SULLIVAN: Return To Osgood

INDIANAPOLIS — I was dreading the struggle to claw through the Indianapolis beltway to reach the exit for Interstate 74 on the southeastern edge of the city.

Once that threshold was crossed and there was a little time to loosen the grip on the wheel, I was still anxiously waiting for a chance to slip off the highway and head to the country. A trip through the town square of Greensburg allowed for a quick glance at the famous courthouse and soon I was on U.S. Route 421, heading south toward Osgood.

For some race fans, Osgood is known as the birthplace of the late Betty Rutherford, the gregarious and poised wife of the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner. It is a quaint place with the humorously named Damm Theater still operating downtown. There was a period when I made this trip often on my way to work at Kentucky Speedway or in my time as an announcer with the UMRA TQ (three-quarter) midget association. I still remembered some of my favorite sites along the way, and quickly recalled just how relaxing a journey it was.

There were few places on the UMRA trail I enjoyed more than Osgood. On my first visit there was a decrepit covered grandstands that was thankfully replaced true to the original. That alone tugs at me, and it is still easy to see the remnants of an old half-mile track that was last used for auto racing in the 1930s. It is a delightful step back in time.

When the TQs are in town, it is county fair time and nothing still gets to me more than any race during a fair. This wasn’t the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or even a stop on the USAC trail. This is not to suggest that participants in the All Star TQ series aren’t serious — they are.

Yet, the roots of this club go back decades and from that a distinct culture has emerged. Ronnie Combs was there. Combs has won tons of races and championships in this discipline and is one of those links between the past and present.

When he was a young kid, he raced with the late Larry Dwenger and together this youthful pair nabbed a series title. That was 35 years ago and today he proclaims he is “too old and fat to race.” Maybe, but he maintains cars for Tony Stewart, who supports his efforts. He remembers when Stewart was a wet -behind-the-ear punk trying to make a go of it. The UMRA was a springboard to that success.

When the TQs were on the brink, Stewart threw them a lifeline. It was his way of giving back.

The truth is in a world where 600 micros and mini sprint racing have become increasingly popular, the TQ midget is a bit of a dinosaur. So is this race track and this setting. To this I can only say thank you. I have been around long enough to know the squabbles that have nearly torn this group apart. It is a big family and sometimes the participants have acted that way. There have been times when the club desperately needed adults with no connections to any single driver in a position of leadership.

In the days when USAC sanctioned TQ racing in the west there was a small effort to bring the club under the USAC banner. There have been splinter organizations and fingers pointed. Everything that has beset midget racing for generations has happened here.

Yet, the All Star TQs survive. Kimb Stewart has announced for the series for years now. She is passionate about the club and the drivers. She cares. That alone is critical. On a night when the car count was a bit thin, she performed her role with conviction and let those in the stands know this was a professional club with history and purpose.

On July 24, young Logan Prickett won his first All-Star feature only to back it up the following night. His racing aspirations may be great or small, but at the moment that didn’t matter. On this night he was a winner. He joined a group that included people such as Rick Meyer, Ron Ambrose and Bob Nichols. Those are names you might not know.

Others like Pancho Carter, Page Jones, Tony Stewart and C.J. Leary are far more familiar to many. Here no name is greater than the other.

Every mile I traveled to this race provoked memories of my early days in Indiana and my first interactions with a proud group of people. I spend a great deal of my racing life around those who seemingly are constantly striving to get somewhere else — often in a hurry. This perspective is almost a guarantee of future unhappiness.

For me, this night was the racing equivalent of getting off the grid. It was a reminder of how deep the racing heritage is in Indiana, and why the sport is so deeply embedded in the cultural fabric. If I could go back and find those who raced at Osgood in the 1920s, there would undoubtedly be a recognizable name or two. However, the majority would be garage owners, farmers or factory workers.

The truth is the distance between the Ripley County Fairgrounds and Indianapolis Motor Speedway then, and now, is far greater than what the map shows. It also doesn’t matter.

On this night of reminiscing, I naturally thought about the people who were a part of this world when I was first involved more than 30 years ago. I remembered owners and characters such as Bill Case, Steve and Lois Schern, Billy Reeves, Larry and Dawn Dwenger, Ron Linville, Ron Ambrose and Mel Harpring. Some of the drivers are still at it. I thought about racers Mark Rutter, and my old pals Larry Martz and Jerry Frickman.

Then, there were people like Sandy Lowe who served as a scorer and secretary. Nobody cared about this club more than Sandy. Oftentimes the great Jack Gladback and his wife Katsue were in the infield taking photos.

In the end, it always seemed that the most important thing was that we were getting from race track to race track and from county fair to county fair. It was about the process as much as the product. Each of the actors I just named were part of a long chain that has somehow remained intact. It was always less about raw ambition than it was a pure love of the sport.

I know at times that thread has been lost. Yet, I headed north from Osgood with one thought. The only way TQ midget racing survives here is if everyone sticks together. Thus, if the central actors fail to recognize that the club is greater than the needs of a single individual or group, it is destined to die on the vine.

If that should come to pass it would be a sad day in the annals of Indiana racing.

THIS ARTICLE IS REPOSTED FROM THE August 7 EDITION OF <a href=”https://speedsportinsider.com”>SPEED SPORT INSIDER</a>
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