butch Hanssen’s big crash, I don’t remember anything else much about that race.

I do remember stopping for gas late though and driving in his old Jeep

south of Luverne and listening to oldies on the radio. I get it now. The journeys there and back, not the race, made it worth it for him. Although, let’s be honest, watching sprint cars has to be more exciting than traveling basketball!

The sport of racing is uniquely designed to keep families and friends together – sometimes that produces more together time than perhaps you’d like but you can’t go it alone. Next time you’re driving to the track, watching the fuel gauge suck down seven bucks every 13 miles, try to remember this is the best part of the whole deal – the times you’ll want back more than anything.

Cheers to all the fathers and mothers who shared that same windshield time with their kids as I got and to all the families that racing has brought together and helps keep together one mile at a time.

“TRACK

NOTES &

TO

COMES TO KNOXVILLE THIS SUMMER

THE NATIONAL SPRINT CAR Hall of Fame & Museum hopes to see you this summer for our “Track Tribute to Ascot Park” exhibit! The exhibit, is currently on display through October 1, and features the cars, memorabilia, and much more from one of the most revered tracks in sprint car and motor racing history, Ascot Park in Gardena, California (1957-1990). Seven sprint cars, a midget, a quarter midget, a motorcycle, and several items of memorabilia are exhibited in honor of the famous southern California facility.

The cars on display this summer include the famous Alex Morales

Tamale Wagon driven by Bob Hogle, Allen Heath and others, the Bromme

“Andy Gump” sprinter campaigned by Paul Jones and others, Jimmy Oskie’s Ol’ Paint #91, Parnelli Jones famous #98 midget, the Elton Forsyth/Steve Kennick #7 entry that broke Ascot’s track record twice, the late ‘50’s roadster constructed by Indy fabricator Bill Finley, the 1973 Cowan & Riggs #14 piloted to the CRA championship by Don Hamilton and the last Bruce Bromme Sr. and Jr. built car campaigned by all-time CRA and Ascot victor Dean Thompson. In addition, a speedway bike like the ones campaigned at Ascot, and a quarter midget built by Bruce Bromme Sr. are also on hand.

“We feel this is a tremendous tribute to Ascot,” says Museum Coordinator Bill Wright. “We’ve tried to take a good cross section of cars and memorabilia from the period 1957 to 1990. We’d be remiss if we didn’t thank the Agajanian family, Dick Woodland from the Woodland Auto Display in Paso Robles, California, Bob Mays and the Smith Family at the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska, Jimmy Oskie, John Manard, Shawn Thomas and Mike Sweeney. California cars have always had a certain look to them, and we think our visitors will be awestruck at the way these cars have been preserved. We’re really excited!”

BROWN, MARKS COMBINE TO SHUTOUT OUTLAWS AT KNOXVILLE

THE WORLD OF OUTLAWS are not used to being shut out in two day shows – it just doesn’t happen very often when you have the world’s best sprint car racers traveling together. It happens even less frequently at Knoxville Raceway, where series champions like Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet have been dominant over the last two decades.

In June, two guys who run true outlaw schedules for the time being swept to victory in the two-day World of Outlaws weekend as Brent Marks, unofficially repping the Pennsylvania Posse, and Brian Brown, unofficially representing the Knoxville regulars, combined to shut out the traveling troupe. Track reporter Eric Arnold noted that the only other time this has happened at Knoxville was when Kyle Larson swept the weekend during his unbelievably productive 2020 season and when Doug Wolfgang was a true independent during the 1989 USA/ WoO split season.

TRIBUTE

ASCOT”

Smothered in confetti, Brent Marks grabs his first win at Knoxville as part of a non-Outlaw regulars sweep.

Photo: Mark Funderburk

Photo: Dave Hill

GAPPENS NAMED NEW ELDORA GENERAL MANAGER

ELDORA SPEEDWAY has named veteran motorsports executive Jerry Gappens as its new general manager, succeeding Roger Slack, who has decided to call time on his 12-year career at Eldora. Gappens comes to Eldora from Indiana’s Gas City I-69 Speedway where he has been the promotor of the quarter-mile, dirt oval since 2018. Prior to his tenure at Gas City, Gappens spent 23 years with Speedway Motorsports, specifically serving as executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon for eight years (2008-2015) and senior vice president of events and marketing of Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for 15 years (1993-2007).

Slack, the outgoing general manager of Eldora who has spent more than three decades in motorsports, is taking a sabbatical from the industry.

“Jerry Gappens brings a ton of experience to Eldora Speedway that will allow us to deliver the best fan experience possible, as well as the best experience

for all the racers who compete at our track,” said Eldora owner Tony Stewart, who purchased the track from the legendary Earl Baltes in 2004. “Jerry knows grassroots racing from being at Gas City and he also knows how to put on big events from his time at New Hampshire and Charlotte.

“I know from my own experience racing at New Hampshire and Charlotte that Jerry genuinely cared about the amenities and overall environment the fans had in the grandstands and the drivers and teams had in the infield. He was visible, out and about, accessible, and no job was too small. The details mattered. It’s exactly what we need at Eldora.”

“When Tony called and asked if I was interested in becoming the general manager of Eldora, I recognized immediately that this is a great, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Gappens said. “Dirt racing is in my blood and Eldora is the most legendary short-track racing venue in the country. I’m thrilled to join the team

at Eldora and work together to further its already outstanding legacy. I also want to thank Jack Himelick, owner of Gas City I-69 Speedway, for trusting me with the stewardship of his track for the past four years. I’m very proud of all that we accomplished together during that time, and I want to give a special and heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the fans, staff and competitors for their support.”

Photo: Paul Arch

the lighter side of DIRT

DASHBOARD INSIGHTS

Corbin Gurley’s team has one thing that they definitely want their driver to remember – it can get slick out there and you’ve got to use that left foot on those tracks in the Upper Midwest. Meanwhile, Carl Bowser’s goes with a traditional reminder to Never Give Up (and maybe use the brakes occasionally). Finally Rick Sherer has had this beauty in his collection for over 20 years but cannot remember who used this priceless decal from Fremont Speedway.

ASIDE FROM SPONSORSHIPS, racers use their cars to convey everything from politics to jokes and to express their personalities. Here are some of our favorites from the last couple of months.

SPOILER ALERT!

Want a helmet decal?

Send us a self-addressed stamped envelope with a decal request to:

Dirt Empire Magazine

PO Box 919

Brunswick, GA 31521

Photo: Mike Campbell

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Rick Sherer

Photo: Tony Hammett

Photo: Tony Hammett

Photo: Paul Arch

COLE FALLOWAY

TUCKED AWAY in Owensboro, Kentucky, resides one of the brightest up and coming stars in the vast world of modified racing around the United States. While his career is as fresh as the paint on a new chassis, Cole Falloway is a fourth-generation racer that recently broke through with an Illinois Speedweek win at Farmer City Speedway in his debut there. When it came time for a new round of fan submitted questions through #DEAsks, Dirt Empire Magazine tracked down Falloway to ask some of the top fan submitted questions for this month’s issue, covering everything from the ongoing tire shortage, to the rarely discussed but important mental side of competing against the best of the best in dirt track racing.

Dirt Empire: How did securing a win during Illinois Speedweek against tough competition help to boost your confidence early into the season? Cole Falloway: It was really good; we had high hopes going into it to have some really good runs. The week kind of started off tough, we qualified bad all week. At Farmer City, we turned it around winning our heat race and starting up front in the feature. We ended up pulling off the win there. It really helps the confidence for the rest of the season getting the win early against competition like there was.

DE: With rising costs of fuel and supply chain issues with products like Hoosier and other vital pieces of equipment, have you adjusted your strategy for the season? Are you preparing in any way to combat problems that may arise for your team as a result of the supply chain issues?

CF: When it comes to tires, we’ve been trying to take it easy on tires and not go through as many new ones as we have in past years. We’ve been trying to buy ‘em whenever we can get our hands on them,

BY ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN

and put them back to hopefully have enough for the year.

DE: Late model purses continue to increase exponentially and with no trickle-down effect coming to mods. Do you feel any calling to make the transition to late models sooner rather than later?

CF: I think everyone would like to at some point. I don’t feel like the weekly cost is that much different, just the initial cost, but you compete for so much more money.

DE: If there was a rule, stereotype, opinion that you could change in dirt track racing what would it be and why?

CF: I feel like the people that don’t know much about dirt track racing don’t understand how much dirt track racing is a way of life for us until they get around it and see what it’s really like.

DE: While the off season isn’t very long, what would you say you focused on the most?

Photo: Ryan Roberts

CF: During the off season in the modified, we jump in go karts and race them all winter, so we don’t really slow down much. As soon as we slow down racing the modified, we’re racing karts just about every weekend.

DE: What improvements would you like to see the most this season compared to how your season went in 2021?

CF: I would like to be able to go to the bigger shows against the best of the best and be consistent, up around the top five week in and week out. Last year, whenever we went to race with them we still had a lot of ups and downs, and we still do right now. I would just like to get to a point where I can run consistently good with those guys.

DE: Looking back on the last season, what would you say was your biggest lesson and what caused you to learn it?

CF: My biggest lesson last season, I learned a lot of it when we went to the $10,000 to win stuff at Fairbury because I wasn’t all that confident in myself and that’s a big thing. Whenever it comes to racing, you have to show up to the racetrack thinking you’re going to run good, and if you don’t have good selfconfidence, you’re probably not going to run good. Whenever you go run with guys like Nick [Hoffman], Tyler [Nicely], and those guys that are really good in a modified, you have to tell yourself that you’re capable of running with them and sometimes outrunning them, too.

DE: Do you feel as you have advanced to higher levels of racing that your resources to lean on for advice have become more prevalent? Who do you lean on the most?

CF: Since I’ve gotten into the modified, it’s been Tyler [Nicely] more than anyone else. We live in the same town, right next to each other and he’s helped me a lot along the way. It’s really him more than anyone else, I mean, I talk to Nick [Hoffman] but he’s in North Carolina, and I’m in Kentucky, so having Tyler to hang out with, that’s just who ends up helping me the most.

DE: What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment so far in your career?

CF: I’m not sure; I’ve won a couple decent shows. Farmer City was a big one, just getting my first win there, and getting it when I did. We won a couple $3,000 to win races last year, one where we got lucky at Cedar Ridge at Hope for Harley, because Tyler and Will got together and we were just right there at the right time. Also the Renegade race at Shady Hill was a good win, too.

Photo: Ryan Roberts

DE: Is there a race or track that you get excited about every year? What is it about that track or race that keeps you looking forward to it? Is it one that you get to compete at or have only gotten to help or be a fan at?

CF: It’s kind of hard to answer, since I haven’t entered a ton of big races in the modified yet. But, I feel like Fairbury is one of those at the top of my list, just because it’s one that is just cool to win there. They have a lot of high paying races, $10,000s and $5,000s that they give modifieds every year and it would just be really cool to win there. The atmosphere is just totally different there than anywhere else.

DE: Is there anywhere you’ve struggled to find success at that you are working toward having conquered?

CF: The toughest one for me so far is Tri-

City by far. I’ve only been there probably six times and I’ve just struggled there. It’s a hard one to figure out.

DE: When you’ve had bad nights at the track, how do you get over them so that it doesn’t cause you to have more bad nights?

CF: You really just have to forget about it. You have to learn to move on. Like this week, I ran my first night at Spoon River, I struggled, and I ran well there last year at their $11,000 to win, I ran third. But when we went there this week, I struggled all night, I qualified badly, my heat race was bad, and then I ran right around eighth the whole feature. You just have to forget about it the next day, work on yourself, and try to get better for the next night. As soon as you’re good again, you’ll boost your confidence again.

DE: What would be your best advice for grassroots drivers focused on rising to a higher level of racing? Is

there anything you would have done differently when you were in their shoes?

CF: Just stay focused on what you want. If you’re starting out in karts, then you need to go race with the best in karts to eventually be the best in karts. You can start racing around home when you first get into something but at some point you need to travel and compete with the best if you want to one day be the best. It’s not always easy to do but at some point you have to do it.

DE: If you were told today that you could no longer drive a race car, what other positions in motorsports would you like to experience?

CF: I would definitely want to be working on race cars somewhere. I don’t think I could just walk away from racing, I think I would be working somewhere building race cars or with a race team, anything to keep learning.

Photo: Ryan Roberts

Photo: Rich LaBrier

DE: If you had to describe your driving style how would you? Do you think you’re more conservative or aggressive?

CF: I’m definitely not near aggressive enough most of the time. Any time the track is fast or if it’s rough, I struggle, which comes from the karts. I’m a lot more comfortable when it slows down, gets slick, and isn’t rough.

DE: Do you have any racing superstitions? Things that have to

be done a particular way, no certain clothes, don’t eat certain foods?

CF: Everyone always says no green, but I’ve always had green on my stuff for as long as I can remember. The only thing for me is no $50 bills, no $50 bills at the racetrack for me. It’s something that we’ve always done since I started racing go karts. Josh, who helped me in go karts when I first started, he always said no $50 bills, and it’s just kind of stuck forever.

Photo: Ryan Roberts

Photo: Ryan Roberts

A DIAMOND IN THE RED DIRT

BY ASHLEY ALLINSON

ALONG HIGHWAY 18 in the small town of Meeker, Oklahoma lies a racetrack that has started to make waves in the racing world. When given a map of the state, most Oklahomans couldn’t tell you where Meeker is located. However, if you gave the same map to someone who is involved in dirt track racing, they could tell you exactly where that quarter mile track is located. Red Dirt Raceway, appropriately named for its red clay, is owned by the Brewer Family.

Cody has been in the racing world since he was two weeks old, his father Ken Brewer having raced in the mid1970s at the Oklahoma State Fair Speedway as well as other tracks in the Midwest up until 1997. Like most Oklahomans that attended races at the Fairgrounds, the Brewers were greatly affected when the Speedway was torn down in 2010. This led Cody and his wife, Melissa, to purchase Red Dirt Raceway,

formerly known as Brill Motor Speedway, in 2016. They have continued to hold regular Friday night races throughout the years.

Cody is very excited about his 2022 race calendar that saw the USMTS make their first appearance on May 13. After that, “The NOW 600 returns in June for a Sooner Speedweek show plus the OCRS Sprints return at the end of June for the 5th Annual Mike Peters Freedom 40 Classic, which is one of my favorite races of the year and one with a special place in my heart! July 12th will see the USAC National Midget Series return for the fifth year in a row for Tuesday Night Thunder and then the American Racer Modified Series makes their only stop of the year on July 22nd for the 4th Annual Cowboy 100! Overall, it looks to be a good mix for the fans and racers!”

Red Dirt Raceway has some specially themed races throughout the year, such

as Gamblers Night, one of Brewers favorite themes. “Gamblers Night is cool because it allows the scheduled front row starters (based on passing points from the heat) the option to start tail-back and in return they receive double pay for wherever they finish.” The track also opts out of a banquet that most tracks will do and instead they host a bonfire on the last race of the year and according to Cody, “Clean out the concession and feed everyone for free while giving out season awards! It’s fun for us because we can relax a bit and drink a beer with our racers!”

One race in particular stands out at Red Dirt Raceway, which happened in June of 2020 when the All Star Circuit of Champions came through the Midwest and made a stop at the racetrack. “We had just opened back up, that first week of May, after the initial month of covid and the unknowns associated with

Photo by: John Lee

that while many other tracks remained closed for many more weeks or months. The All Stars wanted to get racing again and it seemed that the southern states were re-opening a little quicker so they called in the middle of May and wanted to do a race in June, so I agreed after approximately a two minute phone call to do a show 17 days later! I then called my wife Melissa and said, ‘Hey babe we are doing an All Star show in two weeks and its three times more expensive than any show we have ever done!’”

Red Dirt gained fame from that particular race between Aaron Reutzel, Kyle Larson and Danny Dietrich all battling for the lead, throwing slide job after slide job. The crowd was one of the biggest that the track had ever seen, with standing room only on that night. It just so happened that Red Dirt was the only track running that night, which brought in a huge audience via FloRacing. “Probably the neatest thing about that All Star show was that people drove from all over the country to Meeker, Oklahoma, because they had been locked down and hemmed up for a couple of months and they just wanted to have a bit of normalcy back. We had people from California, Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and everywhere in between at Red Dirt for that show and it was awesome for the track to showcase what we do on a weekly basis for everyone in the world to see.”

This track has a special place in many Oklahomans hearts, calling it ‘Our Track’, which Brewer says, “the races are the excuse to get everyone to the track, but the relationships and camaraderie that are built in the race shops and at the track between everyone involved is the most special thing to us.”

While there are several other tracks that are in the state, this one is definitely a jewel among them, having an owner that has been around racing most of his life as well as USAC’s 2021 Promoter of the Year, he is someone who knows what racing is all about: the fans. If you are ever in Oklahoma and have a chance to sit down at a local track, Red Dirt would love to show you a good time and don’t forget to order a street taco while you’re there.

Photo: Ashley Allinson

Photo: Ashley Allinson

Photo by: Mike Howard

Before ending every driver’s meeting, Brewer leads a group prayer.

Red Dirt features a driver to carry the flag. This is the late Rob Bland carrying the flag last year. (He passed away in November 2021)

The Red Dirt crew poses with Tanner Thorson after his USAC victory in 2021.

a main FEATURE

RACING IS RACING, so when Stewart Friesen switches from a big block modified to a late model to a NASCAR truck, how different could it really be? Mastering the nuances of each category of racing to rise to the top is easier said than done. What Stewart Friesen has been doing over the last few years at each level of racing has been incredible.

In the span of a week, he may run two different NASCAR tracks, multiple dirt tracks, visit the shop in Statesville, North Carolina to snag simulator time for practice or spend time at the shop in Upstate New York preparing for his next dirt track conquest. In the past, he’s even run a dirt track race and a NASCAR race over the course of the same day. It is not the average experience for a toptier dirt track driver.

Stewart Friesen currently drives the number 52 Halmar Racing vehicle in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. But most dirt track fans know him from his exploits in upstate New York in the Super DIRTcar Series and the Bob Hilbert Short Track Super Series, driving the number 44 big block modified.

Friesen has seasoned into a top tier competitor at all levels of racing he participates in. Turning 39 this summer, he was born in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada but calls Sprakers, New York his home these days. It’s located about halfway between Albany and Utica off the New York Thruway. Friesen grew up in racing, his family owning Ransomville Speedway during his youth, just north of Niagara Falls, New York. Like many dirt track racers, he got his start in karting, then progressed to northeast big block modifieds in short order. Over the last decade he has risen to the top in dirt track racing, with multiple track championships to his credit. He seems especially fond of Fonda Speedway, where he captured track championships four years in a row from 2012-2015 and

Photo: John Rothermel

STEWART FRIESEN

BY ADAM CORNELL

MASTER TRANSƒORMER

Photo: Halmar Racing Facebook

continues to win regularly.

In 2016 Friesen got his chance to run in the NASCAR Truck Series for Halmar Racing, notching several starts over the season. In 2017 he committed to running the full NASCAR Truck Series season. He collected his first win in 2019 at the Eldora Dirt Derby, part of the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series.

In 2021 Friesen got his shot at a NASCAR Cup Series race, when NASCAR headed to a dirt covered Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City Dirt Race.

It has been a very busy decade of racing for Friesen.

What is a typical week in the life of Stewart Friesen? Anything but typical.

“Everything is very day to day now,” Friesen said. “Back before NASCAR, I’d say okay, here’s the Super DIRTcar Series, here’s the Short Track Super Series and I could really set a schedule. Here’s what I’m doing for the whole summer. Here’s my schedule. And I could work off it.”

With added responsibilities and commitments, things have changed.

“Now with the NASCAR stuff I’m doing, or the times when I need to be in

Statesville at the shop, as well as all the other stuff, there’s more moving targets to try to hit. We’ll have simulator time or something and we’ll have to get down south for that. It’s not a whole summer schedule now. It’s more like a month in advance. Maybe.

“We also have to plan for failures. We try to stay fluid with everything. Like with rainouts, maybe we get a break and can take a breath, or maybe we’ve been running for two months straight and we just have to skip a couple [dirt track races] to kind of recover a little,” Friesen said. “We just plan what we can and then go from there.”

“I’m fortunate to be in a situation to be able to do that with great teammates,”

A driver has to transform his skill set to master each category of racing. Stewart Friesen has become a master transformer, in that regard.

Photo: Quentin Young

Photo: Paul Arch

Early days running Lernerville in 2006.

Photo: Leif Tillotson

Way back when... Friesen has been in racing for most of his life.

Friesen continued. “All the guys on the 44 team are awesome. That’s up here next to my father-in-law’s shop in New York. Then the truck stuff is down south and managed by Tripp Bruce. He’s done a great job building the team up. It’s all supported by Halmar International and Chris Larson and a ton of sponsors who all make it happen. It’s fun and it’s challenging, and I’m the one that gets to drive. The highs are high and the lows are low, but it’s always rewarding.”

Sometimes those lows include frustrated travel plans. A recent escapade drew attention when Friesen missed NASCAR qualifying at Kansas Motor Speedway because of delayed and then cancelled flights. After racing in upstate New York in a few dirt track competitions, Friesen was scheduled to fly from New York to Kansas and take part in the Camping World NASCAR Truck Series race at Kansas Motor Speedway. He chronicled his travel tribulations on Twitter, enduring six flight delays which eventually culminated in the flight getting cancelled outright. He had purchased tickets on two different airlines to try to make it happen, to no avail. He had to sleep on the floor of La Guardia airport

overnight to catch the early morning flight to Chicago and try to catch the connection to Kansas City. Alas, that early morning flight was also delayed because of a maintenance problem, resulting in the missed connection to Kansas. Fortunately, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace was able to take the number 52 truck out for qualifying so as to stay in competition. Friesen was forced to start at the rear of the field when he finally arrived for the race, due to the driver change. It’s not all fun and games on the road.

Because it’s a business, keeping the car in one piece and not attempting a risky maneuver for a win might seem like the practical play.

“It’s really a simple thing, if you keep the car together and don’t wreck it, you can tweak it and make it faster the next week, right? But I am out there trying to win every race I’m in,” Friesen said.

Each and every race, it appears that Friesen is racing his wheels off on the track. Sometimes literally. In November of 2021 at The Rev in Monroe, Louisiana, while taking part in the Bob Hilbert

Photo: Paul Arch

The Friesens (Stewart and Jessica) celebrate a Bristol victory while son Parker gets into a wing dance on the roof.

It ain’t all glory making your living racing fast cars.

Photo: Halmar Racing Facebook

Short Track Super Series as it made its annual Cajun Swing, he had a violent wreck that decimated the primary car. He was leading the race coming into turn one and as he took the turn, the right rear wheel hub broke. The wheel ripped off the car, sending the whole vehicle flipping up into the air for two and a half mid-air roll-overs, eventually slamming down onto the track surface upside down. It was a scary looking wreck, but Friesen walked away and then showed why some have taken to calling him Mr. Freeze – the cold-as-ice blood flowing through his veins keeping him cool under pressure. He posted to Facebook shortly after the wreck: “Thanks to everyone who reached out. We hit a rut and broke the right rear hub off, and that was all she wrote. We’ll see everyone tomorrow at Super Bee.”

Down to his backup car and having just taken a good rattling, he might have been prone to take it a little easier the following night. Fear and caution took a back seat, however, as Friesen ran the race with the hammer down the next night at Super Bee Speedway in Chatham, Louisiana. He found himself in victory lane at the Super Bee, trophy and giant novelty check in hand.

There are times when Friesen has to make the hard choice of foregoing key dirt track races to fulfill his duties to the NASCAR team.

“Unfortunately, that’s a reality I have to deal with,” Friesen said. “With the NASCAR truck series, I can’t worry about

the points on dirt. The last couple of years we could have probably had a shot at the Super DIRTcar championship if it wasn’t for scheduling conflicts. In the last couple of years there have been some big money events in the dirt world, so we really try to make sure we’re fresh for

those.”

In 2020 Friesen skipped a NASCAR truck race at Kansas Motor Speedway to compete at Port Royal Speedway for a $53,000-to-win Short Track Super Series race. He came up just short of victory, finishing second to Mat Williamson. It

Photo: Matt Butcosk

Friesen rode out a rough one at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park to kick off his 2021 campaign.

was a tough call that didn’t pan out the way he wanted in the end.

With NASCAR trying to capitalize on the increased attention to dirt track racing over the last few years, sanctioning several races on the dirt surface, most notably at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, the chances for Friesen to shine on a racing surface where he has proven himself time and again have multiplied.

To the untrained, it would seem that a driver like Stewart Friesen would have an unfair advantage in entering the NASCAR competitions on dirt, with his extensive and ever-growing experience in that category of racing. Is there an advantage in having dirt track experience when trying to make the cross-over to NASCAR on dirt?

“Not. At. All,” Friesen said with a laugh, and then a sigh of exasperation. “I think

it’s almost a disadvantage. We’ve had some swings and misses with setups over the last couple of years. We won that last race at Eldora in 2019, went to Bristol last year and struggled, went to Knoxville and threw the kitchen sink at it then went back to Bristol this year and still kind of missed with some front-end stuff. With Knoxville coming up in a couple weeks [June 18] hopefully we’ve got it all dialed in and can show a bit better.”

When it comes to the comparison of driving a modified or late model on dirt versus a NASCAR truck, Friesen is pretty clear about the distinctions.

“You can’t take something and make it what it’s not, right?” He said. “You can’t take a truck and make it a modified. It’s just not the same thing. Nothing handles the same. So, you have to get in that mindset and run what’s under you.”

NASCAR vehicles are heavier and run narrower tires and don’t sport some of the rear axle offsets seen in many classes of dirt track racing. It’s a different beast, all together.

A driver has to transform his skill set to master each category of racing. Stewart Friesen has become a master transformer, in that regard.

Beyond the racing schedule, Friesen juggles his responsibilities of family life with wife, Jessica, and their son, Parker, additional work duties as well as a commitment to autism awareness charity work. It’s a pretty full plate.

Jessica herself is a dirt car driver, following in the footsteps of her father, Ray Zemken. Her career includes racing in sprint cars, modifieds and NASCAR. Jessica and Stewart also own apparel company One Zee Tee’s near their home in Sprakers, New York.

Photo: John Rothermel

It’s family time at Port Royal Speedway for the Friesens. Stewart runs the 44 while his wife Jessica (nae Zemken) runs the 1 during the 2021 season.

Photo: Quentin Young

While currently focusing on the mod and the NASCAR truck, Friesen has also found a lot of success in late models and winged sprint cars over the years.

“To be able to race on the same team [with Jessica] is very special, and it’s something we really enjoy,” Friesen said. “She’s a great teammate. She’s very analytical. There are some things that she’s led us into with setups on modifieds that I probably wouldn’t have tried or stumbled upon if it wasn’t for her picking things apart. She works really hard with One Zee Tee’s and is a great racer. She got us a couple of wins last year and already a couple of top fives this year.”

“Racing is something we both grew up doing,” Friesen continued. “Now our son, who’s the focus of our lives enjoys going to the races too. So, it’s pretty cool.”

As far as future aspirations in the dirt scene, Friesen doesn’t really have a welldefined to-do list.

“I haven’t won the Fulton 200 yet,” Friesen said. “I’d like to get that one. But it seems like every year there’s a conflict with that race and a NASCAR race. The last couple of years I’ve been able to check off a few things. I was happy to win Port Royal last year. I don’t know. I guess I’ll just take it as it comes and not try to stress out about any one race in particular. I’ll have fun and just keep doing what we’re doing, trying to win races.”

As mentioned previously, Stewart Friesen has the moniker “Mr. Freeze.” It’s the low hanging fruit of a nickname with his last name and the cool-underpressure demeanor. That and “Mr. Warmth and Friendliness” doesn’t work as well on a t-shirt.

At Can-Am Speedway in mid-May, Friesen was in the pits, preparing for the Thunder in the Thousand Islands, the race that was scheduled to kick off the Super DIRTcar Series before it was postponed from its original date in April.

As I talked with his Director of Communications, Chad Ofiara, I observed Friesen engaging with a race fan and his young son. I watched as Friesen invited the youngster to check out the hauler and the number 44 modified car, which was sitting out waiting to fire up. From the smile on the young man’s face it was clear he was a fan for life. Two older race fans waited until he was done and then chatted him up for a bit. Friesen was friendly and engaging, and again, sent the fans away with beaming smiles.

2022 has been a successful campaign so far for Friesen. In the Super DIRTcar Series, Friesen took home a victory

at the DIRTcar Nationals in Volusia, Florida in February as well as the Heroes Remembered 100 in Weedsport, New York over Memorial Day Weekend. As of the writing of this article, Friesen sat atop the points standings, battling closely with driver Mat Williamson.

Shortly after his interview with Dirt Empire Magazine at Can-Am Speedway in La Fargeville, New York, Friesen took the victory at Weedsport and then went on to score his first victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 54 races

when he rolled into victory lane in the SpeedyCash.com 220 at Texas Motor Speedway.

It’s no wonder he has become a fanfavorite. From his exploits on the track (whether they be dirt or asphalt) to his relaxed demeanor and friendliness to those fans he interacts with, Stewart Friesen continues to prove he can transform himself into whatever kind of driver he needs to be to win. Friesen should be a star on the dirt track and in NASCAR for years to come.

Parker and Stewart celebrate his huge victory at Volusia Speedway Park last February.

Photo: Josh James

the beauty of DIRT

Photo: Heath Lawson

Jonathan Davenport leads the field around turn four at West Virginia Motor Speedway. Davenport led laps 9-23 but got tangled in lapped traffic late, allowing Devin Moran to take the win and the $50,000 payout. But along the way, what a view!

review in PICTURES SHOW ME100

Photo Mike Musslin

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Photo by: Mike Musslin

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Of this trio of Scott Bloomquist (0), Payton Looney (15) and Jason Papich (91P), Looney got to the checkereds first in 8th.

review in PICTURES

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Bobby Pierce (32) and Chase Junghans (18J) lead the field into the turn.

Ricky Thornton Jr. (20RT) works the inside of Ashton Winger (89) and Hudson O’Neal (71) en route to a runner up finish.

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Photo by: Heath Lawson

Chris Ferguson, above celebrating and below passing Jonathon Davenport (49), grabbed $50,000 for his Crown Jewel score.

CLASS OF 2022

Dirt Empire Magazine is pleased to present our inaugural National Sprint Car Hall of Fame issue and are honored to have partnered with the NSCHoF to prepare and publish the official Hall of Fame biographies for all 12 of the 2022

inductees into the class of 2022. Every year, the Hall of Fame inducts a select group of drivers, owners, wrenches, innovators, media members and officials into an elite club housed off the second turn at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville,

Iowa. Thanks to Bill Wright and Bob Baker with the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and everyone who contributed to this special section.

Photo: Paul Arch

Tony Stewart running Eldora Speedwaya track he now literally owns - in 2010.

TONY STEWART - DRIVER

By Doug Kennedy

IT COULD BE ARGUED that no individual has made a greater impact on the sport of sprint car racing, on and off the track, in the last quarter century than Tony Stewart. He was one of the all-time greatest on the track in any form of short track open wheel car and once he went to the next level of Indy Car and NASCAR, he used his celebrity and wealth to further bring short track racing into the consciousness of big-time racing through his participation and car ownership more than any racer before him. In addition to this, he purchased Eldora Speedway to build on to the Baltes’ legacy and rescued the All Star Circuit of Champions with his ownership.

As a driver, Tony Stewart was the first to win the USAC Triple Crown in one season (1995) and was also the 1997 IndyCar champion. He has wins with the World of Outlaws and the All-Stars as well as numerous other series. As an owner, entering 2022, he has better than 300 wins with the World of Outlaws, nine WoO titles with Donny Schatz and Danny Lasoski, 11 Knoxville Nationals wins with Schatz and Lasoski and five King’s Royal wins as an owner. He also has 37 wins as an owner with the All-Stars and 71 more with the USAC National Sprint Car Series. He won Silver Crown titles in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2011. He has seven championships in USAC’s National Sprint Car Series (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, and

2011 with drivers J.J. Yeley, Jay Drake, Josh Wise, and Levi Jones).

Throughout his USAC driving career, he has won titles in IndyCar, Midgets, Sprints, and USAC Silver Crown cars. Overall, he has 27 USAC National Midget wins, 10 USAC Sprint car wins, and three Silver Crown Series wins.

In 2001, he was elected to the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame. Stewart is one of the most versatile drivers ever. “I’m proud of that, it’s something in my career that I never set out to be, but I’m very proud that I was able to make myself known for that trait,” said Stewart. “Every opportunity I got to drive, I didn’t care what it was, I just took it and tried to be good at it. Getting into different types of cars and going fast-that’s something I’m very, very proud of.”

As for his favorite type of race car that he drives, Stewart said, “Winged sprint cars are my favorite type of racecar to drive. It’s because of how challenging they are to drive. To be really, really good in a winged sprint car is a talent. You can count on two hands the guys that are head and shoulders above the rest of the world. Sprint car racing has always been the one thing that I’ve always thought was the holy grail.”

Stewart currently owns the famed Eldora Speedway and is credited with saving the All-Star Circuit of Champions in 2015 when he merged the Renegade

Sprint Series with the All-Star circuit. He is also the co-owner of Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky and the co-owner of Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois along with Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace and Bob Sargent.

Since 2008, he has been the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing of NASCAR fame and 14 of his career 48 wins have come with Stewart-Haas. Stewart won the NASCAR Cup Series title three times (2002, 2005, and 2011). As an owner he won in 2011 as his own driver and in 2014 with Kevin Harvick as his driver. Known forever as “Smoke,” Tony Stewart is the not only driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR but one of the finest to ever wheel a sprint car.

Since 2021, he and former crew chief, Ray Evernham have partnered up with the Superstar Racing Experience.

And now Tony Stewart enters yet another hall of fame, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. “There’s probably a lot of people that are going to be upset in Charlotte and Daytona Beach, but of all the Hall of Fames I’ve been inducted into this is the one that I’ve probably wanted to be inducted into the most, just because of my passion for Sprint Car racing and dirt car racing,” said Stewart. “Being inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame means the world to me.”

Photos: Paul Arch

BOB FREY was born in Elyria, Ohio, to parents Rudy and Joyce Frey on October 25, 1950. Frey developed an interest in auto racing because his father took him to races at Lorain County Speedway in South Amherst, Ohio, as a youngster.

Frey began his racing career at the same speedway at age 20 in 1970, certainly late by today’s standards. However, at the time, 21 was the legal age and his father and mother had to sign to let him race.

The first few months of his career saw Frey competing in the ‘Rat Racers’ novice stock car class. Frey’s father realized his son wasn’t doing anything but picking up bad habits running these entry level cars. He helped Frey with half of the money to purchase another car if he would consider his offer.

The two purchased a sprint car with a carbureted gasoline engine and Frey started running on dirt at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio. A short time later, they purchased Steve Lehnert’s roadster and competed regularly at Sandusky and Lorain County Speedway’s each weekend.

By late 1972, he was showing flashes of brilliance. He finished second to Armond Holley at Lorain County and ran second to Butch Wilkerson during an ASA show at Anderson in August with the newly purchased roadster.

These performances caught the attention of Ohio car owner Ernie Ensign, who had just purchased a brand-new Paul Leffler built car and was looking for a driver for the 1973 season. The new team was fast right out of the box. Frey won his first career sprint car feature victory on April 29 during an ASA show at West Chester, Ohio. Frey finished ninth in his initial Little 500 start and captured another ASA victory and a handful of wins in northern Ohio to close the year out.

After a victory at Miami-Hollywood Speedway during Florida Speedweeks, and the Florida Winter championship, it appeared 1974 would be his breakout

BOB FREY - DRIVER

season. He captured the pole for the Little 500 with new one and four lap track records. Unfortunately, Frey flipped the Ensign car at Sandusky and broke his arm in the process the next day. Frey was replaced by Larry Dickson for the race two weeks later. Dickson won the Little 500 as Frey’s replacement, from the pole, in a race Frey believes should have been his victory, as he laid in a hospital bed.

Frey returned to victory lane later in the season with back-to-back ASA victories at IRP and Anderson. Frey and Ensign mutually parted ways due to personal reasons after the 1974 season.

From 1975-1979, Frey competed exclusively with USAC chasing the USAC National Sprint Car Series championship driving for several car owners during this time. Frey also competed for car owner Urbie Durnwald at Sandusky and Lorain County Speedway when time allowed.

In 1980, Frey returned to the Little 500 for the first time in seven years and found victory lane driving Urbie Durnwald’s Ford powered sprint car. The Little 500 win landed him a CART / INDYCAR Series start at Michigan in September and led to two other starts and two unsuccessful attempts to make the Indianapolis 500 starting field through 1982.

During that 1980 season, Frey teamed with car owner Glen Niebel for some of the better paying pavement sprint car events throughout the country. The team captured the 1980 Snowball 100 at Winchester Speedway in early November

By David Sink

to close the season out on a high note.

Over the next 13 racing seasons, Frey and Niebel were nearly unbeatable. The duo won every major pavement sprint car race the sport had to offer. USAC removed pavement from the USAC National Sprint Car Series schedule after the 1981 season and the team was left with just a handful of unsanctioned high paying sprint car events to compete inmost notably the Copper World Classic and Little 500.

Between 1981-1987 the team captured the Copper World Classic four times. In addition, they won the Little 500 four times and had two second place finishes in the race between 19851990.

Most of their success together started in 1985 when Niebel debuted a Chevrolet V-6 engine in competition. Driving for Niebel, Frey was victorious in USAC Sprint Car, USAC Silver Crown, and ICAR events.

Frey retired from racing after the 1993 season, which was his 24th, at the age of 42 to focus on business. He had just become a licensed mortician and owned two mortuaries in Wickenburg, Arizona. He sold his business in 2005 and retired. He currently resides in Wickenburg, Arizona.

Since his retirement from auto racing, he has been inducted into the Little 500 Hall of Fame, Sandusky Speedway Hall of Fame, the Lorain County Speedway Hall of Fame and, now, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

Photo Courtesy of David Sink

ERIC GORDON was born to parents

Fay and Betty Gordon on November 17, 1967, in Beech Grove, Indiana. He began his sprint car driving career in 1985 at the age of 16 at a winged show at Chillicothe, Ohio. He chose to pursue winged 410 dirt sprint cars due to the availability of events in Central Indiana. At the time, non-wing sprint car racing in the area was limited to very few tracks and events. He sat out the 1986 season and it wouldn’t be until 1987 that he would return to the track.

By 1988, Gordon was showing promise and running up front regularly. He scored his first career sprint car feature victory that same season at Liberty, Indiana. USAC Sprint Car events that were being televised live on ESPN caught his attention and he contemplated running the USAC National Sprint Car Series schedule the following season.

He had previously made his first USAC National Sprint Car Series start on August 29, 1987, at a winged event at Paragon Speedway. He made his second USAC start at another winged event at the same track on September 10, 1988, where he scored a top ten finish in only his second USAC National Sprint Car Series start.

His rookie season with the USAC National Sprint Car Series was successful by all accounts. He finished second in the final standings and claimed Rookie of the Year honors. In addition, he picked up his first series win at Toledo, Ohio, on September 10, 1989.

He was second in the series standings the next two seasons as well. Despite being the bridesmaid between 1989-

ERIC GORDON - DRIVER

1991, Gordon found victory lane on six occasions.

In 1990, he made his USAC Silver Crown debut. Gordon finished second in the series standings and claim Rookie of the Year honors. He captured his first series victory on September 8 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin, as a series rookie.

Between 1991 and 1994, Gordon placed within the top ten in USAC Silver Crown Series points three times.

Prior to the 2006 racing season, USAC management decided to scrap the existing USAC Silver Crown car in favor of a new design that was created to race on larger sized tracks in hopes of becoming a feeder system for NASCAR or the IndyCar Series. The Premier Racing Association emerged using the existing USAC Silver Crown Series pavement cars.

Gordon won the inaugural PRA event at Illiana Speedway in Schererville, Indiana on June 13, 2006, driving for car owner Larry Contos. Gordon also won the 2007 series championship during the final year of the series.

Despite his success on pavement, it wouldn’t be until 1992 that he decided to compete in the Little 500. “Back then if you were running USAC, you went and ran the ‘Night Before the 500’ midgets,” Gordon once explained. “In 1991, there were like 100 cars, and I drove my ass off and got eighth in the feature and only made $200. I told myself, I think I’m gonna do something different.”

Gordon’s 1992 Little 500 debut went unnoticed. Driving a Bob Parker owned Beast chassis, with a V-6 engine, and Glen Niebel turning the wrenches,

By David Sink

Gordon was involved in an early race accident. On lap 47, he got pinched into the wall while attempting to lap a roadster on the outside exciting turn four. While watching the rest of the race from the infield, Niebel leaned over and asked Gordon if he had learned anything. Indeed, he had. He quickly learned the virtue of patience and being cautious while lapping slower cars early in the race.

Gordon returned the following year in his own car. Using lessons he had learned the year before, Gordon led a total of 215 laps and captured the first of his nine total Little 500 victories. He racked them up in 1993, 1998, 20012005, 2007 and again in 2010.

The Indiana native is the most accomplished driver in Little 500 history. He owns nearly every record associated with the race. He has collected nine wins, 16 top-five finishes, and 29 starts at the time of his induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. He also is the only driver in Little 500 history to have completed over 10,000 total laps in the race.

Other notable accomplishments in Gordon’s career include victories in the 1991 Tony Hulman Classic and 2000 Joe James / Pat O’Connor Memorial as well as one career USAC Silver Crown victory and 12 USAC National Sprint Car Series victories. He also was victorious in an American Winged Outlaw Sprints 360-winged asphalt win at New Senoia, Georgia, on November 13, 1993.

Gordon was inducted into the Little 500 Hall of Fame in 2008.

Photos: Paul Arch

TERRY GRAY was born in Memphis on August 8, 1958, to open wheel racer Elmer Gray and wife, Shirley, who already had two daughters, Amy and Cathy, who would later marry racers, Sammy Swindell and Joe Gillentine.

Gray says he grew up in a perfect family and can’t remember having any interests outside of racing. From a young age, he was committed to a life of chasing racing up and down the highways. Now, after many years involved in the racing vocation, he becomes the eighth Dixie Ditch Driver (West Memphis’ Riverside Intl. Speedway competitor) to be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. He joins Bobby Davis Jr., Greg Hodnett, Hooker Hood, Rickey Hood, Jeff Swindell, Sammy Swindell, and Bobby Ward as well as car owner, M.A. Brown and chassis manufacturer, Jack Elam from the Mid-South.

As a youngster, Terry accompanied his dad to races all across the Mid-South, learning the trade that would propel him to a Hall of Fame career. Sometimes they would race five times a week and Terry had to persevere until he turned 16 in 1974 in order to run his first race at West Memphis.

It wasn’t long before Gray moved up from behind the wheel of a B-car into a sprinter and in 1980 he captured the World of Outlaws main at Riverside driving the Fed Ex car which had formerly been

TERRY GRAY - DRIVER

brother-in-law Sammy Swindell’s ride.

The 1981 season saw Terry move from behind the wheel into the crew chief position of the Nance 1N, which Sammy drove to the World of Outlaws title. At 22 years of age, Terry became the youngest chief mechanic to win the championship. He turned 23 late in the season. The following year, he split his time between wrenching and driving and between ’83 and ’87, Gray ran the full World of Outlaws tour.

In the early 1990s, Gray was largely devoted to running with the NCRA and won the title three times. Numbers are a big deal in Terry Gray’s career and he followed up these championships with four ASCS titles. Coupled with being the USCS champion a total of 13 times, his total of national titles comes to the astounding number of 20 - a personal goal he had set for himself. In addition to his titles, Gray also claimed the inaugural USCS race at Talladega Short Track 25 years ago.

It is interesting to note that Gray has claimed 94 wins coming into the 2022 season with USCS, 25 of which were pavement races. He feels his pavement prowess was passed down by his dad who was especially good on the pavement at Lakeland Speedway near Memphis. As an example of how good the Bartlett pilot is on paved tracks, one must only look at the 2017 King of the Wing event at Montgomery Motor

By Tony Martin

Speedway. After arriving from a dirt race too late to qualify, Terry had to start on the tail. Against a field of some of the nation’s top 410 pavement machines, he was able to garner a 5th place finish in his 360 dirt car.

One of his biggest stand-alone wins came in 1994 when he won the prestigious Short Track Nationals at Little Rock, Arkansas. This is just one of 108 tracks where Gray has claimed at least one feature victory.

A dark year for Terry occurred in 2002 when he lost his number one fan to a tragic auto accident. Ginger, his wife of 18 years, fell victim to a highway mishap leaving Terry to raise their daughter, Stevie.

Recent years have seen Terry Gray Racing competing in duplicate with Morgan Turpen In the seat of the second of the two #10s. Terry was called to help the talented young lady’s career and rather than working the bugs out of her car, a second machine was added to the stable. The results speak for themselves as Terry and Morgan routinely finish next to each other and Turpen was the USCS champ in ’15 and ’16. “I’m most proud when I see Morgan winning,” said Gray.

After all these years, Gray continues to be competitive and narrowly lost out on a 14th USCS title in 2021. Strangely, the guy who beat him out is set to welcome Gray into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame – 2015 inductee Danny Smith.

Photos: Paul Arch

TIM GREEN, a native of Sacramento, California, was born into a racing environment in the late 1950s. He spent part of his youth at Roseville and West Capital Speedways following his dad’s supermodified team. His father, Leroy Green, ran flathead supermodified hardtops from 1960 through 1964.

In 1965, Leroy traded in his supermodified for karts so his sons Tim and Mike could go racing. Starting at the age of eight, Green spent the next ten years in the karting world. By the time he was done, he had won countless races and two National Championships.

Tim moved up to the high-powered supermodifieds in 1976, racing at West Capital Speedway in Sacramento. Tim had a successful year, winning his first main event in the very tough and competitive series and was the unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year honors.

Tim spent three years racing supermodifieds, at which point he hooked up with mechanic Kenny Woodruff. Woodruff introduced Tim to sprint car owner Bob Trostle and they convinced Tim to move back to Iowa to better his career.

And that he did. After winning ten races early in 1979, mostly at Knoxville Raceway, Green and the Jensen Construction Sprint Car team headed out on the World of Outlaws circuit.

TIM GREEN - DRIVER

Although he ran only a partial season, Tim won one of the big three races on the circuit at that time - the Western World Championships in Phoenix Arizona. Tim capped off the brief season with the Outlaws, winning Rookie of the Year honors. This was also the year that Tim married Marci Sills, thus becoming fellow competitor and fellow Hall of Famer Jimmy Sills’ brother-in-law.

In 1981, Green started driving full-time for Bob Trostle. That proved to be a very potent and successful team as they won the 1981 and 1982 Knoxville Raceway track championships. In the few years Tim was based out of Iowa, he won 55 main events, five of those on the WoO circuit.

In 1982, Green journeyed down to New Zealand and Australia where he won 11 out of 17 main events. He also played the role of the villain, following in the footsteps of American legends Marshall Sargent and Gary Patterson.

Green and his wife Marci returned to California in 1983, where he hooked up with the Lovell Brothers and the Coors light Sprint Car. The team raced together for two years, winning many main events, with the biggest being the 1983 Dirt Cup in Skagit, Washington.

Tim’s next big break came when he started driving for Virgil & Annie Owen and the All Weld Sprint Car team mid-way through 1986. Tim won the first time out and nine times by years end.

Tim started 1987 out on a roll, winning two out of three Golden State Challenge races. Then, he decided to try his hand at pavement supermodified racing at Madera Speedway. This proved to be a life-changing event. Tim’s car slammed into the concrete wall at a high rate of

By Dennis Mattish

speed and caught fire. The flaming car then slid to a halt with an unconscious Green behind the wheel. His life was saved thanks to the heroic efforts of Wally Pankratz and Billy Vukovich III, who pulled him from the flaming car. Tim suffered third degree burns over twenty percent of his body and spent the next seven-months in the hospital undergoing skin grafts and surgeries. Too this day, Tim still suffers the effects from this crash.

The entire next year was spent getting back into shape and preparing for 1989 when the All Weld team tackled the WoO tour. The year proved to be productive with Tim finishing in fourth place and ended his WoO career with nine wins.

Tim returned to California in 1990, where he raced until 1996. That was the year he and car owners Virgil and Annie Owen decided to retire from racing. During that period of time, Tim won two Northern Auto Racing Club championships, a Golden State Challenge title and two more Dirt Cups.

During his career, Tim drove for nearly 25 car owners and amassed over 200 feature race wins in America and abroad.

Thirty years after his father bought him a go-cart, Tim did the same for his son, Nick. They went karting in 1996 and a few years later graduated to Sprint Cars where they competed until 2014. Nick had success winning main events on the pavement CASA/USAC Sprint Car circuit.

Tim Green has also been inducted into the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame (1997), West Capital Speedway Hall of Fame (2009) and Motor Sports Press Association Hall of Fame (2010) as well as the Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame.

Photos: Paul Arch

JACK KROMER - PHOTOGRAPHER

THE 2022 CLASS of the Sprint Car Hall of Fame is comprised of individuals who have become households names on the track, in the pits or behind a microphone. For Jack Kromer, that impact was made with his face pressed against a camera. A five-decade career with sufficient accolades and publishments worthy of the Hall of Fame. His life’s work is a story filled with chances, triumphs, and adversity. It’s a story worth telling, but one that almost never happened.

Jack Kromer grew up in a household with a father who loved capturing the everyday moments of life, family snapshots that have turned into precious family heirlooms. One day in 1968, Jack’s father received a free Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic camera. His dad took one photo of Jack to test the camera out and handed it off. “Here you go. Go take some pictures,” he said to Jack. Jack spent the day capturing his first photos and sent them off to Kodak. But only one came back. The photo his father took of him. Dejected and defeated, Jack was turned off from photography. But he never gave up and tried again a year later at school. This time the photos turned out and in 1970 his motorsports photography career was born. Jack took that camera to Nazareth Speedway. Far from a credentialed shooter, Jack captured his first photos from the grandstands as a fan. He continued attending races as a fan for the next four years on a regular basis at Nazareth, all while upgrading his equipment to include a 35mm camera and an interchangeable

telephoto lens. Looking to take the next step, Jack resorted to a little youthful deviousness in 1974 at Nazareth Speedway.

Noticing people sneaking down into the infield through a hole in the pit fence, Jack recognized this was his chance to get to the infield for better photos. He waited until the heat race was over before sneaking down with others. “I wasn’t a rule-breaker kind of guy. I took a chance going in there and didn’t know if I would get in trouble. But the lure of being able to shoot the races from the infield that day sure was strong and I went for it.” Jack snapped a few photos and did his best to blend in. But he got in the way of another photographer and track officials asked him to leave.

Dejected once more, Kromer got his first big break just moments later. Photographer, Bob Perran witnessed Kromer’s interaction with track officials and proposed a solution. “I guess he felt bad for me. He said, ‘Hey kid, if you really want to do this racing photography stuff, maybe I could ask Lenny Sammons (Area Auto Racing News) about getting you press credentials.” Perran explained it was too late in the year to do anything, but maybe next year. Much to his surprise that next spring, he received an Area Auto Racing News press card in the mail. His last name was spelled incorrectly with an A instead of an O. But some personal penmanship fixed that, and his credentialed career begun.

Jack’s first photos were published that spring in Area Auto Racing News and he

By Jacy Norgaard

spent his time at Nazareth Speedway as well as other local tracks such as Middletown and Flemington. He mostly captured photos of the modified class and Sprint Cars on occasion when they were on the card. He shot a few standalone sprint car events at Volusia County Speedway during the 1978 Speed Weeks and looked to add more to his resume in ’78. But that plan changed on April 22, 1978 when his photographer career and his life came dangerously close to ending at Flemington. An out-of-control race car smashed through the inside wooden retaining wall. Kromer ran to avoid being hit but was pummeled by all but one board, causing him to catch air and land on the dirt infield access road. He was given a 50% chance of living and visited two hospitals that night. The worst day of his life was a direct result of his desire to photograph race cars. Hardly a bone in Kromer’s body wasn’t broken including his neck, shoulder blade, and ribs. He underwent two chest operations that night and spent 26 days in the hospital.

Kromer rebounded from his neardeath encounter and photographed his first Central Pennsylvania race in March 1979 at Williams Grove Speedway. He was instantly hooked. He never took to focusing on sprint cars until the 1980s when Open Wheel Magazine debuted. The national exposure and payment for his images motivated him to focus his efforts on sprint cars. The cost of processing film meant that Kromer had to be perfect with his technique as he only had a limited number of shots

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Jack Kromer

each night. This mastery of his craft landed him over 30 first place awards from the Eastern Motorsports Press Association (EMPA) and American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWB), including the Ace Lane Memorial Award, EMPA’s highest honor. Jack’s work with Open Wheel Magazine over the years has resulted in the most cover shots by any photographer in their history. And now his career has come full circle with an induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. “It’s such a huge honor and a very humbling experience and one that I could never imagine happening in my lifetime,” Kromer said.

It is 52 years later, and Jack Kromer can still be found with a camera in his hands at a racetrack. He still has that first camera and that doctored press pass, reminders of a career filled with triumphs and tribulations and one that almost never happened.

Photos: Jack Kromer

The photos of Anthony Macri (previous page), Gary Gollub’s fire (above) and Steve Kinser’s desire (right) are all a testiment to Kromer’s artistic skill at its finest.

DENNIS ROTH - OWNER

ONE OF THE MOST successful and most legendary winged sprint car owners on the World of Outlaws tour and in his home state of California, Dennis Roth has earned his spot among the elite car owners in the history of the sport.

Things began in 1983 for Roth, of Fresno, California, when he acquired a meat processing plant called “Beef Packers.” The company has evolved from Beef Packers to Southwest Hide to Ore-Cal Trucking to HR Livestock to its current Roth Enterprises. Nine years later, he and his wife, Teresa, became sprint car owners. The following year, he was the owner champion of the Rebel 360 Series.

By 1995, he was part of the World of Outlaws tour and three years later, with Danny Lasoski behind the wheel, he won the Knoxville Nationals. Randy Hannagan, Kasey Kahne and Brandon Wimmer were winners in the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit. Roth has also won multiple King of the West championships and the Williams Grove National Open in 2014 with David Gravel piloting. He has numerous wins with WoO, the All-Stars, and assorted other series.

The list of drivers who have been behind the wheel of the famed #83 is staggering and a top notch list in sprint car racing including Danny

Lasoski, Daryn Pittman, David Gravel, Jac Haudenschild, Joey Saldana, Kasey Kahne, Mark Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Shane Stewart, Tim Kaeding, and Tim Shaffer. Maybe the most impressive list, ever! Only five others have more owner wins than Dennis Roth.

“I have many favorite drivers,” said the 75-year-old Roth. “It would take an hour for me to give you who they are, but the one that was the most challenging and the one who ended up winning a lot of races for me was Danny Lasoski. They (all drivers) get into their fifties and they want to keep racing but suddenly you realize that you’re not as good as you used to be.

“As for the drivers, when somebody leaves a team then there is somebody else who becomes available. I’ve had many drivers who have come back to me looking for a ride. If I had one available, then I would give it to them. I would take the best available at the time. It’s a short-lived career for a race car driver; you’re on top today and tomorrow you’re not. I was very lucky to never have any negatives come from my drivers. I was very fortunate as an owner that none of my drivers ever got hurt badly. I had one driver who broke a finger but that was about it. There was nothing that kept them out of the race car for more than a week.”

Roth took a respite from racing in

By Doug Kennedy

2017 due to heart surgery but he was back on the national scene once again in 2018.

Being inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is something that is very special for Dennis Roth. “It’s quite an honor, especially for me being a local boy from California. Sprint Car racing is not as big in California as it is in other parts of the country. I think I established a pretty good name and reputation with the drivers.”

Dennis and Teresa are now entering their 28th year of being the proud owners of their race team. “She (Teresa) keeps me going,” said Dennis. “I just go along with the program,” said Teresa. “I go to support whomever is racing at the time, more of being a moral support. I don’t go to the pits or do any work on the car.”

“It’s gone by fast, but it’s been a great career,” said Roth. “I want to thank my drivers and the fans. We have met a lot of very nice people along the way.”

Perhaps it is best said at the end of the Roth Motorsports webpage. “Roth Motorsports represents a superior race team with professionalism and pride. Our teams consist of first- class equipment and personnel that have a positive, winning attitude.” Certainly, it’s a Hall of Fame organization through and through.

Photo: Mike Campbell

Photo: Paul Arch

WALTER T. ROSS was born in Northern Ireland on December 16, 1934. When Walt was 14, his family pulled up their roots and moved to New Jersey. It wasn’t long before Walt witnessed his first races at nearby tracks in Newark (Rupert Stadium) and Pennsylvania. That was when his lifelong love affair with the sport of auto racing began.

After graduating from high school in 1954, Walt enlisted in the Army and served two years in Okinawa, Japan. While stationed there in 1955, he became a naturalized American citizen. Following his tour of duty, he moved to Citrus Heights, California.

Walt began his racing career in 1957 after purchasing a 1941 Ford jalopy for $200. The following year, Walt had a night to remember when he set fast time and won his heat and the main event against a strong field of jalopies at Roseville, California, Speedway.

In 1959, Walt found success in the business community when he opened his Carmichael automotive towing and repair shop, which was also the perfect place to house his race cars.

By the mid-1960s, Walt had graduated from jalopies to Hard Tops and then to the powerful supermodifieds, racing at such tracks as West Capital in Sacramento, Roseville, Chico and Carson City, Nevada. He won several races as both car owner and driver. Ross also dabbled with NASCAR and USAC Stock Cars.

On April 28, 1972, Ross was driving a Supermodified at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA, when he was run into, causing him to flip. The crash left him paralyzed from the waist down. Two weeks later and while being visited in the hospital by his daughter, Sheila, Walt started to get his feeling back. Over time, he was able to make a full recovery. It was that scare that convinced him to retire from driving and focus entirely on being a car owner in the Sprint Car ranks. He began his new endeavor in 1973, with

WALTER T. ROSS OWNER

By Dennis Mattish

the Northern Auto Racing Club (NARC).

Over the years, many greats cut their teeth driving for Walt, including Mike Andreeta, Hank Butcher, Leroy Van Connett, Phil Pedlar, Lem Tolliver, Rick Horton, Rendy Boldrini, Garry Rush, Terry Crousore, Dave Bradway Jr., Victor Mencarini and Rick Ungar.

However, the most famous of Walt’s drivers was the legendary Gary “The Preacher” Patterson. During a threeyear period, the pair dominated several NARC, CRA and open competition shows in California and across America in the famous blue number 56 Sprint Car called “Herky Junior.” Walt chose the name “Herky” because he admired former Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Hurtubise who always ran with the 56 number. To this day, the Ross car has always been number 56. The Ross/Patterson combination set many track records, the most memorable being the qualifying record set on the half-mile Calistoga Speedway in 1975 that would stand for 10 years to the day.

The 1976 season was a good one. The team started out winning four out of the first five NARC races. Walt was not interested in racing for club championships, so they headed to the Midwest to race with IMCA and in the Knoxville Nationals. On returning to northern California, they won four more main events, including the Calistoga Classic. Even after spending over a month on the road, they still finished fourth in the NARC final standings behind Johnny Anderson, Jimmy Boyd and LeRoy Van Conett. All four of these drivers are in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

On March 26, 1977, Ross and Patterson ventured to southern California to race at Ascot Park against the very tough CRA drivers. They not only beat a strong field of cars that night, but they almost backed it up the following week when they started 14th in the main event and finished a close second to the legendary CRA driver, Dean Thompson.

Because of his love of the sport and with the little guy in mind, Walt had joined the NARC board of directors in 1974. He loved working with and had great respect for longtime NARC president, Louie Vermeil, stating that it was because “he had NARC Sprint Car racing in his heart.” Because of Walt’s loyalty, Vermeil chose Walt to succeed him as President in 1985, thus becoming only the second president in the club’s long history.

Unfortunately, not long after taking over the reins of NARC, Ross was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). Despite it’s debilitating symptoms, he courageously carried on his duties as president and was responsible for several new rule changes, including a spec tire rule that would soon become commonplace in sprint car racing.

Walter T. Ross’ greatest characteristics were his readiness to help a man in need, both on and off the racetrack. He was a true sportsman and a legend in his own right. As a car owner on the NARC circuit, he won 17 career feature events to rank fourth on the club’s all-time lists at the time of his passing (November 22, 1987). He also had CRA and open competition wins.

Walt is a now a four-time hall of famer after inductions into the West Capital Raceway Hall of Fame (2001), Motor Sports Press Association Hall of Fame (2007), Calistoga Speedway Hall of Fame (2013) and now the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (2022).

IT WAS A LONG TIME coming for Ralph Heintzelman Sr.’s induction into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Now, the late Pennsylvania mechanic and car builder has earned the greatest recognition for his accomplishments in the sport.

His was a short-lived but brilliant career. Heintzelman, who passed away at the age of 81 in 2019, helped numerous Hall of Fame drivers throughout his life but most notably Jan Opperman and Lynn Paxton. He also was the mechanic on cars driven by Mitch Smith and Kramer Williamson, along with Dick Tobias and Jim Nace.

Many of the drivers he worked with are already enshrined and now, posthumously, he joins them in Knoxville, Iowa.

Heintzelman, who was born on June 22, 1938, in Mt Pleasant Mills, Pennsylvania, was one of many people who helped put Pennsylvania sprint car racing on the national map.

It started for Heintzelman in the small community of Beavertown, which is located about 20 minutes from Selinsgrove Speedway in north central Pennsylvania. He worked at a service center across the street from a speed shop owned by his friend and sprint car driver Barry Camp.

He helped Camp with his operation in 1969 and then local businessman Dick Bogar hired both men in 1970. Camp left the team and Bogar hired Californian, Jan Opperman, for the next season.

Bogar’s cars were never the prettiest on the race track, but thanks to Heintzelman’s incredible skill building and working on the cars, they were usually the fastest. In 1972, Opperman won 44 of 95 races he entered with an additional 22 podium finishes and 79 top five finishes. Among those victories was the Western World at Manzanita Speedway in Arizona.

He won 26 features in 1973, which

RALPH HEINTZELMAN SR.

MECHANIC/BUILDER

earned Bogar and Heintzelman the Selinsgrove Speedway track championship – the only track title of Opperman’s career. Also in 1973, Heintzelman guided Opperman and the #99 to an unheard defeat of USAC at Williams Grove Speedway. They also won at Eldora Speedway in Ohio against USAC in March of 1974.

Opperman said in the book “Dialed In” by John Sawyer, “the 99 was the best sprinter I ever drove. He said of Heintzelman, “he’d shorten the frame, straighten the frame, build anything you needed, and it was always ready to race.”

Not long after that Eldora win, Opperman moved on and Heintzelman teamed up with Paxton and the winning continued. In his first year with Paxton and the Roy “Shorty” Emrich Chevrolet Team in 1974, the team won track championships at Port Royal and Penn National and the overall KARS (Keystone Auto Racing on Speedways) championship. They won the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal as well.

In 1975, Paxton raced the famous Al Hamilton sprinter with Heintzelman spinning the wrenches. Heintzelman

By Todd Heintzelman

stayed with Paxton after he and Hamilton split. With help from Maynard Boop in 1976, Heintzelman and Paxton won 15 races at Port Royal and the track championship.

In 1977, Boop became sole owner of the operation. Despite numerous different drivers in the car, the No. 1 was a force in the Central Pennsylvania region with Heintzelman as the mechanic winning the KARS title again, along with the Florida Winternationals and Tuscarora 50.

He eventually went into business for himself as an auto mechanic and built race cars for drivers around the country. At times, half the field at the famed Central Pennsylvania tracks had cars built by his hands.

In 1979, Heintzelman helped Jim Nace before a fire destroyed his shop in January 1980. He didn’t rebuild it.

The lure was still strong and the competitive fire still burned. He eventually worked on race cars again and spent several years working on a pro stock at Selinsgrove Speedway driven by his son, Ralph “Peanut” Heintzelman.

FROM THE EARLY 1970s to 2021, Robin Miller was probably the most followed media personality in all of motorsports, first as a writer for The Indianapolis Star (IndyStar) and then, national TV.

He could be bombastic and opinionated and controversial – all perfect traits for a writer. His take on the Indy Car split between Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the Indy Racing League (IRL) spawned, “I hate Robin Miller” t-shirts. At least, Miller knew people were reading his work.

He was born Robin Lee Miller on October 27, 1949 to Bob and Alene Miller, in Anderson, Indiana and raised on the south side of Indianapolis. He loved racing as a boy. On Saturday mornings, armed with his toolbox of slot cars, parts and tools, he’d head to the local hobby shop for the weekly races. He brought home several trophies for his efforts.

During “The Month of May,” Indy Cars captured Robin’s attention. With no money in the family budget for tickets, Bob found a way to circumvent the turnstiles and the pair enjoyed the Indianapolis 500 from a prime view on the outside of the backstretch.

In 1968, Robin snuck into the Speedway once again, this time as a member of Jim Hurtubise’s pit crew. Maneuvering through the pit entrance, looking the part of a crewman, he stuck close to “Herk” and marched right past IMS Security, despite not having a pit badge. His ability to tinker with toy cars didn’t translate to real race cars and he was let go from the team before race day. “Robin might have been able to put gas in his car, but I’m not sure he could fill the wiper fluid,” noted one longtime friend.

Despite his mechanical shortcomings, he managed to campaign a midget on the USAC trail during the 1970s. There, Miller made the friends and contacts that would last a lifetime. Being a driver himself gave him credibility among the

ROBIN MILLER WRITER

By Bill Blumer Jr.

racers he wrote about.

After three failed attempts at higher education, in pursuit of a journalism degree, Miller landed an entry-level position at The Indianapolis Star newspaper. In 1969, he got his first byline. He rose through the ranks covering Pacers basketball and, upon their arrival, Colts football. He learned to gain the trust of the players, which gave him an inside edge on a story. Miller disdained public relations people. “Why do I have to go through PR, if I already know someone?” he wondered. When the Colts hosted Monday Night Football, TV announcer Al Michaels would make it a point to have lunch with Miller to pick his brain about the impending game.

After a couple of years with the newspaper, Miller was assigned the racing beat. His Indy 500 insight (along with other IndyStar writers) was so important, that fans from all corners of the country would buy a month’s subscription just for the race coverage. In 2001, he was fired by the publication, a move he later called a “godsend,” as it opened another door, TV.

Miller was often on local radio and TV shows during his time at the paper. Now, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, SpeedTV and others welcomed his work to their airwaves and a national audience. Clips of Dave Despain and Miller on WindTunnel show some of his most entertaining work.

Whether it was his utter contempt for an unworthy Indy Car driver’s ability or his admiration for a “Badass,” on his, Toughest Drivers Series, Miller’s enthusiasm for the matter at hand was evident. Wide eyes, his smile (or scowl), flailing hands, a bobbing head and his volume, added an emphasis to each word he spoke. His work in ink couldn’t totally duplicate his TV effort. Miller contended, “I have a face for radio.” The more popular he got, the more he tried to deflect attention.

While his TV persona might have put some people off, Miller was warm

and accommodating with fans. He was always willing to pose for a photo. When a fan would ask him to autograph the cover of a program, he’d pause. If he noticed a driver such as Rick Mears or Helio Castroneves had already signed it, he would ask, “Are you sure you want me to ruin this?” He’d then pick a spot to sign far away from the star’s mark.

Over the years, Miller received many awards. He always felt unworthy, suggesting, even when it was a local media award, surely there was someone more deserving. He was thrilled with his 2021 induction to the Motorsports Hall of Fame, an institution he was known to criticize. In a column for Racer, Miller contended he long felt such halls should be primarily for drivers. He mentioned two of his friends - Lee Kunzman and Pancho Carter - who he felt should be inducted. Even with a specific category for the media, he still noted many fellow journalists he found more deserving including Joe Scalzo.

Away from the track, Miller was an adept conversationalist on things beyond racing. He loved music and could argue politics with the best of them.

During his four year battle with cancer, which at first looked beatable, but then snowballed beyond a cure, many drivers and colleagues paid tribute. When they commented on his work, there was a common theme - “He told it like it was.”

In his final days, he wrote a goodbye letter for Racer, with this summation, “I’ve had the greatest life anyone can imagine and I’ve been lucky enough to share it with the fans.”

Robin Miller passed away on August 25, 2021. A bachelor, he was survived by his sister Diane Zachary.

Photo: John Mahoney

MELVIN “SLIM” RUTHERFORD was born January 25, 1901, in Fellowsville, West Virginia. The Rutherford family moved about 15 miles to Grafton, where Melvin grew up. He left high school early and ended up working as a mechanic at a garage owned by Walter Cook. Walter became Slim’s mentor and introduced him to automobile racing. Slim completed his first race car in 1922 and won his first race that year with an average speed of 58 miles per hour. Under the guidance of Cook but wielding a small budget, Slim learned to rely on his ingenuity and built a racing rocker arm head for his Model T Ford race car by welding machined steel and plate together. This process of self-reliance and developing racing hardware of his own design defined Slim Rutherford’s 40 year racing career.

Slim met and married Bertha “Birdie” Brown in 1926 and the couple moved to Whiting, Indiana, in 1927 where Slim found work at Standard Oil as an electrician. It was not long before Slim began racing at the local tracks around the Chicago area. He drove a few times for Leo Krasek, but he predominantly raced his own machines. He raced in IMCA, CSRA and competed in small independent promoted races. Rutherford slowly built a small machine shop in his basement to support his racing interest and working as a mechanic at nights after work.

By 1932, Slim owned his primary race car and two cars he used to fill race events to collect appearance money with drivers he could find locally he called “Tourist” drivers. As the race cars aged, he would sell one and replace it with a newer build. The Standard Oil plant in Whiting was the development facility for fuels. Slim maintained his bosses’ automobiles and they helped Slim on his cylinder head and engine development allowing him access to the company flow benches and dynos and allowing him a little time off to go racing. While at

MELVIN “SLIM” RUHTERFORD FABRICATOR

Standard Oil, Slim took night classes for his high school diploma.

From 1927 to 1933 Slim primarily raced a Model T block, with an adapted a Single Overhead Cam SOHC on RAJO rocker arm head. By 1933, Slim‘s car had a SOHC and head of his own design with a Rutherford cast iron block that was a replacement for the stock Ford Model A/B blocks. Slim began to advertise his cylinder head locally and nationally around 1935. The head could be purchased as a rocker arm or as a chain drive SOHC.

By 1937, Slim developed a new Rutherford gear drive SOHC engine with a barrel crank case with a separate cast iron cylinder block and a new SOHC cylinder head. This 1937 engine would stay competitive till WWII and was always unique to Slim’s race car always carrying the #62. The 1940 season was the height of his racing success with 39 races completed - he had 29 firsts, seven second places and three third place finishes and won the Kentucky and Indiana Racing Association Championship.

Slim Rutherford enjoyed racing and was a local favorite around the south Chicago area around the Hammond racetrack. For a time prior to WWII, you could get into the Hammond track for free if you had a Slim Rutherford window

By Kem Robertson

sticker. Melvin “Slim” Rutherford always referred to himself as a “Hobby Racer” but his inventive engine and cylinder head designs, his car building skills, his ability to “make a few dollars here and there” maintaining other race cars and selling his old race cars as he updated, allowed him to be independently active in the sport of sprint car racing for 40 years without sponsors.

After World War II, Rutherford resumed racing with #62 and by 1947 Slim had an all-new Rutherford designed independent rear suspension with inboard brakes. Also, for the 1947 season, Slim built a new rail frame big car #63, with a modified Miller Marine and later converted the #63 car to a tube frame with a Rutherford SOHC GMC six. Slim built a second SOHC GMC six for Bob Cleberg in the early 1950s. Slim’s last race as a driver was 1951 at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds. Slim had moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1950 because he had to retire from Standard Oil on recommendations from his doctor because Slims lungs had been damaged in a fire at the Standard Oil plant. Slim campaigned the #62 and #63 as a car owner finally retiring himself and his cars from the sport in 1962.

Melvin “Slim” Rutherford passed away after a long illness February 19, 1986.

STARTING IN 1996, Sprint Car fans around the world listened to him call World of Outlaws races. Whether it was the front stretch bleachers at Knoxville Raceway, or man cave couches at home, Johnny Gibson became the Voice of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

John Gibson IV was born on September 29, 1968, and grew up in Marianna, Pennsylvania, a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, nestled on the banks of Ten Mile Creek, surrounded by hills, and an hour’s drive from several famed dirt tracks.

The journey to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame began when John Gibson III — Johnny’s father — took his infant son to watch late models and coupes race around the dirt tracks of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. In other words, Johnny has been going to the race track longer than he can remember.

The first races that he can recall were at Schmuckers Speedway (also known as Latrobe Speedway) where he cheered on his favorite driver, William “Blackie” Watt, a hall-of-famer himself. His earliest exposure to Sprint Cars was when the United Racing Club (URC) would come to Bedford Speedway and Jennerstown, but it was still the late models that he followed. That changed on June 3, 1981, when the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series came to Lernerville Speedway on a Wednesday night. Steve Kinser won that night, beating Doug Wolfgang to the line.

Intrigued by what he saw that night at Lernerville, Johnny followed the tour to Williams Grove and then Lincoln Speedway. After seeing Sprint Cars race in Central PA, and feeling the excitement as the Outlaws took on the Posse, he was completely hooked and never looked back.

In 1993, Johnny’s long-time friend Kevin Eckert introduced him to Bill Woodside who was a writer for Wayne Kindness’ Sprint Car publication and also selling programs at the track for the Outlaws. In 1994, Johnny began helping Woodside sell programs, walking through

JOHNNY GIBSON ANNOUNCER

the stands selling them to the fans, while Bill worked the table out front on the midway.

After a couple of years traversing the country with the tour, sleeping on futons, and calling the road his home, Johnny was approached by Bobby Gerould at Kings Speedway in Hanford, California. It was 1996, and Bobby asked him to join him in the booth for an interview, which also resulted in Johnny calling his first ever heat race.

Standing in the booth that night was World of Outlaws Series Director Carlton Reimers. Carlton was so impressed that he went to Ted Johnson that night and told him, “I think we have a solution to our announcer problem.” The rest is history.

In 1997, Johnny Gibson became the Voice of the Outlaws. As of 2022, he has worked at 2,153 consecutive Outlaw races. When it comes to the World of Outlaws, every great race, fantastic finish, and memorable moment that has occurred on the track in those 25 years has been brought to life for fans in the stands and at home by the voice of Johnny Gibson.

Prior to joining the Outlaws on the road, Johnny was focused on a career as a professional musician. As the drummer in a rock band, Johnny loved being on stage. As a man who has never been shy and can speak to a crowd as comfortably as one might talk to their family, he was already perfect for the role. However, the fact that he is an educated and die-hard fan is what has really set him apart in the world of announcers.

By James McMahen

It’s difficult to package up what Johnny Gibson means to Sprint Car Racing. When drivers are inducted into a Hall of Fame, it is their stats sheet full of wins and championships that we talk about. For owners, crew chiefs, engine builders, and promoters it is the innovation and growth that we talk about.

Some of the greatest moments in Sprint Car racing over the past two decades — many of them memorialized in the Sprint Car Hall of Fame itself — have been called by Johnny Gibson. For millions of Sprint Car fans, it was Johnny Gibson’s voice that had them on their feet for the last laps of races they will never forget.

When Fox Sports partnered with the World of Outlaws during the pandemic lockdown in 2020 to broadcast a virtual event with iRacing, Johnny was brought on with Jeff Gordon, Clint, Bowyer, and Mike Joy to call the race. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that even a virtual World of Outlaws race wouldn’t be an Outlaws’ race without the voice of Johnny Gibson.

For Johnny, an already humble man through and through, being inducted into the Hall of Fame is something he never dreamed of. “I’m absolutely honored, of course, but at the same time, it all seems so surreal. I’m still trying to figure out how a lucky race fan with no broadcasting aspirations gets to this point. I cannot emphasize enough how fortunate I am. I’m a race fan who gets to see the greatest sprint car drivers in the world night after night and I get to talk about it.”

Photo: Paul Arch

guest MIC DROP

By Bob Mays

PROMOTING SPRINT CAR races has always been something of an art form. J. Alex Sloan may have been the first real sprint car promoter. He was part huckster, part ballyhoo artist and part businessman. He sought out hard working men of his own ilk and trained them well in the ways of sprint car promotion. Al Sweeney and Gaylord White were protégés of Sloan and so was Frank Winkley.

Following Sloan’s death in 1937, his trainees began to spread their wings. Sweeney and White formed National Speedways, Inc., in 1941 and Winkley formed his group, Auto Racing Inc., in 1948. His first big contract? Emory Collins, who jumped from Sweeney’s camp because Wink guaranteed Collins a percentage of the gate receipts from the Clay County Fair!

“Wink,” as his cronies called him, was an aggressive over-achiever, promoting IMCA races all across the Midwest. He developed his own core group of loyal worker bees, including flag-waver, Jake Bozony; publicity men, Nick Nachicas and Tom McGeehan; announcer, Moke Crosby and Winks wife, Verna, who kept the books straight.

Wink was totally committed to racing and he promoted in excess of 75 races

a year throughout the heartland. He put on races at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; LaCrosse, Wisconsin as well as state fair shows at Minot (North Dakota); Huron (South Dakota); Hutchinson (Kansas); Oklahoma City (Oklahoma) and the crown jewel of ARI, the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul. In the 1950s, when the dirt fairgrounds circuit was at its dustiness, Wink had someone rig up portable lights that he could take from track to track for night racing. More than one driver told me it was just barely better than no lights at all and the shadows because of the angle of the bulbs made for a very surreal event.

Wink could be a tough guy to figure out, on one hand he read and often quoted the classics and on the other hand his high-speed driving antics (usually from one race meet to another) was the stuff of legend. It was once said of Winkley that he was “completely honest, completely honorable and completely crazy!”

As one of two official IMCA promoters, Wink carried on a friendly rivalry with Al Sweeney, who ran IMCA’s other promotional arm, National Speedways. One time, Sweeney’s big star entered a Wink race. Upon finding out, Sweeney paid the driver the equivalent of first place to stay home. Wink was pissed but instead of starting a war, he started negotiations. Soon, Auto Racing Inc. and National Speedways were trading their top drivers back and forth to the advantage of both.

Winkley was very dedicated to his drivers, he thought of them as his children, who needed to be taken care of

at all times. At one event held at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of Wink’s top guys, Jim Hurtubise, ran over a wheel and sailed out of the park on the backstretch. Now, Cedar Rapids was famous for having a railroad track running parallel to the backstretch, so Wink wasted no time in getting to the scene. There was Hurtubise, upside down straddling the tracks, Wink poked his head in the cockpit to see if Hurk was still with us (he was), Winks first words were, “Don’t worry Hurk, we’ll get this car off you,” Hurk, never real serious, replied, “Better hurry Wink, I think I just heard a train whistle!”

And, so it goes…Wink, though not a racer himself, was proud of the way he could handle a steering wheel. With the fact that he was promoting 80-100 events a year across a seven-state region made it imperative that get from one event to another as quickly as possible. More than one driver who hitched a ride with Wink got out of his big Caddy shaken by the experience. Eventually, his driving got the best of him when, in the summer of 1968, his convertible flew off the road between promotions, putting an end to his career and his life.

For saving Herk from the train and promoting nearly 100 races a year for nearly 50 years, welcome to my Hall of Fame, Wink.

Esteemed inductees of the Mays Hall of Fame are: Scott Fernyhough, Leroy Byers, Myrna Mays, Ray Valasek, William Campbell Gault, Ken Simon, Robert Roof, Don McChesney, Charlie Blosser, Donna Wilson, Ron Hoettels, Luke Bogar, Big Al Murie, Bill Hill and Walt Imlay.

Bob Mays, an author inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, started his own personal Hall of Fame nearly two decades ago to honor his own personal heroes and has been inducting one every year. Dirt Empire Magazine is proud to present a new entry into his own Hall.

review in PICTURES

MILLION-DOLLAR MAN

Photo Zach Yost

Photo Zach Yost

Jonathan Davenport (above) blazes around Eldora Speedway and poses (left) with racetrack owner Tony Stewart after securing his million dollar payday.

A packed house - you can’t sit at home and watch when a million bucks is on the line!

Davenport hunting Tim McCreadie, who had the lead but landed in fourth after cutting a tire with just a few laps remaining.

Darrell Lanigan was only driver to make the field in the 2001 and 2022 Million dollar late model races. East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’.

Photo Zach Yost

Photo Zach Yost

Photo Paul Arch

Chris Ferguson enjoyed victory in one of the afternoon preliminary features and was fifth in the finale that same evening.

A long day of racing led to a long night of celebrating for Jonathan Davenport! When you win a million dollars in the wee hours of the morning, do you actually go to sleep or party until the sun rises?

Photo Zach Yost

Photo Zach Yost

Photo Zach Yost

Photo Zach Yost

track

PORT

ROYAL SPEEDWAY

The late models have a long history at the big half-mile race track dating back to 1963, but over the past few seasons, as part of the rejuvenation of the speedway, the late model division has seen a resurgence. The track has become a destination speedway for late model racing in the mid-Atlantic attracting some of the best late model drivers in the country and even some outlaws.

“It’s about the only place we have to go to on a weekly basis,” said Trevor Feathers, who won two straight season openers and travels from Winchester,

Virginia, to race at the speedway.

As on-track improvements continued, the division started to grow and soon hosted a first-ever visit by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in 2017. The World of Outlaws late model series returned to the track in 2017 after not racing there for 10 seasons. The two series make at least one stop per year now at the track.

The track sees invaders on a regular basis, especially if a high paying event is on the horizon. During his incredible 2020 season, Kyle Larson scored his first career late model win at Port Royal in the finale of a three-day Lucas Oil program at the end of August. Larson was in contention for another Lucas Oil win at the track earlier this season as well.

Pennsylvania native and former World of Outlaws champion Rick Eckert is a frequent visitor and winner at the track. Eckert was the Lucas Oil winner back in 2017.

58 DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 04 - 2021

Current point leader and four-time winner Colton Flinner drives from near Pittsburgh every week to compete at the track, which is close to a four-hour trip. Flinner won the first four point races at the track this season. “The facility is top notch,” Flinner said.

The entire track and grounds have seen a complete overhaul in the past decade as promoter Steve O’Neal, along with the Juniata County Agricultural Society, and countless volunteers have brought the track back from the brink of extinction. “The staff is a bunch of incredible people and super nice,” Flinner added.

When O’Neal took over the promotion duties, his goal was to reestablish Port Royal and he has done that not only with the sprint cars but the late models as well. “From the first day back as promoter in 2011, the goal has been to raise the bar and excitement in both of our main classes, which I think we have done a good job

at it,” O’Neal said.

The speedway has had as many as 46 late models in the pits for a nonsanctioned event. “If we continue to get the support from the racers and fans as we have been getting the past few years, I can see us continuing to add more money and larger events for the late models.”

A wide racing surface with multiple grooves allows for great racing and plenty of room for the big stock cars. Growing purses and sponsorship money helped as well.

Although Flinner dominated the first part of the season in 2022, the win list is usually long with only a few drivers able to win more than once or twice. “The competition is tough, and the weekly purse is crazy good,” Flinner said. A total of 64 different drivers have competed in at least one of the first five races of 2022.

The overall success of the speedway has helped all divisions. “The weekly purse for the late models before I came back was $5,775 per race and now it’s at $15,000 per race, and tow money

was $25 and now its $200,” O’Neal said.

The purse is certainly part of the reason for the growth of the division as Flinner pointed out again. “The payout is crazy good,” Flinner said.

Long-time Pennsylvania late model racer Jason Covert owns six career wins at the track where he grew up watching sprint car legend Keith Kauffman. “I’m not very good there, but I like going and supporting them,” Covert said. “The way they have the track shaped now and the way we race it; it gets so clean after a sprint car race, you can race all over it and find where your car is good. Even when it’s slow, you drive hard there. It’s a lot of fun to drive when it gets like that. It has two grooves minimum. Our cars changed and that made them better at Port Royal. You steer more through a bigger corner.”

But, it’s not all about the racing surface. “How they treat you from the promoter to the track workers,” Covert said. “It’s a pleasure to go there. They have put a lot of effort into making it

what it is. Guys will go there to work on their stuff before the big races, so you know what you’re doing on the race car,” Covert said.

Covert mentioned the purse and how the speedway kept raising it and drawing top drivers like Rick Eckert and Gregg Satterlee. Port Royal has become the proving ground for late models like Hagerstown Speedway in

“The weekly purse for the late models before I came back was $5,775 per race and now it’s at $15,000 per race, and tow money was $25 and now its $200,” – Promoter

Steve O’Neal

Maryland once was. “Now, you go to Port Royal to find out where you stand,” Covert said. “Racing a late model at Port Royal is a pretty big deal now.”

For Covert and the others, it’s a combination deal. “The fans are there, the food is good, the facility, the way they run it, its credible, its well run,” Covert said. “It’s fun to go watch there, too. It’s some of the best racing there is. I am a racer and a fan and I’m proud of what Port Royal has done. It’s not just a race, but it’s an event and you want to be there.”

While Port Royal has seen growth in the class, it’s not necessarily the case for the region as a whole. “One of the reasons we have seen such growth in the division is due to less tracks running them weekly in our area which is good in one way, but not good in another way,” O’ Neal said. “Due to the high costs to field a late model, the overall fields of late models have gotten smaller in our area. It’s very hard to continue to raise purses if you have someone competing against you close by which splits your car counts and fans to pay for it.”

The division has several secondgeneration drivers competing. Scotty Haus owns the most late model wins in track history (96) and Ken Dickson ranks second on that list (54). Both their sons race at the track now. Andy Haus has two championships (2016 and 2020), while Nick Dickson is seeking his first.

The competition level is at an all-

time high for the division. Last year, Dylan Yoder claimed his second career track championship with a last lap, last corner pass. Dylan’s father, Jim, and his cousin, Andrew, also race at Port Royal. Veteran racer and Hall of Famer Gary Stuhler has made Port Royal his Saturday night home and last year lost the title to Yoder.

The Rumble by the River, sanctioned by The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, pays $50,000 to the Saturday night winner at the end of August this season.

A successful limited late model division has also helped feed the late model division over the years. Devin Hart won last year’s championship. His grandfather, Butch Renninger, was a former champion at the track. The race run in his honor over Labor Day

weekend pays over $6,000 to win and is sanctioned by the regional series ULMS. Last year, the limited late model winner earned over $5,000 in their portion of the Renninger Memorial.

Like the division itself, the Butch Renninger Memorial has grown over the years and is the most-anticipated event for the local late model and limited late model drivers because of Renninger’s connection with the speedway.

Piggybacking off of Port Royal’s commitment to the class, other Central PA sprint car tracks have seen an increase in late model races. The Outlaws even visit historic Williams Grove Speedway, while Lincoln Speedway and BAPS Motor Speedway have added late model racing to their schedules over the past few seasons.

Photo: Matt Butcosk

Jim Yoder, who is part of a famous late model clan in Pennsylvania, races to the inside of Gregg Satterlee, arguably the best known late model racer in the state, during the 2020 season.

Photo: Matt Butcosk

Dominator

engine builder SPOTLIGHT

By

MILLION-DOLLAR WINNERS CLEMENTS ENGINES

CLEMENTS RACING ENGINES has had a long and storied career in building engines for all levels of competitive automotive racing. Brothers Glenn and Tony started on their journey of building engine excellence when they would get home from school and head over to their late father, Crawford’s, auto shop.

“We were probably ten or eleven years old,” Glenn recounted recently. “We were just fascinated with mechanical things. So, we spent all our spare time in that garage. Dad worked on all kinds of cars

and we learned pretty quickly we didn’t like climbing around under the cars. Dad would take us out to the races on the weekends and pretty quickly, we decided we wanted to work on race car engines.”

In the late 1970s, Clements Racing Engines was born, and the brothers built a building next to their father’s shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“We were pretty ambitious,” Glenn continued. “We incorporated and started working on engines. Dad kept doing the street car and general repair stuff,

and we focused on nothing but racing engines. We had to work our way up and build our reputation, but we had fortune come our way pretty early. There were some very good racers who had some engine troubles and they came to us. CL Pritchett, Johnny Thomas – they were dominating late model racing in the late 70s and early 80s. They had some engine troubles and we helped them solve their problems. They were totally impressed and from their we kind of earned the right to build new engines,

Photos

Zach Yost

and those performed even better. From that point on we’ve kind of kept our heads down and just kept building one after another.”

Clements Racing Engines has been involved in just about every level of racing, from NASCAR cup level on down. With a employee base of about twenty individuals, Clements puts out about 250 engines a year and another 350 cylinder heads. Despite those numbers, they remain focused on quality.

“Racing is very much a team sport. Many things have to line up to win, and we’re just one piece of the puzzle,” Glenn said. “We know our role and with every customer that comes our way,

we want them to know that our part is covered. If one of our drivers has a bad weekend, I’ll sometimes interrogate them on what happened. They’re always quick to say ‘I had no problem in the motor department.’ That makes me feel good about it. We do our job so they don’t have to worry about it and can focus on all the other stuff needed to win.”

Victories have come a plenty. Just in 2022, Jonathan Davenport has scored major victories, including the huge million dollar race at Eldora in early June.

Along the way, the components used for their engines play a big part as well. When it comes to Clements’ relationship with Jones Racing Products, Glenn

couldn’t be more complimentary.

“They are just the very best folks,” Glenn said. “It’s the type of relationship you want to have with any supplier. They are always open to what we say and what we request or suggest. And they are always striving to get us whatever we need when we need it. As a company, I just hope we can treat our customers as good as Jones treats us. It really takes it all to line up to win at the highest level. They help us do that, and we then help our customers and drivers the same way.”

When it comes to future plans and aspirations, Clements’ focus is a simple one: “We will just keep doing what we’re doing. We would never even have the thought process of wanting to win a specific race or having some goal in racing. I mean, sure we’d love to win them all, but we’re not naïve. We know if we work hard and make a great engine, the wins will come. So, we’ll just keep doing that. In the end, we know we’re truly blessed.”

Chris Ferguson won his first career late model Crown Jewel race when he crossed the finish line in first place at the 30th running of the Show-Me 100 in Wheatland, Missouri in late May. Ferguson drove to victory with a Clements engine under his hood.

Photos by Heath Lawson.

Scotland, Ontario, Canada

DYLAN WESTBROOK

ASCS ROOKIE RETURNS

AT AGE 23, Canadian Dylan Westbrook has shown no fear and proven to be up to the challenge of the difficult ASCS racing schedule and has run a lot of laps throughout the country in the past three seasons. Paired with the historically successful Hills Racing Team, Westbrook has found speed and consistency all across the ASCS race schedule facing off with many unfamiliar racetracks and technical track surfaces. Westbrook’s tenacity and skills brought him his most notable win on June 16, 2021 at the famed Knoxville Raceway. We grabbed a few moments from Westbrook as he seeks to improve on his seventh place point finish with ASCS, which earned him Rookie of the Year honors in 2021.

DIRT EMPIRE: When you’re going to a new track or one that you’ve even struggled at in the past, how do you prepare? Do you seek out mentorship from anyone?

DYLAN WESTBROOK: That’s where I lean on Sam Hafertepe Jr., with him

having been on the road so long and being on the same team as me, going to new tracks I can ask him things like what gear to run, what should I unload with, stuff like that. If it’s somewhere that we struggle, I can ask him about it and talk it over with him, he really helps with all of that.

DE: You’re quite a ways from home traveling with the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series, is it difficult for you mentally being away from your home in Canada and racing around the United States?

DW: Not really, you definitely get to meet a lot of cool people over here, make friends and everything. So, other than dealing with COVID things, it’s not hard at all.

DE: Do you start each race season with a plan or goal? Where do you feel you’re at with achieving this goal being half way through the season?

DW: I don’t really think we made a goal,

BY ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN

I mean, obviously I definitely want to win the championship. It’s still kind of early in the season, but I think we’re around fourth in points right now, so it’s still possible and we’ll keep on working towards that. Just have to keep on being consistent and getting finishes and hopefully it’ll work out for us.

DE: Besides keeping track of wins, how do you assess how the season is going for you?

DW: Well, like with winning at Knoxville, we weren’t very good there, and we kept improving. We went from just making the A main, getting better each week, to winning. If we struggled there before, and we’re making improvements, and getting better each time, that’s what I look at.

DE: Speaking of Knoxville and your struggles there, in June 2021 you got the monkey off your back, so to

Photo: Paul Arch

speak, and won a Saturday night 360 A main. How did that feel and what did it mean to you?

DW: The first few times we were there, I definitely struggled a lot. Qualifying means a lot there and we’re not really used to having to do that. Once we kind of got qualifying figured out, it was just how the track is set up and races, it’s really a lot different than any other tracks. So, once we figured that out, we really got rolling and I went in there and won that night. Just to win there, even though it’s just a Saturday night show, it’s just a huge deal because of what Knoxville is and the atmosphere there. When you get to say you won at Knoxville, it just really means something.

DE: Having won Knoxville, you are now the second Canadian to have ever won at feature at Knoxville, what does that title mean to you?

DW: It’s definitely really cool. I now a couple of other places that I’ve won at, that I’m the first Canadian to have won there. There aren’t very many Canadians

that race, so it’s pretty cool for my hometown and to put my name down there.

DE: There really aren’t many Canadians that currently race sprint cars, what made you want to race sprint cars? When did you begin racing? Did you have dreams to race anything else?

DW: I started racing dirt bikes when I was 4 until I was 8, got good at that, then went to go-karts from 9 to 12 years old, then micro 600 sprints from 12 to 15, a crate sprint car from 15 to 16, then onto 360 sprint cars where I am now. I just kind of kept moving up the ranks of all the sprint car stuff. I mean, hopefully, if everything works out try to make the Outlaws. After that, maybe NASCAR, maybe, who knows!

DE: Who would you say has been the most influential in your racing career?

DW: My dad, I mean, he was the one that got me into it, got the ball going and

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Jimmy Jones

got me moving up the ranks. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have even started racing and wouldn’t still be doing it.

DE: While a lot of time on a big series is spent driving, what does a typical race week on the road look like for you? If there is any down time, how do you fill it?

DW: Normally we race on a Saturday. The next day we’ll wash the car and do a bunch of work on it, we try to get everything we can get done, done without rushing through it and just steadily working on it. That way if we do have a day off or something, we can kind of relax. Here lately we’ve done some sight-seeing. So, we just try to get everything done so it gives us one day to relax if possible.

DE: What kind of tracks or track conditions do you think you favor or you are the most confident at?

DW: Back home, we don’t really have a lot of the big tracks, our biggest one is 3/8s, that’s what I’m used to, I’m not really used to the bigger ones like Knoxville. But, we’ve kind of got those figured out, too. Going down the road, I’m

trying to adapt to a lot of different tracks. I’m not really just good at smaller tracks or bigger tracks, I want to adapt and get better on all of them.

DE: What are some of your favorite places to run?

DW: I really like Lucas Oil Speedway; Lake of the Ozarks was pretty cool. At first I didn’t really like Knoxville, but now that we’re starting to go there more and just get more experienced, I’m starting to really like that place a lot more than the first few times. The whole atmosphere at Knoxville is just pretty cool.

DE: Where are some places that you struggle at, and how do you work to improve there at the next race?

DW: Creek County, only been there once, and struggled there. Our first time there we struggled pretty bad, so we’re kind of looking forward to going back there, learning from our mistakes and trying to get better. We have some notes to learn on, and so hopefully we’ll be faster.

DE: Is there a track that you haven’t gotten to race at that you’d really like to? What makes you want to race there?

Photo: Matt Butcosk

Photo: Matt Butcosk

DW: There’s really not one that just sticks out and makes me say I really want to race there.

DE: What has been one of your most memorable racing moments?

DW: I would say winning at Knoxville, and because it’s a win at Knoxville, it’s pretty cool.

DE: What is a crown jewel in sprint car racing that would mean the most to you to win?

DW: Probably the 360 Knoxville Nationals. It is the biggest race of the year for 360s.

DE: Looking at the opposite, what has been one of your most difficult racing moments?

DW: With me being Canadian, and things like the COVID restrictions and quarantining, the biggest struggle is not really being able to go back home whenever I need to. In 2020, I went home, missed two races, and it took us out of the points. So, that’s the biggest struggle.

DE: Piggybacking off of struggles, how do you overcome slumps and

keep momentum throughout the season?

DW: I try not to get frustrated, obviously you’re going to have a bad night. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Just try not to be upset, know that there’s always next week. Keep your head up, keep going. Know that if you have a bad race this week, someone else is going to have a bad race eventually. Whatever goes around comes around.

DE: One final one, we’ll end on the off season. How do you fill your time in the off season? How do you prepare for the next race season?

DW: Go home, strip all the cars down, go through everything, and replace old parts, worn out parts. Take a little bit of time off with friends and family back home. iRacing has been real big since last year, so I do that a little bit, too.

Racing at Knoxville during the 2018 season - three years later Westbrook went to victory lane there.

Photo: Paul Arch

artistic LICENSE

By Ashley Zimmerman

WHETHER YOU’VE admired them for the artwork you see gracing the pits of your favorite drivers, or you’ve long since dreamt of how you would design your own, the talent that comes from designing and painting racing helmets has long since been coveted. At one point or another in the mass expanse of colorful creations spotted throughout a single race season, there is one thing guaranteed, you’ve spotted a Shell Shock helmet. Shell Shock Design and Paint, also known as Noah Ennis, is not only high in demand in the world of dirt track racing, but hockey as well, making a living bringing to life some of the most memorable helmets fans and drivers have seen to date.

Dirt Empire: Can you share how you got involved in racing and eventually ended up painting helmets?

Noah Ennis: I grew up in the Northeast, outside of Syracuse; basically my entire life has revolved around racing and hockey from my grandparents all the way down to me. To make a long story short on how I got involved in painting helmets, I was involved in a car accident and I was hit by an 18 wheeler; I spent six months in the hospital and another year and a half to two years in a wheelchair. During that time, I had a handful of people that brought me stuff to mess with and keep myself busy, since there wasn’t a whole lot I was able to do. I more or less was self-taught painting. Prior to that, I had worked at a wrap shop, where as a side job I did race car wraps, so I kind of knew

the basics of painting, color theory, and design; it was more or less putting it all together.

DE: What is your process from start to finish?

NE: Typically, a client sends over their colors, ideas, something personal to them, things like who they are away from the racetrack, their interests, sports, music, TV, that type of stuff. Usually from there the easiest thing is to just tell me

DE: What are your favorite types of designs to work on?

NE: Probably hockey masks, and themed helmets like with Dominic and Gio Scelzi, where we did the Super Scelzi brothers, which was kind of based off of Super Mario. I’ve done other ones like a Greenday theme; I’ve done a Van Halen theme, a lot of different college themed stuff. For some reason I end up doing a lot of tribute helmets. I don’t know if I

would necessarily say I’m a fan of those, just because there is usually something sad that’s involved with it, but I do tend to do a lot of them.

DE: What would you rank as your top five helmets?

NE: One would probably be my childhood hero Jacques Villeneuve, I had two helmets that I had to turn around in 24 hours for Ryan Briscoe that were literally out of the blue, Ryan’s gold helmet that he wore after James Hinchcliffe got hurt during Indy 500 qualifying and probably two of the many, many I’ve done for Joey Saldana.

DE: Who was the first driver that you ever did a helmet for?

NE: Ever? Like ever ever? AJ Fike.

DE: How many helmets do you think you do a year now?

NE: On average, it’s right around 200 to 250.

DE: In total how long have you been painting for now?

NE: Going on 17 years.

DE: When you began, did you imagine it would grow to as big as it has?

NE: No, I guess in a lot of ways, I don’t even think it’s that big.

DE: If someone wanted to get a helmet done by you, what is the process?

NE: I tell everyone that wants to reach out about one, don’t bother calling, I check my messages like once a day. E-mail me. There is somewhat of a screening process, I don’t just agree to anything when anybody calls, it has to check all of the boxes so to speak. Then we go from there.

DE: What is the average cost of a

WORLD OF OUTLAW LATE MODEL DRIVER RYAN GUSTIN

By Cyndi Stiffler

Dirt Empire is hitting the asphalt with driver Ryan Gustin as our contributing writer, Cyndi Stiffler, tracks what it is really like spending a racing season in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series as she chronicles Gustin and his team.

THE PHRASE WE HAVE HEARD many times whether in jest or acknowledgement, “behind every successful man is a great or strong woman,” couldn’t hold more significance than in Ryan and Kendra Gustin’s life together. Kendra does not provide the sponsorships or the knowledge to make the winning adjustments to the race car, but she does all the work behind the scenes on the home front that allows Ryan to chase this dream on the road.

The Gustin’s love story goes back over 11 years now and Kendra was quick to explain, “I thought I knew what I was getting into but, in reality, I had no idea.”

Back then, they had just entered their 20s and Ryan was the superstar of the United States Modified Touring Series, stacking up multiple championships and more than a hundred wins. From the beginning, he was gone constantly chasing shows week in and week out. But as their lives together evolved, it became harder for Kendra to make the trips due to work and the addition of their children.

When your living is made on the racetrack, you cannot just pick and choose when you want to race, you agree to a schedule(s) for the season and that’s your work plan. Many fans do not realize the behind the scenes, when they see those big haulers pull into the track, and their favorite drivers put on a show, that as glamorous it seems, it’s a lot of work, and sacrifice. This raw reality probably first showed up in their life when Bradyn was born by C-section and they were barely home from the hospital and Ryan had to leave for multi-day races out of town. That was just the first of many times and events that Kendra

attended alone.

The children were born into this lifestyle and know it, no other way. They understand when the schedule comes out that dad will not be at the school play or band concert and that he is not playing favorites when he’s home for one child’s field trip but not the other, they just know that this is life. Bradyn doesn’t show a lot of emotion about dad being gone for weeks at a time and maybe that’s because he’s being the tough little man of the home. However, now at age 10, he is old enough to take a few weekend trips with dad, and for the second year now, has been part of the guys trip to Bristol Motor Speedway where Ryan had two top 10 finishes this year. Six-year-old Ivey, however, is a bit more verbal about missing daddy being at home. Her recent solution to this dilemma was simple, “why can’t daddy just get a job at Walmart so he can be home?”

In spite of the family separation for much of the year, they have developed a routine and they have so evolved into

that routine after a decade of this life, sometimes Ryan can easily be the odd man out when he is home even though they love having him there. In the end, this is the life they know and live. When Ryan is gone, modern technology keeps them together. Most of Ryan’s races are on some sort of streaming network, and they can at least watch him from afar. When the races are over he rolls directly into the hauler and Facetimes Kendra and the kids. They text, talk, and Facetime multiple times daily to stay in touch with each other’s daily lives.

When Ryan and the crew head back home, it is still work, work, work. They are at the shop working at least 9-5 daily if not more, and for those that say,’ well at least they have the off season’! Charlotte is usually their last race in mid- November. From there, Ryan and Kendra go on a much deserved vacation, and when they get back from that, it is the holiday season, and racing begins again almost immediately after that again. This life isn’t for everyone, and it is definitely not for the weak.

Gustin’s family is very involved in his job, his success, the emotions of the highs and lows at home or on the road. This job makes dad the true hero of the family but mom the definite champion for holding it altogether. Ryan is quick to offer is gratitude and love for Kendra’s support to this life, “I am very thankful that I have such supportive wife that understands and puts up with me being on the road the majority of the year. Not many women would tolerate their husband being gone the majority of the time.”

Since our last article, Ryan has got to spend a little more time at home due to the spring rains. One huge positive update, with the exception of a 11th and 17th place finish, the other ten shows he ran were top tens, including two second place finishes. To keep updated you can follow Gustin’s journey on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and his website www.ryangustin.com. Tune into DirtVision to watch all the World of Outlaw events.

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

shooter at LARGE MATT BUTCOSK

MAYBE YOU’VE NOTICED, but we here at Dirt Empire Magazine love us some racing pictures. This is our opportunity to honor the great photographers of our sport who are on the road throughout the season shooting race cars and drivers and chronicalling history. They are our shooters at large. Lone gunslingers who have choosen to wield a camera as their weapon. Ride on, shooters. Ride on.

The Concrete Kid - Anthony Macri - goes into meltdown mode at East Bay.

Butcosk caught Kody Swanson in full vertical inversion in USAC Sprint Car action at East Bay during 2015.

GET TO KNOW MATT BUTCOSK

Hometown: Kreamer/Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania

Age:56

Year Started : In 1981 but with a several break to raise children.

First Publication to Print My work: Area Auto Racing News

Favorite Track to Shoot: Selinsgrove Speedway and All-Tech Raceway.

Favorite Division to Shoot: Sprints, wing or wingless, and Silver Crown

Remaining Bucket List Races: Any Eldora race, the Ironman, a race in Ventura, California, and get back to Knoxville for the Nationals as it has been 30 years.

Favorite Thing About Racing Photography: The people actually. I love taking the candids. I did not used to, however, things change when you get older and I look at as capturing history.

Outside of Race Cars, what do you photograph? Real Estate, animals and landscape

Camera Equipment: I call myself the low budget shooter because of the dirt involved. I buy low end equipment. I use Nikon D7500 and D7200 with Tamron 18-200 is my go to lens almost always on my camera. In the near future, I would love to go mirrorless as DSLR will be dinosaurs within 10 years probably.

Bruce Durden runs his beautiful sprinter at Hendry County Speedway in Florida with the Top Gun Sprints.

It doesn’t get much more perfect than this shot full of beauty and anticipation at All Tech Raceway in Lake City, Florida.

Butcosk shoots races all around the country but a lot of his finest work comes from East Bay Raceway just south of Tampa, Florida, like this shot of a racer getting air next to those famous walls in 2016.

has been doing this for awhile, as

Brent Marks lines up with Chris Windom as the sun provides Butcosk a perfect backdrop.

Butcosk

evidenced by this shot of Joe Gaerte posing next to his famous 3G.

Florida legend Sport Allen gets pensive during a rain delay.

OPEN WHEEL HALL OF FAMERS

dirt CHRONICLES

By: Bob Mays

Mark Light raced during the most dangerous period in American Motorsports, starting his career in 1932 finishing in 1957 and lived to tell about it. He was a mentor to Tommy Hinnershitz and raced as an outlaw, then with AAA and finally an outlaw again. He entered the Hall in 2016. (Frank Smith photo)

Jimmie Oskie says, “My mom didn’t really like sprint cars that much. So, I was drafted into the service for two years in ’66 and ’67. She said, ‘We’ll have a state-of-the-art car built for you. If you still don’t win when you get out, we’ll know you’re no good and you can quit.’ So, we had Hank Henry build a four-bar. I drove it for two years and the second year, I won the [CRA] championship. So, mom did not get her wish, but I got mine.” He went in the Hall in 2000. (Jim Chini photo)

Doug Wolfgang was ride hopping until he found himself in the seat of Bob Weikert’s powerful “Beefmobile.” Doug didn’t get the ride until just a couple of weeks before the 1984 Knoxville Nationals. In what could only be termed, at that time, a big upset, Wolfgang won his third Nationals title in stirring fashion. It was one of the most popular wins in the history of Knoxville’s premier event. In 1985, Wolfgang again won the Knoxville Nationals but it was no upset. His induction took place in 2003. (Bob Mays photo)

While racing at the Tulsa Speedway in 1992, Doug Wolfgang entered Gary Wright’s trailer and said, “I’ve been watching you for a while. I want to let you know you’re good enough to go traveling with the World of Outlaws.”

“If Wolfgang says I’m good enough to do this, then that’s all I needed to hear.” More than 200 feature wins later, everyone knew Wright was ready for the Hall of Fame in 2011. (Bob Mays photo)

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SUPPORT OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Dirt Empire Magazine is proud to have assembled a crack staff of freelance photographers and writers who blend their passion for the sport with their talent and artistry to make these pages pop. If you see an image that you’d like to own or need a great image for your shop, drop them a line and support them.

PHOTOGRAPHERS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

Ashley Allinson - imerald@gmail.com

Bob Mays - catsracin@yahoo.com

Dave Hill - dshill@mchsi.com

Heath Lawson - heathlawson48@gmail.com

Jack Kromer - kromdj@rcn.com

Jacy Norgaard - jacy@jacynorgaardphotography.com

Jimmy Jones - sprinter410@gmail.com

John Lee - highfly-n@comcast.net

John Rothermel - jcizzybu@ptd.net

Josh James – joshjamesphotos@gmail.com

Leif Tillotson - leif_tillotson@hotmail.com

Matt Butcosk – mbutcosk@gmail.com

Mark Funderburk - funderburkracnfoto@gmail.com

Mike Campbell - mikecampbellphotos@gmail.com

Mike Howard - acer19@cox.net

Mike Musslin – dirtnut777@gmail.com

Paul Arch - peanumber10@comcast.net

Quentin Young - quentinyoungphoto@yahoo.com

Rich LaBrier - dirtmanphoto@gmail.com

Rick Sherer - ricksherer@outlook.com

Ryan Roberts - jryanroberts@ymail.com

Tony Hammett - tony.hammett@charter.net

Zach Yost - zyost11@yahoo.com