June 17, Boyertown, PA--- Happy Father’s Day everyone. I am fresh back from a trip to Grandview Speedway, located in Bechtelsville, PA and had an awesome evening.  As many of you know, I grew up in a racing family, and in the summer time I lived at racetracks, mainly Grandview.  I used to sell programs there and when I was done I would retreat to the pit area and work on the Late Model of Lou Egrie. 

Saturday June 16 I had the honor of going back to my roots to interview two top notch drivers, second generation modified racer Mike Gular and URC Sprint car racer Mares Stellfox.  This article is going to focus on Mike and the Modified division, due to the fact that Mares was involved in an accident on lap 5 of her event and had to be taken to the local medical center to make sure she was ok.  The car suffered what appeared to be mainly minor damage but it did have a break in the frame in the rear of the car and damage to the rear cover, but mainly cosmetic, but her helmet did have some marks on it that worried the paramedics.

I received a call me this morning to let me know that Mares was released from Lehigh Valley Medical Center this morning and is now home resting.  She is still having pain in her neck and head, but the CAT scan came back fine.   My thoughts and prayers go out to her, her team and family; she is an absolute sweetheart and I look forward to getting to see her race again this year.   

Mike Gular is 24 years old, resides in Harleysville PA, and is the son of former modified racer Rudy Gular, who has since stepped away from being behind the wheel and now focuses on his son’s racing.  Mike has gained a lot of knowledge from his dad.  He does admit that the technology is different from when his dad raced.  They now have to buy or make items more precise than they used to have to do a few years ago.  I can remember watching Mike race quarter midgets in Phoenixville when he was younger and now he is one of the top runners in the Modified class as both Grandview Speedway and Penn Can. Mike feels that the “competition at Grandview is the toughest on the east coast” they have a big turn out and the drivers are all very competitive.

Mike Gular and his #53 URC Sprint Car
(Tammy Longacre photo)
Above photos are 'thumb-nailed'. Click images to enlarge.

The team was ready to go racing Saturday evening, coming off of their second consecutive win at Penn Can the night before.   They took to the track for warm ups despite a light rain coming down, which made the track a little too slick and caused several mishaps for other teams.  Grandview Officials did a great job of keeping the show running despite the minor passing shower at the beginning of the evening.  Mike went out in the second heat race of the evening and had worked his way up to the lead and had the car to beat.  Unfortunately the car came to a halt in turn 2 when the drive shaft broke.  The crew and driver quickly went to work to repair the car prior to his consi which was only a few short races away.  Everyone worked together to get the car ready to go back out on the track, and they did so with only a little bit of time to spare.  Mike was scheduled to start 6^th in his consi and he had a tough field of competitors out their with him including the veteran racer and former champion, Craig Von Dohren as well as the likes of Jon Kellner JR and Kevin Hirthler.  It didn’t take Mike very long to work his way up to a qualifying position and at the checkered flag he was in 3^rd place.  Now the team had to prepare for the feature.  

After the consi more repairs were done to the car including more work on the drive shaft and replacing a transmission.  At this point in the evening they had a little bit more time, but time goes fast when you have a lot of work to do on a race car.  The team quickly went to work on the car as soon as he pulled in from his consi.  Tires had to be changed, as well as the rear gears, fuel had to be added and the most important thing was to make the adjustments and final repairs needed on the previously broken drive shaft.  

Now at a short track event, fans do not get a chance to see how hard a crew works behind the scenes, to an outsider it may look like chaos, to a team it is a flawless routine.  Every person has their talents and they all know what to do on the car, the same applies when a driver brings their car in during a race for quick repairs or tire changes.  They all worked together for one common goal, getting their driver out on the track with the best possible car that they can provide their driver.  This evening Mike’s crew worked hard to get his car in top notch condition, and their driver worked side by side with them.   

Mike went up to stage and was ready to go out for his feature event.  He started 25^th in the feature and during the event he had to bring his car in to his team’s attention on lap 10 when Rick Schaffer’s rub rail punctured his sheet metal and they had to make some quick fixes, but Mike’s car was extremely fast and working his way through the field and was pretty easy for him.  Despite the mishap his car still was a top runner and he brought the THP Properties sponsored number 53 home in 8^th place.  He also earned the Hard Charger award for his great feature run.   

Mike and I talked about sponsorship in Motorsports.  He told me that “sponsors are tough to get, you have to run it like a business.”  In a sport where a motor alone can run anywhere from $12K - $20K not to mention the chassis to put that motor in costing anywhere from $18K - $30K, sponsors are very important.  He has been very fortunate in sponsorship category and he has some top notch companies on board including THP Properties.  This year THP has cut back on the Motorsports program, and as of right now he is the main racer.  His other sponsors include Northern Wilderness Outfitters in Alberta Canada, BRB Site Contractors, A.M. Goshow and Son Inc., Wiright concrete and paving, Windover Fabricators, Leroy Denny Race Engines, Gular & Manion Lawn and Concrete Services, Captain Bob’s Fresh Seafood, C & C Café, CRC, Castrol, Black Magic Shocks, ISC Racers Tape, Juniper Auto Body and 4 Star Lettering and Design.   

Mike has set several goals this year, which include finishing in the top 3 in points at both tracks, be fast every week and have 10 wins at the seasons end.  He is already off to a great start on his 10 win goal.  His car is very fast, running laps around 15.9 seconds which equals about 75 MPH on the 1/3 mile clay high banked oval of Grandview Speedway.  His car handled extremely well and had no problem staying with the top runners.  As for the points, he is sitting pretty well at Penn Can, and at Grandview he was in 12^th place going into Saturday evening’s event.   Mike has a 5 year goal of making racing his full time job; he doesn’t have a preference of what class he wants to be in at that point.   He’s putting so much focus into racing that he really doesn’t get to do much else during the summer months, but in the winter he finds time to enjoy snowmobiling.  

Mike likes to visit different tracks when the opportunity arises, this week he will be running at a special event being held at Big Diamond in Minersville PA and then his normal Friday and Saturday racing.  He has never run an asphalt track yet; but he hopes to give it a try at the end of the year.  Mike and his team will run several big events this year including the 76er, the Forrest Rogers Memorial and Thunder on the Hill events at Grandview and the Coal Cracker at Big Diamond.  He has never run at Super Dirt Week in Syracuse New York, but that is a goal of his.  When asked which division he would pick to run up there, he said he would pick the Big Block Modified division “if I could get a ride in it.”   

Thanks to  Mike Gular and team for allowing me to follow them for the evening at the track and for all of their hospitality.  I had a great evening at the track and it was great to have a lot of old friends come over and say hi.  I look forward to checking in with Mike and his team later on in the year to give you updates on how they are doing. 

Also a big thank you to Grandview Speedway, Ernie Saxton and his wife Marilyn for allowing me the opportunity to do this story.  Mares and I will be talking over the next few days and I will get her story to you for next week’s article. 

There is another driver I want to make mention of also this week, Bobby Gunther Walsh.  Bobby is a very popular talk show host in the Lehigh Valley on WNPV AM talk radio.  The last time I had the chance to see him drive was a few years ago, and at that time his team was struggling to make the feature.  Saturday night he was battling for his heat win and had the car to beat.  He has become a very talented racer and does so much for his fans on a weekly basis including giving Mike & Ike’s away and different items from his sponsors.  It is great to see him doing so well in such a tough sport and it was great to chat with him a little bit after the feature event.   

Personally I will be back in motocross action at Dublin Gap in Shippensburg PA for the Northeast Regional Qualifiers for the Loretta Lynn’s.  I need to finish top 7 to go on, but just to have made it to this level of racing is a huge accomplishment for me.  I look forward to racing some of the top lady racers from all over the nation, including several of the pro women racers.  Until next time, I wish everyone safe and happy travels.   

I am putting this out to you--- what do you as a fan want to ask your favorite driver?  It can be for any driver in any division and as I have the opportunity to meet the drivers I will ask the questions that you email to me.  You can email me at longacre45@dejazzd.com or you can visit my new webpage at www.myspace.com/tammysplayden.  Thanks for reading and have a great week!