It is with great sorrow that I inform everyone on here that Sam Brubaker from Lebanon, PA passed away recently from natural causes. Sam was 85 years old.
Sam was a veteran of the Korean War and a life time member of the Eastern Museum of Motorsports.
Many of you may know Sam from his travels all over the country watching traditional sprint cars & midgets; as during the 1980s through mid-2000s Sam spent more time following USAC, CRA & SCRA around in his motorhome than he spent at home in Central PA.
If you’re a real old timer, you might remember Sam was part of Toby Tobias’s crew when Toby was running with USAC and also the Northeast Modifieds. Sam also helped on the Mauri Amerling USAC Dirt Champ Car and spent some time helping Lee Osborn too.
The last few years were not good to Sam physically, as his knees and legs gave up on him, keeping him away from his love of traveling to the races. However he still had a keen memory and was always inquiring what was going on with USAC and how his friends from the mid-west & SoCal were doing.
Sam was a Dutchman through and through. He was a hard worker, tough, firm, fair, honest and a little stubborn, but if he liked you, he was as loyal of a friend as you’d ever have. To Cindy & I he was our racing Grandfather, as he took us under his wing over 25 years ago, taking us to so many different tracks, tracks that I had only read about in Open Wheel Magazine, tracks at that time seemed like a world away. Sam made those tracks and the traveling to them a part of Cindy and my life and for that I am and always will be forever grateful to him.
