Wayne County Outlook

Stockcar racing is good entertainment
Roger and Trish Eriksen
On the Dirt

Friday morning, the day of June 25, dawned overcast and rainy at the Clinton County Speedway, Kentucky’s super track.

The rain continued throughout the day and into early evening. For the second week in a row, the races had to be cancelled.

As of Friday, July 2, it will be 83,275 days since Congress declared our independence and the British fleet and army arrived in New York.

In commemoration of that day and the events both preceding and following that day, Trish is going to sing God Bless the USA followed by her vocal of The Star Spangled Banner prior to the start of the races. After intermission, the Road Hogs will race 20 laps for $400 to win. Be there!

Approximately one and one-half years ago, I sent the following letter to the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column at the Wayne County Outlook. Although I didn’t plan on it at that time, this letter served as the predecessor to our regular article, ON THE DIRT.

During the recent professional football playoffs and during the Superbowl, NASCAR featured an ad on television that stated the NASCAR drivers were the best stockcar drivers in the world.

There is no doubt in my mind that these drivers rank among the better drivers in the world. Indeed, many can be called excellent. But to categorically call them the best in the world does not do justice to the thousands of extremely talented stockcar drivers across the United States that have chosen not to race on the superspeedways.

If we were to interview football players from colleges such as Michigan State University or the University of Southern California, we would find it extremely rare to interview any player that did not want to play in the National Football League.

For the vast majority of these players it is a lifetime dream to play in the NFL. When we combine this fact with the very sophisticated player draft system used by the professional football teams we can then expect to see the best football players in the world playing in the NFL.

However, if we were to interview very talented stockcar drivers who drive on quarter and/or half-mile racetracks we would find a disproportionately high number of them who would turn down any offer to drive on a super-speedway.

When we combine this with the fact that no sophisticated driver draft system such as used by professional football exists within NASCAR, we then cannot expect to see the very best stockcar drivers driving on the super-speedways.

Those very talented drivers who decline to drive on the super-speedways display what I refer to as “rational intelligence.”

The moving energy with which a stockcar strikes a solid wall is a function of the square of its velocity. A driver on a super-speedway slamming into a wall at 180 mph hits with a force several times greater than does a driver on a quarter mile track who hits the wall at 60 mph. Hitting a wall at 60-mph hurts. Hitting a wall at 180 mph hurts a lot more.

Most very talented stockcar drivers who prefer to race on the short tracks are very familiar with the above and display their “rational intelligence” by choosing not to race on the super-speedways.

However, their decision to race on short tracks does not in any way decrease their talents and/or driving ability.

As example, I competed against a driver named Bud Koehler at Raceway Park near Chicago back in the 1960s and 1970s. Raceway Park was a quarter mile track.

At that time Bud had more than 450 career feature race victories. According to the Chicago Tribune he had won more feature races than any other driver in the country.

Koehler, a man who “cut his teeth” in open cockpit midget racers, turned down several offers to drive sprint cars and to drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

During the early 1970s, I drove as Koehler’s team partner. One evening during a quiet moment in the pit, I asked Bud why he turned down those many offers to drive at Indy. Bud looked at me very thoughtfully for a brief moment and then with his boot he drew a line in the gravel between us.

He said, “If you asked me to jump over this line one time I could do so very easily. If you asked me to jump over this line 500 times I might falter just once. And at Indianapolis if you falter, you’re dead.”

A typical or average short track stockcar driver is male, about 30 years old; he is married and has two children. Many own and operate their own business.

These stockcar drivers work at their business by day and they are at home with their families at night.

On weekends they travel with their families to a variety of short tracks and compete against other very talented, excellent drivers like themselves. After the races are over, they go home.

These stockcar drivers prefer this lifestyle as opposed to driving from state to state in a motor home nine months of the year and eating cold franks and beans for dinner.

Seeing a life-size image of themselves standing next to a cola bottle just doesn’t cut it with them. However, their decision to race on short tracks does not in any way decrease their talents and/or driving ability.

Forgive me for sticking a pin in your NASCAR balloon, but I do not believe that NASCAR drivers are categorically the best in the world. Some maybe, but others... If you desire to see some of the best stockcar drivers compete in lug nut to lug nut competition you need not drive to Talladega or Atlanta or Daytona, you only need drive to your local quarter mile speedway.

There you will see drivers competing on a short track because that is their preference. There you will see drivers that may qualify as being some of the “best in the world.”

Just remember that your local speedway is a dirt track. Proper attire is required. If you have spent the day working in the field and you have streaks of dried sweat on your arms you are properly dressed for the races.

If your kids have been playing in the dirt all day, they are properly dressed, also. Ladies, think about getting your hair done the day after the races, not the day before.

Part of the excitement of dirt track racing is watching the dust fly. Consider obtaining a good pair of safety glasses for each member of your family and wear them during the competition.

The safety glasses will keep small particles of dirt out of your eyes. The safety glasses that have side shields or the coverall type work well.

They are available at a low price from a variety of stores in the Albany or Monticello region.

Stockcar racing is good, wholesome entertainment for the entire family. You can bring your preacher and his wife with you. They will enjoy it, too.

(Less than one week after the above letter was published, Bud Koehler died from cancer at age 82. In 1949, Bud won both the midget title and the stockcar title at Raceway Park, the first of 11 stockcar season titles. In winning the midget title, Bud had to beat out his cousin, the late Tony Bettenhausen, who during the 1950’s became a two-time national champion in the Indy car series, and Duke Nalon, who, if memory serves me correctly, recorded a 2nd place finish at Indy during the 1950’s. When Bud passed away, racing lost one of its fiercest competitors and I lost a friend.)

Remember, this Friday evening, July 2, Clinton County Speedway, Kentucky’s super track, will feature Late Models, Open Wheels, Road Hogs, and Chevettes. The Road Hog feature race will be a 20 lap event that will pay $400 to the winner.

Have you ever been in a motel or other strange room at night and had to use the facilities?

Did you then bump into a door, or a chair, or some other piece of furniture? That really hurt, didn’t it? How fast were you walking, maybe two miles per hour? When you are driving 55 mph on state route 90, not only is your car going that fast, you are going that fast, also.

If your car suddenly stops, as in a head on collision, your car stops, but you continue to go 55 mph until something stops you.

Let your seat belt stop you, not your windshield.

Please buckle up! See y’all at the super track.

Reader Comments

Roger Rubino (2/20/2005)
Roger, I hung out with your son Dean at the Go kart track, and kind of remember your daughter Gwen, one night we all put money up and were going to have a race at Kartway, and it would pay off.Pretty cool for thirteen and fourteen year olds. Anyway we were racing and there was a wreck and dean was involved. He was yelling, I'll never be able to play baseball again! But he obviously wasn't hurt to bad. Kenny at the go-kart track was going to call an ambulance for him, and then he yelled at us for putting on a event that payed! Anyway when i turned 18, I started driving a tow truck for Billy Koenig, he e-mails me all the time. The season prior was Buds last year. He had the two Howe cars, and the old one with the 73 style camaro body just lying ou there rusting away. Anyway one dat he told me to run a chain through the windows, pick up the old body and chassis and take it to Fritz in Riverdale! I told him I couldn't do it, and of course he yelled at me and there I went down Ashland ave with the tow truck with the car picked up just floating throught the air. I think I got a whole 40 dollars that day. The Howe cars live on, One went to Joe D'ambrose and the other went to Craig Johnson. I ended up being a track champion at Illiana, in the sportsman division, which were faster than the Half of the late models at the time. Now I have what they call a turbo-stock and it races on the inside 1/4 mile at Illiana. You probably know it was rebuilt. I don't know if you knew Rick Dalcorrobo, he wrote for the old Lansing Sun, he was the town manager for Merrilville, In Sadly he perished in an automobile accident in August, I kind of built this retro 70' chevelle for guys like him, to have a little fun, and a retro respect for guys like Billy, but with his passing, and the costs of running that division, it seems pointless. Anyway the track makes you either rent a transponder for 20 dollars a night, or buy one for close to 300 dollars. So I would like to get back on the half mile. Anyway back to Billy, I was a kid, not knowing much, but he always spoke highly of Roger Erickson, and how intellegent he was. I probably wouldn't have been a champion without him! I still use things during the business day i learned from him. Some people will reminiss and say remember when Erickson drove for Billy, he was faster than the old man! I can't remember whicj car came first the Monte Carlo body or what! I'm sure you know about Jerry Kemperman's passing. He gave me the best advice I ever got had then I went on to win races. Pronger and Roulos taught him well. He would e-mail me all the time and i would always say hope you are feeling well and everybody asks about ya. They have a Chicagoland racing memorabilia show every spring, it March 13th this year. Tom Weckler and Stan Kalwasinski put it on. Still remember your big red sweatshirt tou used to wear. If you don't have Billy's andress I think its bilkoe77@aol.com Take care, I really like racing on the half mile at Illaina before they rebuilt it. It was old rickety and the guard rail looked like a snake down the back straightaway. When the sun was just right it blinded you for moment coming off of 2. You just pointed up and stabbed it and the next thing you knew you were through it and up along the wall. rogerrubino24@yahoo.com

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