Getting Hooked on Dirt Track Racing and How We Got There - By: Chuck Faller

Posted Jody Shannon on December 14th, 2007 | Filed under Articles, Chuck Faller, The DRC

As a kid, I was a motorhead, and cars, baseball and bowling were my life. My 57 Chevy was somewhat legendary at my High School, (pretty quick through the quarter mile) and my Father and I made it that way. My Dad was my best friend, and together we hunted, fished, and had a love of automobiles and all things mechanical. It was a very sad day for me when he passed away in 1984.

For many years I thought that the “need for speed” side of my life was over, and then my son Jamie came of driving age. He was myself reincarnated, (although there is considerably more of him) and knowing how much fun I had as a young man, I couldn’t deprive him of that experience so we bought an HO Mustang. A few times at the drag strip behind the wheel (yes, he shares it with me) and the feeling was back. Fast was good once again.

For the past 30 years I have been in the Bowling Business in one form or another, and in 1992 a friend of mine and I bought a small suburban bowling center in Swanton Ohio. It has been a great way to make a living, and I have had the opportunity to meet some fantastic people, made some great friends, and have been fortunate to always have terrific employees in our center. It is two of these employees that bear the blame for our new addiction to dirt track racing.

Ronnie Leonard (16L) and B.J.Gregory (56G) both worked for me in our center until they graduated from High School a couple of years ago. They had been racing at Oakshade Raceway for a while and they asked my son and I to come out and watch them race one night. It was one of the best things that could have ever happened to us. We had never been to a dirt race before, and by the end of the night we were already looking forward to our next visit. Then we met more people, and then more people, and made some friends, and then more friends. Pretty soon we had plans to share a car the next year, and at the tender age of 52, I became a rookie bomber driver, and so did my 17 year old son. We weren’t very fast (still aren’t), but we had the time of our lives. Last year we planned to get another car but my son decided to put his money into a new engine for the Mustang, so I drove the car every week this past year and we are in the process of building a new one for him so we will both get to race in 2008. The end of April seems an eternity away.

My Son is without any question my best friend in this world, and I find that to also be the case with many others in Dirt Track Racing. The two young men I mentioned earlier, Ronnie and B.J. both come from wonderful families who love their kids and racing is a family event every Saturday Night where everyone is involved. Making new friends at Oakshade Raceway has been easy, as everyone has a common interest and a common bond in enjoying the sport. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will remain very good friends with most of the people we have met for the rest of our lives.

So there you have it, this is how we got involved and you now know how much we enjoy it. We wish everyone a successful, safe and fun racing season in 2008!