Tony Stewart. We all know of the talent and we know of his exploits on TV and his shy countenance when it comes to racing incidents. And love him or like him, he is a great driver and an embassador to the sport of auto-racing.
Our heroes travel many of the same paths we do and what matters most is the heady gains gathered by old pilots (racing kind). To me, aside from the racing, what tells me most about the man Stewart and the racer Tony came with the death of a close friend. That friend was the one-time track announcer for the World of Outlaw Sprints car.... Jack Miller .
Jack and I would often talk of weather and racing and one day, he said, "Larry, I was an Air Force Weather Forecaster as well". He told me he appreciated what I did for the track also.
Jack made his mark in racing but also left a huge mark upon the fans. His "Holy Cow" comments was heard by national racing folks as well as when he retired to Tampa Bay to become the full-time announcer for East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida.
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (May 23, 2010) - Knoxville, Iowa, will truly be the Sprint Car Capital of the World on June 3-4-5 as sprint car racing greats, past and present, will converge on the Marion County Fairgrounds for the twenty-first annual National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (NSCHoF) induction weekend and the inaugural World of Outlaws-sanctioned Hall of Fame Classic winged sprint car races. Fans taking in the three nights of racing and one afternoon induction banquet will get to visit one-on-one with the likes of Steve Kinser, Lynn Paxton, Sammy Swindell, Bobbie Adamson, Doug Wolfgang, Casey Luna, Jac Haudenschild, Fred Linder, Jason Meyers, Jack Miller , Rollie Beale, Danny Lasoski , Jerry Scratch Daniels, Donny Schatz, Lanny Edwards, Erin Crocker, Jack Elam, Joey Saldana, Harold Leep, A.J. Skip Jackson, Bobby Ward, Brian Brown , Bob Trostle, Jim McElreath, Speedy Bill Smith, Ray Lee Goodwin, Bob Elder, Allan Brown, Ralph Capitani, Terry McCarl and many, many others.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame will stage its twenty-first annual induction banquet, hosted by Dr. Pat Sullivan, on Saturday afternoon, June 5. It will be held from Noon until 3:30 p.m. in the Dyer-Hudson Hall on the Marion County Fairgrounds. Inductees this year include Bobbie Adamson, Hank Arnold, Fred Linder, Frank Riddle, Hal Robson, Herman Schurch, Clyde Adams, Casey Luna, Don Shepherd, George Bentel, Fred Brownfield and Ben Krasner. Past inductees expected to be on hand include Jack Miller , Jim McElreath, Lynn Paxton, Ray Lee Goodwin, Ralph Capitani, Lanny Edwards, Speedy Bill Smith, Bob Trostle, Rollie Beale, Jerry Scratch Daniels, Jack Elam, Harold Leep, Allan Brown and others.
This is the event that made me a Tony Stewart fan for life! Jack was very ill and I was told by Jean Lynch (Ed Lynch Jr's mom) that Tony was flying Jack and his wife to the track. Jack and his wife were met at the house in a limousine and flown from St. Petersburg, FL to Knoxville, Iowa in a jet chartered to Iowa. It is still painful to imagine his loss, but Tony knew Jack and how important Jack was to the sport and the way fans everywhere loved him. Jack talked to everyone like they were his best friends and you could see in the fan's eyes, the power of love and respect.
file:///C:/Users/Larry/Downloads/Lynch-Jean-bio.pdf
The history of racing have these threads that tie the racing family together. Jean Lynch and I were talking a few minutes ago and I again congratulated her to the Hall-of-Fame in Knoxville, Iowa.
https://www.sprintcarhof.com/Pages/Home
So, it all goes back to Jean, her family and hundreds if not thousands of people who make these dreams come true, these legends to make real. Real friends and real people, making this life of racing and family, the best of all worlds.
