Standing-Room Only As Dirt Track Heroes Show Finishes
Story By: STEVE PADOS / DIRT TRACK HEROES – PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – The Tenth Annual Quaker Steak & Lube Dirt Track Heroes Show completed its week long run at the Phillipsburg Mall over the weekend and the event staff never skipped a beat with great shows and great crowds each night and interviews with a host of legendary racers that whisked us back to the “Golden Era” of the sport.
The event was all brought to a blazing finish late Saturday afternoon headlined by the of all open wheel racing that took place at the famed square speedway in Flemington, New Jersey. The Saturday event was sponsored by Premio Foods and Enterprise Car Sales. Premio Foods, which sponsors the efforts of Willie Osmun and Steve Davis at the New Egypt Speedway, brought out their Sausage Wagon and offered samplings of their fine products throughout the final day at the show along with many handouts to the fans in the Mall. Please check out out their fine product line at: www.premiofoods.com. Check out Enterprise Car Sales by phone at: 484-661-4507 or at: www.enterprisecarsales.com
The Quaker Steak & Lube Dirt Track Heroes staff would like to thank all of the racing fans, drivers, sponsors and vendors for their support, dedication and patience in making the show not only a great success but a record breaking event as well as the 162 entries for the event broke the old record of 141 set back in 2011. Quaker Steak & Lube was the headline sponsor for the event and amazing associate sponsorship was provided through IRCO Community Federal Credit Union, Enterprise Car Sales, Premio Foods, Smith Fabrications/Stage One Modifieds, Martocci’s Automotive, Hamlin Speedway/S&S Speedways, Alex’s Tire/Breidinger’s Speed Shop, R&F International Muffler & Brake, Jeff’s Automotive, Murante Auto Repair, Persa Auto Repair, Searock Fabrication & Speed, Adams Brothers Used Auto Parts, Carls Auto Repair. Dean Autosports, Huston Automotive, Chrin Automotive and Ralph’s Radiator. Nightly interviews and 162 race cars provided the race fan a full appetite of racing fun before the regular 2017 racing seasons begins. Mike Vecchio from the Mud Boss racing series, brought along twelve of his scaled racers and put on exhibitions throughout the day.
With the eclectic Quaker Steak & Lube Restaurants the lead sponsor of the event, the excitement and the pulse for the week long show was at full tilt with each day as the diverse schedule of the week long show offered a bit of everything to all racing fans. The 55 stores making up Quaker Steak & Lube annually sell more than 80 million wings per year and “The Lube” is recognized as “The best wings in the USA.” The Phillipsburg location has also been dubbed “The Official Restaurant of the Dirt Track Heroes” show. To contact the restaurant, call: 908-454-2900 or check out their website at: www.thelube.com Before or after the show head to Quaker Steak & Lube and get recharged and refueled in a great sports setting. Request a table underneath the Bob Pickell number 300 Modified for an additional racing experience.
Emcees Ed and Steve Pados, Bobby Stull, Justin Beltrame and Alex Greenzweig worked overtime throughout the week to keep the shows rolling along each day and evening. Nick Graff from Quaker Steak & Lube was on hand to share his thoughts regarding the sponsorship from Quaker Steak & Lube with the show and brought along some special discount coupons for the fans to receive a discount for dining at the establishment. IRCO Vice President Greg Collins thanked the local racing community for their continuous support of the event and talked of the various offerings from the IRCO group and pointed out the IRCO commitment to the show since the show first began in 2008. Sue Gerhardt from St John’s Angels was on hand to thank the crowd for their support of their Relay for Life Team set to do battle on May 20th at Maloney Field in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
The show played to a full house in interview fashion to allow the fans to connect with their favorite drivers they cheered for when they dominated the local speedway scene. The legendary Modified stars and racing personalities on hand for the tribute to open wheel racing included Ken Brenn Jr, Ken Brenn Sr, Bing Metz, Ace Lane Jr, Stan Ploski, Leigh Earnshaw, Bobby Cicconi, Mares Stellfox, Billy Courtwright, Bill Case, Nick Colluci, Ron Clark, Ron Lauer, Paul Weisel, Gary Mondschein, Jimmy Maguire, Ed Lee Wylie, Wayne Rice, Jim Whitman, Keith Makja and Rick Shive. Current open wheel driving talent Johnny Heydenreich came in from Indianapolis to take part in the show. Mark Harrington, Dennis Tretter and Sandy Bate offered up remarks of how the open wheel themed show came together. Pete Telesco Sr was on hand with his Premio Foods group.
The great fan base of racing came out to the Mall event and were transported back to a time when they could hop into their family jitney and travel less than a half hour to witness the excitement of a night at the races. All historical racing groups including Reading, Flemington, Harmony through Greg Collins, Tri State, Friends of Nazareth and Bob Snyder Photos and Snyder Video, Mike Ritter Photos and Archie Myers/Harmony had their memorabilia on display and their many scrapbooks were open for the fans to take another long look at the glory years of racing to possibly find a picture or two they wanted to purchase as a keepsake from past glory or racing exploits. More information regarding Dirt Track Heroes is available by calling: 443-513-4456 or contacting Steve Pados at: 484-784-7756 or at: steveswp@ptd.net
Event Organizers Bob & Donna Miller are already in the planning stages for the 2018 edition of the Dirt Track Heroes with the dates selected as March 4th through the 10th in 2018. More show information will be announced shortly. Special thanks to Quaker Steak & Lube, Enterprise Car Sales, IRCO and all of the associate sponsors for their outstanding support. Watch for Quaker Steak & Lube at the Thunder on the Hill events at the Grandview Speedway as well as the Jersey RUSH at the New Egypt Speedway.
