May 2008
From the President
It is hard to believe that this season has already started and we look to hard times for fans, racers and track owners with the rising cost of gas prices now over $ 3.50 per gallon. We all are going to have to pick and choose what races we will go & see and if you do much traveling to other racing facilities. I know it will be hard for us all but, I hope we can all continue to support the sport we all love.
Local short track racing is the true heart and soul of auto racing across the nation. With out it we have no future for our sport. No young talent pools for the bigger racing series to draw from as well as the way for them to earn the skills and the right to move up to the bigger series. I am hoping that all of our great local tracks right here in Michigan can survive through these tough times. So let us do what we can to help when we can and keep our sport and great local racing facilities alive well into the future.
We are in need of volunteers to help out at our fan club day events. If you can assist us at any of our membership tracks this season please contact me.
I thank you in advance for your assistance. We also have a new contest for all members and new members who sign up at each track. All members will be asked to sign in at our MARFC table when you arrive and your name will be put into a raffle for that night and one member will receive a surprise gift if your name is draw that evening.
As Always, Keep Racing!
Bill Barnhart
President MARFC
April Meeting
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| Scott Menlen – Aspiring race car driver | Jeff Horan – Lionel Trains |
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| MARFC members enjoy the model railroad exhibit at Lionel Trains. | |
What a fantastic time we all had at Lionel. With over 50 members on hand all seemed to enjoy the tour after our guest speaker Scott Menlen spoke about his racing career so far. Scott has raced go karts, bandoleros, and Legend cars and now makes his 2008 start in Late Model competition at Auto City Speedway at the age of 15. He hopes to climb the ladder to ASA, ARCA, and up to NASCAR in the near future. Then Jeff Horan informed all about how the tour would be done and we were off. First we saw a video on how Lionel got started well over 100 years ago and how the trains are made. Then we all went into the train show room with all the different kinds of trains form years gone by and Chuck Horan who has worked there for nearly 39 years showed everyone in the room the dozens of trains they have set up and running in an awesome lay out. Many thanks to Chuck & Jeff Horan for setting up this private tour and to Scott Menlen for coming by as our guest speaker for the afternoon.