NEARLY 200 ATTEND INDY 500-THEMED RACER REUNION AT TOLEDO SPEEDWAY BAR & GRILL SATURDAY, MARCH 17

NEARLY 200 ATTEND INDY 500-THEMED RACER REUNION AT TOLEDO SPEEDWAY BAR & GRILL SATURDAY, MARCH 17

Attendance exceeded 200 for Saturday’s multiple activities associated with the 15th annual Racer Reunion Saturday March 17 at the Toledo Speedway Bar & Grill. In addition to the Racer Reunion, Michigan Auto Race Fan Club meeting and Toledo Speedway Street Drag meeting, the festivities were highlighted by a special on-stage segment with Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson, 1996 Indy 500 winning car owner Ron Hemelgarn, 9-time Indy 500 starter Tom Bigelow, ARCA Racing Series car owner and Indy 500 driver Andy Hillenburg and IndyCar veteran Karl Busson.

Donaldson and Indianapolis Motor Speedway representative Mike Harmless traveled from Indy and passed along pairs of grandstand tickets for on-track preliminary events leading up to the 102nd Indy 500 to attendees who correctly answered Indy 500 trivia questions. Donaldson also conducted in-depth interviews with Hemelgarn, Bigelow, Hillenburg and Busson and the group took questions from the attentive and appreciative audience, many of whom captured group photos after the on-stage Q&A and got autographs. Hemelgarn told of his support of open wheel racing at Toledo Speedway, what it meant to him to be the Indy 500 winning car owner and detailed his support of short track racers trying to make it to Indy. Bigelow related stories of driving at Toledo Speedway in USAC Sprint Cars, the many owners and sponsors who contributed to his success in that division including 14 single-season wins and 52 career victories and the efforts of his granddaughter and grandson to establish themselves in racing. Hillenburg related meeting Davidson at a Soap Box Derby competition in Indianapolis as a child, the ups and downs of his open wheel racing career, his IROC, NASCAR and ARCA stock car racing career and achieving his goal at age 37 of driving in the Indy 500. Busson told of his IndyCar driving career, his USAC Sprint Car driving career, his victories including the Little 500 and the many friends he made in the sport.

The Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club held its monthly meeting after the Racer Reunion activities. MARFC members received updates on Flat Rock Speedway, Toledo Speedway and the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards from Scott Schultz and Ron Drager. Those in attendance at the meeting also enjoyed hearing from lifetime racing veteran and Toledo Speedway ARCA race winner Larry LaMay, who spoke of this recently published book “60 Years of Auto Racing on Both Sides of the Fence”.

The inaugural meeting of Toledo Speedway Street Drag enthusiasts closed out the evening’s varied activities, with 20 prospective street drag participants on hand.

The usual Racer Reunion displays of photos, scrapbook clippings, yearbooks, diecasts, rulebooks, trophies and racing memorabilia of all sorts were available for viewing from 12 noon to 5 pm. In addition, videos of races from the 60s through the 90s were available for viewing.

Next activities for Racer Reunion participants are Friday May 4 and Friday June 29 at Toledo Speedway, and Saturday May 26 at Flat Rock Speedway. The May 4 race at Toledo is the annual Hemelgarn Racing-SuperFitness USAC Silver Crown Series race and will feature the open-wheel Racer Reunion and vintage restored race cars on display plus laps on the track. The May 26 race at Flat Rock is the Diamond Racing Products Joy Fair 100 for ARCA Gold Cup Outlaw Late Models. The June 29 Toledo race is the Miller Lite 100 for ARCA Gold Cup Outlaw Late Models. Each race date will feature on-track recognition of all former racers in attendance.

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