[spade]

David Wood. Spent my formulative years in Darke County Ohio, 20 minutes from Eldora. First race I can recall was Greeville, Ohio Speedway about 1949 or 1950. Saw the first race ever ran at Eldora. Helped Chick Hale (many of you have heard of him) in the late 50's and early 60's. Like to have a nickel for every mile I towed one of his race cars! Since Nam it's been about all non-wing sprint cars. Indiana Sprint Week is my favorite.

[FishBurger]

Howdy, I'm Marv Fish. No debate about where I fall age wise......I'm old. In my youth I had thrilled to the racing yarns so descriptably spun by my then role model, Danny Burton. The board tracks....the riding mechanics.....the leather helmets......Kelly Petillo, "Wild Bill" Cummings, Duke Cook, Clutch Cargo, et al......WOW, those must have been great times to be a racing fan. Get Danny a cheeseburger and a Pepsi and he will regale you for hours. :sleep:

My Dad had taken me to a couple of midget races at The 'Burg (I remember the names Curly Boyd, Gene Hartley, and a few others) but I didn't get ate up with racing until after my active duty stint in the U.S. Navy. Having spent the better part of three years on the left coast as a not yet fan, I missed some great CRA racing and later to be big names. Then in June of '60, it got serious.

Stan Bowman, Gil Hess, Don Hewitt, Dick Gaines, Cecil Beavers were my early 'Burg favorites. Discovered USAC early on and they have given me the greatest racing on the planet (IMHO) for nearly 50 years now. First Indy 500 in '61. Lost interest and gave it up after '03.

Now a retired viking, I spend much of my spare time, when not racing, polishing my stove lid collection, one of the finest in SE IN, if I say so myself. I've worn out two wives and numerous cars/trucks chasing race cars from Reading, PA to Phoenix, AZ.....from Milwaukee, WI to Tampa, FL and I plan to keep on keeping on until I croak.

Like most of my posts, this is turning into a War and Peace like monologue, but I can't close it out without mentioning a few of the wonderful friends I've made in my racing travels. The aforementioned Danny Burton, racefan20 (you may not be aware that John was the stunt double for Mickey Rooney in The Big Wheel movie), racegal (even as appearance challenged as I am, I can count on a hug when Susan comes home for sprint week), Gregg who helps me keep Dirtfan and Mud Packer from going broke buying 50-50 tickets), Jerry Shaw who is so nice that I can overlook his devotion to Bill O'Reilly ("No Spin".....indeed :rolleyes: ), Ed K. who knows more about sprint car racing than anyone I've ever met, Ed Cook, who thinks he knows more about sprint car racing than anyone anyone has ever met :wink , Rudy (Dave R.) and fishnman (the other Dave R.) neither of whom can decide if I'm close minded or just narrow minded, and of course Dwight Clock who I miss big time, and soooo many more in a great group. A group I hope to grow significally in coming seasons.

I'll be looking to meet YOU in '09. :checkered:

[sprintgal]

My name is Raychel and I'm 28. I have been going to races for as long as I can remember. My fiance is Jason Adams (he's the MSCS Tour Director/Announcer and Tri-State Speedway Announcer), my dad has worked at Tri-State Speedway for 30 years, and my ex-husband was a WoO crew chief..so I've seen my fair share of winged/non-winged racing and I've enjoyed every bit of it.

[Russell Ficklin]

Thanks Devin for starting such a great topic. This has been some of the most interesting reading that has been on IOW. My name is Russ Ficklin and I am almost 61 years old. My best friend who is now deceased got me started going to sprint car races in the early sixties here in Indiana and I am still going! Have worked for the same company now for going on 43 years and have been married to the same wonderful lady for going on 42 years now. Have two grown daughters who are both nurses and have a granddaughter who is the love of my life! I am a four year navy veteran and if the good Lord gives me another year or so, I hope to retire and spend more of my time at the racetracks! I have been collecting racing books and diecasts for a long long time. Also am a Colts season ticket holder since year one. Those are my hobbies and interests and I can't wait for the Eldora opener!

[interpreter66]

scott oneal ive been going to the races since my dad ran coupe's in w.v. ive
worked on race car's for a long time.
T.B.A.R.A dirt and pavement
A.W.O.L pavement
ALLSTAR'S dirt
USAC pavement
LITTLE 500 many time's
EAST BAY currently
the people ive met thru racing are the best friend's you could ever have.
i love non-wing cars.but we only have wing car's wich is better than no car's
i head north or west to get my fix!
when not racing it's all about my girl's,my motorcycle or my old car's
i hang out with some old guy's who can't hear very well and i'm always having to tell one what the other one said thats why im the INTERPRETER:O:
L.B-KT-DR-DS-JC-MS -TE WOULD KNOW WHAT I MEAN

[racegal]

Originally Posted by JEFFSTOY The picture of the day will never be annoying

I agree totally! I look forward to those!:checkered:
Danny and Marv! Thank you for those nice sentiments!! Likewise!!!!:applaud:
And once again, thank you to ALL the armed service members on here! Words cannot begin to express my (our) gratitude!!:respect::respect::respect:

[terrehautian]

My name is Adam, I am 26 years old. Was into NASCAR a few years back, lost interest. Last year when I got wind of Mike King was taking over hte promoter of THAT, I sent him an email asking if he wanted any volunteers. Started working at the end of Feb. on the track. When racing started on the first race, I was hooked.

I plan on goign to atleast Haubstout this year, Also Lawerenceburg and possibly Bloomington. Though I am spoiled as I have only watched the races from the press area. So I guess I will have to start a website or something to get that access.

[EldoraMark]

Hey Devin

My Name is Mark Fritz. Some call me Eldora Mark. I live in Coldwater Ohio which is 10 miles north of Eldora. The nick name came from Darva Jones (Levi mom) I’ve been known to hang around the Jones gang and there are several of us with the name Mark. Darva would introduce me to people as Eldora Mark. Anyway I will be 54 in two weeks. I have been married 31 years to a very understanding wife.
I started to go to Eldora when I was 14 and have been going to races since.
I love the sprints and midgets. You can find me most Friday nights at Gas City sitting with two good friends that you know well, Monica and Bob Clauson.

[Mud Packer]

Great call on this thread Devin. I already know a number of the hombres on this board, but now I get the low down on so many more. I am Mike Padfield, a.k.a. Mud Packer here on the IOW board. My racing days started at the age of 3 back in the St. Louis area where I was born and raised. I spent many a night at Belle Clair Speedway seeing some of the local hero's of the day. Mostly late models, sportsman and limited late's were the primary classes back then for the Allied Auto Racing Association. Midget were raced infrequently but were the cars that caught my attention but sprint cars weren't even on my radar back then. I still think Belle Clair is the best midget track I have ever seen. Most of the tracks in Southern Illinois were dirt back then and continue to be that way today. Pavement was for driving TO the races.:O: I was involved as a race official for a short three year time period and my primary task was lining up the cars for "mud packing", also known as running the track in prior to hot laps. Thus the moniker that I have today.

After moving to Anderson, IN in the early '70's, my love of auto racing turned to sprint cars, silver crown and especially supermodifieds. The high banks of Winchester, Salem, Anderson and Toledo brought me much excitement since they were pavement races, nothing that I had witnessed first hand before. Dirt tracks were everywhere and I knew then that I had made the right call to move here. Kokomo, Twin Cities, Paragon, Putnamville, Terre Haute, Tri State, Lawrenceburg, Bloomington, Warsaw and later on Gas City all made hoosier spring, summer and fall evenings the place to be for racing.

Some of my early hero's included Dandy Don Klein, Carl Springer, Kenny Schrumm, Arnie Knepper, Wib Spaulding and Russ Wallace. Later I got to see Gary Bettenhausen, Larry Dickson, Gene Lee Gibson, Bentley Warren, Bob Fry, Steve Butler, Sheldon Kinser, Jack Hewitt and Tom Bigelow. The current day stars include Russ Wood, Chris Perley, Eric Gordon, Steve Kinser, Dave Darland, Jon Stanbrough and Jeff Bloom. And the list wouldn't be complete without mentioning the guy whose name I will never forget, Potsey Goacher.

Having just reached the magic number "57" (years old that is), I plan on continuing to follow racing as long as my health allows. Last year I was able to hit 71 races at 25 tracks, down a little from previous years. When not following racing, I am a relationship builder for a mechanical contractor and also referee high school sporting events for the IHSAA.

I will end this marathon post by thanking all of the brave men and women who defend our country throughout the world.:respect: Without them, all of this racing stuff probably wouldn't even be happening. Hope to meet more IOW folks in the coming months.:Steer

[Supermod]

I concur, this is a great thread. My name is Bob Mays, I live on the edge of the frontier, Lincoln NE. I'm 56 years old, attended my first race in 1956 at Capitol Beach Speedway in Lincoln, Gordie Shuck won. I crossed the line from fan to participant in 1974 when I started stooging on a midget. The next year I started my driving career that lasted 16 years (not consecutive) ending in 1997. I've written 3 books, with a fourth on the way. Started taking racing photos in 1978 and am still at it. Started writing for FlatOut in 2003 and still at it. My favorite types of racing, in order: traditional sprints; dirt champs; midgets; winged sprints; TQs; dirt modifieds (the real ones, Hearn, Johnson, McCreadie etc.) Favorite tracks: Eldora; Belleville KS; DuQuoin; Haubstadt; Kokomo. Hope to get to Heaven (aka: Indiana) three times this season. Heros: Lloyd Beckman; Roy Bryant, Dave Darland; Chris Pederson. I've been to 188 tracks in 52 years, hope to make 200 this year. I work at the Smith Collection Museum of American Speed, maybe the best car museum in the country. This is the only forum I post on because everyone on here has so much respect for each other. This is what these forums should be and this thread is proof positive of that. I would like to see this forum renamed the Dwight Clock Memorial Message Board. I'll shut up now.

And so it goes,

Bob Mays