Dirt Racer Magazine "November 2015" by Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

3 ~ The Imfamous “F” word in Racing

November 2015

4 ~ Driver Profile : Shayle Bade

www.DirtRacerMagazine.com

7 ~ Justin Kay Repeats Championships

Publisher Chris Damitz

10 ~ Gary Webb’s Dominate Late Model Restored

Contributing Writers Brad Hines Anthony Sandoval Bret Sievertsen

14 ~ Sprint Invader Season Championships

Contributing Photographers Chris Damitz Bret Sievertsen

16 ~ A Career that Shines Like a Black Diamond 18 ~ Quad City Speedway’s Hall of Fame Class of 2015 22 ~ Snap Shots with Chris Damitz 23 ~ Track Directory

Dirt Racer Magazine is published monthly

cover photos by Chris Damitz, except Shayle photo by Crystill Clear Photography - page 2 insert photo by Katelyn Damitz

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

The Infamous “F” Word in Racing By Brad Hines When I say the “F” word it’s not what you think. In racing the “F” word I’m referring to is ten times worse than the one you’re thinking about. Fans, drivers, car owners, and pit crew member say it all the time. Promoters and track officials I’ve been around hate it. Favoritism - the practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another. Drivers, fans, owners, and crew member claim it goes on night in and night out when things aren’t going the way they had hoped. Fans shout it when their driver doesn’t win. Promoters hear it from the opening night to the final race of the season. I’ve been going to races since before I can remember and some of my first racing memories are at the Quad City Speedway, then the East Moline Speedway, and people screaming favoritism to the high heavens about Rob Toland and his father Bobby Toland, the promoter at the time. Some of it may have had merit I don’t quite remember first hand. I’ve heard stories but everyone knows how stories grow over the years.

Over the last decade I’ve worked with and for several area promoters. Some I’ve gotten to know pretty well. During my time as an official I’ve learned that not a single driver is favored over another. No promoter says #1 is my favorite and #2 is getting the shaft. I have learned, and it’s just like every single other sport in the world, some drivers earn the benefit of the doubt. Is that right, I’m not sure. I think one of the true issues is consistency on calls made by officials. I know firsthand how hard that can be because no two calls are ever the exactly the same. No matter how you make the tough calls someone will be calling favoritism. Officials are human and will never get every call during a season correct, no official in any sport does, and there is no instant replay or someone from the pits throwing a red challenge flag. I believe the other main issue is the lack of knowledge of the rules by officials, drivers/crews, and fans. There are many ways you could attempt to correct that but with all rules there are gray areas and the way people interoperate the rules. DRM photo by Chris Damitz

IMCA Late Models making four wide racing look easy at Quad City Speedway in East Moline, IL.

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

Shayle Bade Birthday: July 24, 1992

Occupation: Body mechanic, Car painter, professional Hydro dipping Class & Car #: 305 Sprint Chassis builder: Triple XXX Engine builder: Roger Hayden Tracks / Race series you race: Eagle Raceway, I-30 Speedway, Beatrice Speedway, Rising City, I-80 Speedway, Sprint Series of Nebraska

Crew: My Father; Butch Bade, Mother; Michelle, Sisters; Chantel & Mariah Bade, Chris Helget, Jeremy Crowther, Dick Shiveley, Mike Dreier, Rick Bogenreif Sponsors: MDR & HYDROGLYPHICS, Carpet Land, Chix Gear Racewear, Sark Tile, Helget Construction, Fremont Roofing, Rowe Graphics, Pioneer Printing, Atlas Flooring

Official Website: www.shaylebaderacing03.com

photos by Crystill Clear Photography

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

1. How did you get into racing? Bless my dads heart when he was given 4 girls! I'm the second oldest we are all 4 years apart, when I was 8 years old my dad asked me "Shayle do you want to race go-karts?" Not having a very good idea what I was getting into it say yes. We drove out to Nebraska City Raceway my dad strapped my helmet down told me this is the gas and this is the break and told me to go. My first time on the track was so traumatic I didn't want to go out again. But my dad had the biggest smile on his face when we asked me if I liked it. I told him I did and went to the truck to cry because it was horrible! That week we took the go kart home and I took it up and down our street about 1000 times till I was comfortable. I was hell on wheels ever since. 2. What's the reason behind your car number? There is actually no real reason behind our number. When we took that go kart home dad asked me what color do I want it and what should we have for numbers. I wanted a red, white and blue car looking like the flag and he kind of picked the number. He suggested 3 because that's what Earnhardt was so we made it our own by adding a 0 in front and 03 has stuck ever since. 3. Who is you racing hero's? Tony Stewart, because he races with the general public and all the drivers and crews get to interact

with him and get to know him on a personal level. 4. What's your favorite racing moment? Favorite racing moment in 2007 winning the Big Kahuna! A Kahuna is a 50 lap race if you lap a car they get kicked off the track. You refuel at the half way point at lap 25. For winning you get a huge trophy and $1,000 check including a Kahuna Champion helmet. We led all 50 laps and would have been the only car on the field I'd 2nd and 3rd didn't take each other out coming to the white flag. Best moment in my racing career. Still to this day we are the only female to win a Jr. Kahuna 5. What's your least favorite racing moment? Anytime we raced micro sprints at Sweet Springs, Missouri. We always have a rough time there. In 2012 we went through 22 motors that season, mostly different motor builders. We thought the motor builder was having problems but it was just there monkey on our back. That year I caught fire 6 times! By time number 4, I stopped flying out of my car and started taking my time because this was now becoming such a normal thing for me now. That had to be the worse season we ever had! 6. Do you have any superstitions on race day? Yes, none of my team members can wear green on race day, not even your undies also we don't eat chicken.

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

7. What's your favorite track food? I don't eat to much track food myself but I absolutely love when my mom makes her sloppy joes! 8. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in your CD player right now? After opening it up its been a few years! I have 5 remixed country cds. I love my country music! 9. What is your favorite TV show / movie? This changes from time to time. Right now my favorite tv shows are Ink Master and The Strain. My favorite movie of all time is We Are Marshall. I have seen that movie a dozen times and each time I cry like a baby. 10. What do you do when you're not racing? When I'm not racing I'm catering to my little piggy, working, at the gym or trying to find some County dancing place. I love to swing dance! 11. What's your favorite sport / team besides racing? Since I'm born and raised in the good state of Nebraska all we really have is our college football

team Go Huskers! This year hasn't been to good for us! But win or lose I'm still a Husker fan. 12. If you could have dinner with anyone, it would be? Warren Buffett, I would like to ask him a few questions about life and how to be so successful. 13. What has been the best advise you've received? In the racing world the best advice I've lived by since I was 8 years old is patience. In any kind of racing you need to be patient and wait for your mark and time to pass. This has saved me from making some dumb mistakes and saved a few cars. 14. Describe yourself in three words. Passionate, racing, family 15. If you could change one thing about racing today, what would it be? I really wish we had more race track to run at. It seems like every year more tracks are closing rather than opening. DRM

photo by Crystill Clear Photography

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

Justin Kay captures third straight IMCA Late Model national crown

Justin Kay joined some pretty good company by winning another IMCA Late Model national championship. From Wheatland, Kay won a division-best 17 features and the track championship at Dubuque Speedway to total 814 points and top the national standings for a third consecutive season. That matches the accomplishment of 2010-2012 king Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill. Kay earns a $5,500 share of a $21,300 point fund to be paid to top 20 finishers in the national ranks. “The first one is still the best but the third one is pretty cool,” Kay said. “National championships get tougher to win. It’s cool to be able to do it three years in a row.” Runner-up Matt Ryan of Davenport was just three points off the pace. He raced to 11 feature wins and track titles at Davenport Speedway, Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa and Quad City Speedway in East Moline, Ill., plus the Allstar Performance Illinois State crown. Two-time national champion Todd Cooney of Des Moines, Ryan Griffith of Webster City and Andy Nezworski of Buffalo completed the top five. Nevada’s Paul Nagle earned national rookie of the year as well as Allstar Performance Iowa State championship honors. He was 13th nationally. As many as 20 bonus points, based on average car counts, were awarded for track and special series championships. Ryan got 20

story by Bill Martin ~ IMCA photos by Chris Damitz

points for his Davenport title, the highest from among his three local titles. Kay’s Dubuque crown was accompanied by 17 bonus points. Other track champions, with bonus points in parenthesis, were Jeff Aikey of Cedar Falls at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway in Des Moines (13); Tyler Bruening of Decorah at Farley Speedway (19); Cooney, at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan (14); Tyler Droste of Waterloo at Independence Motor Speedway (17); Ryan Griffith of Webster City at his hometown Hamilton County Speedway (12); and Kevin Kile at his hometown West Liberty Raceway (16). John Emerson of Waterloo ruled the Sunday Series (14) held at Stuart Speedway and Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Kay now owns 58 feature wins over the course of his weekly IMCA Late Model career, all but one of them coming in the last three years. He’ll next try to join Guss as the only drivers to win both national and Deery Brothers Summer Series crowns in back-to-back seasons. Guss did so in 2010 and 2011. Darrel DeFrance of Marshalltown is also a three-time Late Model national champion, with the 1993, 2006 and 2007 titles to his credit. Final events of the 2015 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season for Late Models were held Aug. 30 and standings become official on Sept. 28. DRM

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

Justin in victory lane at Cedar County Raceway.

IMCA Late Model National top 20 point standings 1. Justin Kay, Wheatland, Iowa, 814 2. Matt Ryan, Davenport, Iowa, 811 3. Todd Cooney, Des Moines, Iowa, 801 4. Ryan Griffith, Webster City, Iowa, 769 5. Andy Nezworski, Buffalo, Iowa, 760 6. Tyler Bruening, Decorah, Iowa, 757 7. John Emerson, Water足loo, Iowa, 751 8. Joel Callahan, Dubuque, Iowa, 747 9. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa, 742 10. Jon Merfeld, Dubuque, Iowa, 736 11. Jeremy Grady, Story City, Iowa, 735 12. Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, Iowa, 726 13. Paul Nagle, Nevada, Iowa, 725 14. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill., 720 15. Ben Nading, Ankeny, Iowa, 716 16. Jonathan Brauns, Muscatine, Iowa, 716 17. Nate Beuseling, Silvis, Ill., 711 18. Brian Harris, Davenport, Iowa, 706 19. Daul足ton Maassen, Avoca, Iowa, 704 20. Tyler Droste, Waterloo, Iowa, 700

photos by Chris Damitz

Justin trying to pass Aikey on the high side at QCS as Jeff motors on to pick up the feature win.

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

Deery Series top 20 point standings 1. Justin Kay, Wheatland, 811 2. Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, 755 3. Andy Nezworski, Buffalo, 743 4. Scott Fitzpatrick, Wheatland, 707 5. Joe Zrostlik, Long Grove, 667 6. Tyler Droste, Waterloo, 663 7. Ryan Dolan, Lisbon, 636 8. Todd Malmstrom, Silvis, Ill., 578 9. John Emerson, Waterloo, 534 10. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, 506 11. Tyler Bruening, Decorah, 500 12. Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, 463 13. Joel Callahan, Dubuque, 445 14. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill., 438 15. Andy Eckrich, Oxford, 428 16. Jeremy Grady, Story City, 423 17. Richie Gustin, Gilman, 369 18. Jason Rauen, Farley, 357 19. Kyle Hinrichs, Swisher, 303 20. Brian Harris, Davenport, 286

Justin visits Amber & Kailey in JCS’s victory lane. photos by Chris Damitz

Justin

his

way

picking

another

feature

November 2015

win

Jackson

County

Speedway.

Dirt Racer Magazine

Gary Webbâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dominate Late Model Restored

story & photos by Chris Damitz

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

This car that was once a dominent force at area dirt tracks in 1980, has recently been restored back to its original glory. Keep in mind, this is no clone. This is the actual car that Gary Webb dominated the midwest with in 1980. A project that started in 2009 is finally coming close to being finished. Doug Crawford, who has owned the legendary car since 1981, contracted Brian Ashmore to restore it back to its 1980â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glory. While Brian was able to obtain some of the original parts, such as the dash, steering wheel, seat, rear spoiler and the iconic aluminum slotted mag wheels. Brian has spent countless hours fabricating some parts when the originals couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be found. The fiberglass body, which is a reproduction, but was made off the original Cedar Rapids based Glass House molds, was painted, with the helpof Larry Weldge in the yellow & blue paint scheme that Gary made infamous. DRM

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

Josh Schneiderman Gets Season Championship Win J o n A g a n R e p e at s A s S p r i n t I n va d e r s P o i n t s C h a m p i o n

story by Bill Wright ~ Sprint Invaders With a point battle that was up for grabs and a tacky track awaiting, fans knew it was going to be a fun night for the Shottenkirk.com Sprint Invaders Saturday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa! When all was said and done, Josh Schneiderman stood in Victory Lane, and Jon Agan was the seriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; champion for the second straight year! Tony Shilling led the point race by just one marker over Agan heading into the night. John Schulz, who came in fourth in points, suffered a flat right front when he was run over by another competitor before a lap could be completed in the 30-lap feature. Joey Moughan led the main event early ahead of pole-sitter Ricky Montgomery and Agan. Moughan looked strong, but his left front 14

Dirt Racer Magazine

tire would fly over the turn three wall with just three laps in the books. That handed the lead to Montgomery, ahead of Agan, Josh Schneiderman, Dustin Selvage and Nate Van Haaften. Schneiderman cruised under Agan, who pulled a vicious wheelie on the restart to take second. Schneiderman stalked Montgomery until the leader bobbled on the turn two berm. Montgomery was lucky to save his mount, but the lead was surrendered to Schneiderman on lap nine. At the halfway point, Jacob Glasgow slowed bringing the caution flag. Schneiderman led Montgomery, Agan, Selvage and Van Haaften back to green flag racing. Montgomery got shakier on the berm, and Agan passed him for

November 2015

photo by Chris Damitz

second on lap 23. Two laps later, Montgomery tipped over in turn two. In a chain reaction, Shilling broke his front end after contact from another car. That ended his shot at the championship. Schneiderman was able to pull away on the last restart as well, and won over Agan, who locked the championship, Selvage, Van Haaften and Jamie Ball. Hard-charger, Ryan Jamison, Harold Pohren, Donnie Stewart, John Hall and Bret Tripplett rounded out the top ten. Schneiderman, Agan and Montgomery won heat races. Selvage took the Dash, while Ball won the B main. “With the kind of season we’ve had, in front of our hometown crowd, it’s another storybook ending for Deuce Motorsports,” said Schneiderman in Victory Lane. “Early I found the bottom worked well for us. Those guys were hitting the top pretty hard. The bottom has been good for me. I stayed down there.”

“In all honesty, we’ve had a bad year in a lot of ways,” said Agan. “Thanks to my guys who keep working, all my family and supporters. We had three DNF’s. I don’t know how we did this with three DNF’s. Honestly, we tried to play it safe all night long. We were fighting things. I couldn’t keep the front end down in the feature. I couldn’t get on it on restarts or it would stand up. At the end of the night, we were able to get what we came for, and that was the championship.” “The car was good,” said Selvage, who was taking his first ride in the Plath Motorsports #14P. “The track actually got racier than I thought it would. Though it was narrow, it got slick and a guy had to somewhat pedal it. I got underneath Agan a few times, I just couldn’t make it stick. Josh was definitely the fastest car. We would have liked to have been a couple spots better, but for the first night in the car, we’ll take a third.” DRM

With a strong feature finish, Jon Agan is once again your Sprint Invaders points Champion. photo by Katelyn Damitz

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

A career that shines bright like a Black Diamond

It is hard to make a living off of something that others do as a hobby, and for Mike Humphrey, it led to a couple of sacrifices along the way. Humphrey, who was born and raised in Carbon Cliff, has made a career out of building race car chassis. Not just any chassis either. He works for Ronnie Stuckey at Stuckey Enterprises Racing building and assembling Black Diamond dirt late models out of Shreveport, Louisiana. Drivers that have purchased and driven these cars are a who's who in the world of dirt late models. Jason Feger, of Bloomington, has one. Dennis Erb Jr., of Carpentersville, has one. More locally, Ray Guss Jr., a Milan resident, has one. Jimmy Owens, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jesse Stovall and Darrell Lanigan are among the big name national touring drivers that have at least one as well. Lanigan essentially owns the same car under his own Club 29 brand cars as they come from Stuckey, and are modified by Lanigans employees. Don O'Neal will run a brand new Black Diamond at the World Finals at Charlotte for Clint Bowyer Racing in November. No matter who owns the car or if it's on track or not, Humphrey built it. He has had a hand in building all 127 of them. "It's been a good move for me," said Humphrey. "Most of this started just growing up and being around my brother. My brother started helping local guys when we were growing up in Carbon Cliff. There were a few local guys that raced in the Quad Cities, and he started hanging around them. Of course like any younger brother, I want16

Dirt Racer Magazine

story by Anthony Sandoval photos by Chris Damitz

ed to follow my big brother around. He just kind of got me going to the races." Upon graduating high school, the Humphrey boys began working at Reynolds Ford in East Moline. Mike was also working his way through Ford and automotive technical schools and that resulted in a job at Roush Racing -- now known

November 2015

as Roush-Fenway Racing -in 1988. He was intended to be an engine specialist there, but the Cat in the Hat, Jack Roush, got an all-around talent. Even still, that only lasted eight months. He came back to the Quad Cities at started M&M Motorsports with his brother, Bob. "I'm kind of glad things worked out the way they did," Humphrey admitted his experiences following those at Roush. "It was a very good experience. The one thing I learned was if you could build and fabricate bodies or cut and bend sheet metal, there was a very high calling for that. If you could pick up a flat piece of sheet metal and get a fender out of it, you could go to any team in the Charlotte area and get hired the same day. There was just that much of a demand for it. As far as building the chassis, that has always intrigued me. "When I left Charlotte and came back I needed something to get my racing fix, and M&M Motorsports was how I did it. I started learning how to cut and bend tubing and how to weld it together. It was kind of self-taught deal through the years, and that is what's paid off for me down here." He and his brother were open for business until 2007. After a strong 17-year run together, they decided to part ways. That opened the door for another opportunity for Humphrey as he started his own deal as owner of Mach 1 Racing in Colona. He knew how a race shop should be laid out and how to run an op-

eration at a professional level from his time at Roush, and his knack for welding a car together from scratch guided him to more success. To this day, he remains loyal to his racing friends in the Q-C. He has been a steady asset for Guss Jr., Nate Beuseling, and Spencer Diercks' family. He built the car that Mike Murphy Jr. and Brian Harris had enormous success in the last two seasons. This past summer he came up from his home in Shreveport, Louisiana to help Harris get his machine going a little bit more to his liking. Cedar Falls, Iowa native Jeff Aikey ran a car built by Humphrey all the way to a 2012 IMCA Deery Brothers championship. Outside of those guys, there wasn't much business. "As far as being in the Q-C area it's a very tough business to be in," said Humphrey. "You're trying to make a living off of something that people are doing for a hobby. The cars down here are rolling out for around $40,000. To try and sell a race car in the Quad City area for that kind of money, you're only going to be able to find five or six people

to do that and that's about it. Everything is just on a whole different level down here." So Humphrey had to make a sacrifice and moved to Louisiana a couple of years ago. If you're not racing for big money and succeeding, it is a tough lifestyle to live as a driver. When you are not the pilot of a car and just a crew member, you have to work at a professional level or you won't survive in the business. Humphrey is still loyal to his friends here, but he had to step back and make a business decision that his life depended on. "I've been doing this since I was basically 18-years-old," the 51-year-old Humphrey said of his incredibly lengthy career. "It's not come without a lot of sacrifice. When I left Roush in 1989, I came back home and needed something to do, so I started building open-wheel modifieds with Gary Reinhart. He ended up getting killed in a bad crash, so I bought all of the equipment off of his wife Cindy. I built jigs and fixtures to make every car repeatable. I just started from there kind of doing my own thing." DRM

Ray Guss Jr. in his new Black Diamond at the Liberty 100.

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

Quad City Speedway Hall of Fame

Class of 2015

Don Bohlander

(Bret Sievertsen) Don Bohlander of Pekin Illinois, started racing in 1954. During his 45 year career, he is credited for more than 350 feature wins at over 25 different race tracks in the Midwest. One of his wins was the Pabst 100 right here at the Quad City Speedway in 1977. Between 1965 and 1978, Don won the Illinois State Championship 7 times. He is a 10 time track champion at area tracks such as the Peoria Speedway, Mt. Hawley Speedway, Sterling Raceway, Freeport Raceway, and The Davenport Speedway. In 1974 and 1975, Don was a regular on the USAC circuit, racing at legendary tracks

like Daytona, Talladega, Pocono, and Michigan. After his driving career, Don and his wife Val spent a lot of time helping raise money for research, education, and awareness for Parkinson’s Disease, through “Don Bohlander’s Parkinson’s fund RACERS. Their Motto “Parkinson’s is the Pits”. In 1999 Don Bohlander was inducted into the Peoria Sports Hall Of Fame. In 2011 he was inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall Of Fame. In 2012 he was inducted into the Illinois Stock Car Hall Of Fame and in 2015 He is Inducted into the Quad City Speedway Hall Of Fame. Don Bohlander passed away on July 26th 2015 .

Larry Armstrong

Don Bohlander

Dirt Racer Magazine

(Bret Sievertsen) Larry Armstrong of Moline, Illinois started his racing career in 1957 at the old speedway on U.S. Highway 6. In those days he competed in mostly the novice class. In the late 60’s when Figure 8 racing became very popular in the Quad City area, Larry made the switch to figure-eight racing. He stated in an interview that he liked Figure 8 racing because you have to learn how to set up your car so that it is balanced to turn left as well as right. Late Model and Novice cars only have to November 2015

turn left. He also stated that the X-Crossing was the most difficult difference, if there were two cars headed towards the intersection you might be able to beat one but not the other. “You have to make up your mind in a hurry” Armstrong told the reporter, “You Guess Wrong, Your Out”. March 31st 2008, Larry died of Lung Cancer at the age of 71. In his obituary it was noted that he was a local racing legend. Other drivers and fans claimed that Larry was a great Figure 8 driver.

more involved in the business side of it when he was that he got used to that. He still enjoyed traveling with his family to Rockford Speedway for some of their big shows later in life, but hasn't been there in years either. There was just something about the old days and the craftsmanship of motor racing. "As a driver, you could go out to the junkyard on Saturday and have the car running on Sunday," he said. "Now a days it seems like it's such an expensive hobby that most of the fun is gone."

Don Dickey

Larry Armstrong

Skip Chick

(Anthony Sandoval) Skip was a flagman to start off his Quad City Speedway Hall of Fame career in the 1960s before becoming the Track Promoter in 1970. He held that position until 1979. He hasn't been here much since the days that he ran the track, but he's honored to be inducted in with the Class of 2015. Skip has a lot of good memories here at race track -- a lot of bad ones as well. But he would rather reflect on the good days when racing was fun. “I enjoyed the racing, the race track and the people for the most part," he said. "I have been unfortunate for health, but I am fortunate to be here." Now at 77-years-old, he still enjoys watching NASCAR, but he admits that he never really got into the spectator side of racing. He was always

Skip Chick

(Bret Sievertsen) For more than 50 years Don Dickey has been involved in racing, as a driver, helping, building, or just cheering on his family members. Dirt track racing is in his blood. Don started driving in 1971 in the street class. He took to racing very naturally, in his first year of competition he won the track championship. Ironically, the driver to finish second in the point standings that year would be his future father-in-law, Roger Vergane. He also competed regularly in the figure eight races held here at the Quad City Speedway years ago. When not driving his own cars, Don could be found work-

Don Dickey

ing on and helping other drivers such as Herschel Roberts and Terry Mattley. Not only could Don make cars go fast he could make them look good as well. In the 70’s he painted cars for the well-known Tri City Buggy, for drivers Gary Webb, Herschel Roberts, Chrissy Oliver, and many others. Don quit driving full time in the early 80’s but he couldn’t get to far away, often he was found racing someone's vintage coupe every once in a while. One fond memory of the Quad City Speedway, was the night his windshield broke and fell into the car and cut an artery in his finger. It was bleed-

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

ing so bad that the flagman, Skip Chick, black flagged him so that he could get it taken care of. Skip asked him afterwards how come he didn’t stop when it happened Don’s response “I was in second place, I didn’t want to stop”. These days Don can be found where he has always been in the pit area helping his son Kevin Dickey and Son-in-Law Doug Crampton doing what he loves, racing!

Gil Short

(Anthony Sandoval) Gilbert Short founded the Speedway Fire & Rescue back in 1966. Now, in its 50th season of keeping the track safe, Short will take his rightful place in the Quad City Speedway Hall of Fame. There's been a lot of good memories and some of the worst imaginable, but he has enjoyed the racing for the most part and made a lot of friends along the way. "A lot of good people," Short said. "I kind of started this thing with the objective of making motorsports safer. Everything from training to other kinds of support, the drivers and their families have supported us. It's been a good experience." His cousin Don Short raced when Short was getting into the fire extinguisher business, and he noticed that there really wasn't any safety to racing. Each driver had to carry a two-and-a-half pound fire extinguisher in their car to put out any sort of fire. He felt the need to do more than that after seeing a few bad fires at the track. Close friend Ray Lofland joined Short in '66 and And all of this is done as volunteer work. 50 years is a long time and Short has definitely earned a spot in the Quad City Speedway Hall of Fame. He started helping local tracks with their fire and rescue efforts as the "Flame Tamers." They specialize in motorsports safety. The equipment we use is pretty potent for only having pickup 20

Dirt Racer Magazine

trucks," Short joked. "Since the beginning we've gone through a lot of name changes -- A1 Fire Equipment and Rescue and it's now Speedway Fire & Rescue. I didn't like the (A1) name, and I'm not sure how much I like this one -- I thought Flame Tamers was catchy."

Jim Sandusky

(Anthony Sandoval) Sandusky's racing career has spanned just about four decades since he began his driving days in 1977. In that timeframe, Sandusky has won over 150 features and collected numerous track championships at places such as the old speedway in Aledo, 34 Raceway in Burlington and our very own Quad City Speedway. One of Sandusky's greatest triumphs came right here on May 30th, 1982, when he won a Valvoline sponsored 50-lap late model special. Sandusky's first Gary Reinhart Memorial win came after being tardy to the race track in 1995 -- he made a late decision to go and race that night. He went on to win the race in Reinhart's namesake again in 1999 and one final time in 2001. Those wins, along with his 2014 Ronnie Weedon Memorial win, are near and dear to his heart as well. He was nicknamed "The Shoe" when he drove for Mike Zemo Sr., because they hired a gun. Back then, he put "this gun's for hire" and the nickname came about because he was beating everyone with his heavy shoe on the gas pedal. Zemo was just one of many car owners that Sandusky has driven for. He drove for his father, Sam Sandusky to start out and then Dan Norton. That was followed by Bill Shores and Ritchie Kumer, Adam Mitchel and Gary Bruington. After retiring from racing in 2010, he returned in 2014 when he decided to help out J.R. Hebeler's IMCA Modified program. Sandusky still wheels the No. 38J and his shoe is still as heavy

November 2015

Jim Sandusky

as it always has been as he is a winner here at QCS in 2015.

Bob Helm

(Bret Sievertsen) Originally from Rochester Iowa, later moving to Milan Illinois, Bob Helm started his racing career in 1964 at the Tipton International Speedway in the Sportsman/Late Model class. In the late 60’s early 70’s, after winning some races Bob decided it was time to advance his career and branch out to other area local tracks. After finding success at tracks like Quad City Speedway, Davenport, Farley, and West Liberty he started competing on some of the Elite Late Model touring series such as The Hav-a-Tampa and UMP Series. You could always bet that when the Busch All Star Tour came to town, Helm would be competing in it. Bob has numerous wins at the Quad City Speedway as well as quite a few other area tracks, some of the bigger ones that stand out are the 1984 PBR 100 and the 1989 Coors 100 wins right here at the QC Speedway. He also has 3 Busch All Star Tour Wins on his list of wins, the first in 1992 at West Liberty, the other two were back to back wins in 1996 at Davenport and Farley. Most of Bob’s career was spent racing Late Models with the number 61 and then 1x in the later years , he did however race Modifieds on and off after he semi-retired in the early 2000’s. Bob and his wife Amelia still call Illinois their home,

Q-C area racer's success as they traded car parts for space on the cars to promote their business. The list of names that came to Morrey's for parts is Hall of Fame worthy alone: Leland and Brian Bushong, Ken Allison, Ken Beam, Dan Brown, Jake, Gary and Brian Carey, Bruce Carlson, Joe Chamberlin, Dan Collier, Chris Dobbles, Ray Guss Sr. and Jr., Larry and Donovan Lodge, Ken Linde and Dave Harden just to name a few -- Marvin has multiple jackets with the all of the names listed up the arm sleeves. Maurice was the father of Marvin, and they moved from Riley Center, Michigan, to the Quad Cities when Marvin was very young. Maurice was originally a welder, but he worked on cars of his garage as well. They moved to the Quad Cities because Maurice just wasn't happy doing what he was doing in Michigan. With a sister in Moline, he figured that would be the best place to live, but it was mostly because of the employment opportunities. Marvin attended Moline High School, where he graduated in 1952. He followed right in father's foot steps when they opened Morrey's Used Auto Parts in 1972 and he continued to operate the shop until its final days in 1999. Marvin currently resides in Cambridge, IL. "I met a lot of good people," said the 81-yearold Marvin Versheure. "Sometimes, I towed some of the guys cars up to the track, because I had a flat-bed trailer and truck. Some of them didn't have the money to buy a trailer, so they'd use mine. A lot of them are good friends and had been over the years I was in business. It's another generation now. The fellas I sponsored, their kids are now running up here." DRM

Morrey’s Used Auto Parts

(Anthony Sandoval) You would have been hard-pressed to find a race car without Morrey's Used Auto Parts on it in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Maurice and Marvin Verschuere were insurmountable in many

November 2015

Morrey’s Used Auto Parts

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015

Dirt Racer Magazine

November 2015