Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / From Dirt Tracks to Determination: The Grassroots Legacy of West Virginia Motorsports

Transcript

From Dirt Tracks to Determination: The Grassroots Legacy of West Virginia Motorsports · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

• 0:00
  Brake Fix's History of Motorsports series is brought to you in part
• 0:04
  by the International Motor Racing Research Center, as well as the
• 0:07
  Society of Automotive Historians, the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of
• 0:11
  Commerce, and the Argettsinger family.
• 0:16
  West Virginia Motorsports History By Tom Adamich.
• 0:21
  Tom Adamich has been a vehicle and motorsports historian
• 0:24
  since the early 1990s.
• 0:26
  He served as the project archivist at the Will St.
• 0:29
  Clair Auto Museum in Marysville, Michigan from 2009 to 2016.
• 0:34
  He has been a frequent presenter at the Artsinger Symposium, including
• 0:37
  presentations on strategic air command racing history, Cuban
• 0:40
  motorsports history, and Formula V.
• 0:43
  Grassroots and bootstrap strategies were used by early racing pioneers in
• 0:47
  West Virginia beginning in the 1930s.
• 0:50
  Adamitch, co author of the auto racing entry in the West Virginia
• 0:53
  Encyclopedia and other related articles and publications, will profile several
• 0:58
  events and individuals who innovated and dominated on the dirt tracks,
• 1:02
  ball diamonds, and other unique race courses that dot the hills and valleys
• 1:06
  of the great state of West Virginia.
• 1:09
  Tom, we're going to talk about West Virginia motorsports history.
• 1:13
  My name is Tom Adamich.
• 1:14
  I'm the president of Visiting Librarian Service, and I have
• 1:18
  been in that role for 30 years.
• 1:21
  I'm an archivist and a librarian and a vehicle historian.
• 1:24
  I've been a member of SAH since 1993.
• 1:28
  I've been a member of the National Association of
• 1:30
  Automobile Museums since 1998.
• 1:33
  I'm a humble servant in that I've had the pleasure of getting to know
• 1:37
  many of you through this symposium.
• 1:40
  It has been one of the great opportunities to share information,
• 1:44
  particularly on motorsports.
• 1:47
  Tom, what in the world possessed you to look into this topic?
• 1:51
  Understanding that racing really...
• 1:54
  Is that grassroots type of activity, even in its upper echelons as
• 2:00
  it becomes that business model.
• 2:03
  And I think there's still that local aspect of people getting
• 2:07
  together that people enjoy vehicles.
• 2:10
  They enjoy the mechanical aspect of creating something out of nothing.
• 2:15
  And they still do it.
• 2:17
  Believe me, even where I live in Ohio, there's still these small
• 2:20
  tracks all over the place where people get together and they have
• 2:24
  modified stocks and all those things.
• 2:27
  And the young kids, that's what's heartening, that a lot of these kids
• 2:29
  learn skills and they're still doing it.
• 2:32
  And of course, the time that I did work in West Virginia and I met a lot of
• 2:36
  good people, and wanting to know what did it look like at different times in
• 2:41
  the state, and to be really somewhat surprised at times that the Area had
• 2:47
  such a very successful and still does a very successful racing climate today.
• 2:53
  I'm going to talk about something that is in line with
• 2:57
  some of my past presentations.
• 2:59
  Keep in mind that theme of the populace, the people and some
• 3:03
  of the spirit that they have to make something out of nothing.
• 3:08
  Particularly, look at the time frame of the history of racing in West Virginia,
• 3:13
  starting in the early 20th century.
• 3:15
  A lot of that is historically based, which I think reflects on the spirit
• 3:19
  of the individuals who were involved.
• 3:22
  We're going to look at some of those early years, and we're talking starting
• 3:28
  in the late teens and early 20s.
• 3:31
  Progressing through particularly jumping forward, then following World War 2
• 3:36
  because of some of the issues that racing faced during the war, then we
• 3:41
  will focus on some of the good people.
• 3:44
  And then we'll just briefly talk about a racing today in West Virginia.
• 3:48
  And some of the future opportunities that may exist.
• 3:52
  I like to say that a lot of the people who are involved in racing in West Virginia
• 3:57
  are probably part of that camp that dealt with the fact that they were just
• 4:02
  in the right place at the right time.
• 4:04
  And that history was on their side and I think when you look back, you can
• 4:08
  say that a lot of this is very true.
• 4:12
  1 of the most interesting parts of early racing was the fact that
• 4:18
  it took place in small venues.
• 4:20
  Venues that would not have been thought of as being appropriate.
• 4:25
  Some early racing took place on ball fields and some very
• 4:29
  grassy areas that were available.
• 4:32
  And of course, venues that were part of county fairs and those
• 4:36
  activities were very popular early on.
• 4:40
  The idea of racing on a harness racing track was very appealing.
• 4:46
  And it helped to really start the development of racetracks throughout
• 4:51
  West Virginia, various regions of the state progressed at different times.
• 4:56
  The northern part of West Virginia, somewhat close to the Ohio border
• 5:01
  really was 1 of the 1st areas that developed probably because of that
• 5:05
  influence of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
• 5:08
  The population center for those of you who know West Virginia still is
• 5:13
  based in Charleston in the capital.
• 5:16
  It was a logical choice for development and Dunbar, which is in that South Metro
• 5:21
  Charleston area was 1 of the biggest.
• 5:25
  Early tracks, they started the mid teens to have auto racing and motorcycles and
• 5:31
  I include that because again, our motor sports focus, you know, we think of
• 5:35
  cars, but we want to always be cognizant of some of the other vehicle types that
• 5:41
  did evolve during that time and the opportunities for racing and competition.
• 5:46
  Again, Dunbar was one of those early places, and it really speaks to the
• 5:51
  fact that there were opportunities for development beyond what had been
• 5:57
  a traditional harness racing track.
• 6:00
  And of course, improvements were very much part of that.
• 6:03
  In this case, at Dunbar, clay was brought in as a surface.
• 6:07
  Giving the opportunity for infrastructure to be developed, the pits, including
• 6:12
  grandstands, and those spectator areas and participant areas, you know,
• 6:17
  that were also part of that progress.
• 6:20
  Racing, as you went into the 20s and the early 30s, most of those open
• 6:24
  wheel type race cars that we were familiar with from that era, then
• 6:29
  began to be the dominant vehicle type.
• 6:32
  Prior to that.
• 6:34
  Most of the vehicles were modified passenger cars, and you'll see a
• 6:38
  trend back to that, but the open wheel cars were very specialized.
• 6:43
  And very much targeted toward very organized racing.
• 6:48
  And this was again the dominant racing type during that period.
• 6:54
  I jump forward to World War II because I think it's significant to say that the
• 6:59
  war did pause a lot of the racing events.
• 7:03
  After the war, the pent up demand that did exist was really what
• 7:07
  gave the sport, especially in the state, that real catalyst to move
• 7:12
  forward and become extremely popular, especially for the working folks.
• 7:17
  There was a lot of manufacturing that did exist within the
• 7:21
  state, especially in that area.
• 7:24
  On the Ohio and West Virginia border, and in the Charleston
• 7:28
  segment, and over into Huntington to the West and Eastern Kentucky.
• 7:34
  Other parts of the state as populations and opportunities
• 7:38
  existed, they developed tracks.
• 7:40
  St.
• 7:41
  Albans became a big racing venue as did Scott field.
• 7:45
  And Gillen Park at Parkersburg had a lot of industrial influence as did
• 7:51
  Williamson, Glenboro, and Pennsboro.
• 7:53
  Pennsboro being a location in Ritchie County, which is in that region.
• 7:59
  And then as you went west to Wellsburg and Weston, and then further west.
• 8:04
  Into the areas of Morgantown, which had a big steel area that not a lot of people
• 8:10
  know about, but definitely connected to its influence from Pittsburgh.
• 8:15
  But I mentioned that because as we get into some of these locations,
• 8:19
  you'll see how some of that post war opportunity influenced the development.
• 8:25
  Notably, that Evans being one of the first tracks to have lights back in 1947.
• 8:32
  So again, they were putting resources into these venues,
• 8:35
  and they became very popular.
• 8:37
  Going back to that modified stock car, what became a stock car,
• 8:41
  and the good people who were very ingenious and inventive to
• 8:45
  make something out of nothing.
• 8:47
  I had the pleasure of meeting Dave Kurtz and his lovely wife.
• 8:51
  I worked briefly for the state of West Virginia for the library commission.
• 8:55
  And I drove from Charleston.
• 8:57
  They lived in Weston.
• 8:59
  I drove east to visit them.
• 9:01
  He started racing at age 17.
• 9:05
  He actually had to get a note from his mother because he was underage.
• 9:10
  And so you can think back and, and look at some of the things today and, and that's
• 9:15
  kind of an interesting juxtaposition that somebody had to go through that.
• 9:19
  But there again.
• 9:20
  People were very industrious and inventive, as they are today.
• 9:24
  Young people find a way, and he did.
• 9:27
  He enjoyed racing at Norwood Park, which was in Clarksburg, and then at
• 9:31
  the Pensborough Rice Speedway, which is in Simpson, and some of the areas.
• 9:36
  In that region, including Eldora Raceway in Fairmont, he was part of
• 9:41
  that Central West Virginia Racing Association organization that
• 9:45
  developed, and there were several of those throughout the state that were
• 9:49
  the oversight bodies for the sport.
• 9:52
  This is the part I always enjoy.
• 9:54
  He was able to take a football helmet and some pipe and bail wire that he had around
• 10:00
  to make that roll cage that he used.
• 10:03
  And he used the army pistol belt that a family member was in the war,
• 10:07
  had worn when he was in the war.
• 10:10
  Thank goodness he had that roll cage, because he was not immune to having
• 10:14
  rollovers and things happen to him.
• 10:16
  No injuries, but as you can see, he, to the right, he's already up and about.
• 10:21
  Dave was a resourceful gentleman, so.
• 10:24
  One story, they bought a car from an old lady.
• 10:27
  They found this car and the lady said, Here it is.
• 10:31
  I don't have a title on it.
• 10:32
  I'll sell it to you.
• 10:33
  Of course, it was one that had been sitting outside and the bees got into it.
• 10:38
  And his friend that he went with was in that position of dealing with it.
• 10:42
  But there again, Mr.
• 10:43
  Kurtz really represents that person who could, again, make
• 10:47
  something out of nothing.
• 10:49
  Some of the things that he did were just very inventive.
• 10:53
  And I think represented the common people and what they were trying
• 10:57
  to do and accomplish in the sport.
• 11:00
  Dave got involved in some product testing for NASCAR, that he was part
• 11:06
  of that initiative for Monte Ward.
• 11:08
  And then he went on and raced in those early races at venues that we're familiar
• 11:14
  with, as far as NASCAR is concerned.
• 11:17
  Just kind of some neat.
• 11:18
  Things that happened to the people as they were trying to create their team, trying
• 11:23
  to create their racing opportunities.
• 11:26
  I go back and I referenced his wife, Pauline, cause she
• 11:29
  was just the nicest lady.
• 11:30
  God bless her.
• 11:31
  As far as somebody who was industrious, she was just as industrious as he was.
• 11:36
  To be able to help him, and she even helped in the pits when she could.
• 11:41
  This was back in the day when the ladies weren't allowed to be working
• 11:45
  there, but she was able to go in there every once in a while, and if
• 11:48
  he needed something, she would do just as much work as he was doing.
• 11:52
  And of course, when they were off track, she did a lot of that, too.
• 11:56
  They decided when he was going to retire when she had her first babies.
• 12:01
  She was pregnant, so he was honored his word, but by golly, he got
• 12:06
  drawn into a race and won the money.
• 12:09
  Then they were able to use that money for the birth of their first daughter.
• 12:13
  She passed away a few years after I talked with them.
• 12:17
  And then Dave passed away in 2019.
• 12:20
  So it's kind of a trip down memory lane for me that it was such a
• 12:24
  nice trip out to talk with them.
• 12:26
  Just one of those things that is in the right place at the right time, I
• 12:29
  think, and represents that spirit of the sport and why racing is still popular
• 12:35
  with people, because I think it does represent that common interest and so on.
• 12:40
  And again, here's some friends of his that were part of that early racing.
• 12:45
  Monty Ward in particular was a very successful racer during that time.
• 12:50
  And these people throughout the state of West Virginia represented
• 12:53
  the different regions of the state.
• 12:55
  I wrote an article that appeared in the state magazine Golden
• 12:59
  Seal as a result of that.
• 13:01
  As I mentioned earlier, parts of the state developed at different times,
• 13:06
  but even around Morgantown that became a very popular venue for racing.
• 13:13
  Today, there's been a lot of Activity at the legislative level, and that's
• 13:18
  a place, even when I was in the state, people in Charleston were trying to
• 13:23
  promote it and they had a motor sports commission developed during that time.
• 13:27
  But this is the latest iteration of the West Virginia motor sports committee.
• 13:32
  And again, the emphasis is not only on auto racing, but it does involve a lot
• 13:38
  of other types of vehicle racing and motocross and those types of activities.
• 13:44
  They promote the different areas, and these are the dedicated facilities that
• 13:49
  exist today, areas that are dedicated to track racing, but also this Hatfield
• 13:56
  McCoy Trail, which if any of you have an inclination to learn more about
• 14:00
  that, please let me know, because it's a very interesting development.
• 14:05
  It really lends itself to types of vehicles that are on there and its
• 14:09
  relationship to people enjoying the sports and what develops
• 14:14
  and how they can participate.
• 14:16
  You get to learn a lot about geography at West Virginia, which for any of you
• 14:20
  that have been there, it is God's country because of its many little valleys.
• 14:25
  And haulers as the natives call it and river bottoms and things like that, that
• 14:30
  really give it its unique character.
• 14:33
  It's just a good way to learn not only about racing, but about where
• 14:38
  the people lived and what they did.
• 14:40
  So it has evolved a bit.
• 14:42
  It's a little bit more technologically advanced and a little bit more expensive.
• 14:48
  Some of those people have to invest a good amount of money,
• 14:52
  but there again, the intent.
• 14:54
  And the idea is to enable people to enjoy and participate and
• 15:00
  they're historically able to do so.
• 15:03
  Looking at timeframes history without that context of what the
• 15:07
  history is at the time, sometimes we miss what really is there.
• 15:12
  And in this case, we have to look at today and see what our economic
• 15:16
  conditions are and, and some of that to really get a sense of.
• 15:19
  Today's activities.
• 15:21
  It continues to be a story that evolves and one that will continue
• 15:26
  to require making improvements and things that will be part of that as
• 15:32
  the industry continues to develop.
• 15:36
  Particularly in the early 2000s, there was that big move to try to have a
• 15:41
  NASCAR venue set up in the state, and I think there's still some movement
• 15:46
  there, not as much as it was, but there's always that interest in having
• 15:51
  some type of influence NASCAR wise.
• 15:54
  In the state, we'll see where that comes.
• 15:56
  And again, just a lot of good people that live there.
• 16:00
  They're just friendly folks.
• 16:01
  You all come, you know, they're very welcoming in that sense.
• 16:05
  They do represent motor sports very well in that regard.
• 16:09
  And I encourage you to look at the West Virginia encyclopedia.
• 16:13
  If you'd like to go online, I'm happy to provide this deck for you, if you're
• 16:18
  interested, and to answer any questions, and I had a lot of good help from people,
• 16:23
  folks from the West Virginia Encyclopedia and, and from Golden Seal, who are very
• 16:28
  much part of that Humanities Council in West Virginia, and very eager to
• 16:34
  share information and promote the good things that West Virginia has to offer.
• 16:39
  And again, I'm happy to talk with any of you, and hopefully, God willing,
• 16:43
  that we can meet again in the future.
• 16:46
  Thank you, Tom, once again.
• 16:48
  West Virginia has a very interesting racing history, and I
• 16:51
  think Tom covered a lot of that.
• 16:53
  Hint, hint, hint to some of you.
• 16:54
  There's a lot to be covered by racing historians about West Virginia, and Tom,
• 17:01
  I think you provided a nice framework for looking into it, because I think
• 17:05
  it's one of those types of situations where it kind of gets overlooked.
• 17:08
  A lot of connection.
• 17:09
  Thank you, Tom, for the presentation, and we're looking forward to
• 17:12
  having you come back in the future.
• 17:19
  This episode is brought to you in part by the International
• 17:21
  Motor Racing Research Center.
• 17:22
  Its charter is to collect, share, and preserve the history
• 17:25
  of motorsports, spanning continents, eras, and race series.
• 17:29
  The center's collection embodies the speed, drama, and camaraderie
• 17:32
  of amateur and professional motor racing throughout the world.
• 17:35
  The Center welcomes serious researchers and casual fans alike to share stories of
• 17:40
  race drivers, race series, and race cars captured on their shelves and walls and
• 17:44
  brought to life through a regular calendar of public lectures and special events.
• 17:48
  To learn more about the Center, visit www.
• 17:51
  racingarchives.
• 17:53
  org.
• 17:53
  This episode is also brought to you by the Society of Automotive Historians.
• 17:57
  They encourage research into any aspect of automotive history.
• 18:01
  The SAH actively supports the compilation and preservation of papers.
• 18:05
  Organizational records, print ephemera and images to safeguard as well as to broaden
• 18:10
  and deepen the understanding of motorized wheeled land transportation through
• 18:13
  the modern age and into the future.
• 18:15
  For more information about the SAH, visit www.
• 18:19
  autohistory.
• 18:20
  org.
• 18:25
  We hope you enjoyed another awesome episode of Brake Fix Podcast brought
• 18:30
  to you by Grand Touring Motorsports.
• 18:32
  If you'd like to be a guest on the show or get involved, be sure
• 18:35
  to follow us on all social media platforms at GrandTouringMotorsports.
• 18:39
  And if you'd like to learn more about the content of this episode,
• 18:42
  be sure to check out the follow on article at GTMotorsports.
• 18:46
  org.
• 18:47
  We remain a commercial free and no annual fees organization through
• 18:51
  our sponsors, but also through the generous support of our fans,
• 18:55
  families, and friends through Patreon.
• 18:58
  For as little as 2.
• 19:00
  50 a month, you can get access to more behind the scenes action, additional
• 19:04
  Pit Stop minisodes, and other VIP goodies, as well as keeping our team
• 19:08
  of creators Fed on their strict diet of fig Newtons, gumby bears, and monster.
• 19:13
  So consider signing up for Patreon today at www.
• 19:17
  patreon.
• 19:17
  com forward slash GT motorsports, and remember without you, none
• 19:22
  of this would be possible.