|
|
FW: 2010 MMSHoF inductees announced-----Original Message----- From: Allan Brown <speedways@comcast.net> Sent: Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:44:34 Pacific Daylight T... READMORE |
Paul McMahan takes WoO win at Eldora Paul McMahan had racked up six Top-Five finishes in his last eight starts heading into the finale of Outlaw Thunder by Goodye... READMORE |
New Paris braves cold, Thirteen Feature No doubt about it, the weather was cold with temperatures in the low 40's and a stiff wind swirling through the 1/4 mile spee... READMORE |
Galesburg Speedway Red Flagged The Galesburg Speedway did not open last weekend as scheduled and it’s unlikely the race track will open this Saturday becau... READMORE |
Ron Flinn Hospitalized Reports out of Crystal Motor Speedway this morning are that Ron Flinn has been hospitalized due to a coronary issue. Accordi... READMORE |
Action to begin at Spartan SpeedwayIf the grandstands along the front stretch of Spartan Speedway look a bit higher than normal, well, they are. The speedway p... READMORE |
Auto City postpones due to Cold Although the weather was picture-perfect for testing on Thursday afternoon, Mother Nature brought us cold and windy condition... READMORE |
|
| Article Index |
|---|
| Wayne County Speedway At 40 |
| Page 2 |
| Page 3 |
| Page 4 |
| Page 5 |
| Page 6 |
| Page 7 - Records, Fact, Figures |
| All Pages |
N.E. "Pete" Jacobs was a man who loved racing. And his passion for dirt track racing was so great, and so heartfelt, that his passion lives on today through his grandsons and great-grandsons as well as a piece of real estate known as Wayne County Speedway. Pete Jacobs was the man who first conceptualized a racetrack on some farmland he owned south of Orrville, OH. Within months of his decision to pursue building a dirt track Jacobs and original track officers Wellman Lehman, Myron Werntz and Gary Bossler opened the doors to Wayne County Speedway on June 26, 1965.
Over the years Pete developed a real thirst for racing and began attending races frequently. He became a big Dean Mast fan and began following the open wheel ace, one of the Buckeye state's best drivers. He eventually purchased a racecar and hired Mast as his driver. When son Ken got out of the Army and began attending races he soon started pestering Pete to let him drive. Pete didn't want any part of his son racing, so he declined.
Eventually, in 1961, Ken decided he was going racing one way or another and began looking for a racecar to buy. He found one owned by Myron Werntz. For Christmas that year, Ken's wife, Marriann, bought it for him.
Pete, ever the perfectionist, didn't think Ken's car was safe enough, and within time relented and put Ken in his car. The father-son team began running at tracks like Holmes Hilltop, Mansfield and others.
Back then purses were paid based on the front gate. Time and again the promoter at a certain track cheated the drivers until Pete couldn't take it anymore. One night Pete confronted the chintzy promoter and told him next year there would be a racetrack in Wayne County that took care of the drivers, played fair and was honest. In speaking with several drivers that evening, including Myron Harris, Dale Tope, Ken Jacobs and others, when they offered to support the track as drivers and stockholders, Pete went forward.
That was late summer 1964. In late fall 1964 (Pete & Harve) Jacobs, Lehman, Werntz and Bossler came together as track officers to form a corporation for the track. Using 23 acres of his own land across the road from his home, Jacobs soon had his two sons onboard, Harve and Ken as investors (stockholders) in addition to Bob Auten, Clyde Shoup, Stanley Huffman, Glenn Davisson, Dale Tope, John Malcuit, Bob Condo, Rich Falk and a number of others.
