Remember When by Don Gamble
Dick Curry
Dick
Curry and his lovely wife Peggy live in the South Hills of
Pittsburgh
. Their daughter Cathy and son Richie are avid race fans. Richie, a very
accomplished driver in his own right, took a break from racing to start a
family. Curry retired from his job
as an Automotive Insurance Adjuster in 2001 Many people often wondered if he
worked in light of the fact that he always managed to attend 12-15 NASCAR races
per year.
Curry’s
jobs in racing include crew member, car owner, driver, and cheer leader for his
son’s team. Dick grew up in racing
as his maternal grandfather, George F. Hackius, was vice president of Heidelberg
Raceway and took Dick to the track every Thursday night. In 1964 he built his
first race car and ran the entire season in the Claiming Division. He was
crowned Late Model Rookie of the Year for 1967 in the Pittsburgh Racing
Association. I had the opportunity to race against him on a few occasions and he
was a tough competitor.
The
Pittsburgh Racing Association’s creation of the Mini-Stock Division captured
Dick’s attention and he finished second in points in their only season. I
found it interesting that the engines in Curry’s Volkswagen were being built
by a student from my Machine Technology class at
Langley
High School
. Stanley Klepac was a very talented
sixteen year old and a very good student. Curry
won multiple events in that division at the Memorial Stadium in Daytona Beach,
Virginia Raceway (State Championship), Marion Center Speedway (won eight out of
ten), Canfield Speedway (three wins in a row), Islip Speedway, North Hills
Raceway and Lincoln Speedway where he finished third in points in the NASCAR
Mini-stock division in 1972. The car
was nicknamed “Might Mouse”.
Some of the other
speedways where he competed were Blanket Hill,
Carlisle
, Challenger, Greater Pittsburgh,
Green
Valley
, Hummingbird,
Hagerstown
,
Heidelberg
,
Islip
, Jennerstown, Latrobe, Lernerville,
Mansfield
,
Pittsburgh
,
Richmond
VA
,
Saluda
VA
,
South
Park
and St. Clairsville. At several of
these tracks he competed in the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Senior Series.
Curry
felt that the best part of racing was first at the checker and bringing the car
home in one piece. The toughest part was tearing up equipment and securing the
funds to keep the team in operation. Support
for his team came from sponsorship by Stanley Klepac Racing Engines, Al Hayes
Performance and Gateway Automotive. Crew
members included Harry Tolbert, Al Hayes, Dennis Curry, and Donny Clasper.
He
enjoys attending NASCAR races and traveling around the country in his RV with
his family. His most memorable
moment in racing was winning the 1973 World Series of Mini Stocks Championship
in
Florida
. The most embarrassing moment came
in 1971 after winning the grand finale Daytona Memorial Stadium only to be
disqualified. He can relate to some
of the NASCAR teams today that are having issues with the rules.
Dick’s
favorite drivers include his son Richie, Tommy Schirnhofer, Dusty Curry and
Scott Gunn. When asked who he would
like to be compared to and why he replied “Buddy O’Connor and Herb Scott
because they always maintained the fire and desire to run well and win”.
People often refer to him as “Mr. NASCAR”.
The nickname is appropriate because no one knows more about that form of
racing than anyone in the Tri-State area.
In
the mid-70s he started following the NASCAR circuit and in 1987 Dick joined the
Rappin’ and Racin’ crew as the NASCAR reporter. He wrote the auto racing
column in the Pittsburgh Press for two years. Besides Daytona he has been to
Michigan
,
Bristol
,
Richmond
,
Dover
,
Atlanta
,
Texas
,
Phoenix
,
Martinsville
,
North Wilkesboro
, Rockingham, Lowes,
Darlington
and Miami-Homestead Speedways and will continue with up to the minute reports
on all series as the season progresses. In 2007, Dick Curry returns to Rappin’
on Racin’ for his 20th year covering all the NASCAR events and the
ARCA/Remax Series.
Curry
was the regular co-host on all the broadcasts of Rappin’ on Racin’ that we
did for sixteen tears from the
STP
Building
in the pits at Daytona International Speedway.
His knowledge of the sport made it natural fit as we interviewed all the
top NASCAR drivers. Larry McReynolds
first ever radio interview was with Curry and I when Larry was the crew chief
for Dale Earnhardt Sr. McReynolds
told Curry that he was interested in getting into broadcasting when he retired
from being a crew chief and would like to be on our show. Dick
Curry, Bill Steinbach and I were hired by Beth Adams from Ketchum Advertising in
Pittsburgh
to work with their clients and do training sessions and mock interviews.
We worked with Hut Strickland, Jimmy Spencer, Doug Richert,
and Buckshot Jones. Dick Curry is a
big part of the success of Rappin’ on Racin’ and a lot of fun to work with.
He is constantly remembering when.
Rappin'
on Racin' is starting the twenty fourth year on the air.
The show can be heard live Mondays at
6:00
on WEDO 810 on the AM dial. Rappin' on Racin' is available over the Internet by
way of our website www.speedwayproductions.biz. We have a lot
of special guests lined up for the coming months plus a few surprises.
Listeners won't have to miss any show since each show's content will be
archived.
Mike
Lysakowski and Larry Mattingly will alternate weeks as the co-host to bring the
listeners the latest breaking motorsports news.
The two-hour show features special guests, local track reports, driver
interviews and open phone lines. Weekly reports include NHRA, Indy Car, World of
Outlaws, DIRT, All Stars, MACS and NASCAR.
In
addition to Monday night's Rappin' on Racin' Speedway Productions produces
Trackside from Lernerville Speedway on Friday evenings at
6:00 PM
. The show features reports on race night activities and driver interviews.
Make plans to join us every week.
