Quote:
Originally Posted by SpfldMile
Awesome! That is great news, I wish him well. I will miss his "Frankenstein" car, though.
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That was a great car. It was built in 2003 as a sprint car, with the intentions of running it in Eldora's "Mopar Million" race. Rich designed the car with a rear-rack that could be moved, changing the car's wheel-base. He did this so the car could be converted for Silver Crown racing and used as a back-up to his primary dirt car.
The car was tested at Linda's Speedway in PA and was only raced once as a sprint car, a USAC show at Eldora, which Rich did not transfer to the feature.
Tobias destroyed his primary Silver Crown dirt car at Springfield when he tangled with Brian Tyler during a late race restart. Rich says that it was the worst wreck of his career. With only a few short weeks before the next dirt event, the team made the conversion on the sprint car and readied it for Silver Crown racing.
2003 marked the 25th anniversary of Dick Tobias' passing and in honor of his father, Rich carried the famous Tobias #17 on his USAC car. The car was also painted and lettered to resemble those of his father's.
Rich won at DuQuoin, which was the first time the car was raced in the Silver Crown configuration. He later led most of the Syracuse race before crashing with only a few laps remaining. The car was also raced to runner-up finishes in 2004 at Syracuse, Springfield, and Tulsa.
A side note, Rich brushed the turn 3 wall at Syracuse during hot-laps in 2003. The fuel blatter was ruptured and required changing. While the tank was off of the car, noted dirt modified chassis builder, Bobby Hearn (Teo Pro-Cars) engaged Rich in a conversation about the car's unique rear-rack. Rich explained its adjustability. The following year, Teo Pro-Cars were offered with a rear-rack that could be lowered and raised.
