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I'm Vern Plotts I'm 68 years old and I have been an addict since I used to sit with my future aunt and watch my uncle race at Fort Miami fairgrounds in Maumee, Ohio in 1951. I went to my first USAC sprint car race at New Bremen, Ohio in 1962. In the 70's I was shooting pictures and my wife Diane was writing most of the USAC sprint articles for NSSN. We were fortunate to be there for the "Larry and Gary Show" years along with Rollie Beale,Sammy Sessions, Lee Kunzman,Tom Bigelow and many other truly exciting sprint car drivers. We went to our first Hoosier Hundred in 1965 and there is still no sound like a 255 Offy, with a long exhaust pipe, going down the backstretch on a dirt mile. One of my most memorable races was the day that Jackie Howerton, in a turbo-offy, beat Al Unser and Mario Andretti, in the Viceroy 255 Ford powered cars, at the Indy fairgrounds.
We moved to Colorado in 1976 when my job took us there and both took an early retirement in 2001. We get to 3 or 4 races a year in the midwest as well as the Oval Nationals and the Western World. Since there are no non wing sprints here I just amuse myself playing golf and fly fishing.
Many thanks to the servicemen on IOW and those serving were ever that might be in the world. Our barely 20 Year old grandson just returned safely to his home base this past Tuesday from his first deployment to Iraq and we'll get to see him in two weeks. We are so grateful our prayers were answered and he is back.
I really would like to meet more people from IOW this year.
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