WHAT'S NEW?

     ARCHIVE 2      

     UPDATE:

     Let the record show that the first vote cast for the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame was cast by Andrew McManus (a.mcmanus@craneware.com) of Scotland!  Andy is a relative of mine and found this website.  He cast his vote for Lloyd Moore (read Moore's story here) in recognition of Moore's love of the speedway and his remarkable devotion to his Metropolitan 300 winner's trophy.

     I've appointed Andy the President of the Scotland Chapter of the FODS and welcome him to the vast FODS Nation.  He reports that his chapter already has a rabid car buff member, young Eidhan, Andy's one-year-old grandson.  Eidhan owns over 100 diecast cars already and appears to prefer American muscle cars.  Eidhan is shown here on the right with his mother Natalie.  Notice that Eidhan is wearing his favorite head covering, a match to what the early drivers at Dayton Speedway wore! 

     And the votes are rolling in for the first class of the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame.  Remember that you can vote for up to 10 individuals every week from our list of nominees here.  Your 10 names can be from any of the groups (owners, drivers, etc.) in any combination.  Send your ballots to daytonspeedway@gmail.com.  For complete rules see the HOF page here.  And thanks to all of you who have already voted!  Don't forget that you can vote again next week...and the week after!

     By the way, here are the four loyal FODS who will form the HOF Committee:  Karl Brown (keb3389@aol.com), Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net), Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net), and Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com).  My thanks to these four for agreeing to help sort out any issues that come up during the voting period.

     I've finished Neal Sceva's biographical sketch and posted it on his page here under "The People" tab.  My thanks to Dave Sceva (davesceva@yahoo.com) who provided the dates and details that allowed me to write Neal's story.  Dave also provided the photos on his dad's page on this website.  Neal Sceva is among those nominated for the Hall of Fame.  See that list here.

     Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) sent along a note and confirmed the identities of the last few unknowns among our racing veterans featured in the photo that was Mystery Number Seven here.  These guys are among the best our sport has ever seen and I encourage you to take the opportunity to meet them and get an autograph any time a vintage event is scheduled.  And thanks Gene for filling in the blanks.

     This hotrod (left) never ran at Dayton Speedway.  Ever.  The photo was taken by Nancy Lane-Feldner of www.splitsecondsports.com at Eldora, and the driver's name is Mike Barr. 

     I'm posting the photo here despite the fact that car never turned a lap at Dayton because...well...I think it is incredibly cool!  I thought that you would like to see it too.  If anyone can send along some information about the car and how it ran I would sure appreciate it.

     By the way, I am going to have to start another fresh "What's New?" page, and archive this one.  As these individual pages get larger the access time (the time between me hitting a key on the keyboard and having that symbol show up on the screen) gets longer and longer.  It's very disconcerting to be typing merrily along and then have to wait 20 or 30 seconds for the words to appear on the screen...!

     That's it.  Another update in the can, as they say.  I hope to be back this weekend with more, including a raft of new photos, some stories, and another bio of one of Dayton Speedway's racers.  Again I say "thank you" - - this would be no fun at all if you weren't looking!

     Mickey

     October 23, 2008

      UPDATE:

     Voting for the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame begins today!  You will find all the rules here.  Notice that you can vote for up to 10 individuals every week.  By my count, there are eleven weeks during the voting period and I recommend that you vote for your favorites each and every week to maximize their chances of getting into the Hall in the inaugural class.  Vote once and your favorite(s) get one vote; vote every week and your favorite(s) get 11 votes.  Read the rules here and start sending your HOF ballots to me at daytonspeedway@gmail.com.  If you have questions, contact me here.

    Veteran FODS Bob Gilberg (rgilberg@san.rr.com), President of the Southern California Chapter of the Friends Of the Dayton Speedway and Mari Hulman Admiration Society (SCCFODS&MHAS) weighed in after I posted the Sonny Ates photo on the Pic of the Week page here to remind me of the Ates story he shared in one of his earlier e-mails. 

     Looks like Sonny had his dentures back in time for the photo-op! (You might recall my earlier memory of Sonny pulling his dentures out of his pocket and hurriedly popping them back in place just before the celebration/photo's). I believe he always removed them----for good reason----before getting in a race car!

     SoCal

     Bob Gilberg

 

     And speaking of the Pic of the Week, I've posted a new (pair) here.  Loyal FODS Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) sent the pair of photos in with this message:

 

        Mickey,

        Here is a two shot sequence of a crash at Dayton about 1941. On the back of the photo of the car on it's top, it says he was seriously injured but came back to race again. Does anyone have any more info on this wreck? This is the only record I have of Fred Lockie.

         Geno

 

     I must admit that I struggled a bit trying to decide whether to post the Lockie pix on the Pic of the Week or on the HELP! page.  Either way, we could use some assistance here, gang.  The accident looks really serious, but based on the amazing Neal Sceva accident here where Neal was not only  uninjured but walked away (!), it's entirely possible that Fred not only sruvived but returned to racing.

     If you have any information on Fred please contact me here or send a note to Gene at harleygene@comcast.net.

 

     Long-time supporter of this website Karl "Brownie" Brown (keb3389@aol.com) was present at the Oldtimers' Reunion at Winchester Speedway, September 28, 2008, and has checked in to provide names with some of the faces on our Mystery Number Seven photo here.  And Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) sent along a note with guesses that match some of Brownie's.  Check out their efforts here.  Do you agree?  There are still a couple of veterans whose names are unknown.  Send me your guesses here.

 

     In the last update (see below) I told you about the beautiful Mike Swain Mutual roadster (look here for more photos of the blue #93 roadster).  The roadster competed for a number of years at Dayton and Pete Allen drove the car for most of the car's career.  Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) sent along the photo here on the left showing Pete sitting in the roadster preparing for a race at Dayton Speedway.  It's a stirring photo and when I look at the expression on Allen's face, helmet fastened securely beneath what must surely be the largest jawbone in the history of our sport, I am reminded of something said about Mario Andretti early in his career:  He looks like he could dent an anvil with a rubber mallet!

     By the way, I'm hoping that if I mention Mike Swain's roadster often enough he'll let me drive it.   Or maybe give it to me as a gift.  Hey, a guy can dream...

     One of the things that separates Dayton Speedway from most other tracks, whether closed or still in operation, is the huge number of auto racing legends who took the green flag there.  The list of our Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame nominees here reads like a "Who's Who" of American motorsports.  Of all the legendary drivers who challenged the Dayton high-banks there was no more memorable character than Curtis Turner.  Turner was as well known for his exploits in the lumber business and as a partier as he was a race car driver, but make no mistake about it, he could drive.

     In the photo to the right, provided by Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net), a young Curtis Turner accepts the winner's gold for his feature win at Dayton Speedway.  (The guy with the armband is clearly with the sanctioning body, and the guy with the black shirt is probably the track owner or promoter, but wouldn't you love to know who the cool cat on the left is?)

     That ends this update, fellow FODS.  I've still got lots of stuff to share with you, and I hope to get to the next update within the next few days.  If you've got something to share about Dayton Speedway, whether a photo or an interesting story, contact me here anytime.

     And, as always, I thank you for making this website possible and popular.

    Mickey

    October 19, 2009 

     UPDATE:

      I'd planned to do the next update this coming weekend, but long-time FODS Gene Ingram provided some photos that are just terrific and I wanted to share them with the FODS Nation.  Gene is active with the vintage race car organization and well known for the quality of his photography to boot.  I've never met Gene although I think we exchanged a few words at Winchester Speedway without me knowing who I was talking to!  When we compared photos that we each had taken at Winchester's Oldtimers' Reunion (September 28, 2008) it appears that we were standing right next to each other for awhile.  For those of you have never met Gene, here's a photo of him (right) in the headset standing next to the Dowker roadster at the Winchester event.

     The car in Gene's photos that really got me excited is the one shown below on the left.  Mike Swain owns this beautiful Mutual roadster that actually raced at Dayton Speedway for several years.  Mike bought it as a basket case from Don Anderson and restored it to it's present condition.  As you can see from the photograph, a lot of the original body parts were presserved in "as found" condition.  Pete Allen was behind the wheel for most of the car's career.

     You can find more photos of Mike's wonderful roadster on my "Survivors" page here, along with other great photos of vintage iron provided by Gene Ingram.  Thanks Gene!

    Veteran FODS contributor Steven Levinson (snlla@sbcglobal.net) also attended the Oldtimers' Reunion (we were also supposed to get together, but missed each other) and was very impressed by the Tom Cherry All American Racing Club sprinter on display.  He sent along this photo (right) of the beautiful car.

     Thanks, Steven!

     A lot of strange and unexpected things have happened since I started this site last April (though it seems like the site has been around for years!).

     Among the most unexpected was an e-mail greeting from Charlie Dean (charlie1223@comcast.net) , my former auto racing partner.  I'd not seen nor heard from Charlie for 30 years until the following message arrived in my e-mail box:

      I stumbled across this web site the other day and boy was I in shock! Who says "You can never go back"? I could not stop going from page to page and reliving the wonderful memories that Dayton Speedway brings. Over the years, I just figured that Foggy had just faded away to wherever old  writers and racers retire. Now that I know that Foggy and his friends are "alive and well", I can't help but let you know that I went digging around old boxes that I've carried around, what seems like forever, and found photos that include;

     I'm looking forward to getting Charlie's pix and sharing them with you.  Stay tuned!

     I'm surprised that none of my vintage friends have jumped in to help identify the veteran racers on Mystery Number Seven photograph here.  I think that everyone must be assuming that there are lots of other FODS filling my e-mail box with the correct answers so there's no point in sending in the answers.  Not so!  My e-mail box has been collecting cobwebs, not answers to the Mystery photo.  Frequent contributor Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) got the message, and sent in this note:  "If no one is going to guess, I will take the easy ones... ."  And so he has, identifying Rollie Beale, Chick Hale, Tom Bigelow (USAC's winningest sprint car driver), and legendary Mel Kenyon (USAC's winningest midget driver).  You can match these four names with the faces here.  Did he guess correctly?  You tell me!

     Thanks for participating Rick!

     Over the six months that this site has existed I've had the opportunity to mention Neal Sceva's name several times, and have posted several items related to his career.  It's hard to ignore someone who notched over 600 feature wins during a long and illustrious career.  Neal was one of my heroes, a larger-than-life builder/owner/driver who could push his car to the very limit and keep it there.

     Now, thanks to Neal's sons Dave and Neal, Jr. I am collecting enough material to be able to tell Neal's story in some detail.  I've already posted a number of photos of Neal on his new page here.  Please check them out, and check back when I have a chance to add a brief biography for Neal.

     In the meantime, check out Dave Sceva's website, http://www.setracingllc.com/index.shtml, for additional photos of his dad, and lots of photos of Dave's own race cars.  Dave's cars always carry the #51 as a tribute to his dad, as can be seen in the photo to the left. 

     Your next chance to see the vintage race cars will be two days from now, on October 18, 2008, at the Rush County Fairgrounds Community Buidling, Rushville, IN.  The event will be open from 8 am. until 3 p.m.  Admission is free, and food will be available.

     That wraps up another update session.  Look for another update in a few days.  In the meantime, visit the revised Survivors page here, and the new Neal Sceva page here, and let's get some more answers to help identify the racing veterans in the Mystery Number Seven photo here.

     If you have something you would like to contribute to the site, whether a remembrance, a photo, or some other item, please contact me here.

     Thanks for doing your part to keep the memory of what was the world's fastest half-mile track alive and well.

     Mickey

     ---October 16, 2008

     UPDATE:

     Hall of Fame nominations closed at midnight, October 1st, and there was certainly a flurry of activity at the last minute.  Loyal FODS and relentless contributor to this site, Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) was the last FODS to nominate worthy candidates, and then a day later told me all the names that ought to have been on the list, but weren't.  We no doubt missed many people whose efforts made Dayton Speedway the track we all remember, but we will try to add those names to the nominee list next year.

     Voting will begin soon!  Watch for voting directions to be posted within the next 10 days.

     You'll find a new Pic of the Week here.  It shows the driver who held (and still holds?) the world's speed record at Dayton Speedway.

     I'm still waiting patiently for some clever FODS to identify at least some of the veteran racing celebrities in the Mystery Number Seven photo here.  I could just tell you who is who, but that's sort of boring isn't it?  You ought to be able to identify at least one of these guys!  Send me your answers here.

     That's all for now, folks.  My professional obligations have gotten in the way (again) and I have to cut this update short.  Look for the next update this coming weekend when I will be loading a bunch of Neal Sceva pix provided by his son Dave.  And, as always, this site wouldn't exist without your continued support.

          Mickey

          ---October 14, 2008

     FLASH UPDATE:  At 11:15 p.m. Wednesday, October 1st, I received Hall of Fame nominations for Iggy Katona, Larry Moore, Jeff Bloom, and Frank Jones from Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net).  Their names have been added to the HOF nominee list here.

     Mickey

     ---October 1, 2008

     UPDATE:

     Just a short update this morning, FODS.

     Nominations for the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame inaugural class close at midnight tonight, October 1, 2008.  You can see the current list of nominees here.

     Coming in just under the wire is new FODS Russ George Jr. (rgeorge777@yahoo.com) who sent in this note nominating his father, Russell George, Sr.:

     Hello foggy,

     UPDATE:

      I managed to catch the tail-end of the Oldtimers' USAC sprint race at Winchester Speedway over the weekend,  I was supposed to hook-up with frequent contributor Steven Levinson, but it didn't happen.  (Sorry, Steven.  Next time for sure.)  Times sure have changed...and how many times have YOU used that expression when talking about our favorite sport?

     It seems to me that when I first started going to sprint car shows the cars were all driven by men who were all bigger than life.  Raw-boned, hard living, fearless, spit-in-your-eye kind of men.  Now?  The cars are all driven by children, kids young enough to be my grandchildren!

     But this much I know: they are still a completely fearless bunch.

     I've posted a new Pic of the Week here, showing the 1953 Dayton 100, courtesy Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com).  The pic comes originally from Ray Chaike, who is in the photo.  According to Jerry, Ray was a hotshoe driver who came up from Florida, and was later a USAC flagman.  Jerry thinks that Ray flagged the Indy 500 event at least once.  Thanks Jerry!

     And speaking of Jerry Wahl, he continues to be one of the hardest working men on the planet!  Besides an almost total involvement in local auto racing, Jerry is also a legend in the flower business (yep, you read that right).  He is presently a world record holder.  You'll want to read Jerry's story at http://www.oberers.com/jerry-wahl.html.

     I've posted Mystery Number Seven here.  Take a look and see if you can identify any of these veterans.  As a group you did miserably on Mystery Number Six (Not a single guess!) but I know that some of you will rise to the challenge and identify some of these guys.

     I got a nice note from new FODS Neal Sceva, Jr (neals@Impressworks.com).  Here's what he had to say:

Dear Mickey,

     Hello. I just came across your web-site today and noticed you were accepting nominations for the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame. I would like to place into nomination our father, Neal Sceva, for consideration as both a driver and a car owner. Although he is best known as a driver, he did own and maintain many of the cars that he drove throughout the years.

     My brother David, my sister Becky and I literally grew up attending stock car races across the Midwest with our father. We went to Dayton Speedway on quite a number of occasions beginning in his super-modified era through his late model racing era. I’m sure he must have raced there in the 1950’s prior to the “super-modified” and “Sportsman” classes but I personally can’t remember.

     One particular memory I do have though, is my dad meeting and chatting with Bobby Allison at Dayton Speedway in the mid-1970’s. He held great admiration for the racing skills of Bobby Allison and they were both competing in a major late model event being held at Dayton Speedway one weekend. I believe we might have a photo of that particular meeting and occasion. I remember that Dad always enjoyed competing at Dayton Speedway and I feel he would be honored to be among those being recognized for their contribution to the history of this memorable racetrack.

     Many thanks from my brother, David, my sister Becky and me. We appreciate your efforts to keep alive the memories and the contributions made by those who dedicated an important part of their life to the sport of stock car racing.

Thanks again,

Neal Sceva Jr.

     When I received Neal's note I was shocked to find that his dad, the legendary Neal Sceva, had not yet been nominated to the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame here.  There are several photos of Neal on this site and I thought sure that someone had already nominated him for the HOF.  A guy who won over 600 features during his career ought to be on the list of nominees, and I've added his name.  (Not a moment too soon either; the nominations close on October 1st!)

     I also heard from David Sceva and he has promised to check to see what photos or other material he can find to share with the FODS Nation.  Thanks, guys! 

     It's fun to think back to the way things used to be.  The "good old days" in auto racing weren't necessarily as good as we sometimes remember.  Besides the fact that those race cars from an earlier era had an unpleasant habit of killing our drivers, the competition was often pretty uneven.  I seem to recall that Ned Jarrett once won a race by 14 laps, and no matter what you might think about the ultra slick, super homogenized NASCAR racing today, the fact is that no one is going to win by a lap, far less 14 laps in this day and age.  But what is missing, and missed, is the experimentation, the variety, the individuality of car builders. 

     The photo here on the left is an engine we were never able to identify, but it competed at Dayton Speedway and the builder was clearly marching to a different drummer.

The engine below is of a type that likely competed at Dayton.  It's a Ranger aircraft engine and it is every bit as big as it looks.  The Ranger was in one of the vintage racers at the Oldimters' event at Winchester Speedway, September 28, 2008.  There's no way for me to describe accurately the sound that this engine makes when it fires up.  You have to hear it for yourself.

     I know that this sounds silly, but I consider myself fortunate to have seen and heard this remarkable engine.

     Finally, to close out this posting, I offer this photo (below) of Benny Parsons' 1969 Ford Torino.  The car was displayed at the Oldtimers' Reunion and was used to pace the CRA stock car event that was a support race on the USAC Sprint card.  Elsewhere on this site you will find a photo of Benny Parsons in the same or similar car at Dayton Speedway.

     To see all my photos from the Oldtimers' events visit www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles and look for two albums.  One album has nothing but vintage cars; the other album has current racing machinery.  The current racing machinery album is already posted to fotki; the vintage album will be posted by midnight tonight.

     That's all for now; thanks for helping us keep the memory of Dayton Speedway alive!

     Mickey

     ---September 29, 2008

     UPDATE:

     This site has been averaging about 17,000 views/month since I started it in late April of this year.  There's been a very noticeable decline starting approximately September 15.  I can only assume that this means that there are a considerable number of FODS struggling along here in the Midwest and elsewhere across the country without power as a result of Hurrican Ike.  Suddenly that propane-powered computer your brother in law wanted to sell you doesn't seem like such a bad idea, does it?  Seriously, here's hoping that all your lights come back on soon and you can again visit with us here.

     On my In Memoriam page here Jimmy Kneisley, Johnny Shackleford, and Dave Ritchie, all of whom lost their lives at the Dayton track, had their tragedies described in just a sentence or two.  I've done some research and revised all three bios to better describe their loss.  And I've added a picture of Johnny Shackleford's unique headstone.  I'd sure like to be able to add photographs of the men themselves, but so far I have been unable to find any.  Does someone out there have photos of the men that I could add?  If so, please contact me here.

     I've posted a brand new Pic of the Week, and just two days late!  Before you check it out here, be forwarned; this pic shows some serious horsepower on display at the speedway.  It will take your breath away.

     I gave up waiting for someone to identify the driver that was our Mystery Number Six here.  Either none of you knew the answer (hard to believe) or you just weren't interested in participating.  Either way, I give up.  You'll find the answer for Mystery Number Six here. 

       Read the whole story here of the August 3, 1958 Monza 300 event held at Dayton Speedway.  Why did I pick that event to write about?  My old friend Ron Titus (see his prints for sale here) provided me with a stack of photos from that event!  Check it out.

     I'm almost caught up with my posting and it is time for me to ask you to rummage through those old shoe boxes for photos I can post on this site.  I could use some photos of individual drivers, like Dick Eder and Buster Blackford, and photos of cars that competed at the speedway.  I'd also like to invite any interested FODS to write about their experiences at the track.  Send photos and stories to me here so that I can share them with the rest of the FODS nation.

     That's all for this update.  Thanks for your continuing support of Dayton Speedway memories!

     Mickey

     ----September 23, 2008

     UPDATE:

     I'd hoped to be able to post the pics and the story of the Monza 300 ARCA race from Dayton Speedway today.  The race took place Sunday, August 3, 1958.  That's a long time ago, but you'll have to wait a day or two more; Hurricane Ike (I never thought I would be talking about a hurricane here in Dayton, Ohio!) has closed a lot of businesses and traffic lights remain out.  Getting to the library for some research would be a challenge.  Perhaps I will be able to post the story this weekend.  Stay tuned.

     I had no sooner posted the story of Lloyd Moore and his beloved Dayton Speedway trophy (read about it here) than I realized that I also had a treasured Dayton Speedway trophy.  Unfortunately, it's not mine.  I mean it's mine now; I won it at an auction.  But the original owner of the gold was the legendary Chick Hale.  Etched on the trophy are the words "Greater Dayton Speedway Flying Stock Division - 5th Place 1980 - Chick Hale."

     It holds a place of honor here in my office.  Here's a photo of it on the right.

     By the way, that's a Chick Hale autograph card in the stand next to it.  I've reproduced it here below on the left.  I made the cards for a local car show and Chick was good enough to sign them for his fans.  The card shows nine of the cars that Chick drove over the years, cars owned by Hoot Gibson, the Ft. Loramie Racing Club, and Chick.  I have a few left.  If you would like one, send a 1/2 card size, self-addressed and stamped envelope to me at 135 Heatherwoode Blvd., Springboro, Ohio, 45066-1579.  This card will not fit in a standard envelope!  The envelope has to be the 1/2 card size which is 5 3/4" x 8 3/4".

     There is no charge for the card, and if I run out I think Chick will be willing to sign a few more.  This is a limited time offer, so if you are reading this 6 months from now, e-mail me first to see if any are left!

     Still on the subject of trophies, this photo (right) of a mid-50's Dayton Speedway trophy girl crossed my desk recently.  I post it here and name her "Official Cheesecake Pin-Up of Dayton Speedway."  I am NOT offering her autograph cards, so don't ask.

     Finally, to close out the trophy storyline, for the time being, here's a photo (left) provided by veteran FODS Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) of a trophy presented to Jimmy Wilburn for his new track record at Funk's Dayton Speedway, August 13, 1939.  Wilburn's time: 23.282 seconds.  As you can tell, the trophy has been meticulously maintained over the years.  It's obviously in good hands.  Gene isn't the owner; the actual current owner has asked that his name not be revealed.

     So did you win a trophy at Dayton Speedway?  If you did, we'd love to see it.  Large or small, in beautiful shape or a dusty relic, it makes no difference.  Take a photo and send it along with a note about when you won it.  We'll share your pic and story on this site.  Send your pic and story here.

John Potts (indybigjohn@adelphia.net), our Official Flagman, is a  regular contributor to the Frontstretch website, and has given my Dayton Speedway site a couple of nice salutes in several of his columns.  His stories are a nice break from the constant chatter about who is in and who is out of the Chase and I recommend that you take some time to visit.  Click on this link  (http://www.frontstretch.com/Staff/) then go down to the list of "website contributors."  Click on John's name and choose your story.  Thanks, John, for helping keep the memories alive.

     That's it for now.  Look for the next update in a day or two, and as always, thanks for your help in keeping the memory of America's one-time fastest 1/2 mile track alive and well!

     Mickey

     ---September 17, 2008

     UPDATE:

     This update was supposed to have been started yesterday, but believe it or not Hurricane Ike stopped by for a visit to us here in the Dayton area and while he was here decided to do some extensive mischief.  Power remains out for almost 700,000 folks, according to the news reports, but has just come back on here at Dayton Speedway Lives Headquarters so I can update the site.

     September 16th marks the 74th anniversary of Al Theisen's last race at Dayton Speedway and, it was in many ways, his last race ever.  On the second lap of his 10 lap heat race at Dayton, Theisen got too close to the inside of the track and hooked a wheel.  His car rolled and on the second roll Theisen was ejected and thrown some 15 feet into the air.  He suffered severe back injuries and wasn't able to climb back into a race car until April, 1935, when he attempted to race at the indoor midget event in Detroit.  There he suffered injuries that proved fatal.  Today we remember Al Theisen.

     There's a new Pic of the Week showing some typical 1950's racing action, and even though the "action" isn't taking place at Dayton Speedway the drivers and cars were regular visitors at Dayton.  See the Pic of the Week here.

     Bob McCray (sprintracer2001@aol.com) was a fixture at area speedways for many years before he relocated to the Carolinas, but he remains a loyal FODS.  Bob's uncle Dan Wylie owned Miami Trailer Sales in the 1950's and sponsored a pair of 1938 Ford coupes, #37 and #37 Jr., that competed at Dayton Speedway and other tracks.  Benny Cleefoot of the Triangle Bar on Linden Avenue in Dayton took care of the #37 and Pappy Fagen served as crew chief for both cars.  Wylie and Harry McCray, Bob's dad, both owned and worked on the machines.

     According to Bob, drivers of the matched pair of stock cars included Dick Arnold, Jack Perkins, Dick Dunlevy Sr, Tex Shackleford, Oda Green, Tom and Jack Bowsher, and Red Harvey.  Dick Arnold at one time held the track record at Dayton #37, but Dayton was also the track that claimed the #37 in a spectacular crash.

     According to legend, when Tex Shackleford drove the #37Jr. they had him "masked."  Shackleford drove sprints and midgets and didn't exactly receive a warm welcome from the other stock car drivers when he competed with them.  To avoid having the stock car drivers run into him or spin him out they tried to hide his identity!

     Bob also holds the distinction of actually having won a heat race at Dayton Speedway while he worked for owner Don Thompson.

     Bob is shown in the photo here (behind the car).  His dad, Harry (who I knew as "Maddog") stands near the front of the car.

     The pseudo-racer in the photo is, of course, a VW.  Don Thompson kept the car at the speedway for fans, guests, and visitors to drive at the track.

     I have some personal experiences driving at Dayton Speedway in both a skinny-tired, under-powered pace car and in this VW, and I can tell you from memory that driving the VW around the highbanks at 65 mph without a windshield, seatbelts, or helmet sure held your attention.

     Bob has provided several photos from his collection.  I've used one as the Pic of the Week here.  The others I have posted in the photo gallery here.

     I have about 5 months experience now maintaining this website and I have to admit that it is time-consuming, to say the least.  If it weren't a labor of love for the old speedway and my old friends it would be simply hard work.  So I have to stand in awe of another webmaster who has as his modest goal the collection of every race result from every track in almost every series since race wheels had wodden spokes.  It's simply amazing.  I mention it here because it is an excellent source of information for those of you who want to see the finishing order of every major event at Dayton Speedway, or any other speedway.  The website also sorts results by driver.  It is an amazing and ambitious undertaking for the webmaster who seems to never mention his own name!  Check it out at http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com.

     I've added a story here about the remarkable Lloyd Moore who passed away last September at 95 years of age.  Moore was the oldest living NASCAR and ARCA winner and his favorite track just happened to be our favorite track.

     Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) again steps up to the plate, this time with the complete list of winners of the Dayton 500.  You can check out the list here, but before you do, try to answer this riddle:  Bruce Gould, a terrific driver who recently passed away, was a Dayton 500 winner, but Bruce Gould never won a big race at Dayton Speedway.  How is that possible?

     And, hey, I'm still waiting patiently for someone, anyone, out there to try to name the guy shown in Mystery Number Six here.  Come on!  Contact me here with your guess!

     That's all for now.  Next update in 48 - 72 hours.  Thanks for your interest and support of Dayton Speedway Lives!

      Mickey

      ---15 September 2008

      UPDATE:

     I've returned from a vacation trip to sunny Palm Beach, Florida..."sunny" in the sense that it was like actually living on the Sun itself.  The only relief was the balmy hurricane winds of up to 100 mph.  I actually cut the vacation short because it was so miserable.  While I was there I visited an old favorite, the Ragtops Museum/Auto Sales/other things.  Not much to see directly related to racing, but there were some fabulous old cars, many of them for sale at eye-popping prices.  You can see my pix by visiting www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles and looking for the Ragtops album.  I'm sorry that the pix aren't better; the museum is not well lighted.  But boy would I like to have that 1969 Pontiac Trans Am...

     I've received an e-mail from Clay Beineke who is married to Shorty Miller's granddaughter.  Clay's e-mail provided a wealth of information about the story behind the disposition of Shorty's collection of memorabilia, and answers once and for all many of the questions that have surrounded the subject.  Here's Clay's e-mail in its entirety:

     Dear Sir,  I am the husband of Shorty Miller's granddaughter.  As a family we are disappointed in the account that you present regarding what happened to the collection of memorabilia that Shorty had.  After Shorty passed away attempts were made over the course of more than a decade to find someone who would be interested in purchasing the the collection for preservation at a reasonable fair market value.  When Shorty died suddenly, this collection was left to his widow, this was the only thing he left her.  Several people were contacted, including the owner at the time of the Daytona racing museum, the Indianapolis Speedway museum, members of the Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club (DARF), as well as many individuals, including his widow and her daughter attending a driver/owner reunion in Winchester Indiana around 1996 looking for interested buyers. 
 
     The desire of the family was to keep the collection intact, and while many people were interested in individual items or pieces no one was willing to buy the collection in its entirety.  Ultimately a buyer was found in 2005, a man who lives in Tennessee who was willing to take the entire collection. 
 
     While it is unfortunate to find the memorabilia being sold on the roadside at a yard sale there were many opportunities over nearly thirteen years for all of the people who are now bemoaning the loss of the collection to have stepped forward and saved it to be kept locally and in a manner that would have kept all of the local race fans happy!  So when the gearheads of a certain age get together and wonder whatever became of the collection now they can have the answer and need only look in the mirror to know who let it get away.
 
     We would appreciate it if you would contact us regarding questions surrounding Shorty.  To correct the record that appears now, Shorty was not ill, he died suddenly while his wife was recovering from surgery at her daughters, and he had stopped shuttling his museum around from place to place as it had become too difficult to manage it alone and it was costing too much to maintain.
 
 Clay Beineke
beinkec@hotmail.com

     I appreciate Clay's effort to set the record straight and I have apologized for any mistaken impressions my writings on this might have had.  I've also posted Clay's e-mail on my Shorty Miller page here so that it doesn't get lost here on the ever-chainging What's New page.  Thanks Clay!

      A new Pic of the Week has been posted here.  Add a new name to our "Out of the Park" listing of drivers who managed to leap the barriers and sail out of Dayton Speedway: Dudley Stacy.

     Nominations for the Hall of Fame close on midnight, October 1, 2008.  If there is someone that you've been thinking of naming, you'd better move fast.  Time is running out.  And speaking of the HOF, Jack and Vicki Black (black98@woh.rr.com), two dedicated FODS, have written to nominate car builder/owner James "Hoot" Gibson.  I've added Hoot's name to the list of nominees here.  Thanks Jack and Vicki!

     I received a nice note from John Potts (indybigjohn@adelphia.net) down in London, KY.  (I've named John the official flagman of Dayton Speedway and this website!)  Here's what John wrote:

     Foggy, I keep checking the website from time to time because of my feelings for Dayton Speedway.

     In the years when I was with ARCA, and at least once at ASA, I had occasion to flag there and I loved the place. Earl Baltes also had me come over there from Salem, where I was a newspaperman at the time, to flag a race or two.

     The track itself and the fans will never, ever pass away in my memory. They were among the most knowledgeable and appreciative fans in racing, and I can't think of a single day I spent at Dayton that I didn't enjoy thoroughly.

     John was one of Shorty Miller's great friends and in his e-mail he also shared a great Shorty Miller story.  Check it out here.  Thanks, John, and congratulations on being named the official starter of our FODS Nation.

     You've seen Rick Patterson's (elvis334@att.net)  name listed here many times because apparently when he isn't eating or sleeping, he's deep in research for this website.  Heck, for all I know he's given up eating and sleeping because it gets in the way of his investigations.  Now it looks like his mom is getting into the act!

     Mom Patterson took the Mystery Number Five photo (see it here) to what Rick described as his mom's "Bull Riding/Hollywood Gossip of the '50s class at the YMCA" (?!?) and the class decided that the lovely lady in the Mystery photo is Rhonda Fleming, a Hollywood actress who was going through a divorce in July, 1958.

     I'm impressed.  Here's another photo of Rhonda and it looks like she is the lady in the Mystery photo.  We'll consider Mystery Number Five solved, and credit Mom Patterson with the win.

     By the way, some of you might have noticed the other person in the Mystery photo.  The guy?  Slouched next to the stunning Ms. Fleming?  Looking like Fleming might have just dismissed his offer of dinner and dancing?  That's none other than track owner/promoter Blair Ratliff.

     I've received not one single guess as to the identity of the guy with the bandaged chin in Mystery Number Six here.  I'll keep the mystery open for a bit longer before I tell you who it is.

      That's all for now, folks.  Next update will be on Sunday, September 14.  Thanks for your continued support!

     Mickey

     ---September 12, 2008

    UPDATE:  

     I'm a little embarrassed to report that I am still trying to catch up on postings of material that was provided to me months ago.  But if the loyal FODS National will hang in there with me, I'll eventually get it done.

     We have a new Pic of the Week (no jokes, please about how my Pics of the Week tend to stay up for several weeks at a time!) posted.  It features an old friend of mine, a well known driver and current Dayton Speedway HOF nominee posed in front of another HOF nominee's stock car.  You can check it out here.  The photo was provided by FODS Tony Cottrill who has been behind the wheel of the #76 Sport Stock at Kil-Kare Speedway for the past couple of seasons.

      The Mystery Number Five pic, posted here, has generated ONE guess.  FODS Clark Dinsmoor thought that the photo might be of Don and Diane Seaborn.  A good guess, Clark, but not correct.  I'll make it easier for you folks: the guy was connected with the operation of Dayton Speedway, and the photo was taken in 1958.  That ought to help you figure out the identity of the male.  The attractive lady is still a mystery; I have no idea who she is.  Someone out there knows the answer.

     Mystery Number Six is posted here, and because some of the previous mysteries have been so difficult I thought I would make this one easy for you.  Send your answers to me here.

     My relationship with artist Ron Titus has, over the past 35+ years, cost the poor man thousands of dollars and untold sleepless nights.  There was the time that the brakes failed on our hauler on the way to Eldora Speedway with Ron behind the wheel.  What happened next brought Ron a traffic citation, traffic school, and a huge boost in his insurance rates.  And then when we were running NASCAR Cup, Ron had to bring some forgotten pit pole to Daytona in his nice LTD.  He duct-taped the pole to the outside of the car and by the time he got to Daytona he found that the tape pulled the paint off the car.  So you would think that Ron would stay well clear and refuse to answer his phone when I called.  You would think.  But he didn't.  And I was able to convince him to offer his nifty art prints to FODS at much reduced prices.

     You can read all about it, and see my very poor reproductions of his prints here.  No FODS should be without at least one.

     FODS Les Eder (Les_Eder@hotmail.com) checked in to remind me that his dad, legendary driver Dick Eder, ought to be included among the Hall of Fame nominees.  Les pointed out that "He was a fan favorite and had a large group cheering for him every week, he held many track records at Dayton Speedway in virtually every division that raced there. He was very well liked and respected by the other drivers, owners and crews. and was always available to give helpful advice to the younger and/or new drivers at the track."

     I was privileged to know Dick and besides being a talented wheelman he was simply a nice guy, the sort of person our sport can always use more of.  Thanks for keeping in touch, Les.

     By the way FODS, I'm having trouble finding photos of Dick.  If you can help, please give me a shout.

     Brand new site visitor Kevin Triplett (kevracer@aol.com) has checked in from Walnut Creek, California with this:

     "I lived in Dayton from 1980 until 1996.  I never got to see any races at Dayton Speedway.  I knew Mack McClellan, who introduced me to "Shorty" Miller and I attended a couple of Shorty's movie nights. I remember Shorty passing away shortly before I left Dayton. Do you know whatever happened to Shorty's treasure trove of auto racing memorabilia?"

     What a coincidence that Kevin would ask that particular question at this time!  One of the enduring tragedies/mysteries in this area is the question of what ever happened to the vast treasures of Shorty Miller.  At his death his collection was disposed of by his family, much to the chagrin of Shorty's many racing buddies.  All that memoriabilia, gone, gone forever...  Or has it?

     You will not believe the story that is unfolding.  Read about it on Shorty Miller's page here!  Attention FODS in the vicinity of Crossville, Tennessee!  You absolutely must check this out!

     Our research into the life and times of champion race driver Aloysius Theisen is drawing to a close.  I'm not sure what Ace FODS Investigator Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) will do with all his free time once we conclude the research and share Theisen's story with all of you.  Rick has done all the heavy lifting, so to speak, on this project.  Without Rick I would still be working to determine the correct spelling of Aloysius' last name.  We hope to share Al's story soon, but one thing is certain; Aloysius "Al" Theisen was a fantastic driver who won many important races.

     That's all for now, gang.  I'll be away from the computer until September 8, so don't expect any updates in the interim.  Your continued support of the site helps to keep the memory of Dayton Speedway alive and well.

              Mickey

              ---August 28, 2008

     UPDATE: 

     My apologies to all of you for the long delay in updating the site.  I guess that right about here is where I tell you that the dog ate my update.  OK, that's not true, but it is almost as weird.  When I attempted to upload my updates last week, the updates vanished into the ethernet.  The site didn't update and the updates were gone from my computer.  I'm not enough of a tekkie to tell you what happened, but I am a bit nervous about it happening again.  And as I was trying to regroup and do it all again I was in an auto accident.  A lady in a SUV hammered into the back of my Mini Cooper S.  I survived but wasn't up to sitting in front of the computer for awhile.  Having apologized profusely to all my Dayton Speedway pals...let's talk about this update.

     First, you will find that we know a lot more about Aloysius E. Theisen now than we did before.  Lead Investigator and loyal FODS Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) has been relentless in his pursuit of Al and has uncovered lots of interesting information.  Slowly but surely we are putting together Al's life story and though there might still be some holes when we are done (or at least when we finally declare that "enough is enough") I'm confident that we will have told Al's story in enough detail to give him the respect that is due an early champion.  When you check the Al Theisen page here you will find, among other new discoveries, that at the time of his death Al was married and had a child.  You'll also discover that he had moved out of the rooming house at 23 Warren Street and into a home at 142 Park Street.

     I recently visited Detroit for some research on Al's case and visited the cemetary where he is buried and his family home on Neckel Avenue.  You'll find the pictures on the Theisen page here.  Al is also featured on our Pic of the Week page here. (Yes, yes, I know that the previous Pic of the Week ended up being a Pic of Two or Three Weeks or More.  No smart-aleck comments, please!)

     Bob Gilberg (rgilberg@san.rr.com), President of the SoCal Chapter of FODS and long-time admirer of Mari Hulman, has checked in to nominate Henry Meyer for our Hall of Fame.  Bob reminds us that Meyer's Idding's Auto Parts Specials probably started as many sprint car feature races at Dayton Speedway as any other owners' over a very long period of time.  Excellent suggestion, Bob!  Henry has been added to the HOF nomination list here.

     And, apparently having given up any notion of sleep, Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) stumbled across the answer to Mystery Number Two here, a mystery that has nagged me since I first saw the photos of the stock car sitting in the field outside the speedway.  Clearly the driver had to cover a lot of distance to end up as far from the track as he landed.  Rick found the answer in the October 13, 1952 edition of the New York Times.  Reporting on a race that had taken place at Dayton Speedway on the previous day, October 12, the newspaper reported:

     "Four drivers were injured during the feature race at Dayton Speedway.  The fifty-mile, 100-lap stock car race was cut to ninety-one laps because of six accidents.

     Chuck Aldrich, 28, Toledo, was at St. Elizabeth's Hospital at Dayton with head cuts and possible head injuries.  His car went over the north turn retaining wall.

     Treated at hospitals and released for injuries received in the same race were Benton Elmot, 33, Middletown, Ohio; Bill David, 44, Harrison, Ohio, and Eddie Brandenburg, 26, Connersville, Ind.

      Ed Benedict of Miamisburg, Ohio, won the race.  Carl Kiser of Cincinnati was second and Gib Orr of Cuyahoga Falls third."

     In case you are wondering why the New York Times would show any interest in Dayton Speedway activity, it's because October 12, 1952 was a particularly ugly race day in west central Ohio, with 7 race drivers injured!  Most seriously injured was Edwin Brandelius, 27, of Berkley, MI, who raced under the name Randy Blake.  Blake was in serious condition after his car jumped a retaining wall and smashed into five trees during warm-ups for the big-car sprint races at Greenville Speedway.  Arnold Knepper, 22, was hurt in the same event when his car left the track and smashed into four parked cars.  He was hospitalized with a possible broken jaw.  Finally, Darrald Grice of Marion, Ohio, broke his shoulder during warm-ups in his midget at DeGraff Speedway.  What a day!

     By the way, Rick's discovery means that I will have to move all those photos that were provided to me along with the photo of the Aldrich wreck; I had them in the 1930-1940 gallery.  They will soon be moved into the 1950-1960 gallery.  Thanks, Rick!

     The Family Ties page (here) was getting a little dusty as I wait for the racing season to end so that I can spend some time interviewing Lee Raymond and the Dunlevy family, so I decided to share with you a story I wrote about Dick Dunlevy Jr's serious crash during the 2006 season.  You can read the tale here.

     Brand new FODS Rodney Brugh (RBrugh27@aol.com) has checked in and asked permission to link my fotki racing photo albums on his site http://members.boardhost.com/TriTrackRacing/.  I naturally agreed.  Welcome aboard, Rodney!

     By the way, those photo albums I maintain on fotki have been getting a lot of visitors.  I have the USAC sprints at Winchester from April of this year, Open Wheel Nite at Kil-Kare, and ARCA Truck racing from Kil-Kare (and possibly more by the time you read this) posted.  The photos are available for your use.  You can download the pix to your computer or have the fotki folks print them for you at a very reasonable cost.  Visit my albums at www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles and pick the album you want to view.

     There's a pair of brand new Mystery Photos here on the "HELP!" page that need solving.  This is the fifth in a series and the FODS Nation is batting 1000 on coming up with the right answers.  Take a look and send me your guesses!

     My thanks to loyal FODS Mike Goins (goinsy@hotmail.com) who alerted me to the sad passing of yet another veteran wheelman, Bruce Gould.  You can find our short memorial salute to Bruce on the home page here.  Thank you, Mike!

     FODS Bob McCray (SprintRacer2001@aol.com) has been keeping up a steady stream of e-m correspondence with me discussing the race cars entered by his dad (who I affectionately knew as "Maddog" McCray when he was with my team in the '70s) and his uncle in the 1950's.  We are still sorting that story out and Bob is searching for photos to help tell the tale, and we will hopefully have something for you soon.  In the meantime, Bob has sent along additional nominations for the Hall of Fame.  You can see all the nominations on the HOF page here.  Thanks Bob!

     Brand new FODS Steve McKee (sbmckee48@mchsi.com) has checked in with this note:

     "I just came across your DAYTON SPEEDWAY LIVES site.  Very, very, very COOL!!!!!  It's sad to see them go, but so refreshing to see the people who remember and keep the memories alive.  I attended only a couple of races at Dayton, several at Winchester, late 70's through the 80's...I love the history.  I knew Roger pretty well and proud to say I considered him a friend.

     "SPARKY MACE...is mentioned in one of the articles and again, proud to say, [he was] a relative of mine.

     "Keep up the very good work.     Steve McKee"

     Thanks, Steve, for your kind words, and welcome to the vast FODS Nation!

     I haven't even begun to make a dent in the huge piles of Dayton Speedway "stuff" that needs posting, but I need to once again call a halt to this posting. If I didn't mark a line in the sand every so often the site would ramble on and no one would know what had changed since their last visit.  Having said that, I intend to start the next posting within 48 hours.

     Here's what I am working on for future posting:stories on car owner James "Hoot" Gibson and veteran drivers Lloyd Moore and Jim Frederick; well-known motorsports artist (and good friend) Ron Titus has agreed to give FODS a special discount on his popular motorsports prints; I have a huge pile of great pix from the 300 Lap "Monza Championship" event run at Dayton on Sunday August 3, 1958; I have programs, programs, programs that need scanned and posted; and finally Rick Patterson is producing a veritable flood of information on our driver Al Theisen we he and I are going to have to sort out.

     Whew!  It's a good thing that I'm having a great time doing this because sometimes it smells a little bit like real work!

     Thanks for your kind words, help, and support!  You FODS are just the best...

                                                         ---Mickey

                                                            August 13, 2008

     UPDATE:

     It was a busy week for yours truly; my plan to update the site again just a few days after the last update fell completely apart.  Looking at the dates of previous updates I can only claim that this update is about one day earlier than usual.  So there.

     Speaking of Updates, you'll notice that I had to start a new "What's New?" page.  The former "What's New?" page is now the "What's New Archive."  The page had grown so large that there was a significant lag between the time I typed a word and the word actually appeared on the page.  Very disconcerting.  I'd type and type and type and look up and...nada.  Then, after awhile, the text would appear.

     To find an earlier "What's New?" entry, go to the Archive here.

     My visit to "Open Wheel Nite" at Kil-Kare Speedway near Xenia on July 18, 2008, was pretty exciting.  Open Wheel Nite happens just once a year at Kil-Kare and the tiny Xenia oval brings in almost every type of open wheel race car imaginable.  This year the vintage cars of the Vintage American Race Car (VARC) organization made an appearance both on display in the pits and in action on the track.  I love looking at these old cars and though I never though about including vintage cars on this site I decided that I should give a little space to some of these surviving machines from an earlier era that could have raced at Dayton Speedway. 

     You can see them here on the "Survivors" page.  I only know the owner(s) of a couple of the machines, but I'm confident that Karl Brown will give me a call and tell me who the others are.

     (You can see all the photos from my visit to Kil-Kare at www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles.  Look for the album with the appropriate title.  You can have them printed or download them for whatever purpose you might have.)

     I've finally collected enough programs and program covers to give them a page of their own.  You can see them eventually in proper chronological order (as nearly as I can tell) here.  As of this date, I am still working on the Programs page, so check back. 

     By the way, one of my apparent hobbies is bidding on Dayton Speedway programs and other such stuff on ebay.  So far I have a perfect record; I'm "0" for about a bazillion tries.  One of you FODS out there keeps outbidding me.  That's OK, but you should share with the rest of us.  How about scanning those and sending the files to me?

     I did manage to find and buy a 1960 program for the July 17, 1960, USAC sprint program (offered by a bookseller on Amazon, of all places).  Don Branson, Eddie Sachs, and Ronnie Duman won heat races that day.  Parnelli Jones took the 30 lap feature with Branson running just behind in second.  I'm eventually putting the entire program, cover to cover, on the Programs page just for the heck of it.  Even the ads are fun to check out; it was a time when telephone exchanges began with a word such as BEverly 3-4640 (Atlas Fence Company, in case you were wondering.)

     The new Pic of the Week for this week was provided by loyal FODS Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net).  Take a look at the Pic here.  It shows Rick and his mom posed after the 1969 Dayton 500 with the winning car driven by Ramo Stott.  When you look at the photo a couple of things will spring to mind.  First, there is no sponsor shown, the quarter panels are bare.  Second, the car is being hauled on an open trailer or truck, the way God intended for race cars to travel to and from race tracks.  And third, what are the chances that you could let your kid climb up onto an ARCA stock car under any conditions in this day and age?    The photo on the right shows Rick perched on the winner's fender. 

     Rick Patterson has been working hard to rescue Al Theisen from his current anonymity and has uncovered some amazingly detailed information.  You can read all about his most recent discoveries here.  And a source has promised Rick a photo of the elusive Mr. Theisen!  We will hopefully be able to post it here soon.  As it turns out, Al was living in Dayton at 24 Warren Street in 1930 and doing "outside work" as a laborer.  He living at a boarding house run by Clarence Gebhart.  There were five other men living at the boarding house besides Al and Mr. Gebhart.  Great work, Rick!

      Suddenly we have more information about Al's life than his racing career.  We need help!  Can someone out there in the vast and mighty FODS Nation help us with Al's racing career, or perhaps steer us towards resources that would answer our questions?  If you can help, contact Rick (elvis334@att.net) or contact me here.

     That's all for now, gang.  I still have a vast pile of stuff that needs to be posted and shared, but that will have to wait.  But, by way of a "sneak preview" I'll let you know that I am working on a short racing bio for "Hoot" Gibson, one of the most memorable characters in Dayton Speedway and Midwest racing history that will be posted on the "People" page.

     And as always, this website would not exist without the FODS scattered around the world.  By helping keep the memory of the old speedway alive, you are helping to keep our memories of the people who populated the speedway alive as well.

                                                                          ---Mickey

                                                                           July 20, 2008