Karma. What comes around, goes around. Whether you believe it or not, life has a way of circling back.
Karma. What comes around, goes around.
Whether you believe it or not, life has a way of circling back.
This is a story of friendship, of kindness, and how a simple good deed came full-circle over 50 years later.
Butch Wilkerson was a sensational sprint car shoe from the mid-1960‘s until October 21, 1979, when a violent crash at Winchester Speedway ended his racing career at age 35. He had been particularly adept at Indiana tracks, including winning six times with the American Speed Association (ASA) sprints from
1968 to 1972.
Wilkerson ran frequently at Anderson Speedway — formerly known as Sun Valley Speedway — throughout his career, including 11 starts in the Little 500 from 1967 to 1979. He was a front-row starter three times and scored a runner-up finish in 1972.
Although his driving career was cut short while still in his prime, Wilkerson‘s love of racing has never waned. Butch was social before the days of social media; his outgoing personality and sharp memory of people and places led him to maintain an ongoing connection with many of his peers and former rivals.
This was especially true at Anderson, where Wilkerson is an annual attendee at the Little 500. Inducted into the Little 500 Hall of Fame in 2000, Wilkerson never misses the induction luncheon and has cultivated close relationships with a great many people there.
Butch works a crowd the same way he used to race: zestily, aggressively, passionately. He loves the limelight and it is obvious that socializing and interacting with people brings him great joy.
But Wilkerson was noticeably absent from this year‘s Little 500 festivities. A native of Columbus, Indiana who now lives in North Vernon, he suffered a major heart event on May 25 and underwent extensive heart bypass surgery on June 23.
His longtime friends at Anderson — most notably Cy Fairchild and Tom York — collaborated with Little 500 Hall of Fame coordinator David Sink to pass the hat among this year‘s luncheon crowd to help with Butch‘s medical and living expenses. They raised $1,000 and quickly forwarded the money to Wilkerson‘s home.
Fairchild and York are two of Wilkerson‘s closest cronies. They raced together, banged wheels, traded stories and insults, and have generally endeared themselves to each other as the years passed. It was obvious that Fairchild and York were genuinely concerned for their friend of 50-plus years.
So, by passing the hat on a spring day at Anderson Speedway, they did something nice for their buddy.
They had no way of knowing that, with that kind gesture, they were creating a moment of Karma that can only be marveled at and savored.
In the summer of 1969, Sun Valley Speedway was the best for Stephen “Buzz” Gregory. And the worst.
The Indianapolis native was a well-known charger, and his desire to race was enormous. He dreamed of becoming a professional driver, and his willingness to do “whatever it takes” was the stuff of legends. On one occasion Gregory rode for hours in the cockpit of a race car —as it was towed down the highway on an open trailer — because that‘s the only transportation to the track he could find.
On May 24, 1969 Gregory started 18th at the Little 500 in Dave Robinson‘s sprinter, steadily working his way forward. He surged into the lead on lap 307 when Dick Gaines pitted for fuel, then yielded the lead to Bobby Black on lap 330 after a fierce wheel-to-wheel duel.
Gregory regained the lead on lap 390, and his cushion was three laps following Black‘s fuel stop on lap 402.
From that point it looked to be a milk run for Gregory. But things began to go sour in the closing stages when his brakes went completely away, and with just 25 laps to go Gregory had a terrible realization: he was running out of fuel.
He slowed almost to a crawl as he nursed the car. Black and Ray Wright, running second and third respectively, sensed what has happening and sent their cars to the desperate edge as they raced to make up their three-lap deficit to the leader.