Daily Archives: December 1, 2009

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December 2009 Minutes

From the President

With the holiday season coming upon us later this month we here at MARFC send out a “Very Merry Christmas” and a “Happy New Year” to all of our members across the state and country. May God Bless and keep us all safe throughout this holiday season. It has been a busy month and I am sure that with our gala banquet just about 6 weeks away it will get a lot busier. I look forward to seeing you all at the banquet. Remember to get your ticket order in by January 6, 2010 so you don’t miss out on any of the festivities.

We had a great day at the Mt. Clemens Santa Parade and I will have pictures and details in next month’s update as well as pictures from Santa’s visit to the kids at our Kid’s Christmas Party.

As I look back at the year that has passed us by so quickly I realize that in spite of the economy and the nation being at war, we here in Michigan were able to have a great racing season with many tight points battles at all of our tracks. I am thankful and grateful that we have the opportunity to go to so many different tracks to either race, watch the races, or just plain hang out. Thank You to all that have supported this club, our members, and the racing facilities. When I am asked what I would like for Christmas my response is this, Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards all, a great four car dash, and a full program of green, white, checkered flag racing. Seriously though, I wish you all good health, good cheer, and prosperity in the year ahead.

Happy Holidays, Yours in Racing 

Dave DeHem

 

December 2009

As I promised last month, the recipient of the MARFC Presidents Award for 2009 is Legendary Drag Racer, Connie Kalitta. The Board of Directors chose Mr. Kalitta for his long and successful career in drag racing in the highly competitive NHRA as well as his contributions to the sport in nurturing and bringing forward some of the greatest talent in that arena. Connie has represented Michigan through his racing so very well and continues to do so today not only with the teams he campaigns but also through the contributions his company Kalitta Air makes in the world. I am excited to have him with us that night and to be able to present him with that award. As detailed last month, Mike Eddy will be receiving the Eddie Sachs Jr. Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award and George Keen will be receiving the MARFC Electronic Media Award.

Now is the time to renew your membership for 2010. In order to save the club mailing costs we will be removing members who have not renewed as of our February newsletter so make sure you get your renewal in ASAP. Also remember that a MARFC membership or renewal makes a great Christmas gift to the race fan in your family. As always any questions or comments contact me via e-mail at president@marfc.org.

 

CONDOLENCES

It was found out that club member Kenny Handorf lost his Mother Barbara on November 12th. We here at MARFC pass along our prayers and condolences to Kenny and his family during this difficult time.

 

NOVEMBER MEETING UPDATE

The club held its November meeting at the Best Western in Birch Run on Sunday afternoon, November 8th. First up out of the box was Steve Puvalowski, the new owner of the legendary Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Michigan. Steve brought us up to date on the conditions of the Speedway as it sits right now and detailed his vision for the future. It will take a lot of work to get the track ready but Steve has what sounds like a good plan and a good amount of support from the racing community. Steve hopes to have a couple of shows in late 2010 and knows that it will take some good hard work to get the Trick Track back in shape. Early indications are that Tri-City will remain as a dirt track but don’t put the idea of the resurrection of the 1/2 mile 5 turner away just yet.

Next up was longtime campaigner and 2003 Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Jay Woolworth. Jay is a wealth of information and stories from his long career and that is what he shared with us. He also shared about the Championship that his grand-son Jake Thompson won at Auto City this season in the Hornets Division. In this sport it is pretty common to see a father and son race at the same track but to see a grandfather and grandson is truly remarkable and just goes to show the family atmosphere in our great sport as it is today.

The trio of Inloes, Prieur, and Darling came out of the box after Jay. Our friend Larry Loynes was slated to be with us but that oinky flu got in the way. Big Ed gave us a rundown of the happenings at both the Auto City Speedway and the Spartan Speedway. Both tracks have an aggressive schedule in the works and are fast at work on the 2010 season as well as the new grandstands and press box being constructed at Spartan Speedway. Matt “Hollywood” Prieur gave us the rundown on what is going on with the Owosso and Dixie Speedways for the coming year as well as a recap of the 2009 seasons at both of these fine speedways.

Finally, the third member of the trio, Chuck “The Flounder” Darling spoke about the Michigan Short Track Racing Club (MSTRC) and how it got started and evolved to where it is today. Chuck spoke of the many opportunities he has had over the years by his association with the MSTRC and spoke of the many friendships he has made with fans, drivers, promoters and many in racing.

This led into the trio speaking about the upcoming MSTRC Bowling tournament held in Owosso in February. This is a fundraiser that benefits people in the racing community that have suffered setbacks and need a hand up. More on this very worthwhile event in later editions of the MARFC Messenger but while you are waiting lets think about getting a few teams together for the tournament. If you are interested please give me a call.

To close things up for the day, Dixie/Owosso Promoter Jeff Parish made a few comments and updates to what Hollywood shared about and Joe DeWitte of the Auto City Speedway spoke about his experiences in race promotion/track ownership and let us know about a couple of special shows coming up in 2010 at Auto City. More on these at Joe release details. Julie DeHem won the 50/50 drawing and donated it to the Kid’s Christmas Party, Thank You Julie and Thank You to Steve Puvalowski, Jay Woolworth, Ed Inloes, Matt Prieur, Chuck Darling, Jeff and Pam Parish, and Joe DeWitte. We will definitely keep this annual tradition of a November meeting in Birch Run.