Deacon Dick Memorial on tap

IMCA Modified title chase tightens as McCollough stalks Simala

When Cocopah Speedway first opened as Yuma Speedway in 1968, the racing was so fierce and intense that local driver Dick Rautenberg, in the running for a season championship, borrowed a motor so he could go racing.

The only thing is, it wasn’t just any motor, from any car.

It was a motor out of his brother’s new Chevrolet Corvette. That’s one of the stories people like to tell about Rautenberg, who became known in the Yuma racing community as “Deacon Dick” Rautenberg, who won the first driving championship ever at thenYuma Speedway in 1968, ended his racing career with 11 championships and 508 wins, and was inducted into the Arizona Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Rautenberg passed away in June 2013 and racers now gather annually to remember the man who helped shape dirt track racing in Yuma. The fourth annual “Deacon Dick Memorial” is set Saturday night at Cocopah Speedway with the first green flag at 7 p.m.

The program is also Round 13 in the 2017 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series, and will feature racing in the IMCA Modified,

PHOTO COURTESY OF N2PHOTOGRAPHICS IMPERIAL’S STEVEN MCCOLLOUGH (15) gets underneath Yuma’s Brett Simala between Turns 1 and 2 at Cocopah Speedway the IMCA Modified Division feature event in Round 12 of the 2017 Cocopah Speedway Racing Series on Sept. 30. McCollough would go on to win...