2007 Minutes

President’s Desk

August 2007

If you didn’t attend the 4th Annual MARFC Family Picnic you missed the best one yet. Even with the hot temperatures everyone on hand had a fantastic time. Lots of food and the high-light of the day were the games that had young and old entertained most of the day. Many thanks to Chef Larry Iacoboni for his great barbeque skills and to all the others who helped set up and clean up after I say a big Thank You to you all. Many thanks to those who lent a helping hand during the games as judges and game coordinators. Special thanks to all who donated extra game prizes and funds to ensure a great time for all. For all of you who brought a dish to pass thanks again for your support. I know that the entire board and all the kids had a great time and we look forward to our 5th Annual Picnic in 2008. Remember that our MIS Fan Club Day event is on August 17th and you will need to go to the main ticket office near GATE #24 and show your current membership card at that time to receive a hard event ticket to use at the entrance gates. Remember GATE # 24 ticket office only! Hope to see many of you there and have a great time.

Wild Bill

MARFC President

MARFC HISTORY SEGMENT: The Auction Part II By: Bill Stone 

Good Ole Dave Marcis # 71 NASCAR Driver was driving the Life Boy Dodge at that time sent the club a case of soap with each bar autographed by Dave and he cleaned out his garage fan blades and spare parts along with a stand up full size poster of himself autographed. We also auctioned off the fan clubs old Underwood typewriter with one bad key. Fran Russo just happened to be there selling ½ & ½ tickets which was a big help in adding to the clubs amount. MARFC was back in business with enough money to send out the newsletters again. Jack Calabrase was a USAC midget driver and was also on the MARFC board, gave the fan club the hood from his midget race car to be auctioned off. The bidding wasn’t getting as high as I thought it should be so I, started bidding to get the price up and as luck would have it. I now own an autographed midget race car hood.

July Events

CHERRY SPEEDWAY

Cool but dry night for some outstanding dirt racing on the
west side of the state. It is great to have Cherry Speedway back on our
schedule again after a few seasons away. Our MARFC Uniform/Helmet bag was
given to a young driver Chad Wright for the hard luck he has had this
season. A couple of weeks before we were there he and his family were
heading home after the races and was in a bad accident and his truck and
race car were damaged. Thank the Lord for no major injuries to his family.
With help from others he is back racing. Many thanks to Al Lardie and crew
for having us back.

KALAMAZOO SPEEDWAY

Mother Nature didn’t keep fans from a great night of
racing at Kalamazoo. Our Secretary Treasurer Sue Ginter was on hand to greet
members at our Fan Club table and presented our MARFC Uniform/ Helmet bag to
Late Model # 84 driver Mike Brooks. Mike was chosen because of his
willingness to help fellow racer who was injured in a fiery crash a few
weeks before. He and a few others built a bomber class car to raffle off
with the benefits going to driver Steve Leafdale. Great job guys! Thank you
to Gary & Donna Howe for having us again this year.

MT. PLEASANT SPEEDWAY

Sunny day & cool evening for our trip to Mt.
Pleasant. Glad to see many new and old members stop by and say Hi! Fantastic
side by side racing all night long. Mini Stock # 7 driver Andy Mogg was
given our MARFC bag for his weekly support of his division and the speedway.
Many thanks to Betty Crook and staff for allowing us into her great facility
again in 2007. To “Shut Up” Roger thanks for the PR job.

FLAT ROCK SPEEDWAY

Another fantastic night of racing with nearly 100 cars
in the pit area was great. Club members were treated to a Christmas in July
raffle as well as some great racing along with meeting some great local
racing old timers on hand. Figure “8” driver # 09 Billy Earley was awarded
our MARFC bag for his support of his division along with a little hard luck
this season. Many thanks to Ron Drager, Scott Schultz and staff for another
great night of racing.

July 23, 2007

Attention all MARFC MEMBERS!

Due to some scheduling changes for the Toledo Speedway our MARFC Fan Club Day Event for September 21, 2007 has been cancelled. The following is a bulletin from ARCA:

The 19th running of the Miller Lite Glass City 200, presented by National City Bank and Allegiant Air, will also undergo several scheduling changes. The Friday night show has been eliminated, with an optional practice session for the Late Models and Sportsman set from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. September 21.

The new schedule will have racing only on Saturday, September 22. The Late Model invitational will have 1 change made to their program, as the B Main feature winner will now move to the 200 field. This will take the place of the “Lucky Dog” Award. Practice, qualifying, last-chance races, the B Main and the 200 make up the race card for the Late Models. The ARCA Sportsman class will compete in a 40 lap main event and the ARCA Factory Stocks also have a feature race slated for the Saturday event.

Practice will begin at noon September 22, time trials are set for 3:30 and racing has a special start time of 5 p.m. for the event. A rain date of Sunday, September 23 at 1 p.m. has been established. Scout Night has now been moved to the Saturday event, with all scouts in uniform admitted free of charge. All Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club and Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club members will receive a $5 discount on a Saturday ticket when showing their membership card at the ticket window September 22.

We thank the Toledo Speedway for advising us of this change and hope that this discount will benefit many of you who planned on attending the Glass City 200 any way.

Sincerely,

Bill Barnhart
President MARFC

July 9, 2007

Photo courtesy of Robert Michon/Performance Images

We here at the Michigan Automobile Racing Fan Club have just learned of the tragic and untimely death of a great Late Model Driver Lee Anderson in a boating accident. Our deepest sympathies go out to the Family and Friends of Lee at this time.

Although our hearts are heavy with this loss, we do know that Lee is in God’s care now. Gods Speed!

Bill Barnhart
President MARFC

President’s Desk

July 2007

What a month that we have had. Not only was Mother Nature not nice to many of the racers, fans and race tracks across the state but, there has been some great losses this past month also. With the loss of the best leader NASCAR had in Bill France Jr. to the loss of club member Buck Harson’s father who pass away last month. We are also saddened of the news that Clyde and Hermina Wright both passed away with in the last few months. They were long time supporters and members of our club and we will miss them dearly.

May God be with all the families at this sad time! 

We have also learned of the passing of NHRA Top Fuel Driver Doug Kalitta’s father Douglas F. Kalitta this past week. He was the proprietor of Doug’s Welding Supply in Chesterfield Township for 45 years. Doug was a friend to many in the Mt. Clemens area and was also the brother to legendary drag racer and owner Connie Kalitta. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Kalitta family.  

Wild Bill

MARFC President

MARFC HISTORY SEGMENT: The Auction By: Bill Stone  

I am a charter member of MARFC, and back in time I was called on to return, to lead the club again. The club was very short on funds and there was not enough to send out a newsletter at the time. The out going President gave me a copy machine, ink, and an old movie projector and a hand full of stamps which was not enough for a newsletter mailing. At the time postage had just went up in price from .25 cents to .29 cents so I used them “Wisely”.  

I send out letters begging for items to have an auction. I was working at the Michigan International Speedway at that time, and Darwin Doll was the track President then. He told me that they were holding a flea market and auction two day event in two weeks and he would wave the fee to enter the auction for the club. A good friend Dennis Castelle who more than once was the master of ceremonies at our fan club banquets agreed to be our auctioneer and what a job he did. 

Stay tuned to read part two about the auction in the August newsletter.

June Events

NAARFC CONVENTION: We had 19 members attend the annual convention breakfast this year and they were treated to seeing two new members inducted into the Nationals hall of fame and they were Rick Mears and Stan Fox. Tony Hullman George was on hand to present a letter of commendation to President Lee Holst for his 47 plus years of service as President of the National. Great job Lee!

Photo’s from Paul Anton!

TOLEDO SPEEDWAY

Another great evening for racing was had by the fans at Toledo. Our MARFC Uniform/Helmet Bag was given to sportsman driver # 78 Andy Harding for outstanding rookie of the season so far and nearly in the top ten in points already. Many Thanks to Ron Drager, Roy Mott and the staff at the speedway for a great evening.

FLAT ROCK SPEEDWAY: Mother Nature pulled a fast one on us from hot and sunny to a severe thunderstorm to cancel our MARFC night at the speedway. Thank you to Scott Schultz and staff for rescheduling this event for July 21, 2007.

BUTLER MOTOR SPEEDWAY: Great night weather wise for racers and fans! Our first trip to the dirt for 2007 was outstanding. Terry Sroufe the 2006 Late Model Champion from Huntington, IN received our bag and Doug Jakeway, Larry Iacoboni & I were manning our MARFC at the table for the evening. Thanks Ralph & Ryan Warning and all the gang at Butler for the invite again this season
BUTLER MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Great night weather wise for racers and fans! Our first trip to the dirt for 2007 was outstanding. Terry Sroufe the 2006 Late Model Champion from Huntington, IN received our bag and Doug Jakeway, Larry Iacoboni & I were manning our MARFC at the table for the evening. Thanks Ralph & Ryan Warning and all the gang at Butler for the invite again this season.

GALESBURG SPEEDWAY

Once again another outstanding night with Mother Nature finally giving us the sun. Our trip to the speedway was an exciting one with lots of action. The MARFC Uniform/Helmet Bag went to late model # 27 Torch Osterhouse. Once again thank you to the Warning’s for a great time and look forward to next season.

I-96 SPEEDWAY

Not too hot just right for some fantastic dirt track racing.
Jason Smith driver of modified # 71 was the winner of our MARFC Uniform/Helmet Bag by venture of the luck of the draw at the drivers meeting. To Mike Mouch and staff we say Thank you for having us again this year and can’t wait until next year’s event. Great to see many of our members stop by to say Hi.

CRYSTAL MOTOR SPEEDWAY: By Dave DeHem: Bright & cooler weather on hand for some awesome dirt track racing. The MARFC Uniform/Helmet ban was presented to Modified # 4s driver Toby Steele. Toby’s granddaughter had cancer a year ago and Toby spent countless hours at the hospital where he became a grandfather to many of the kid’s with cancer. He took them many pictures of race cars and just plain made a huge difference for these kids and their families. The track recognized him for his selflessness and commitment to others before himself. His Granddaughter is doing just fine now and Toby is well respected and very humble as he didn’t do any of this for himself but for the good of others. To Ron Flinn and Roger Williams many thanks for making our day fun and exciting.