Wayne County Outlook

Hogue wins the Open Wheel Trophy Dash
Roger and Trish Eriksen

Last Friday evening, July 2, turned out to be a very special evening at the Clinton County Speedway, Kentucky’s super track. Trish opened the evening’s program by singing the song written by Lee Greenwood, God Bless the USA.

This very patriotic song happens to be my favorite. Open Wheel driver, Jeff Cotterman, gave the invocation.

Jeff speaks from the heart and includes you in his prayer, regardless of your religious affiliation or lack of it.

Trish then sang our national anthem. I never cease to be amazed at her ability to reach the line, “And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,” with her alto voice.

After Trish and Jeff finished, I glanced over at R&T 93, and at BP93 and number 97 and 17. My thoughts were on why we were all here and what we were about to do.

And I couldn’t help but think, “And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.”

Ryan Hogue, in car F17, jumped out in front and won the Open Wheel Trophy Dash. Current Open Wheel points leader Dwight Chitwood, driving his number 203 car, followed Ryan.

Mike Watson, in car 55, finished 3rd. We were off and racing at the super track.

The Road Hog’s fast qualifier, Gerald Haynes, Jr., driving his number 27 car, won the Trophy Dash.

Gene Roark, in car J1, finished 2nd, and Barton Williams, in car BP93, finished 3rd.

In the September 26, 2003 issue of the Wayne County Outlook, I wrote, “I don’t think there is a Road Hog at the super track that gets off the corner any quicker than Gerald’s. The rear tires of his car just dig into the dirt as he drives full throttle off the corner.” My only comment now is, “Ditto to that.”

The Chevette Trophy Dash seesawed between Eddie Stewart, in car 119, and Scott Shelton, in car 3M.

Scott, running the low groove, would come under Eddie coming off the corner and gain the lead. A lap later, Eddie would pass Scott by using the high groove and regain the lead. These two drivers seesawed like this three times during the six-lap event.

At the end, Eddie took the checkered flag. Brian Nation, in car K3, finished a close 3rd.

I won the Road Hog Heat Race. For me, that was a very special first time victory at the super track.

My son, Dean, whom I hadn’t seen in almost two years, phoned me from his home in Seattle about 10 days before and said he was flying in for the races on July 2.

Dean rented a car at the airport in Nashville and then drove to Albany. He arrived at our home at about 4:30 p.m.

After much hugging and telling each other how great we looked (Dean wasn’t wearing his glasses), we drove to the speedway.

Winning that heat race meant a great deal to me. Later that night at home, Dean and Trish and I all looked at each other. ¨

Valerie Hutchinson records that information and maintains constant, direct communication with Shane and the ‘Colonel.’

Mark Boston wears the head set and maintains communication with starter, Tommy Landom, and with Tommy Craig at the pit entrance/exit. These people also act as umpires.

According to the rules, a car that causes a yellow flag must go to the rear when the race once again goes green.

If a car spins out by itself, then that car must go to the rear of the pack. If one car spins out another, then the car causing the spin must go to the rear.

These are judgment calls, and those calls are made by a consensus of opinion of all aforementioned people just like in other sports that use umpires and referees.

Race night after race night these people do an outstanding job. Without them, we don’t race.

Late Model driver, Tim Tungate, in car number 18, won his 3rd feature race of the season.

However, Dustin Neat, in car 25, kept the pressure on Tim throughout the entire race. Chris Wilson, in car 5, finished 3rd, Tony Morris, in car 31, finished 4th, and Junior Brown, in the familiar number 23J, finished 5th. During the race, Lee Branscum, in car 98, dropped his driveshaft.

Joe Patrick, in the number 54 car, ran over Lee’s driveshaft and it tore a hole in Joe’s oil pan. Joe leaked oil completely around the track.

We can only hope that Joe was able to shut his engine down in time without causing any internal damage. Those types of repairs can be extremely expensive.

Gerald Haynes, Jr. won the Road Hog Feature Race. Gene Roark finished 2nd, Barton Williams was 3rd, John Dobbs finished 4th, and yours truly finished 5th.

This 20-lap race paid $400 to win. With the cost of racing being what it is, I’m sure Gerald has a slot for each dollar to go into.

Eddie Stewart won the Chevette Feature Race. Ronnie Choate, Jr. finished 2nd, Cecil Stewart finished 3rd, Brian Nation finished 4th, and Scott Shelton finished 5th. This race ended a super night of racing at the super track!

I am about to he “booted” out of my chair. Trish has something she wants to write in this electronic gadget.

My husband would never write a lot about himself because he feels our article(s) should be about others.

I am writing this paragraph as the other half of this writing team. Roger has been waiting for this day for over a year now.

And as proud as I am of his winning a heat race, I am prouder of the fact that he had the ambition—a vision—to build a stockcar that he could race.

He started from scratch with just a bare frame on the garage floor.

Even though there were times when he thought about giving up, because everything that could go wrong did, he didn’t. (Roger’s nickname for the car is “Revision.”)

He persevered, and that is the reason he was in the winner’s circle. He read every dirt track book he could get his hands on, and he talked to everyone he could find that knew something about dirt track cars.

Roger was frequently on the road picking up items for the car, and he worked in our garage nearly every day from morning until night until R&T93 became a reality.

My husband had a vision and knew that it would take a lot of work to see his vision become reality.

My husband is 65 years old, but he is still very much “in it.” He sees something he wants to achieve and he sets out to obtain that goal. My husband is very young in his attitude and he wants to make the most of his lifetime.

It matters not your age, what matters is your heart, your soul, your attitude toward life, and what you want to accomplish in your lifetime.

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