[supdh56]

my favorite memory.... too many to pick one out.. racing the fair circut in the early 70`s ,12 nights out of 14....(in four states) .... racing against the great drivers like D> Dwenger, R. Meyer ,R. Ambrose ,R. Ramsey, C. Workman, Everyone I ever meet in TQ`s has touched my life in a way I will never forget. Last but not least is the time I spent with my good friend Bill Case.

[supdh56]

yes butch beat me on the last turn last lap as i was still looking for my first win!

God. Bill Case. How can we forget him?
He'd show up with his black No. 7 -- sometimes with a driver and sometimes without. It gave a lot of guys their first ride. The UMRA semi-features are now named after him, which seemed appropriate because his cars were always in them.

Another memorable character was Steve Schern.

Car 54 where are you?

His car was always No. 54, and usually red. Steve and his wive, Lois, would show up with their home-made plywood hauler that served them just as well as the more "expensive" rigs in UMRA. (Few in UMRA ever had big, new expensive rigs.) He'd get frustrated in a night at the races, but always arrived with a smile on his face the next night. Steve raced with very little money and one never knew that he was battling cancer and awaiting a bone marrow transplant. I didn't know until after he was gone. I was told one of my pictures of Steve with his race car was buried with him.

On of the best nights I ever saw in UMRA racing was during the fair week races about 1992. Schern's driver had problems the night before, maybe a crash and the car did not arrive at Greensburg until after the heat races were underway. They had thrashed all night to get repaired. Tony Stewart started last in the semi feature and earned a transfer spot. He then started on the tail and drove through the front.

What a great group of people.

Jim Morrison

[TQ29m]

Jim, Steve was one unusual guy, we kinda fit together, in our minds I guess, we didn't dance to the drummer that tells you to buy everything, that's the way it's done, he did it his way. Always liked him, but couldn't understand him sometimes, he was hell bent, and whiskey bound to make stock Honda rods survive in racing, I don't know how many times he'd lose a rod, destroy an engine, and not shake him a bit, next time, he'd try some other method to make those rods live, but it didn't seem to bother him. Yes, I knew he was under "attack", but that didn't bother him either. Wish I'd have gone to his sale, just to help Lois, and I think a lot of people did buy something, just for that reason. RIP Steve!

[TQ29m]

BTW, Jim, speaking of Bill Case, I sold a car to a feller in Southern Alabama about a month ago, his dad used to drive once in a while for Bill, and this guy helped him, than last summer, I had a guy call, lives on Ohio, he bought JL Brewer's car, and he had raced back in the 70's and early 80's, was a magazine publisher in those days, sent me some copys of his books, well published, and well written, nice guy, knows everyone, in everthing related to writing and publishing racing magazines, but anyway, he never calls, unless he has another story about Bill, always glad he calls. Bob

[Butch47265]

Originally Posted by supdh56 my favorite memory.... too many to pick one out.. racing the fair circut in the early 70`s ,12 nights out of 14....(in four states) .... racing against the great drivers like D> Dwenger, R. Meyer ,R. Ambrose ,R. Ramsey, C. Workman, Everyone I ever meet in TQ`s has touched my life in a way I will never forget. Last but not least is the time I spent with my good friend Bill Case.

I know Im a little older but TQ were real fun back in the 50s, you all forgot names like Sonny Ates ,Bob Nichols,Dick Northum,Russ Hankins,Soupy Campbell, I raced with the majoraty of these guys they would do everything to help YOU and still beat you!!!!! But so much fun HAHAHAHA. Butch Wilkerson#1:checkered::checkered::checkered::angry-smiley-007::checkered::checkered:

[TQ2M]

Steve Schern worked for my father and then me from '82 until he died in '95. Unique would be an accurate discription for Steve. His usual summertime race track uniform was a buckwheat tee shirt shorts and cowboy boots. His car was built with about $1500 and a lot of parts he made. The car had been destroyed and clipped a few times but when it wasn't pitching rods it was fast. Tony Stewart still holds the track record at Danville, Il and won a feature at Greensburg (we ran 2nd) after crashing hard at Madison the night before. Steve and my dad were the fastest most accurate machinists I have ever worked with. 14 years later I have yet to replace Steve with anyone with as much talent.
I remember one night at Rushville when we had some rain just before hot laps and we were ironing in the track. Steve was standing in three directing traffic when Danny Smiths cousin(?)
buzzed him. Steve calmly walked over to the car after it stopped and stuffed an entire bath towel through Smith's visor opening. Before long everyone cooled down and Steve and that crew were buddies. It was hard to stay mad at Steve.

Joe

Joe,
That was the night in Greensburg I was talking about. Steve was always one of my favorites in a UMRA pit.

And, I always miss seeing your No. 2 when I go to the races. Bring it back Joe.

Here's another memory. Travis Welpott was exiting second turn on the backstretch at Rushville when he wound up flipping beside the fence. With each flip, Travis came a little farther out of the car. Seems his arm restraints caught the latch on his safety belts and unhooked them. The car finally came to a stop right in front of the stand the scorers were working from.

UMRA scorers at Rushville -- normally there were two -- worked from a from a wagon which had sides and a roof built on it. (I think it actually started out as something placed on the ground in the infield and then later mounted on a wagon.) For the race in which Welpott flipped, it had been moved to outside the track, right beside the guardrail on the backstretch. Sandy and Angie got a real good look at Travis has he held on.

One other thing, since getting married and having a couple of kids Travis has gotten a little soft around the middle. Back then, he was a high school wrestler and solid as a rock. That conditioning might have saved his life. I think Travis attended Ball State on a wrestling scholarship.

Jim Morrison

[TQ2M]

I remember Travis' Rushville crash. I didn't witness it. Terry Goff drove for me at the time & we were talking. My back was to the track and he suddenly Terry went pale. He wouldn't tell me what happened until he saw Travis moving.
Jim, I'm still racing! My son is a competitive swimmer. It fires me up almost as much as T.Q. racing. On the plus side I don't have to buy tires for my swimmer! He is 12 and starting to show some interest in going to some races this summer dispite his mothers protests.
Joe

[Scooter23]

Hi all - Figured I'd better jump in here and put in my 2 cents... I was fortunate to have been able to race with UMRA in 1991, 1992, and 1993. The mechanical and moral assistance provided by everyone was and is what makes UMRA such a great group to compete with. I have many memories from those days, from attending my first TQ race as a guest of the Welpott's; buying my first TQ 3 races later from Friday Shackelford (then finding out that the fuel tank under the tail shell was a propane cylinder mounted to piece of plywood!); the frequent trips to Greensburg to help (read as: watch) Larry Dwenger build my first new race care; blowing up the transmission in Lee & Jackie Brock's borrowed van on the way back from a race in Tennesee; winning the Semi-Feature Champion award (also known as the award for the one who places last most often) in 1993; stoppin off at Pizza King in Hartford City after the Montpelier races; Goff's cheering section on the old backstretch at Rushville; Goff's booing section on the old backstretch at Rushville; Steve Schern (in his healthier days) arguing to the point of fighting with someone or other at a good percent of the races, as wife Lois calmly read a book nearby; hitting the white infield Monster Truck tires and getting launched at Rushville every other race; Ronnie Ambrose's special explosive celebratory elixir (served in mason jars) at the banquets; the Beaver Boys (along with Gary *****), always being tough competitors; all around nice guy Bill Case's 'Driver of the Week'; and most importantly the dozens of drivers, car owners, crew, officials, and fans who became friends thru my involvement in the club. It's always great to see a current or former UMRA'er at the racetrack. I sincerely appreciate those years, and thank everyone who allowed me the thrill of competing in UMRA.
Best wishes to everyone for a safe & competitive 2009.
Scooter Williamson