Dedicated to the Betterment and Benefit of Auto Racing and Those Engaged Therein

Update for November 2011

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(Left:Rick Sigsby Center: Terry Bougusz Jr. Right: Eddie Sachs)

 October 22nd saw the club raise the lid on the off-season monthly meetings. We gathered at the Kart 2 Kart indoor karting facility where we were entertained by three guest speakers. Rick Sigsby got the ball rolling as he described the book that he has written and is ready to go to print entitled “Living On The Edge”. The book covers the history of Auto Racing in Michigan for the first 1oo years starting with Henry Ford at the Grosse Pointe Track in 1901 right up to Brad Keselowski’s Nationwide Championship in 2010. Rick spoke of the many interviews he conducted with many of those who have formed our history of Auto Racing in Michigan. Rick has been working on this book for a while now and it should be ready to sell very shortly at a very reasonable price. I will provide information to purchase the book when it is available.

Next up was Late Model driver Terry Bogusz Jr. who is a second generation racer as his father Terry Sr. raced at Mt. Clemens Race track back in the day while Terry Jr. roamed around as a “Racin Rascal”. Terry started off in Go-Karts before moving in to Late Models with the original Crate Motor/Template Bodied race cars of the former “US-Pro Series” which has now developed into the JEGS CRA Series. Some of terry’s accomplishments are winning the 2008 Auto City Super Stock Championship. This past year, Terry took the template body off of the race car and switched it over to the “Outlaw” style body and went Late Model racing at the Historic, Flat Rock Speedway where he was able to finish up tenth in the season long points chase. Quite an accomplishment considering that many of the drivers at Flat Rock have been driving at the track for many years and do not run a Crate Motor as Terry did so He was out horse powered all year! Terry made an appearance at the Toledo Speedway in an attempt to get into the starting field of the prestigious “Glass City 200” but fell one spot short of making the field. He did gain a healthy respect for the Toledo track and really enjoyed himself.

Our final Speaker of the night was the always entertaining Eddie Sachs III who spoke about his efforts in the USAC Silver Crown Series with driver Jimmy Kite. Many know Eddie as the son of Eddie Sachs Jr. who was a spectacular driver all over the Midwest and unfortunately lost his life in a flaming crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Others will remember Eddie as being a local driver back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Eddie got his start in a hobby stocker at Mt. Clemens and eventually moved up into the Late Model division and campaigned all over Michigan, Ontario, and the Mid-West before retiring from driving for a while only to be the Bishop Performance Legends Rookie of the year in 2010. These days, Eddie is focused on USAC racing and is planning a serious effort to not only do well next season in the USAC Silver Crown division but if funding can be secured, He would like to go back to his roots by fielding a car in the annual spectacle at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Eddie is very serious about his racing and Like Terry Bogusz Jr. they both realize that racing has changed from being a couple of guys in a truck with a race car to a family oriented sport that shows right on up from Go-Karts, Quarter Midgets, Legends Cars, and on up though the ranks of Stock Cars. Our 50/50 winner was Larry Spodek while our annual cheer raffle winners were Rick Sheppard, Tom Humbarger, and Lee Smith. Congratulations and Thank You for the contributions back to the club from your winnings. Your generosity will really help out with the Kid’s Christmas party.