Monthly Archives: March 2012

2012 FAN CLUB DAY EVENTS AS OF April 1, 2012 Note: this list is incomplete and will updated as soon as possible. At this point it looks like we will have at least 18 events this season with a couple of other special events being worked on for later in the year. The full schedule along with the “Pocket Schedules” and directions will go out in the April Newsletter.

I-96 SPEEDWAY SATURDAY APRIL 29, 2012

AUTO CITY SPEEDWAY  SATURDAY  MAY 12, 2012

SPARTAN SPEEDWAY  FRIDAY  MAY 18, 2012

KALAMAZOO SPEEDWAY  SATURDAY  MAY 19, 2012

FLATROCK SPEEDWAY  SATURDAY  JUNE 2, 2012

CHERRY SPEEDWAY FRIDAY JUNE 8, 2012

CRYSTAL MOTOR SPEEDWAY SATURDAY JUNE 9, 2012

TOLEDO SPEEDWAY  FRIDAY  JUNE 22, 2012

SPRINGPORT MOTOR SPEEDWAY  SATURDAY  JUNE 23, 2012

OWOSSO SPEEDWAY SATURDAY JUNE 30, 2012

TRI-CITY MOTOR SPEEDWAY  FRIDAY  JULY 13, 2012

WHITTEMORE SPEEDWAY  SATURDAY  JULY 14, 2012

MT. PLEASANT SPEEDWAY FRIDAY JULY 27, 2012

MERRITT RACEWAY  SATURDAY  JULY 28, 2012

WATERFORD HILLS RACEWAY  SUNDAY  JULY 29, 2012

WINSTON SPEEDWAY  FRIDAY  AUGUST 3. 2012

ONAWAY SPEEDWAY  SATURDAY  AUGUST 11, 2012

AUTO CITY SPEEDWAY WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15, 2012 (SPECIAL EVENT $ 10.00 TICKET FOR MARFC MEMBERS)

TOLEDO SPEEDWAY SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2012 ($ 5.00 OFF TICKET PRICE FOR MARFC MEMBERS FOR GLASS CITY 200)

FEBRUARYMEETING UPDATE!

We had two guest speakers on hand as well and first up was our very own Public Relations Director, Rand Thompson. Rand shared with us how he got his start in racing, who his heroes have been over the years, and gave us a detailed look at how He performs his tasks as a pit tour coordinator at the Michigan International Speedway. Rand has been doing race reports from the Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways and now adds the Spartan Speedway to his resume as he will be doing the race report write ups for Spartan this coming 2012 racing season. Rand also shared his passion for vintage road racing and the events that are held annually at the Waterford Hills Raceway. Rand was able to make a connection with the folks at Waterford and we have been invited to have our first ever MARFC Day at Waterford Hills this coming July 29th which is the weekend of the vintage racing at Waterford.

Our second speaker of the night was Scott Menlen. Scott shared about his racing roots in a go-kart with the Thunderbird Go-Kart club down at Flat Rock and how in his first ever race, He snared the checkers with a win. Later on Scott raced with the Michigan Legends Series in the Bandalero division before moving into the Legends Cars where they raced in Michigan as well as in the KOIL Series which took them to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and points beyond before moving into the Crate Engine, Template Bodied Late Models at Auto City Speedway. After a couple of years in the full size cars, Scott, like many other racers these days, was forced to park the race cars for a while. Scott being a racer to the core decided that if He wasn’t going to be able to drive then he would do something at the track so he worked for Speedway Safety before moving into the flag stand. In 2012, Scott finds himself as the flag man at the historic Dixie Motor Speedway as well as with the traveling Jegs/CRA Series.  Scott hopes to get behind the wheel at a later time but for now will remain active in whatever way he can. Thanks Rand and Scott for sharing your passion with us. It was especially nice to see how many of our members in attendance have been members over 20 years and two members in attendance have logged over 40 years as members, thanks for your dedication Bill Walters and Joe Hiestand.

As we head into March it means that the local racing season can’t be too much further away and the preparation of race cars and tracks is surely kicked into high gear. Before we know it we will be back at our favorite tracks watching some excellent racing action.  We have had one of the mildest winters I can ever remember and that has enabled many of our speedways to do some outside work that they normally would not have been able to do. It was great to see the racing at Daytona and it is also good to see NASCAR ramp up and get going for the year but the truth is, I just can’t wait to get to my local tracks and smell the racing fuel, hear the engines, the squeal of the tires and see some paint trading as two drivers come down for an exciting finish to a great race.

I was pleased to see al those that attended the February meeting and voted in favor of the revision to our constitution and by-laws. , as well as our Board of Directors really hated to see the club have to raise the cost of being a member of the club that is the “Best Deal in Auto Racing” but with increasing costs of doing business it became a necessity for us to continue in the great fashion that we have been for many years. Effective on March 1, 2012 the cost for memberships rose from $10.00 to $15.00 for a single membership and from $15.00 to $20.00 for a family membership. I look forward to seeing you at the tracks this summer and continuing to enjoy the fun and camaraderie we have had these past years.

Let’s Go Racing!

Dave DeHem