By Brian Liskai
FLORIDA – The dirt track racing community lost an icon Thursday, June 26. Former head of the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series Bert Emick passed away at Halifax Hospital in Daytona, Florida after a brief illness. He was 84-years-old.
Emick was surrounded by his loving wife Brigitte, whom he married in 1962, and his daughter Kristi. Bert often said his greatest accomplishment in life was taking care of “his girls.” His heart was filled with gratitude for the love and respect of the racing community and he was so looking forward to attending the All Star reunion in September and he will be watching from above.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, to Betty and Bert “Pop” Emick Sr., Bert became interested in auto racing through his father who enjoyed racing photography as a hobby. Bert later joined his father as a photographer by the time he was in his early 20s.
Bert began his working career in the automobile service industry, eventually owning his own muffler shop in 1975. Because of his upbringing, Bert and Brigitte were regulars at races in Ohio and the surrounding states in the 1960s and 1970s. Bert and Brigitte had racing photo stands at tracks in Ohio and West Virginia in the mid-to-late 1970s.
The All Star Circuit of Champions was formed in 1970 by C.H. “Bud” Miller with partners Paul Waite, William Baieri and George Yobe. Eleven races were run in 1970, mostly 100 lappers on Wednesday nights in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, each paying $1,000 to win. Ralph Quarterson won the first All Star point title over Bobby Allen, Lee Osborne and Lou Blaney.
Due to Miller’s business commitments, no All Star events were contested in 1971 or 1972. However another season began in 1973 with 11 shows scheduled with Jan Opperman winning the series title.
Because of those early All Star successes and the renewed enthusiasm in “outlaw” sprint car racing generated by Ted Johnson’s World of Outlaws in 1978, racing photographer friends Jerry Clum and Emick decided to start their own series in 1979. Five events under the Midwest Outlaw Super Series (MOSS) were held in Ohio and West Virginia with Dub May winning the point title.
Bert got involved because of his admiration for the grass-roots, low budget traveling racers. Bert’s goal was to help these type of racers out with good purses without a lot of travel. By 1980 the MOSS series was growing quickly with 22 events scheduled and the addition of a MOSS late model series. Bert sold his muffler shop that year.
MOSS events paid $2,000 to win with a point fund champion taking $10,000 claimed by Bobby Allen and Jim Dunn taking the late model title.
However, unbeknownst to Bert and Jerry, a track promoter who had booked MOSS events in 1980, copyrighted the name and following an unsuccessful battle in court, the duo lost the MOSS name. Bert rededicated himself to the sport and the All Star Circuit of Champions moniker was used again starting in 1981 for both the sprint car and late model series.
An All Star Board of Directors was created with Bert and Brigitte at the helm. As the series grew, Bert turned over the day-to-day operations of the late model series to Bill Moore in 1982. The late models series declined in the early 1990s before being disbanded in 1993.
In 1983 Ohio Sprint Speedweek was started featuring six races in six nights under the All Star Circuit of Champions banner. The brainchild of Eldora’s Earl Baltes, speedweek has been imitated in several other regions. In fact, Attica Raceway Park kicks off the annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek with the Bert and Brigitte Emick Classic each year.
Bert gives all the credit for the growth in purses and points funds for the All Stars over the years to his wife, Brigitte who worked tirelessly on financials, statistics and running the series souvenir trailer. She was always at Bert’s side.
Bert was loved and respected by drivers, car owners, track promoters and the fans. He was voted the inaugural recipient of the National Sprint Car Poll’s Outstanding Contribution to the Sport Award in 1985 and has been ranked in the top five of the most influential leaders in the sport every year since the poll’s inception in 1991. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame in 2012.
A memorial will be held at a later date and a full obituary is pending.