Car Owner Randy Ross Honored By Northeast Dirt Mod Hall Of Fame

Story By: ROBIN YASINSAC-GILLESPIE / NORTHEAST DIRT MODIFIED HALL OF FAME – WEEDSPORT, NY – Capital District native Randy Ross will be honored with the 2017 Gene DeWitt Car Owner Award when the 26th annual Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are held on July 10 at the Hall of Fame and Museum on the grounds of Weedsport Speedway in New York.

It was the early ’70s when Alice Ross took her 11-year-old son Randy to Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

“That experience did it,” recalled Ross. “So I would mow the lawn during the week so I could get enough money to go to the races on Saturday night.”

Ross learned the ropes by helping his neighbor Billy Webb, who raced at Lebanon Valley. Then it was Eddie Webb; and then he ended up crewing for Valley Modified champion Kenny Coon. While turning wrenches on Coon’s car, Randy met Bryan Goewey.

“Back then, me and Bryan were the guys that held onto the other end of the leaf spring while the other guy hit it with a hammer — it rang through your whole body,” laughed Ross. “Or we had to sand and repaint old headers. We got all of the crap work.”

Then they met Rick Beckmann, a crewman for Mert “Socks” Hulbert. Beckmann would remain at Ross’ side for decades. Coon was involved in a horrific accident at the Valley and decided to call it quits; so the trio ended up at Bob Hellwig’s shop, where Dave Leckonby’s ride was housed.

“Me, Rick and Bryan were race people — if you had a dollar in your pocket you went to a race,” said Ross of the early days. “We weren’t doing it to please anybody, or for anybody’s ego. We were just having fun! At times it got crazy, at times we were crazy, but we were doing what we wanted to do. I wouldn’t trade any of it.”

It was a verbal putdown during Super DIRT Week in 1986 that sent things in a more serious direction.

Leckonby was shoeing for Larry List and they were suffering motor issues throughout the week. It was frustrating.

“Bill Lobdell (Leckonby’s sponsor) was watching us (Ross, Beckmann and Goewey) and he said, ‘You guys will never win a race,’” recalled Ross. “Me and Bryan looked at each other and said, ‘I’ve got half, you’ve got half.’ We were going to prove that we could win a race.”

So in 1987, Ross became co-owner of a race team with Goewey, who would also drive. Goewey only spent two years behind the wheel before retiring due to business commitments. But during that time, the pair proudly won the non-qualifiers event at Super DIRT Week in 1988, were awarded with Rookie of the Race plus placed fifth in Sunday’s prestigious event.

“When you grow up going to Syracuse, you always want to be in that roped-off area afterwards,” explained Ross of the result sought by many. “We were so happy and at that time I thought that was the best we would ever do up there.”

It would only get bigger — and better.

“I was walking back to my trailer, obviously very excited about our top-five finish, and Doug Olsen (owner of Budd Olsen Speed Supplies) walked by and said, ‘Get that smile off your face, will you?’ I never personally met him (though Ross had purchased an Olsen chassis from driver Eddie Marshall) but we ended up being best friends,” said Ross, who raced Olsen cars exclusively until Doug closed up shop in 2000. “That relationship with Doug was probably the reason I achieved what I did in racing — the contacts, the people I’ve met through him. It made a huge difference for our team.”

Matt Quinn, Bobby Wilkins and Kenny Brightbill had turns driving for Ross.

Then, along came Billy Decker. Ross had Quinn in the seat, and Decker was running for his dad at the Valley. Decker approached Ross during a year-end event at Orange County to discuss joining forces.

It was a sensational team-up: Decker brought the Wheels Discount Auto Supply sponsorship with him, along with crew chief Scott Jeffery.

And success seemed to come easy.

“I think it was a combination of putting the teams together,” said Ross. “Billy, Scott, Rick, Mike (Kronau) — our first year together we won seven races at the Valley! And once we went out on the road, Billy always had great ideas about motor combinations that worked really well.”

Over the years, the pack went up and down the NYS Thruway regularly with Ross’ bright yellow “toter home” a familiar sight on the Interstate.

In their nine years together, Ross and Decker collected 70 wins, seven track championships, the overall Mr. DIRT title, the Super DIRT Series tour championship, three Super DIRT Week Modified victories, two July wins at the Fairgrounds, the 358 Modified championship event on the mile, and a big Eastern States 200 win.

The duo also got behind the short-lived USNA organization.

“We tried to help them out, but everything we tried to do always seemed to fail,” recalled Ross, who gained respect for DIRT founder Glenn Donnelly during that period. “No matter how much me and Glenn butted heads, he always took care of the people who took care of him. I never saw eye-to-eye with him, but I realize what he did for the sport. The thing that always bothered me was the politics. When decisions are made, it shouldn’t matter who you are and I was very vocal about how I felt.”

After Decker left Ross Motorsports in 2003, it was up-and-coming superstar Matt Sheppard who filled the seat until Ross retired at the end of the 2008 season.

“Unfortunately, when Matt came to us, my stock was dwindling at that point,” explained Ross. “The economy was crappy and I wasn’t getting as much sponsorship from the stone company (Ross’ family owns Adam Ross Cut Stone) and it became harder and harder to keep it going.”

The decision to pull the plug was one of Ross’ worst moments. He knew it was over when he sold his “toter home,” the toy he always wanted.

Ross made some great friendships over the years and continues to swap stories weekly with Olsen and close friend Tim Fuller. Since Fuller is running Fonda Speedway this season, Ross makes a beeline to Fuller’s hauler to put his trademark director’s chair in Fuller’s truck for his Saturday night visits.

Ross lost his girlfriend of 29 years, Steph Fulgo, to cancer in 2013. He’s been adjusting, and his longtime illness (ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis which was triggered years ago by an automobile accident) makes it difficult to get around.

But Randy lights up when talking racing. We laughed for hours sitting on the deck of his home in Menands, NY, as he recounted race stories. So how does he feel about receiving the Gene DeWitt Car Owner Award?

“I’m surprised and never expected something like this,” said Ross. “I never knew Gene DeWitt, but I know what he did with racing in asphalt and on dirt and it’s truly an honor. Do I deserve it? No, I was surrounded by a lot of great people and we did this together. We had a lot of fun — it was a good run.”