1967 or 68. Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, NY for the USAC Sprints. I believe Gary Bettenhausen won, but not sure. All I know is I was fascinated with the cars and that fascination stills burns today.

I still have a USAC program from that race and I believe the cover had Joe Leonard in an Indy car on the cover. At that time, USAC was in the stock car business and there were articles about Ramo Stott and Iggy Katona.

Our local weekly track that I started going to with my Dad about the same time period was Lancaster. The feature class was the asphalt mods that would eventually morph into the tour-type mods of today. I can remember watching Jim Hurtibise running a mod coupe. Also, some of the regulars there were Maynard Troyer, Jerry Cook, the Treichlers. Occasionally, a guy would show up in an orange couple with a black V on the roof, #61, the early days of Richie Evans. Also remember when a young hotshot named Geoff Bodine showed with a pinto bodied car. The pinto and vega signaled the end of the coupes and coaches.