Heard from a reliable source on another website that veteran short wheel driver Mel Cornett passed away.

http://http://www.trackforum.com/for...d.php?t=100907

Sorry to hear that. I believe he won the last USAC sprint car feature ever by an Offenhauser powered car at Terre Haute in 1973. Seems that I saw him take a spectacular spill at IRP on a Thursday Night Thunder show when somebody put a wheel into him.

I read that in the Cincy Enquirer obits this a.m. and wondered if it was the midget driver I remembered. Seems like he was listed as being from Wisconsin then. Mel was a tough competitor. Saw him win a USAC midget feature at Tri-County Speedway (when it was dirt) north of Cincy.

RIP Mel Cornett