While things have been progressing behind the scenes for the
2nd Annual SpeedwayEXPO, some of its team members have been very
much in the limelight lately. Dick Berggren recently was honored
with the Bobby Isaac Memorial Award and SpeedwayEXPO itself was
recognized by Racing Against Cancer™ for its involvement with
the program in 2007.
On October 12, Berggren received the Bobby Isaac Award during
pre-race ceremonies for the Busch Series race at Lowe’s. The
award is presented annually by Lowe’s Motor Speedway to an
individual in recognition of outstanding contribution to
short-track racing.
“Much like Isaac, [Berggren] possesses a strong passion for
short-track racing,” said President and General Manager, Humpy
Wheeler, “and fortunately [he] has been willing to share that
passion with race fans around the world through [his] work as a
writer, editor and broadcaster. [His] dedication to the local
racer and promoter has never waned, and the industry is much
stronger for it.”
The Bobby Isaac Award dates back 30 years and past winners
include Chris Economaki, Dick Trickle, Hugh Deery, Tommy
Houston, Jack Ingram and others.
Then, on November 10, Cal Green, Director of SpeedwayEXPO
Sales, accepted an award on behalf of Speedway Illustrated,
the racing magazine that produces EXPO, from Racing Against
Cancer™. R.A.C.’s ’07 fund-raising kicked off on a high note
when more than $1,766 was raised at the display provided by
SpeedwayEXPO last March. At the ceremony, Dick Cyr, founder of
David’s House, a haven for terminally ill children receiving
treatment through Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Medical Center, a beneficiary of the R.A.C. Program, called the
racing community “the most generous and most caring people [he]
had ever worked with.”
To help boost the organization’s efforts, SpeedwayEXPO had
named R.A.C. the beneficiary of a rather unorthodox fund-raiser.
The “Anger Management” charity event gave fans and
competitors—who may have seen things differently at the race
track a time or two—the opportunity to “pay back” a group of
good-natured track officials. For a $5 donation, participants
got the opportunity to sink the officials in a dunk tank at the
show. Corey Boudreau of Seekonk Speedway; Andy Christmas from
Monadnock Speedway; Mike Parks of Twin State Speedway and Mike
Scrivani of the Northeastern Midget Association each took a turn
in the tank and raised hundreds of dollars for R.A.C.
With activities like “Spin to Win” for prizes such as
T-shirts, M&Ms candy, buffet meals at Foxwoods Resort Casino,
subscriptions to Speedway Illustrated and other items, as well
as a raffle for two go-karts courtesy of General Electric, the
R.A.C. Team raised a further $1,250 through the generosity of
EXPO fans.
SpeedwayEXPO is looking forward to working with the Racing
Against Cancer Team again in 2008, and is looking for volunteers
or nominations for the Anger Management event. Replies can reach
the EXPO staff at
racinpr@aol.com.
The entire staff of SpeedwayEXPO shares in the excitement of
these two great honors. The sense of pride that each has
instilled will reinforce the team as they continue to build the
2nd Annual SpeedwayEXPO. The racing community is invited to
follow the show’s progress online at
www.speedwayexpo.com.
Source: Dale
Wolbrink/racinpr@aol.com
Posted:
December 2, 2007
