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| THE OLD SPEEDWAY HAS MANY FRIENDS... Memories of the Dayton Speedway are kept alive by a legion of race fans who still swap stories about events they attended, events that took place 50 years ago (or more) at the race track. But as the years slip by, the number of race fans and competitors who actually experienced the speedway first hand dwindles. The Friends of Dayton Speedway, or FODS, are working to see that the Dayton Speedway will live on and not just in their own increasingly cloudy memories. Without these FODS Dayton Speedway might continue to slide slowly into obscurity, a simple footnote in the history of American auto racing. And without these FODS, this website would not be possible. MICKEY THOMPSON: (foggygoggles@woh.rr.com) No, not that Mickey Thompson. Dayton, Ohio's Mickey Thompson. Thompson, a lawyer, professional clown, and motorsports addict, has been racing since 1964. As a team owner and car builder, Thompson and his partners built a race team that grew from a single 1952 Chevrolet that competed in the Sportsman class at dirt tracks in the Midwest to a multi-car Nextel Cup team competing in NASCAR's premier series. Along the way, Thompson and his partners raced at Dayton Speedway and for a time their company was responsible for advertising and public relations at the race track. And one memorable time they attempted to promote their own race at the speedway, only to learn that it takes a heck of a lot of rain to trigger the rainout clause in their event insurance policy. JERRY WAHL: (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) Ohio native Jerry Wahl has been fully involved in auto racing since childhood when he sat in the Dayton Speedway grandstand and watched his uncle, the legendary Chick Hale, compete on the high banks. For decades Wahl has served as a track announcer and public realtions specialist for several different speedways. In the 1960s, Wahl and some of his racing buddies formed the Dayton Auto Race Fan club (DARF), and over the years since, Wahl has held every club office at one time or another. Most recently, Wahl served as the senior club advisor. Jerry Wahl holds the distinction of being the very last Dayton Speedway track announcer, on the microphone when the track closed suddenly in 1982. FOGGY GOGGLES: (foggygoggles@woh.rr.com) Foggy is, at present, the oldest active racing driver in America, and possibly the world, at 108 years of age. Or maybe he is much, much older. Or perhaps not that old at all. It's hard to say for certain, because with Foggy the truth is a very flexible commodity. Foggy's stories, in fact the mere existence of Foggy, requires a suspension of disbelief. Foggy claims to have been the Altoona board track champion in the '20s. He says that he was the first entrant when the track at Indy was built and later, to kill time, he says he helped lay the bricks there. His resume includes details about a fist fight he had with the Duesenburg brothers over some trivial matter, and about Bill France helping Foggy get NASCAR organized. He swears that he once stared down AJ Foyt, gave up a Formula 1 ride with Lotus so Mario Andretti could have a chance, had to spank a teenage Jeff Gordon for on-track misbehavior, and has been at various times engaged to Winky Louis, Linda Vaughn, and Sarah Fisher. As Foggy is fond of pointing out when challenged about the accuracy of his stories, "This might not have been the way it was, but it sure as hell ought to have been the way it was!" Not all of Foggy's ramblings concern Dayton Speedway, but we thought it appropriate to give the legendary racing driver space on the site dedicated to a legendary race track. RICK PATTERSON: (elvis334@att.net) Rick is Dayton Speedway Lives' lead researcher. If he doesn't know the answer to a question, it's only a matter of time before he returns with an answer so complete it will make your eyes water. Go ahead, test him. GENE INGRAM: (harleygene@comcast.net) Gene is the source for many of the great photos that are posted at Dayton Speedway Lives. We've never seen his collection of vintage photos and memoriabilia, but it must rival the National Archives in size and scope! RAND THOMPSON: (caprirand@comcast.net) Rand is the DSL Bookmeister, providing book reviews, and important reserach, to this website. JOHN POTTS: (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com) John is DSL's official flagman. He was the logical choice since he spent many racing seasons in the flagstand at Dayton and other tracks flagging for any number of sanctioning bodies. John's memory is vast and he brings to the site the unique viewpoint of the guy with the best seat in the house at the races. BOB GILBERG: (rgilberg@san.rr.com) Bob is the President of the Southern California Chapter of FODS and a long-time fan of auto racing in general and Dayton Speedway in particular. In fact, young Bob was pushed headlong into puberty by the site of a very stylish Mari Hulman at the speedway one Sunday afternoon. It's a great story (how many of us could describe in perfect detail what a particular lady was wearing almost 50 years ago??) and you can read it here among the DS stories. RICH GILBERG: (fgilberg@woh.rr.com) Rich is Bob's more responsible brother. At least we presume he is the responsible Gilberg since he is the official keeper of the Gilberg's family racing photos. RICHARD FOSTER: (flyboy2free@yahoo.com) Richard's racing resume includes many ARCA races during the '60s. JAMES BOOKER: (m.y.book@live.com) James is the eldest son of the legendary Elbert "Pappy" Booker, one of the most popular drivers during the early years of auto racing. Pappy tragically lost his life in a Dayton Speedway crash. You can read about that fateful day here and see more photos of this great driver here. CHERYL LANE-BUECHLER: (floridagirlme@yahoo.com) Cheryl's grandfather Harold Beck Sr. (Beck Construction #11) and her uncle Harold Beck Jr. (Sonny #22) raced at Dayton Speedway for a number of years. DIANE BECK-LANE: (rockyl159@comcast.net) Cheryl Lane-Buechler's mom. Diane's older brother was Harold E. Beck Jr. aka SONNY BECK. He built and drove his own stock cars from 1950 thru 1955 at Dayton Speedway. He was injured on the 1/4 mile track in 1955. After that Bill Evans drove the car. The car was #22 either sponserd by Jerry's Ttavern of the Beck construction special. Diane's dad Harold E. Beck Sr owned a midget and later stretched the frame 12 inches and it became a sprint car. In 1959 Diane's brother also built a sprint car and both cars competed st Dayton in an AARC sprint race. This race was sponsored by TOM CHERRY. It was three 33 lap features. Two of those races were won by Diane's brother's sprint car driven by Bud Tingelstad of Dayton. You can see photos from the Beck collection here. RUMMY BLEVINS: (rummy5907@verizon.net) Rummy is a long-time racer who's well known in local racing circles. SCOTT SOLEM: (kb8zcb@netzero.net) Scott spent hundreds of hours in the garage of John Leach, Sr., car owner and driver in the old Midwest Modified division at Dayton Speedway. If there is a more enthusiastic race fan than Scott, it would be a real surprise. Scott is sharing seven albums of his Dayton Speedway photos with DSL. LEE RAYMOND: (j.leeraymond69@gmail.com) Lee, famous racer son of famous racer father, Joe, Lee is a two-time Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) National Champion and a Dayton Speedway champion to boot. MELANIE & DICK DUNLEVY, JR.: (Racin4theRacers@aol.com) Dick and Melanie have both spent their entire lives in the sport of auto racing, and very successfully. Dick remains active on the short tracks of Central and Southwestern Ohio, and has fond memories of his wins at Dayton Speedway. MSGT. MATTHEW JOHN STEVENS: (matthew.john.stevens@us.army.mil) When MSgt Stevens first checked in, he was attending the Sergeants Major Academy in El Paso TX. As a teen, Matt spent many a Sunday afternoon at Dayton Speedway and remembered helping with the appearance of Ed Beckley, the World's Heaviest Motocycle Jumper. Matt's uncle is the well-known racer Don Patty and his former step-father is Bob "Stackey" Israel. MSgt Stevens is the President of the Army Chapter of the FODS! BILL HOLDER: Bill has been involved in the sport of auto racing for 102 years, or so it seems. When this site was first started, Bill was among the very first to offer photos from his collection. Though he spent many years working for the government, his real avocation was writing about our sport. His resume includes books and countless articles for racing publications. And on top of that, he owns a couple of vintage race cars, one a sprint car originally wheeled by a kid named Jeff Gordon who has gone on to modest success in stock cars. JOHN SURGES: (vintagemodman@msn.com) There is no more annoying FODS on the planet than John Surges. For starters, he owns no fewer than four vintage race cars, and so far has shown no interest in giving any of them to guys like me, guys who own zero vintage race cars. On the other hand, John was able to step in and save some beautiful photographic slides of stock car action at Dayton and other tracks when those slides were on their way to a landfill. And then he was kind enough to share those slides with the rest of us. On total, I suspect that John's name shows up on Santa's list with a checkmark next to "nice." BILL MARTIN: KENNY TERRY: MARVIN GOINS: JANE MEYER GERHARD: (jmgerhard@cox.net) Jane is the daughter of legendary car builder and mechanic Henry Meyer. MARK PHLIPOT: MICK MILLER: RON MORGAN: (jmorgan102@cox.net) Ron checked in to see if anyone remembered driver Red Findley. Ron and his dad attended races at Dayton Speedway. JERRY HALL: CHICK HALE: RALPH C. BRAY JR.: Ralph's addiction to auto racing goes back many years. He was a sometime competitor (and still owns the Midwest Modified he used at Dayton Speedway) but most people remember him as a photographer. When this site was first established, Ralph donated thousands of photos to be shared with FODS across the nation and around the world. DALE FAIRFAX: DAVE KRAMER: LYNN MITCHELL: BOB MCCRAY: (sprintracer2001@aol.com) Bob McCray has been a fixture on the auto racing scene for over 35 years and during part of that time worked for Don Thompson at Dayton Speedway. | |
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