Racing at Road America
by Frank Grover
Attending the races at Elkhart Lake has always been a very emotional and rewarding time for me. Some of my most lasting and beautiful memories are of summer days spent with family, friends, spectators, "workers", and other racers experiencing the many exhilarating aspects, sights, and sounds of what is uniquely Road America. I first attended the "June Sprints" in 1966, not because I had it on my mind, but for the forethought and insistence of a fellow college student, Bill Gautch, who knew me well enough to have a better understanding than I did of my deepest interests and values.
I had heard of the "June Sprints" only because a mechanic friend, Richard Ryan, from Hokah, Minnesota prepared several cars for SCCA Club Racing ‚ one being a Porsche Speedster for Donald McIntosh of Virquoa, Wisconsin. While I have made many treks to Elkhart Lake in June over the years, that first one made in 1966 remains etched in my mind as though the trip home after the final race still remains to be accomplished. I really enjoyed watching Donald that day as he masterfully braked and maneuvered his Porsche through turn 5, accelerate up the hill, and then disappear under the bridge as he positioned for the turn 6 left. It left within me an inspiration that was to significantly change my life.
Donald was to become my sponsor into SCCA. While I didn't know it at the time, he was terminally ill with cancer and began losing ground quickly that fall. So I made my request for member sponsorship at the Virquoa hospital. He said I was his first sponsorship and would be his last ‚ so as I accelerated the Austin-Healey 100-6 out of turn 14 and up the final hill in 1998 to the start/finish line of that years group three race, I had my usual tear ‚ thinking of a beautiful summer day nearly 35 years ago as I watched Donald pursue lap after lap a Yenko Corvair being driven by "Think Pink" Donna Mae.
As I returned to the paddock a young boy approached me with hand extended and I could see and hear in his eyes and words the same expressions of excitement that I had enjoyed and felt at the "June Sprints" so many years before. He had been viewing the race from near our paddock area which was on the hill adjacent to the front straight. As I had no crew in the pits, it was my usual fashion to wave to those near my paddock area each lap as a sign that things were going fine. I guess I hadn't noticed that the boy had begun to return my wave and had done so nearly every lap. SCCA Club Racing has been a big part of my life ‚ to catch Donald's dream and pass it on is at the heart of the experience. Many thanks to all of the dedicated and caring people who have made the "June Sprints" what they are, mean, and continue to be. One of lives special events to be carried forward by little boys and girls who continually make the dreams of others their own.
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