Another of my dificult questions:
Who were the owners of a CART team sponsored by Pace Electronics in the early 80's?
And, what was the color of the cars?
Pace Electronics racing team
Started by
brickyard
, Feb 21 2002 12:11
7 replies to this topic
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#2
McRonalds
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Posted 22 February 2002 - 09:44
Brickyard, you have talent in asking difficult CART questions...;)
It's seems the Derek Daly car from '87 (see sticker on the cockpit in the picture below) sponsored/entered by Pace was their final appearance, but they entered cars in '84 (Herm Johnson, Dennis firestone), '85 (Jim Crawford, Dennis Firestone), '86 (Randy Lewis) too.
It's seems the Derek Daly car from '87 (see sticker on the cockpit in the picture below) sponsored/entered by Pace was their final appearance, but they entered cars in '84 (Herm Johnson, Dennis firestone), '85 (Jim Crawford, Dennis Firestone), '86 (Randy Lewis) too.
#3
Hot Rod Otis
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Posted 22 February 2002 - 17:36
Hey, I didn't think I was still registered here. Its been a long time. This is all from a somewhat hazy memeory, but here goes.
The Pace Electronics team got its start in Western NY in 82-83. The original owner was a guy by the name of Ron Buckner. The 1st Pace Electronics driver was Oswego Super-modified driver Chuck Ciprich. I worked with a guy at the time who knew Buckner so he filled me in on what was going on. The original car they ran in 1983 was a Finley chassis, which was an Eagle knock-off built by Bill(?) Finley in Indy. They had a couple articles in our local (Rochester NY) paper about the team. They shook the car down @ Oswego speedway. Ciprich passed his ROP @ Indy in April 83. Our paper had an article about that as well. They were a typical early 80's low-buck CART outfit. They were tickled pink that Goodyear gave them a free set of tires for Ciprich's ROP. Ciprich DNQ'ed @ Indy in 83, and every where else for that matter, except Pocono. He was unfortunately taken out in a multicar crash on lap 9, started by Desire Wilson when she spun in T1 on a re-start. That was Ciprich's CART career, 9 laps, mostly under caution. The team had a very brief moment of "fame", when NBC(?) showed Ciprich's wrecked car on the hook on the pre-race show, for about 20 seconds. The team returned to Indy in 84, with( I think, gotta check my 84 Hugness yearbook) an up-dated Finley chassis, this one was a March knock-off, where Ciprich DNQ'ed again. From there it gets kinda hazy. I know Dennis Firestone drove the Pace car in 85 and 86. I think he was injured @ Indy in 87after crashing hard, and retired and Derek Daly took over. I think the team eventually was bought by the Raynor Garage Door company in 1988 and ran several years with Daly. It eventually became the Raynor-Cosby Team with Willy T Ribbs and then folded when Raynor got out of Indycar racing.
The Pace Electronics team got its start in Western NY in 82-83. The original owner was a guy by the name of Ron Buckner. The 1st Pace Electronics driver was Oswego Super-modified driver Chuck Ciprich. I worked with a guy at the time who knew Buckner so he filled me in on what was going on. The original car they ran in 1983 was a Finley chassis, which was an Eagle knock-off built by Bill(?) Finley in Indy. They had a couple articles in our local (Rochester NY) paper about the team. They shook the car down @ Oswego speedway. Ciprich passed his ROP @ Indy in April 83. Our paper had an article about that as well. They were a typical early 80's low-buck CART outfit. They were tickled pink that Goodyear gave them a free set of tires for Ciprich's ROP. Ciprich DNQ'ed @ Indy in 83, and every where else for that matter, except Pocono. He was unfortunately taken out in a multicar crash on lap 9, started by Desire Wilson when she spun in T1 on a re-start. That was Ciprich's CART career, 9 laps, mostly under caution. The team had a very brief moment of "fame", when NBC(?) showed Ciprich's wrecked car on the hook on the pre-race show, for about 20 seconds. The team returned to Indy in 84, with( I think, gotta check my 84 Hugness yearbook) an up-dated Finley chassis, this one was a March knock-off, where Ciprich DNQ'ed again. From there it gets kinda hazy. I know Dennis Firestone drove the Pace car in 85 and 86. I think he was injured @ Indy in 87after crashing hard, and retired and Derek Daly took over. I think the team eventually was bought by the Raynor Garage Door company in 1988 and ran several years with Daly. It eventually became the Raynor-Cosby Team with Willy T Ribbs and then folded when Raynor got out of Indycar racing.
#4
brickyard
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Posted 22 February 2002 - 18:58
Hey, I didn't think I was still registered here. Its been a long time.
That stands for me too... welcome back Hot Rod, and thanks for the infos.
By the way, any infos about Tom Hess Racing of 1984?;)
Brickyard, you have talent in asking difficult CART questions...
McRonalds, the easy ones, everybody knows the answers
thanks for the infos.
#5
Mike Argetsinger
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Posted 23 February 2002 - 04:44
The fact that it didn't work out for Chuck Ciprich (and Ron Buckner) in CART does not diminish the fact that Chuck was a truly great driver - and I do not toss those words around lightly. Ciprich was fast in anything he ever drove - he was also a thinking man's driver and very resourceful. He had many great successes in a career that would be the envy of most.
It is a shame that people like Chuck - who finally made it to the big show on pure grit and talent - are often written off by those who cannot see beyond the statistical evidence. I see the same thing applied to many terrific drivers who made it in to Formula one - only to have circumstances cut short any real chance to show their worth. I'm especially surprised when I see this occur on TNF - where people presumably know better.
The truth is that for whatever reason - the vagaries of fate - lack of funding - being in the wrong car - all of these and more - make statistical analysis (fascinating though it may be) a most imperfect way to evaluate driving talent. This notion that only the select few who made it big in GP (or Indy) racing were great drivers is complete nonsense. It flies in the face of any logic that may be applied by any reasonably informed observor of the racing scene.
I love statistics too - and my ultimate respect goes to those who, for whatever reason, achieved the most - but surely the really backhanded and mean comments that I constantly read on TNF toward so many great drivers is something we should be above.
It is a shame that people like Chuck - who finally made it to the big show on pure grit and talent - are often written off by those who cannot see beyond the statistical evidence. I see the same thing applied to many terrific drivers who made it in to Formula one - only to have circumstances cut short any real chance to show their worth. I'm especially surprised when I see this occur on TNF - where people presumably know better.
The truth is that for whatever reason - the vagaries of fate - lack of funding - being in the wrong car - all of these and more - make statistical analysis (fascinating though it may be) a most imperfect way to evaluate driving talent. This notion that only the select few who made it big in GP (or Indy) racing were great drivers is complete nonsense. It flies in the face of any logic that may be applied by any reasonably informed observor of the racing scene.
I love statistics too - and my ultimate respect goes to those who, for whatever reason, achieved the most - but surely the really backhanded and mean comments that I constantly read on TNF toward so many great drivers is something we should be above.
#6
Roger Clark
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Posted 23 February 2002 - 08:18
Originally posted by Mike Argetsinger
I love statistics too - and my ultimate respect goes to those who, for whatever reason, achieved the most - but surely the really backhanded and mean comments that I constantly read on TNF toward so many great drivers is something we should be above.
I couldn't agree more.
#7
brickyard
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Posted 23 February 2002 - 20:50
[QUOTE]They had a couple articles in our local (Rochester NY) paper about the team. They shook the car down @ Oswego speedway. Ciprich passed his ROP @ Indy in April 83. Our paper had an article about that as well.[/ QUOTE]
Hot Rod, any idea of how could I read those articles?
Hot Rod, any idea of how could I read those articles?
#8
Buford
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Posted 24 February 2002 - 01:16
Originally posted by Roger Clark
I couldn't agree more.
Me too. Ciprich got farther than most of us did and do. At least he got a ride and got on the track. I didn't know him but I do know there are guys at every level of racing just as good as the guys in the top level cars. Not many perhaps, but there are many levels so if you add them all up and give them equal cars and they would do very well against the guys most fans think are the true heroes. Driving race cars is not rocket science. If you are wired right, and can feel the limit, all but a tiny handful of true freaks are just as good as the next guy.
Few of the really good drivers at the lower levels end up in CART and although the con job was the IRL was supposed to solve that, few of them ended up there either. Very few.
