Monthly Archives: November 2012

Winter Racing

The newly formed Midwest Indoor Racing Series had its first event in Flint on November 3rd and had a sellout crowd. They will be holding additional events at the Birch Run Expo center on December 22, 2012 and in Battle Creek at the Kellogg Arena on January 12, 2013. For full details be sure to check out their website at www.midwestindoorracingseries.com.

MT. Clemens Racetrack “Get Together”
Saturday, January 26th brings the 6th edition of the Mt. Clemens racetrack get together. Once again the fun gets started around 6 PM at the Kart 2 Kart indoor karting center in Sterling Hgts on Van Dyke near 19 mile rd. If you are racing you need to be there by 5:15 to register at 5:30. Thank You to Tom Urban for putting this event on every year.

We had another great meeting at Papio’s Food & Sprits in Reese Michigan this past November 10th. Greg and the staff at Papio’s gave us one side of the restaurant and with two servers the food was coming quick, hot, and good. Our first speaker of the day was Dave Hausebeck, the owner/promoter of the Arthur Raceway in Reese. For those of you that are maybe not familiar with the Arthur Raceway, it is located in Reese on M-15 ½ mile south of M-81 behind DHT Trucking and is a 1/8 mile clay oval that is set-up for Go Karts and features 10 different classes of karts with drivers ranging from the 5 years old to the, well, let’s just say capable of getting discounts. Racing action starts at 4 PM on Saturdays from early April to late September with practice starting at 2:30 PM. Dave shared with us how the race track got started by a group that wanted a place to race so they built the track behind the trucking shop and it just evolved into a leader in providing an outlet for those wanting to get a start in racing, move up the ladder, or just plain have fun without spending a lot of money to go racing. The main emphasis at Arthur is clean racing and sportsmanship. Our second speaker was Jim Lamb, Competition Director at Waterford Hills Road Racing in Clarkston and the driver of the bright orange #17 D Sports Racer at the track located at the Oakland County Sportsmen’s Club. Jim shared with us how his roots in racing are actually with the NHRA and Drag Racing. For those of us familiar with Drag racing Jim shared that He has a couple of those nifty statues of a guy and a tire that are known as “Wally’s” which are won at a National Event for garnering a class win. After a number of years driving very fast cars in a straight line, Jim was approached by a friend about driving a car that was meant to turn not just left but right as well. He liked the idea and off He went to Waterford Hills and started Road racing. While not real fast at first, Jim quickly learned the skills needed to be smooth and fast through the turns of a road course and eventually won his class championship. (Top Left: Dave Hausebeck, Top Right: Jim Lamb) (Bottom Left: Chuck Darling, Bottom Right: Steve Puvalowski)

Jim spoke about the track out at Waterford Hills which is a 1.5 mile, 12 turn road course with elevation changes nestled in the heart of the Oakland County Sportsmen’s Club. There are 6 racing weekends a year which consist of Saturday qualifying, a class race on Saturday and then both a class race and finale on Sunday. The races get going around 10 am and are done before 6 pm. The different classes are put out on to the track in “Run Groups” of about 20-30 cars at a time and the 2012 car count was  approx. 90 cars a weekend. All racing is run under the rules of the SCCA and can include anything from a formula-V (Volkswagen powered with skinny wheels) on up to full blown Corvettes, Camaro’s and Mustangs, with many other types of cars in between. Their biggest event is Vintage Weekend in July which was our MARFC Day this past summer. Jim will be bringing his potent machine to be on display at our banquet in January. Next up was Chuck “The Flounder” Darling the “East Side” voice of the MCR Dwarf Series and the Founder of the Michigan Short Track Racing Club (MSTRC). Chuck spoke about the MCR Dwarf series and what his duties are and how much He is enjoying being one of “The Voices of Summer” along with his partner Kyle “Flipper” Trinklien who is  the “West Side” voice of the MCR Dwarfs Series. Chuck spoke about the upcoming 10th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament to be held in Owosso at the Capital Bowl on February 9, 2013. This is one of the major events held in the winter off season that brings the racing community together to raise funds for those in our midst to help them through a tough spot in life. Over the years the MSTRC and its members have helped out many in racing including a track clean-up/ fix-up back in the early days as well as having a ton of input into the early phases of the Template Bodied/Crate Motored Late Models evolution we see in today’s racing. We’ll have more on the Bowling Tournament in the January 2013 MARFC Messenger. Steve Puvalowski  of the Tri-City Motor Speedway was also on hand and He shared with us how the closing of the mine shaft on the speedway property was coming along. Steve shared with us the process that is used to do that type of thing and that when it is done the shaft will be forever closed off. Plans at Tri-City for 2013 include double file restarts, more grandstands and the bathrooms should be done along with better plans to handle the larger crowds they experienced this past season. All the plans are just another way of providing the fans a pleasurable experience at the Tri-City Motor Speedway in 2013 and beyond. Yours truly won the 50/50 drawing and donated it back to the Children’s Christmas party. A big Thank You to Denny Trinklien for getting this meeting set up and to all those for attending.

As I write this it is the day after Thanksgiving and I am upstairs in the office pondering and remembering. Yes, the Christmas season is upon us and with it comes the shopping and the over eating and the parties, and the celebrations. Be safe and enjoy yourself but also I ask that you stop and take a look around to look in the children’s eyes to see the awe and wonderment they hold as they look at the Christmas tree or see Santa Claus.  I am thankful for our tracks, our drivers, our fans, and for all those that I had the opportunity to speak with or watch a race with this past year and look forward to doing more of that in the coming year. With all that said, from my family to your family and from our Board of Directors I say, “Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year”. Congratulations to Brad Keselowski, Roger Penske, and the entire Penske organization on winning the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. Both Brad and Roger have received top honors at our annual Awards Banquet and it is great to see this Michigan based team and native Michigander bring “The Cup” back to Michigan. Speaking of the banquet, tickets make the best Christmas present of all as well as a membership or renewal of membership to MARFC.

As the racing season is behind us now I just wanted to say Thank You to all of our Member Tracks for hosting the Fan Club Days this past summer, your partnership is what makes this all possible. I also wish to say Thank You to all those who have donated their time, efforts, and resources this past year to help out with all of our events. Maybe you said hello, maybe you stood at the table for a while or maybe you sent a note to Thank Us for what we do. I want all of you to know that your participation and donations make a difference and we can always use your help at any time. Please stay involved as this is your club. Get Well to Gary Former Board member and Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame member Gary Lindahl, the voice of the Flat Rock and Toledo Speedways has had his second hip replaced just before Thanksgiving. He was released from the hospital in time to be home for Thanksgiving. I had a great chat with him and He said he is doing very well and says Thank You for the prayers, calls, and good thoughts and is looking forward to being at out 47th Annual Awards Banquet on January 19, 2013. Questions or comments please direct them to me at my e-mail at president@marfc.org. Until later “We’ll see you at the Races”.

The first meeting of our off season was held on October 20, 2012 at DeCarlo’s Banquet Center in Warren. We had three guest speakers and also drew the winners in our annual Cheer Raffle. First prize of $300 went to Richard Stevens of Albion, Second prize of $150 went to Rudy Walkley of Ludington, and Third prize of $100 went to Thomas Hunt of Jackson, congratulations to all of our winners and thank you to all who bought or sold tickets and thank you to all three winners who made donations back to our Childrens Christmas Party. Our first speaker was Jim Hanks of Must See Racing and the Extreme Motor Sports Sprint Car and Super Modified Series. Jim shared a bit about his history in racing and then really shared his passion for open wheel racing, especially the fire breathing Winged Sprint Cars and the wild and wooly Super Modifieds. Must See Racing has been around a few years and has been putting on Sprint Car races all over the Mid-West and as far south as Pensacola Florida and Mobile, Alabama. Must See Racing has some big things on tap for 2013 that include televised coverage of ten Sprint Car shows on Fox Sports Net with more coming in the Super Modified portion  once all the final preparations and scheduling are completed.  Jim’s passion for Auto Racing, the fans, and the drivers was very evident in his speaking especially as He spoke about the big three day event they have partnered up with the city of Winchester Indiana next spring that will include Winged Sprints one night, Super Modifieds the next night, and a speed trial on another night at Winchester Speedway that they are inviting the fastest of the fast to see just who really is the fastest. All that culminates later on with the running of the “Little 500” at Anderson Speedway, just up the road from Winchester. The Must See Racing group has put on races at eleven different tracks in five states with over sixty race teams and looks to do even more in 2013. Truthfully, Jim shared so much that it I could write an entire newsletter on what this Michigan based organization has on tap for 2013 and beyond with not only 15 Sprint Car races, 10 Super Modified Races, and their 48 ft. Fan Zone trailer that includes an actual alcohol breathing Super Modified with a starter that fans can get their picture taken in as well as hit the starter button, crank it up and actually feel the rumble and smell the fumes from the 800 horsepower alcohol breathing monster under the hood. This group put on races at Kalamazoo, Berlin, and the Auto City Speedways in 2012 and is looking to do the same if not more in 2013. Their website is www.mustseeracing.com if you want take a look.

 As Jim wound down, He brought up his friend and our 2012 MARFC/Eddie Sachs Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Tom Bigelow who traveled from Indiana to be a part of our meeting. Tom started off by sharing about being raised on a farm in Wisconsin and as a kid, heard the radio broadcast of the Indianapolis 500. Upon hearing that broadcast Tom was bitten by the racing bug and let it be known that He was going to race in that race someday. He made good on his promise and raced in that race 9 times with a best finish of sixth in 1977. Tom shared a few stories with the group and also spoke about the budding careers of his grand kids and you could just sense the pride that He has in what they are doing. Tom spoke about getting his start in racing by driving Stock Cars back at Sun Prairie Wisconsin and how he learned early on how to get one of those cars to act like turtle with its wheels stuck up in the air. When asked what his favorite track was he said that really he liked them all but mostly liked Winchester and Eldora as Tom’s career never pigeon-holed him into being either a pavement or a dirt driver.

Scott Menlen was also on hand and shared with us about the new Promotional group that He is a part of called the “Midwest Indoor Racing Series”. They will have their first indoor race on November 3rd in Flint and will then have another race on December 22nd in Birch Run. The group is planning on hosting Winged and Non Winged Mini Sprints as well as go-karts, Legends cars, Quarter Midgets, Lawn mowers , and Mini Cups.  Thier website is www.MidwestIndoorRacingSeries.com and they will have races in the Perani Arena in Flint and in the Birch Run Expo Center in Birch Run.

(Top Left: Jim Hanks Top Right: Tom Bigelow) (Bottom: Scott Menlen)