Back in March 2010 I posted on the blog a story about Larry Nuber. Tom, from Lockport, NY commented that he knew Ray Preston from Romulus, NY. Ray and I collaborated on a sprint car operation for a couple of seasons in the mid-90s and it was the best time I had in racing, other than getting to sit in Wee Willie Allens car after Saturday night races at Waterloo, NY. But thats another story.

Ray is another one of those characters who make racing what it is. Despite the fact that he is not a national figure he is and has been part of the New York State racing history. He followed his dads footsteps, who also raced at Waterloo.

Ray started his stock car career in 4-cylinder modifieds and eventually progressed to the modified sportsman class. At that time, Glenn Donnelly was the head of DIRT and conducted most of the dirt racing around the Finger Lakes and Western New York State, so Ray had plenty of track choices close to home. As a fan and a customer of his (he was the service manager at N. R. Boyce Ford in Ovid, NY) I would watch him race mostly at Weedsport.

Sometime in the mid-90s I lost my mind completely and decided I wanted to race sprint cars. I started out trying to race and create a wingless sprint car group. The group failed miserably and eventually I had a car and no place to race it.

Not only did I not have a wing I had a gas engine with a carburetor but I wanted to put the car to good use, and I wanted to be competitive. Well, there was no question with the little seat time I had that I would not be competitive so I began thinking about getting a competitive driver to race it. I thought this would be mission impossible because it would be a lot of work to get the car ready for racing in the Empire Super Sprints.

As luck would have it, however, Gary Pallone decided to take on sprint cars at Paradise Speedway in Phelps, NY and would permit those few of us with gas engines to compete, as long as we put wings on the car. On a whim, I stopped in at Boyces and approached Ray about driving the car. I told him that if he drove the car we would have a good possibility of winning the track championship. To my surprise he agreed to think about it.

He was still driving his sportsman modified at the time so I really felt he might not do it. So, I also went to Greg Hixson, a former Mr. DIRT and an official at the track and explained to him that I needed a driver but that Ray had first refusal. Greg agreed to stand by while I kept talking to and encouraging Ray to take the ride. In the end, Ray and I agreed he would race his sportsman on Friday nights at Paradise and race my sprint car there on Saturday nights.

To my great pleasure, Ray took over the complete maintenance and care of the car and took his responsibility to compete very seriously. In our first full season, Ray was phenomenal. I may not have my statistics correct but as I recall, we won 13 out of 15 feature races that season. We were so far ahead in points that Ray was able to skip one of the last few races to attend a family function.

I was eager to move on to ESS then, even though I knew we would be a very low dollar team, but Ray worked incessantly on my car just about every chance he had. When I would go to the garage thinking I might be able to help out some way, I often felt I did more to slow him down than to help him, but I got a great deal of pleasure and confidence knowing he was doing far more for the car and for our racing activities than I could.

Off season that first year, I gave great thought to whether we should defend the track championship or move on to ESS. Ray and I kicked it around from time to time. In the end I decided, and he agreed, that we should not just give the championship away for the next year, but should defend it. I told him, We worked hard for the championship and if someone else is going to take it next year, we should make them work for it.

The following year was another great year for me and, I hope, for Ray. It was a down to the wire season and in the end, Dan Kaszubinski won the title.

Ray and I began to talk more seriously about ESS after that second season. The short story is that we decided Ray would provide a good 360 engine and I would get us a car that was more updated than the old chassis we used at Paradise. Ray worked really hard over that winter getting the car ready. Frankly, I wasnt sure we would be ready when the season opened up but Ray had the car ready. Ray ALWAYS had that car ready!

The traveling, the necessity for tires and all the other attendant expenses to compete in a traveling series is high. While I worried about the expense of keeping the car going, Ray was making dollars go a very long way. Thats not easy in racing but Ray did it and kept doing it. I never told him how amazed I was with what he was doing but I was. We got to a point where I would let Ray go to the window and pick up the winnings. There was no question where the money was going.

Our first full year in ESS, Ray won the most improved driver award at the end of the season. There was no restriction on racing with other organization or tracks so when there was off time from ESS we would go to another track and race with pretty good results. Ray had long ago given up his sportsman modified and was concentrating completely on the sprint car, and I was really having fun despite the fact that I was not able to put as much money into the effort as I would have liked.

All good things, however, must come to an end and this came to an abrupt and nearly tragic end. Again, my statistics may not be right but in, I think, our third season we were about to enter a Canada swing. We started out at Can-Am Speedway in Lafargeville, NY. We were having a really good season and I was excited because Ray had hit a rhythm or one hell of a streak of luck because we were in the top 10 in points by then.

As I recall, we went into Can-Am 8^th in points. Ray won his heat and then won the dash for cash. The car was a hot rod. Based on his previous performances that season and how well we were doing at Can-Am I was certain that we would come out of the Canada swing in the top 5 in points, possibly as high as 3^rd. During the feature Ray had moved up to 5^th and was about to move by another car in turn 3 for 4^th place. Contact between Ray and another car ended in a red flag. Rays car made a quick jog to the right and at maybe 70 miles per hour or more hit the Jersey barriers set up just off turn 4. The barriers separated the cars coming on the track from the cars going off the track for each race.

I saw it from beginning to end and was shocked by the viciousness of the crash. The other car rolled over several times, ending up on the grass at the top of the turn. When Ray hit the barrie, there was a very bright flash of light, a hell of a thump, and then complete quiet. I ran around to the Jersey barrier to see if Ray was OK. He was just sitting in the car with his eyes staring straight ahead. I called his name several times but he didnt answer and I thought then that this was a fatal crash, and his wife and kids were in the pits with me when it happened.

Some time later I was talking to ESS shoe Bobby Parrow and he told me that he thought it might have been a fatal crash when he passed by the crash.

Ray eventually did answer me and said he was alright and it was as though the entire world lifted from my shoulders. Then, he climbed out of the car with a string of obscenities that would make a salty old boatswains mate proud. I knew then he would be OK.

The car, however, was destroyed. The car hit the barrier head-on so hard that the paint on the tail tank was cracked! The only thing that really survived the crash was the engine, and that was Rays. I knew this was the end of the road for me because there was no way I could start from scratch again.

After calming down I began to think about Rays season. I was out of it and there was little or nothing I could do for him so I started trying to arrange a ride for him for the two Canada races. I called a couple of people that we had raced with outside of ESS and who were friends. I was very confident I would have no problem getting a ride for him. I was devastated when those I called refused to loan a car to Ray for two races.

I offered to pay for the use of the car, pay for the owner/driver to come to the races with us, and to pay for any damage if the car was involved in a crash but no one would help Ray out. I thought about all the times at different tracks that Ray had helped out those I asked, how he had loaned parts, worked on their cars, helped out if they crashed and I lost some of my passion for racing on that night.

For the next several seasons I had no desire to go to a track and I couldnt even develop an interest in NASCAR racing on TV. I would try to watch a NASCAR race because it had always been something I loved to do, but about 5 minutes into the race I would change the channel. The passion eventually came back but it was a long time coming.

So, my worst moment in racing also came while I was collaborating with Ray. As bad as that moment was, it could not overshadow the fact that some of the best times I have had in racing came with Ray. He was the hardest working SOB I have known in racing, a fierce competitor, and just plain fun to be with.

He deserves to be called one of racings true characters.