Daily Archives: January 27, 2019

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MARFC 53rd Annual Awards Banquet Recap!

Sorry for the delay on the 2019 53rd Annual Awards Banquet Recap! Been quite a whirlwind this past month. So here we go! Just over 400 folks braved through what Mother Nature had for us that evening and all had a great time once they arrived. Randy “Wolfman” Adam started out a little slow but, picked up the pace and by the time he was finished we did 100 in just about an hour. Great Job Randy! Our top award winners were: The Presidents Awards to Stanton Nawrocki aka Rocky Fisher. Longtime MARFC member and open wheel racer as well as belonging to several racing hall of fames was on hand with his entire family all the way for Fort Wayne, Indiana. Our Vito LoPiccolo Memorial Award winner Ron Drager was on hand to accept his award and was greatly appreciative of the award named after his good friend Vito. Vito’s daughter Linda was there to help with the presentation. Jack Hewitt was unable to be at the banquet be sent his greatest thanks to MARFC for the 2018 Eddie Sachs Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award. Fox Sports Broadcaster Matt Yocum also made the trek up to Michigan to receive our MARFC Media Award for 2018. Matt talked about the grass root racing here in our state as well as the younger kids coming up in racing especially the young ladies. He said there was a time the ladies didn’t even come to the races and now they are a main part of our sport.

MARFC Special Appreciation Awards went to long time member Jack Oakley who donates his time to video tape many of the racing here in Michigan for the racers and fans who love our sport just as much as he does. Next John & Kathy Naida were presented an appreciation award for the many years of service they gave to the SOD Sprints on Dirt Series as they plan on passing the torch to new owners this season. Then our Special awards were presented to: Arthur Raceway as MARFC Promoter of the Year, with Jimmy Tucker taking home the MARFC Mechanic of the Year honors. MARFC/ Randall Ginter Fan of the Year went the longtime member John Grzeck for his loyalty to the club and the many events he attended this past season. MSPA Promoter of the Year Award was presented by MSPA President Ron Drager to Gary & Donna Howe of the Kalamazoo Speedway. MARFC Appreciation Awards were also handed out to Barb Gullett for her work on our annual children’s Christmas Party as well as working hard as Secretary/Treasurer of our club. Rick Kilborn, Tyler Moore, Matt Szecsodi & Caiden Baily were all given awards for bringing their racers through the snow infested weather and have them on display. Thanks to all the helpers who assisted setting up and taking down for the banquet.