Thu, 27 Jan 2005, 03:59 PM Congratulations To The Division Champions

By Bob Frey

My one journey out of the house this winter consisted of a trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania and the 38th annual Division 1 award's banquet. As a long time D-1 guy it's always nice to get to join the racers from the Northeast and award the trophies to the best of the previous year. This year, in addition to the normal winners, the D-1 folks inducted two members into their Hall of Fame and that was one of the highlights of the evening. Ron Wallace, who has run South Mountain Dragway for years, was the first inductee and he was followed by the veteran Super Stock racer, Kenny Montgomery. Ron and his family continue to fight the good fight to keep their track operating in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania while Ken is among the most popular racers in the division and maybe in the country. As the driver of his classic 1965 Plymouth, Kenny has been a fixture on the nation's drag strips since the days on the old factory experimental and altered wheelbase cars. In addition to those two very worthy inductees, Dale Ressler, an ordained minister, EMT, Super Comp racer and all around nice guy was named the Division 1 the Person of the Year in one of the many awards that is voted on by the racers themselves.

Jack Beckman

While I didn't get out to the Division 7 affair, I would like to add my thoughts to those who have already congratulated the veteran Ora Vasquez who was named Crew Chief of the Year in that division. One of the great veterans of the sport, Ora helped Dennis Taylor take his "Plumbing Concepts" car to new heights this year, including a strong showing in the division and a fourth place finish in the national points. Jack Beckman, who has faced a lot tougher opponent this year than he ever could have faced on the track, was named the Division 7 Person of the Year. Jack, who seems to get healthier and stronger every day, should be a real inspiration for all of us. Congratulations, Jack. Dean Carter, the two-tome Lucas Oil champ in Competition Eliminator grabbed the Driver of the Year award for the west coast guys and it's certainly hard to argue with that selection. When the 2005 season begins Dean has to be considered as the favorite in Comp Eliminator again as he goes for an unbelievable "three-peat" in one of the sport's toughest classes.

Division 5 had a pretty good affair and it was highlighted by the addition of two great drivers into their Hall of Fame. Wayne McMurtry, who won the World Championship in 1972 and Norwin Palmer, a two-time world champ, were added to the already impressive list of "Hall" members in D-5. Terry Lacy, one of the truly nice people in drag racing, was named the Division 5 "Sportsman of the Year" and you couldn't find a nicer person to give name as the recipient. Everyone in the Lacy family loves drag racing and they are always ready and willing to lend a hand to their fellow racers so this award is richly deserved.

The Division 6 racers now can say that their Hall of Fame includes the great Jerry "The King" Ruth and Mr. Jim Green, one of the great car owners and personalities in the history of the sport. But the night really belonged to Steve Federlin who walked off with a whole pile of awards, a whole pile. Steve was named the Top Alcohol Dragster Driver of the Year and then added the "Person of the Year" award on top of that. Like Jack Beckman in D-7, Steve has had some really serious health problems and he now appears on the road to complete recovery. Over the years that I have had a chance to talk with Steve and his wife, Patty, and I have found them to be really nice people who are always more than willing to give of themselves to help others. And when you've had the health problems that Steve has had, it would be easy to just sit back and let everyone else take care of themselves, but that's not his style. Congratulations, Steve.

A couple of my good friends, Paul and Shelly Howard, were honored at the Division 4 banquet by being presented with the Crawford Benham award. This award is presented to the person or persons who go above and beyond the call of duty during the season and no body does more for their fellow racers than Paul and Shelly. Without going into a lot of particulars let me just say that they have helped me personally, and the help that they gave to fellow drag racing announcer, Lynn Nickerson last year was simply amazing. I know they don't want to make a big thing of it but let me just say that Paul and Shelly Howard are very special people and their recognition at the D-4 banquet was richly deserved. Congratulations, Paul and Shelly. And the D-4 banquet must have looked like a Hall of Fame show itself, with John Force in attendance to see his daughter crowned as the Top Alcohol Dragster champ, and the great Gene Snow also in the house not to mention Jonathan Womack, Larry Stewart and Lyndon Rutland, this year's Lucas Oil World Champions.

Chuck and Linda Scrimpsher

Chuck and Linda Scrimpsher were honored in Indianapolis by the Division 3 folks for their help with the popular Jeg's Super Quick series while Mid-State Dragway in Havana, Illinois, was named the Summit Racing Series Track of the year. Ironically I got to see Chuck and Linda in action at the Super Quick show at Mid-State Dragway last year and I was impressed by both. As part of my coverage of the NHRA member tracks, I visited the eighth-mile facility and was impressed with what the Gebhardt family has done with the track and with how popular the Super Quick series was with the racers.

Division 2 capped off their 2004 season by naming Mike Poole as the Person of the Year. Mike has served as the tower and race coordinator in Gainesville for a number of years and is highly thought of by all of the racers. Three new names were added to the D-2 Hall of Fame, including George Breen, Jim and Alison Lee and the veteran racer, Ronnie Traffenstedt. Phil Bonner, who was added to the list last year but couldn't make the banquet, was given his award this year. Phil, one of the pioneers of the Factory Experimental class, was always a crowd pleaser with his immaculate Ford cars. And in announcement that probably didn't surprise anyone, the magnificent new South Georgia Motorsports Park was named the division's Track of the Year.

So for the most part, the 2004 season is now completely in the books and we'd like to congratulate all of the sportsman racers for providing fans with another great season of racing action. And a special tip of the cap to all of those who were so justly honored for their accomplishments in the year 2004.

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