Monday, May 11, 2009
Contact Brian Liskai
liskai2x@cros.net

By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio - Fremont Speedway has seen some of the best drivers in the 
history of motorsports compete on its clay surface. "The Track That Action 
Built" has a historic part of the sport of automobile racing in the United 
States and is excitement continues in 2009 as racing is in its 58th season. 
To recognize those whose shoulders today's racers and fans stand, 17 members 
will be inducted into the newly created Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame during 
ceremonies prior to racing on June 6.

Special plaques will highlight the racing careers of the 17 inductees and 
will be housed in a beautiful case for fans to view under the historic 
covered grandstands.

The 17 to be inducted in the first hall of fame class are: Gug Keegan, Darl 
Harrison, Jim McCune, Rollie Beale, John Auxter, George Fosco, Jim Linder, 
Paul Strasser, Art Ball, Herbie Robinson, Alvin Franks, Wendell Smith, Gene 
Notestine, Dorothy Shilling, Harold McGilton, Harold Billow and Jim Ford.

"When Rich Farmer and Andy James took over the promoting of Fremont 
Speedway, both were aware of the historic significance of the track. We 
began talking about ways to honor that great past and those who made the 
speedway what it is today. We decided it was time to form the hall of fame," 
said Brian Liskai, track announcer and public relations director.

"It took just one phone call to Randy Mapus... he knows the history of the 
speedway and those who helped create it and he has worked very hard to make 
this a reality. The hall of fame could not have happened if it weren't for 
Randy," added Liskai. "Our plan is to induct a handful of individuals during 
special ceremonies each racing season."

"When I started making phone calls to the inductees and their families...the 
response has been overwhelming. Everyone is excited and honored. There will 
be lots of my boyhood heroes at Fremont Speedway on June 6. That will be one 
heck of a good time...talking about all the old days of racing. The stories 
these people have to tell... it is literally the history of racing," said 
Mapus.

Following is a look at the racing careers of the 17 inductees into the 
Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame:

- "Gentleman" Johnny Auxter. Auxter was one of the first drivers to compete 
at Fremont in 1951. Besides his nine career feature wins at Fremont 
Speedway, he was the 1972 track champion. He has competed at over 200 
different race tracks during his career, including the sands of Daytona 
Beach. Auxter started racing in a 1937 Ford. But most race fans remember 
Auxter in the maroon and white #12 roaster in the mid-1960s. When Auxter 
bought a sprint car in the early 1970s, it carried the familiar colors and 
numbers. Auxter has literally raced all over the country on dirt and 
asphalt. He has also had hall of fame drivers behind the wheel of his cars 
including Darl Harrison. Auxter was recently inducted into the Little 500 
Hall of Fame in Anderson, Ind.

- Art Ball. Ball has the most feature wins in the history of Fremont 
Speedway. His 48-year driving career - he is still racing dirt trucks at 
Fremont, and recorded his 70th career victory earlier this season - has seen 
him record nearly 300 victories. Ball has raced sprint cars, late models and 
dirt trucks at Fremont Speedway. He was the track's 1973 and 1975 late model 
champion.

- Rollie Beale. Beal is 11th on Fremont Speedway's all-time win list with 31 
victories. He was the 1963 super modified track champion. Beal went on to 
win a United States Auto Club sprint car championship in 1973. He has raced 
all over the country and has taken wins in the Little 500 and many USAC 
events. After retiring from driving in 1977, Beale became an official with 
USAC. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996.

- Harold Billow. Billow had one of the first race cars in the Fremont area 
and one of the first to compete at the Sandusky County Fairgrounds. Billow's 
fist foray into automobile racing was in 1945, when he owned a 1933 Ford 
carrying the #B17. His first driver was Don Rathbun. Billow was one of the 
founders of Sandusky Speedway which was a sand surface the first year. 
Billow was also very instrumental in getting tracks started at Fremont and 
Attica. Billow continued to own cars through 1965. Other drivers were Vern 
Myers, Don Keckler, Harold McGilton, Lou Ringle, Dick Christy, John Auxter 
and Dick Christy.

- George Fosco. Fosco recorded 14 career wins at Fremont Speedway and was the 
super modified track champion in 1957. He raced all over the area on both 
dirt and asphalt and is a former Sandusky Speedway champion. Today, Fosco 
competes in long-distance running events.

- Alvin Franks. Franks began racing in 1959 with a 1937 Ford. His first 
feature win was in his second year of racing at a track near Tiffin.He won a 
championship at the old Attica track. Franks is 9th on the all-time feature 
win list at Fremont Speedway with 34 victories. He was Fremont's super 
modified champion in 1966, 1968 and 1971. He won the Millstream (Findlay) 
track title in 1972. After retiring from driving, Franks opened a machine 
and welding shop and build many race cars in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

- Jimmie Ford. Ford began racing at Fremont in 1954 and raced through 1971. 
His biggest win came during the Fremont Speedway fair race in 1968. He had 
two career feature wins at Fremont. After retiring from driving, Ford owned 
sprint cars through 1986, and his drivers won over 60 features. His son, 
Randy drove the family's #10 to the Fremont Speedway track championship in 
1986. Perhaps his greatest racing legacy began in 2000 when he convinced the 
Sandusky County Fair Board to allow him to promote Fremont Speedway which 
was in danger of closing for good. Ford brought "The Track That Action 
Built" back to life, and he retired from the promotion of the speedway in 
2007.

- Darl Harrison. Harrison has 19 career feature wins at Fremont Speedway and 
was the track's super modified champion in 1960, 1961 and 1962. He won the 
Little 500 three times and was the United States Auto Club rookie of the 
year in 1971. He was IMCA champion in 1969. He is also a member of the 
Little 500 Hall of Fame.

- Gug Keegan. Keegan began his racing career in 1954 with a 1934 Ford. Keegan 
dominated the racing scene at Fremont and other area tracks in the late 
1960s and early 1970s. He racked up 62 career wins at Fremont and is second 
on the all-time win list. He was the 1954 strickly stock champion at Fremont 
and the 1955 sportsman division champion. Keegan won the 1967, 1974 and 1975 
track titles in the super modifieds/sprints. Perhaps what makes his 
accomplishments even more special is that Keegan built all of his own race 
cars.

- Jim Linder. Linder is fourth on the all-time win list at Fremont Speedway 
with 58 victories. He was the super modified/sprint car track champion in 
1965, 1969, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1983 and 1984. At one time in the mid-1970s, 
Linder had won so many features at Fremont Speedway, a "bounty" was put on 
his head for any driver that could beat him. Linder was as comfortable on 
asphalt as he was on dirt. Always an innovator, Linder was not afraid to 
build and try different things on his race cars.

- "Irish" Jim McCune. McCune was the 1958 and 1959 super modified track 
champion at Fremont and sits sixth on the track's all-time win list with 45 
victories. Known for his colorful demeanor and aggressive driving, McCune is 
probably best remembered for his record-shattering victory in an Australian 
Pursuit race where he passed every car on the track in less than half a lap. 
Like many drives of his day, McCune could race and win on both dirt and 
asphalt.

- Harold "Mac" McGilton. McGilton started racing in 1956 in a Ford 
six-cylinder. During his outstanding career, McGilton recorded 40 feature 
wins at Fremont and is eighth on the track's all-time win list. He won 
Fremont's super modified championship in 1964 and the sprint title in 1970. 
McGilton won races all over Ohio against some of the best competition in the 
United States.

- Gene Notestine. Notestine started racing in 1953 in a 1937 Ford coupe. 
Later, he teamed up with his brother-in-law Johnny Cook and they ran one of 
the most famous team car combinations in the area with the 6-ball and 8-ball 
cars. Notestine won three feature events at Fremont Speedway and was the 
track's strickly stock champion in 1953. But perhaps what he is best known 
for was being the track's flagman, starting in 1964 and continuing through 
the 1970s. He built a reputation as being a tough but fair flagman and was 
known as one of the best in the country.

- Herbie Robinson. Robinson was Fremont Speedway's six-cylinder sportsman 
champion in 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963. He has 54 career feature 
wins at the track and is fifth on the all-time victory list.

- Dorothy "Dot" Shilling. Known as "the first lady of racing," Shilling and 
her husband Joe Stelter, along with Harry Manor, founded Fremont Speedway in 
1951. Maynor sold his interest in the track to Frank Jensen in 1952 and 
Wayne Wall purchased an interest in 1953. Wall sold out in 1954, and Joe and 
Dot, along with Jensen, operated the track until 1957 when Don Emick 
purchased Jensen's stock. The Stelters and Emick continued to operate the 
track until 1960 when Emick sold out, leaving Joe and Dot as the sole 
owners. After Joe's sudden death in 1962, Dot decided to continue and became 
one of the few women race promoters in the country. Dot later married Paul 
Szakovits and he helped operate the track. Dot promoted the speedway until 
1976.

- Wendell Smith. Smith recorded 16 career feature wins at Fremont Speedway 
and was the track's first six-cylinder champion in 1957.

- Paul Strasser. Strasser collected 20 feature wins at Fremont in the 
six-cylinder sportsman division.

An induction ceremony will held prior to the night's racing on June 6, and 
fans are encouraged to come to the track early for the event and to meet 
those who helped create and make Fremont Speedway what it is today. Racing 
on McDonald's Night will be the 410 sprints, 305 sprints and dirt trucks and 
the vintage race cars will also be on display and will put on exhibition 
racing.

For more information log onto www.fremontohspeedway.com.