Back in the early 1980’s I was a bit confounded as to why so many auto racing publications sometimes treated my favorite sport, dirt track racing in general and dirt Late Model racing specifically, like a red-headed step-child. Dirt Late Model racing, as has been shown the past 25 years, is one of the most exciting forms of motorsports and certainly the fastest growing segment of all motorsports nationally.
So I put my money and time where my mouth was and published my own dirt racing publication devoted solely to dirt Late Model racing beginning in 1981 and ending in 1987. Originally named Ohio Dirt Track Report, it soon morphed into just Dirt Track Report as it covered the sport on a national level. The rag was sold at race tracks across Ohio and the surrounding states as well as via subscriptions.
ABOVE: Volume 6 Issue No. 5 of Dirt Track Report
I ended the magazine when I got involved in a full time basis with the STARS (Shirt Track Auto Racing Stars) sanctioning body as the Executive Director and on the board as the Vice-President of the corporation and as the promoter of Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, OH and General Manager of Pennsboro Speedway in Pennsboro, WV.
The experience was useful as later on I wrote, edited and did lay-outs for a variety of racing-related programs, a STARS magazine and newsletters.
Here are two sample covers from that long-ago magazine. Today the sport has Dirt Late Model Magazine, as slick, glossy and professional as they come and I am happy to say I have worked with them for a decade or more. But way back in the day, publishing my own rag was a lot of work, time, effort and a lot of fun and it proved to be a remarkable networking device over the years career-wise.
Tags: Dirt Track Report, Ohio Dirt Track Report, STARS, Pennsboro Speedway, Donnie Moran, Ben Hess, dirt Late Model racing
March 10, 2008 at 3:45 pm |
does any one know the latest on Doc Lehman I whould like to get in touch with him