Sunday, August 17, 2003

By Chris Dolack, Special to the Post-Gazette

The Western Pennsylvania racing community lost one of its more prolific drivers last week.

For more than 30 years, Dick Rankin and his V-8 modified could be found in winner's circles at not only Lernerville and Tri-City speedways but also at tracks in Ohio, New York and central Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, Rankin was killed in a construction site accident in Clarion County. He was 67.

Although he was retired from racing, Rankin, of Fairmount City, could still be found in the pits at various tracks watching his grandson, J.R. McGinley, race one of Rankin's modifieds every weekend. Rankin last raced in 2002, although it was in only a couple of events.

"A super-nice guy. He would help anybody," said Don Gamble, a racer-turned-broadcaster who has seen nearly every driver in the region in the past 40 years.

"I just talked to him a couple of weeks ago at Latrobe Speedway at the BRP Tour event. He said, 'I'd still like to race but it's so expensive.' I think he said his first car was $1,500. Now, if you put a couple of tires on the car you might have enough left for dinner."

In addition to several track championships, Rankin's racing accomplishments include about 100 feature victories, including 12 in 1995 to go along with 42 top-five finishes that helped him clinch the Cavalcade of Champions Big Block Modified title.

"All of us at Tri-City Speedway are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of Dick Rankin," track owners Mike and Margaret Graham and Roger and Susie Crick said in an official statement. "He was an excellent driver, and a good friend to everyone in the racing community."

Racing was a part of Rankin's family life, too. His son, Craig, is a former sprint car champion at Lernerville, Tri-City and Sportsman's speedways. In addition to Craig, Rankin leaves behind his wife, Connie, two daughters, Pamela and Kimberly, and several grandchildren.

The funeral is today in Clarion.

Cavalcade points

No one seems to be able to catch sprint car racer Ed Lynch Jr. of Apollo these days. Lynch wrapped up the track championship at Lernerville Speedway Aug. 8 when he won his eighth feature of the season, and 64th of his career, at the Sarver oval. Lynch also is running away with the #1 Cochran Cavalcade Points sprint lead. With 19 victories on tracks in the region, Lynch has a 36-point lead over Rod George in the race to determine the area's top drivers.

Ron Davies has a 14-point lead over Dick Barton in late models; Kevin Bolland has a nine-point lead over Ron Smoker in big-block modifieds; Dave Hess Jr. has a four-point lead over Randy Hall in e-modifieds; Shane McGarvey has a four-point lead over Pat McGuire in limited late models; and Bobby Whitling has only a one-point lead over Darrell Bossard in stock cars.

Miller, Brown aim at titles

Western Pennsylvania is well represented in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series. With Motordrome Speedway in the Atlantic Division for the first time and Jennerstown Speedway remaining in the Northeast Division, the region has a chance to crown two NASCAR champions. Motordrome late model points leader Rick Miller was second in the Atlantic going into this weekend while Jennerstown late model leader Neil Brown is second in the Northeast. Neither driver has won a NASCAR region title in their careers.

Looking ahead

At Lernerville, Lynch already won the sprint title but the winners Friday night will determine the track's three other divisional champions. In late models, John Flinner is chasing his third consecutive championship and had a 43-point lead going into the weekend. In modifieds, Brian Swartzlander is looking to win another championship and had a 32-point lead. The best battle for a title is in pure stocks, where Chris Schneider had a one-point edge over Joe Kelley before the weekend.

Saturday at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial will be Twin 20 events for late models plus all other divisions will also race.

Chris Dolack is the senior writer for Auto Racing Digest magazine. He can be contacted at cdolack@chrisdolack.com.

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