~ 20th Anniversary Season of Thunder on the Hill to salute Living Legends of Dirt Track Racing, Lynn Paxton, Ken Brenn & Others Thunder Season Opener Set for Wednesday night, May 20 with 410 Sprints & 358 Modifieds, Only at Grandview!
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The twentieth season of the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series presented by Lee Myles Transmissions will open its six race series at the Grandview Speedway on Wednesday night, May 20.? On the program will be the Keystone Cup 410 Sprint Speed Week Series and the 358 Modifieds competing in a double-header that will get underway at 7:30 PM.? The May 20 date will mark the eighty-sixth Thunder on the Hill event,? since the series started back in August of 1990.? Series organizers track owner Bruce Rogers and racing publicist Bob Miller have several anniversary celebrations planned for 2009.
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Thunder on the Hill is rich in history and over the years, many racing greats have taken part in this series and at Grandview Speedway.?? New for 2009 will be a nightly salute to the Living Legends of Dirt Track Racing.?? Both Rogers and Miller are fond of racings rich history and respect the many memorial events that take place throughout the season at various speedways to honor those who we lost.??? The salute to Living Legends is very similar,?? but it is a way to honor key figures of our sport? while they are still with us to fully appreciate the honor. Throughout the six races of Thunder on the Hill in 2009, various dignitaries will be honored and asked to attend the Thunder on the Hill event presented in their honor.
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On Wednesday night, May 20,? Lynn Paxton will be the honored Living Legend Guest of honor.??? Paxton of Mechanicsburg, PA won nearly two-hundred and fifty races in his career, that ended at the rather young age of thirty-nine because he wanted to spend more time with his family and work on numerous automobile restoration projects.??? We can only imagine what his career win total could have been if he would have raced for even? just another five years.??Paxton was a show-stopper and ranked among the best and one of the most popular and colorful sprint car drivers in Central Pennsylvania.? Today, Lynn spends much of his time working with the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing and the Latimore Valley Fairgrounds.? Lynn Paxton will be at Grandview to meet and greet the race fans on Wednesday, May, 20.
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On Tuesday night, June 2 the always exciting USAC Wingless Sprints and ARDC Midgets will be the headline show for race two of the Thunder on the Hill Racing Series of 2009 at Grandview.? The USAC Sprints will compete in a pair of twenty lap feature events plus qualifying as the ARDC Wingless Midgets battle the high banks in a series of qualifying leading up to their twenty-five lap feature event.
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In a show like this,? one name comes to mind as our Living Legend Guest of Honor, that being Ken Brenn Sr.? Brenn was a member of ARDC from 1954 to 1972.?? More then one-hundred and fifty drivers sat in the seat of a Brenn owned Midget and the names are much like a who”s who in the history of open wheel ranks.? Names like Len Duncan, Johnny Coy, Mitch Smith, Ray Tilley, Don Branson, Wally Dallenbach Sr, Bert Brooks, Tommy Elliott, Jiggs Peters, Ernie McCoy, Gary Bettenhausen, Jan Opperman, Bobby Adamson, Rodger Ward, Bobby Uncer, Larry Dickson and Jimmy Kirk were just a few of the great drivers to steer a Brenn owned race car. Needless to say, the Brenn cars always found their way to victory lane.
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Ken Brenn Sr. also served two terms as President of ARDC and promoted midget races at the Grandview Speedway.?? He also took his promoting talents to the East Windsor and Bridgeport Speedways for a short time. After leaving the midgets, the Brenn name became quite popular as a modified car owner in the northeast as well.
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Ken Brenn Sr was inducted into the Na