Williams Grove Speedway, one of the most popular of the Central Pennsylvania speedways, closed its 2017 racing season on October 6 having crowned its season champions in both the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car division and the HJ Towing & Recovery 358 sprint car division.
At the age of 21, young Freddie Rahmer, of Salfordville, became the youngest driver to claim a Williams Grove Speedway track title since Bobby Davis Jr. accomplished the feat at age 20 back in 1983 while driving for Bob Weikert.
It was young Rahmer’s first title at the oval.
A three-time winner at the track in 2017, Freddie Rahmer now joins his father and car owner, Fred Rahmer on the prestigious Williams Grove Speedway all time championship win list.
The elder Rahmer earned nine career oval track titles as a pilot himself and now owns a total of 10, including his first as a car owner in 2017.
Rahmer and Dave Pritchard will share car owner laurels for 2017.
Freddie Rahmer also earned the 2017 Williams Grove Diamond Series title at the track, earning the most points in the oval series comprised of some of the most special events the track offers during the year.
His father was a two-time Diamond Series champion during his career.
In the 358 sprint division, Mechanicsburg’s Kevin Nouse recently wrapped up the 2017 track title.
The title was the fourth of Nouses’s career at the track after also taking titles in 2013, 2014 and in 2016.
The 2017 title puts Knouse in pretty elite company as only one other driver has won more Williams Grove titles with Pat Cannon having earned a total of five 358 sprint crowns.
Like Nouse, Cory Haas earned four during his tenure in the limited sprints.
Nouse took one oval victory in 2017.
Special awards in the 358 sprints went to Troy Wagaman Jr. as Most Improved Driver, Brie Hershey for Sportsmanship and Brett Wanner as Rookie of the Year.
In the 410 sprint ranks, special awards went to Anthony Macri as Rookie of the Year, Troy Fraker for Sportsmanship, Matt Campbell as Most Improved and Mechanic of the Year went to Freddie Rahmer for wrenching his own mount to the 2017 track title.
The 2018 season opener at Williams Grove Speedway has been determined to be a 410 sprints only program, taking place on a Sunday afternoon in March.
Keep up to date on all the latest speedway news and information by visiting the oval’s official website at www.williamsgrove.com or by visiting the oval on Facebook or via Twitter.
Veteran fans will remember Fred Rahmer Sr. as an outstanding Modified stock car racer having won the Modified title at Grandview Speedway twice and the winner of 45 features between 1979 and 1985. “Fast” Freddie was also twice a winner of the prestigious Freedom 76.
“I personally have great memories of Fred Sr. racing at Grandview and having the opportunity to announce all his wins in the Modifieds. I considered him one of the very best Modified racing talents and I was not surprised when he became an outstanding Sprint car racer.”
* * *Local dirt track racing fans will have fond memories of the great Dick “Toby” Tobias. Motorsports publisher Coastal 181 announced the upcoming release of its latest title, “TOBY: The Star-Crossed Story of an American Racing Family,” by Lew Boyd.
“TOBY” presents the dramatic life history of Dick “Toby” Tobias, the popular Pennsylvania Dutchman, who made Modified Stock Cars and Sprint Cars dance. He won over 300 features and, a true entrepreneur, built one of the most successful speed shops in the country before dying in a horrendous crash at Flemington, N.J., in 1978.
His racing legacy was carried on in spades by his sons Ronnie, Scott, Richie, and son-in-law Paul Lotier, all of whom showed amazing talent behind the wheel. Ably supported by Toby’s daughters Debbie and Tina and Ronnie’s wife Dianne, they remained dedicated to Toby’s business pursuits, even though challenged by a seemingly unending series of on-track misfortunes. Through it all, the Tobias’s have survived to become one of the most respected families in motorsports, and they continue to innovate in both racing and promoting.
Over the years Richie has become a talented promoter and is responsible for the successful events presented at Kutztown’s Action Track USA. He also created the SpeedSTR race car.
“TOBY” is soft-cover with 192 pages and 150 color and black & white photographs. Priced at $29.95, it can be ordered from Coastal 181 (877-907-8181, www.coastal181.com) or Rich Tobias at Speedway Entertainment, (717-866-7450, www.speedwayentertainment.com)
* * *Coming up at Grandview Speedway on Sunday, November 5th is the annual Racer Flea Market. It all gets started at 7 a.m. and goes on until who knows when. Often some great bargains to be had and who knows you just might come home as the owner of a race car.
