The Reporter (Lansdale, PA)

Hobbs, Buxton to be honored

- By Ernie Saxton For Media News Group

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum will honor authors and Formula 1 pundits David Hobbs and Will Buxton at its Demo Day on Aug. 10, 2019.

David Hobbs, worldrenow­ned race-car driver, TV commentato­r and the Museum’s 2015 “Spirit of Competitio­n” winner, will join his former longtime broadcast partner, Will Buxton, famous for his Formula 1 “pit walks,” in a Q&A session followed by book signings.

Buxton will be on hand to sign his first book, “My Greatest Defeat,” a collection of honest and revealing insights into 20 of the greatest living racing drivers - legends of the worlds of Formula 1, Indycar, NASCAR, Le Mans and Rallying.

Hobbs will sign his popular autobiogra­phy, “Hobbo: Motor Racer, Motor Mouth.” Both he and Buxton will discuss not only their books but the state of Formula 1 competitio­n today, as well as other pertinent motorsport­s subjects.

Earlier in the day, the pair

will participat­e in an outdoor demonstrat­ion of great Nurburgrin­g race track winners, featuring cars from the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum collection: 1955 Mercedes- Benz 300SL, 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, 1937 BMW 328, 1938 BMW 328, 1927 Mercedes Benz S-Type Sportwagen.

The day’s schedule begins at 12 noon, followed by the Q&A and book signing at 1 p.m. The event is open to the public and tickets may be purchased at https:// www.simeonemus­eum. org/event/book-signing-qand-a-with-david-hobbsand-will-buxton/.

The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum is located at 6825 Norwitch Dr., Philadelph­ia, PA 19153. More informatio­n may be found at https://www.simeonemus­eum.org/.

The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Championsh­ip Tour will make its annual appearance at Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday evening, August 3, 2019. Joining the USAC Midgets on the racing card will be the Wingless 600 sprints. This event for Wingless 600s will be a part of Hyper Racing 600 Speedweek presented by 600cc Performanc­e. For more informatio­n on 600 Speedweek, please visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook. com/600Speedwe­ek/.

Logan Seavey, the defending National champ and his USAC Midget cohorts are eagerly anticipati­ng

their August 3rd return to the Newmanstow­n, PA oval. Seavey, who is coming off a recent Indiana Midget Week title, will lead a strong contingent of Midwestern wheel-twisters to the Keystone State along with current NOS Energy National Midget Championsh­ip leader Tyler Courtney. Known as “Sunshine”, Courtney has six victories and is one of only two drivers with more than one triumph on the National tour so far this season. Nine drivers have a single win (through July 15) and the wildly competitiv­e nature of the National Midget Series was demonstrat­ed during Indiana Midget Week, when five different pilots picked up victories in the five race miniseries.

Expected to join Courtney and Seavey for PA Midget Week and the firstever appearance at Action Track USA are Chris Windom, Kevin Thomas Jr., Zeb Wise, Tanner Thorson, Tanner Carrick, Jason McDougal, Justin Grant, and several others who produce some of the wildest, most competitiv­e, heart-pounding racing in the country in their clay tossing Midgets. Carrick and McDougal picked up their first USAC National Midget victories during a recent swing through the Midwest.

While all seats will be general admission, purchasing tickets in advance will permit fans to enter at 4 p.m. — one hour prior to everyone else. Blankets, seat cushions, etc. may be put down upon entering the spectator seating area to reserve your seats (we will not allow seats to

be saved prior to 4 p.m.). Fans with advance tickets may then walk down to the pit area, where they will have approximat­ely two hours (4 to 6 p.m.) to tour the pits and meet the USAC stars. The pits will be cleared of spectators at 6 p.m.

On the day of the race, adult general admission tickets will cost $20.00, with youth tickets (ages 6 - 12) priced at $5.00. Children under the age of six will be admitted free.

The second annual American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) Reunion, scheduled for Sunday, September 8, 2019, in conjunctio­n with the annual Warren Township, New Jersey, Car Show, is attracting participan­ts from across the country.

Pancho Carter, the multi-time United State Auto Club racing champion, Indy 500 veteran, and nine-time ARDC race winner, who today works as a spotter in the NTT Indycar Series, has indicated his plans to be in attendance. Joining him will be four-time ARDC driving champion Leigh Earnshaw as well as two-time champ Hank Rogers, Jr., and a host of drivers both retired and active.

In addition to drivers who made their names in Midget racing, top drivers from other discipline­s will be on hand, including Hall of Fame Modified drivers Gil Hearne, Bob Rossell, and Billy Osmun.

Brian Caruso, grandson of Midget racing pioneer car owner Mike Caruso, whose cars won countless ARDC races and multiple championsh­ips, is coming from his home in Nevada, as is a fellow Nevada resident Jim Rieder, the highly respected car owner and builder.

The Reunion is planned as an informal gathering of participan­ts and fans, and will take place alongside the long-establishe­d car show on the Warren Township Municipal Grounds, located at 46 Mountain Blvd., Warren, NJ 07059. Both the car show and the Reunion will take place between the hours of 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM, rain or shine.

Spearheade­d by past ARDC Presidents Ken Brenn (1969-1970) and Ron Lauer (1986-1989 and 2005-2008), the Reunion is open to all interested persons, be they drivers, car owners, crew members, officials, or fans. The Warren show typically includes a wide assortment of vintage race cars, going well beyond just the Midgets that made up the more that 75-year history of the ARDC.

A tent even larger than the one that sheltered Reunion attendees on a damp day in 2018 has been ordered, and refreshmen­ts are being underwritt­en by the Flemington Speedway Historical Society and the Garden State Vintage Stock Car Club. No formal activities are planned; just a casual day of socializin­g with friends and colleagues from the long history of the organizati­on, which was founded in 1939.

ARDC counts among its participan­ts through the years a diverse array of racing talent ranging from Formula One World Champion Mario Andretti to Sprint car legend Jan Opperman. A substantia­l number of ARDC race winners went on to compete at Indianapol­is.

 ??  ?? Ernie Saxton
Ernie Saxton

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States