Friday May 18, 2012 took us to the “Track the Stars Call Home” Spartan Speedway for a great night of racing at the historic Mason oval. A good crowd was on hand with the MARFC Helmet Bag going to the driver of the #47 Pony Stock Wayne Beckner Jr. Wayne and his family have been supporters of the Spartan Speedway for years and was the 2009 Pony Stock Champion. Wayne went out and won the four car dash and his feature as well. Our MARFC member winner was Doug Jakeway and our table helpers were Dennis Trinklien, Rand Thompson, and Bob Wilkinson. Many thanks to our table helpers and to Jim Leasure and the staff at the Spartan Speedway for having the club out and to track P.A. Announcer “Big Ed” Inloes for his mentions of the club. We had many members in attendance and even some from Ohio that made the trek up to the Lansing area.

We here at MARFC are very saddened to hear of the passing of longtime MARFC member Wayne Bitner as Wayne left us this past Friday Evening. I didn’t want to send anything out to you until I had the arrangements and I received those late yesterday after returning from the races.
Services for Wayne will be in Holt at:

Estes-Leadley Fyneral Home
Holt-Dehli Chapel
2121 N. Cedar St.
Holt, Mi. 48842
Funeral service @ 12:00 PM on June 1st with viewing one hour immediately preceeding the Funeral Service. (this is the only viewing time)

Wayne was a fixture at the Spartan Speedway, where He videotaped the weekly races. Wayne would also go to many other tracks and video tape the races as well. In my travels I had seen him at Crystal Motor Speedway, Owosso Speedway, I-96 Speedway and many other places as well. Wayne was the kind of guy who would give away many of these video’s and I have been blessed to have a few of these on my shelf thanks to him. Wayne was also a Board member of the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame and you could always see him with the video camera preserving the ceremony for the future.

Wayne and Alicia joined the Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club in November of 1995 and have been very supportive members of the club and could be seen attending many of the clubs events as well as volunteering to help out at these events over the years. Wayne was a great friend to the late Paul “Poor Paul” Zimmerman and the two of them would travel to many races and events together and when you saw Poor Paulie at a race you normally saw Wayne right there with him or at the top of the grandstands with video camera and tripod in hand.

Condolences to Wayne’s family and God Speed.

Yours in Racing,
Dave DeHem
MARFC President

Special thanks to both the I96 Speedway and the Auto City Speedway for rescheduling our MARFC Fan Club day events for 2012! The new make up dates are as follows:

Auto City Speedway Saturday July 21, 2012
I-96 Speedway Saturday August 25, 2012

So mark these dates on your calanders and be sure the thank the folks at both speedways for the make up dates.
See you at the races!

It is finally here, RACING SEASON is upon us and none too soon. We saw many of our tracks opened up in mid to late April and now that it is May the season is in full swing. The paint has been smudged a bit, the bumpers have been pushed a bit and the lettering has had to be touched up already but that is just part of short track racing in the great state of Michigan. As this is sent out we have had one fan club day already 3 on tap this month and 6 more set to go in June. We have a busy season again this year and I hope you are able to take advantage of it all. As I said in my thoughts last month I would share a few more tid-bits with you and here goes nothing. Whittemore has done some great things with youth pit pass pricing as has the Spartan Speedway all in an effort to keep the families together down in the pits and near the race car. Winston Speedway over on Michigan’s West Coast has some great specials lined up again with appearances by the Michigan Dirt Cup, Michigan Traditional Sprints, and the World of Outlaw Late Models. Cherry Raceway has come back on board as a MARFC Member and will be hosting the SOD Sprints as well as the Michigan Traditional Sprints along with the Michigan Dirt Cup. Owosso Speedway is geared up and ready to go for 2012 with their regular weekly divisions along with visits by the Legends Cars, Jegs/CRA, Dwarfs, and some very special invites and theme nights. Kalamazoo will play host to the Auto Value Super Sprints, Extreme Sprints, The annual “Klash” in August as well as the season ending Super Shoe Nationals. Ron Flinn once again will be dressed for the occasion at all times as the Crystal Motor Speedway will play host to the SOD Sprints, MTS Sprints, Michigan Dirt Cup, MORA Mini-Outlaws and the ever popular Great Lakes Nationals.

MARFC Members, there is a ton of racing going on all over at all of our tracks here in Michigan this year. Be sure to check on all of the tracks schedules on their websites so you can plan your travels for the year. You’ll have to make some choices as some shows run the same time as others so you have to pick which one suits you the best. I plan on getting around a bit this year but I have to say that gas prices may influence what shows I see and which shows I will have to pass on, but I’ll guarantee you one thing, I will be getting to the races this year and I hope you get out a bunch and support our tracks and take advantage of the benefits of being a MARFC Member. Be sure to support those who support us by buying a hot dog or a soda when you visit in MARFC Nights. Until next month, when I’ll have more tid-bits, “We’ll see you at the Races”.
Dave DeHem MARFC President