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Los Angeles, CA. - Another retirement
party for Shav Glick, the esteemed 85-year old Los Angeles Time
motor sports writer, took place at California Speedway in Fontana.
The date was Thursday evening February 23, the eve of NASCAR's
three-day racing weekend at the two-mile track. The proximity to the
Fontana races enabled many of his friends and journalism colleagues
to attend and wish Shav well in retirement. His last day at the
Times was January 15. About 175-200 people attended the tribute,
held in the track's "party tent" in the infield between
the starting line and turn four. American Auto Racing Writers and
Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) staff arranged the affair
and handled
sign-ins.
Bob Steinbrinck, long-time radio voice at KMPC
710 AM in Los Angeles and Riverside International Raceway turn six
announcer, served ably as master of ceremonies. Fellow long-time
motor racing scribes Bill Center (San Diego Union-Tribune) and Jim
Short (Riverside Press-Enterprise) came to the stage and spoke
fondly of working alongside Shav in track press rooms and just
knowing the unassuming Shav as a friend. Short also will be retiring
later this year. Shav's boss, LA Times sports editor Bill Dwyre also
spoke warmly about Shav, who was seated on the stage for the night
of tributes. The Times assistant sports editor attended as well.
Gillian Zucker, president of California Speedway and hostess of the
buffet dinner/tribute to Shav, spoke about Shav. She gave him a
California Speedway gold life-time media pass and reserved parking
space number
one. A video presentation featuring glowing comments about Shav from
NASCAR
executives Bill France, Jr and Jim Hunter followed. Seated
among the audience were NASCAR president Mike Helton and Les
Richter, the ex-L.A Rams linebacker,
long-time Riverside track president and NASCAR vice-president.
Fellow writers who attended Shav's tribute dinner
included Mike Harris (Associated Press), David Poole (Charlotte
Observer), Lewis Franck (Reuters wire service), Damian Dottore
(Orange County Register), Louie Brewster (Inland Valley Daily
Bulletin) and Martin Henderson (LA Times). NASCAR driver Brendan
Gaughan and long-time racing PR maven and personal friend Doug
Stokes and his wife Dede also attended. Many persons in motor racing
public relations attended, including Tom Blattler (Bobby Rahal
Racing) and Dennis Kaiser (The PR Garage). Shav served as Grand
Marshall for the February 26 NASCAR Nextel Cup Auto Club 500. The
Fox TV broadcast of the race showed Shav giving the "Gentleman
Start Your Engines" command and he performed his duty on cue
perfectly. Shav's successor at the LA Times motor sports desk is Jim
Peltz, who covered the NASCAR races at Daytona Beach and Fontana.
SHAV BIO: He began his sports writing career 71
years ago in Pasadena and worked from ages 14 to 85. He covered 35
Indianapolis 500s, 32 Daytona 500s, numerous Formula One, sports
car, motorcycle, midget and sprint car races and even the new motor
sports sensation from Japan-drifting. Shav also covered two Olympic
Games, a dozen Masters golf tournaments, plus U.S Opens and St.
Andrews (Scotland) tourneys, Wimbledon tennis, cricket in Australia,
baseball World Series, Santa Anita horse races and numerous Rose
Bowl football games in his hometown of Pasadena. During World War II
Shav served in the public relations corps of General Douglas
MacArthur in the South Pacific.
The late L.A Times publisher Otis Chandler, who
died at age 78 this year on February 27, hired Shav away from the
Pasadena Star-News in 1954 to write for the Los Angeles Mirror. It
merged with the L.A Times in 1963 and Shav's by-line has appeared in
the Times since then. Times sports editor Bill Shirley named Shav to
succeed Bob Thomas as the motor sports writer when Bob left the
Times in 1969. Shav has handled the racing beat ably for 37 years.
He has won numerous awards for his accurate and entertaining
reporting of the motor sports scene. He even has the media center at
NHRA's Pomona Raceway named for him. A Shav Glick Award is named in
his honor. It goes annually to a distinguished person in motor
racing. Recently Shav was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame
of America in Novi, Michigan in the at-large category. He joins some
of
the legendary names of American racing in that respected hall.
P.S.-The LA Times announced on March 3 that
Sports Editor Bill Dwyre, 61, was promoted to the new position of
executive sports editor to aid in the transition of his successor,
Randy Harvey, 54. Randy is a long-time Times sportswriter/columnist
who has been sports editor of the Baltimore Sun for the last two
years. Dwyre has been the Times sports editor for 25 years and he
wanted to give up his managerial duties for writing. Times readers
may look forward to Dwyre by-lines and opinion pieces in the Times
in coming years. The Notre Dame alumnus is a tennis aficionado who
made sure motor sports had solid coverage in the Times. Hopefully
Harvey and Peltz will continue the tradition of motor
sports coverage that Dwyre and Glick gave Times readers for decades.
Irwindale Speedway opening night, Saturday March
11, was to be Shav Glick Night at the track. However, rain
intervened and postponed the 2006 track opener to March 18 when Shav
will be honored by track management and IS fans. The five division
card rained out March 11 was the ninth rain-out in IS track history
since it opened on March 27, 1999. The last rain-out occurred on
March 19, 2005. Two rain-outs happened in 2004 on April 3 and April
17.
Irwindale Speedway held two open practice days on
Saturdays February 18 and 25 from 11 a.m to dusk. Cost was $100 per
car with free pit passes for crews and spectators. About 25-30 cars
took part on the 18th and more than 40 racing cars/trucks took
advantage on the 25th to test and set-up their vehicles for
competition this season. On the first test day NHRA drag racer Frank
Pedregon had his new super late model on the track for the first
time. The all black car (with no number on it yet) spun into the
wall in a turn during one session and needed extensive repairs to
the left rear and left front. The driver was stock car rookie/360
cu. in. sprint car veteran Jessica Helberg, 18, from
Northern California. She was uninjured in the mishap on a chilly
day. She has raced her family No. 4 Beast/Chevy with CASA at tracks
such as Altamont Raceway. She made her debut at Irwindale last
Thanksgiving when she made the USAC Western Sprint Car Series
feature on Turkey Night and raced to the checkered flag in her IS
debut.
Subjects of feature stories in the Orange County
Register by motor sports writer Damian Dottore were Mauricia Grant
(on March 1) and Scott Speed (on March 8). Mauricia is the
20-something African-American NASCAR tech inspector who was referred
to Irwindale Speedway by the Urban League and worked in tech
inspection at IS through 2004. She joined the NASCAR Busch Series
tech staff in 2005. Scott, 23, is a Formula One 2006 rookie from
Manteca, CA. He is the first graduate of the Red Bull energy drink
F.1 American driver development program in 2002. He has been racing
in a European lower formula three series since 2003, interrupted by
a serious illness-ulcerative colitis. Treatment in Austria prevented
the removal of his colon, which could have ended his racing career.
His illness is now in remission. Scott qualified 16th fastest in a
22-car F.1
field for the F.1 season opener in Bahrain on March 12. He raced
without error and finished 13th, with 18 drivers still racing at the
finish. Scott completed 56 of the 57 laps run on the 12-turn,
3.37-mile course in his F.1 debut with the Scuderia Toro Rosso (Red
Bull) ex-Minardi team. He is the first driver from the USA to race
in F.1 since Michael Andretti ran F.1 one season in 1993.
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