From Steve Inch
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – One of the most popular and widely-recognized sprint
cars in the history of the sport will make a return for the Jim Nace
Memorial 28th Annual National Open at Selinsgrove Speedway on Saturday,
Sept. 18.
Through the joint efforts of championship car owners Frank Campbell of
Millerstown and Gary and Patty Beam of Gardners, sprint car driver Todd
Shaffer of Millerstown will compete in a Camel Express No. 26 car to honor
the memory of Jim Nace, the speedway’s only five-time sprint car champion
who died last November following a seven-year battle with cancer.
“Several months ago my son Matthew and I talked about getting a Camel
Express car together for the upcoming race,” said Campbell, owner of H.F.
Campbell & Son Trucking in Millerstown. “We wanted to find somebody who was
currently racing and would agree to do it and the Beams were the natural
choice. I want to express my appreciation to the Beams for providing this
opportunity.”
Campbell fielded sprint cars in Pennsylvania for more than a decade. In
1983, he hired Nace to drive his race car. When Jimmy Russell joined the
team as chief mechanic in 1986, Campbell had one of the most successful
sprint car teams in the country.
“We were really fortunate that we had such a great team back then,” said
Campbell. “One of Jim’s goals was to be a champion. He was not only a
champion on the track but off the track as well. He really enjoyed helping
others in the sport. And Jimmy Russell was a super mechanic who was so
dedicated to getting the car ready to go on the track.”
In 1989, after Nace clinched his third consecutive title at Selinsgrove
Speedway, Campbell retired as a car owner. A few years later, when Nace
entered into semi-retirement from the sport, Russell became Shaffer’s crew
chief and continues to turn the wrenches on the No. 88 owned by the Beams.
“After I quit racing I continued to sponsor Todd for two years,” Campbell
recalls. “Jimmy Russell is their mechanic now and the Beams are really
great people, so this all fell into place.”
A career fifth victory in the National Open for Shaffer would not only tie
him with Fred Rahmer of Salfordville for the most wins in the track’s
marquee event but would also be a special tribute to his life-long friend
Nace.
“I can’t tell you a race I would want to win more than the one coming up at
Selinsgrove in Jim’s memory,” said Shaffer. “To me, this race is promoting.
It’s all a great idea and we’re all excited about it.”
The National Open’s distance of 44 laps and $44,000 purse, tributes to
Nace’s race car number at the start of his career, will be divided into two
22-lap segments and two complete payoffs, with $6,000 to win each segment
as an homage to the No. 6 sprint car Nace campaigned most recently as both
a driver and a car owner.
Should one driver win both of the 22-lap segments, a $14,000 bonus will be
awarded, pushing the winner’s total to $26,000 and the event’s purse to
nearly $60,000, which would be the speedway’s third highest-paying sprint
car race in its 65-year history, behind the 1989 and 1990 National Opens.
The $26,000 figure was selected to honor the Camel Express No. 26 sprint
car Nace drove to a majority of his career championships and victories in
central Pennsylvania during the 1980s.
“I would like to thank the Campbell and Nace families for giving me this
opportunity,” Shaffer continued. “When I was starting out in my career, the
Camel Express, Weikert’s Livestock, and Hamilton cars were the ones
everyone wanted to drive. To drive this car for this race is quite an
honor.”
Jeff Creasy of Creasy Signs in Bloomsburg, who previously designed and
lettered the Camel Express race cars, was contacted to apply the famous
maroon and gold colors, number 26, and the Camel Express caricature to the
car for this one-time special appearance in the National Open.
“I’ve been waiting 20 years to letter another Camel Express car,” said
Creasy this morning on his way to the race shop.
The fast qualifier in the National Open will earn a $300 bonus for the Fast
Tees Fast Time Award in Memory of Jim Nace sponsored by Chrystal Nace and
Jamie Nace. Andy and Deb Davidson, owners of R.E. Davidson & Son, Inc. in
Selinsgrove and long-time supporters of Nace’s racing career, have posted a
$500 bonus to the driver who finishes sixth in each of the segments. H.F.
Campbell & Son Trucking is sponsoring the Camel Express Cash Dash.
Nace won Selinsgrove Speedway sprint car titles in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994,
and 1995. With 46 career 410 sprint car victories, Nace is currently ranked
fourth on the speedway’s all-time career sprint car win list. The
Thompsontown racer was also instrumental in helping to establish the 358
sprint car division as the track’s weekly headline open wheel division
beginning in 2001. During this time, he recorded three career 358 sprint
car wins.
Nace took back-to-back track titles at Williams Grove Speedway in 1986 and
1987, the year in which he also won the overall Pabst central Pennsylvania
sprint car title. He clinched a single title at Susquehanna Speedway in
1988.
Joining the 410 sprint cars on the Sept. 18 racing program will be the late
models and SpeedSTRs. Track gates will open at 5 p.m., with qualifying
slated to begin at 7 p.m. For the latest news and information, visit
selinsgrovespeedway.com or call 570.374.2999.