My dad, Gary Lileck Sr. passed away on Tuesday March 8th 2005. He was 65 years old.

 

     When my father was younger he worked as an auto mechanic. That led to a vast interest in the sport of auto racing. Before I was born, my dad was a drag racer. He spent time at various drag strips, and raced often at the Numidia Dragway in Numidia PA. He won numerous trophies and was quite successful at it. My dad's strong points were on the starting line. They said he had one of the best reaction times at the tree, and he very seldom red lighted.

 

     As it was soon time for my birth into this world, my dad decided to retire as an active driver, so that he could raise a family, get a new house. That's the kind of person my dad was. He had his priorities straight.

 

     When I was two years old (I believe that's when it was), my parents started taking me to the races. We went to Schoentown (Anthracite Speedway) and of course Big Diamond Raceway. Although I can't remember Schoentown, I have very fond memories at all of the years from Big Diamond.

 

     We always did family things together. The normal vacation travel and going to see movies and stuff. But one of the main things we did as a family was going to the races. Eventually we were at Big Diamond on Fridays, Flemington or Bridgeport or Grandview on Saturdays and Penn National on Sundays. We went to Evergreen on Sunday afternoons, and usually hit those mid-week Wednesday shows at Nazareth. And whenever vacationing in Ocean City MD, you could find us at US13 (now known as Deleware International). And of course we went to the drag races at Numidia, York, and Maple Grove among others. On the way home from the races, my dad and I would talk about the entire night's racing to keep us awake on the drive home (especially those two and a half hour drives from Flemington or Bridgeport). My brother was born in 1979 and he quickly became a racing fan as well. And my mom was always there too.

 

     The funny thing is, there really wasn't anyone in my family that was a race fan and racer except for my dad. He passed the racing bug onto my Mom, then myself and my brother. And I have passed that same racing bug to my wife, who had never been to a race until she met me, and now she is hooked.

 

     My dad's favorite drivers were Billy Schinkel and Kenny Brightbill. He was pretty bummed when Billy retired but was happy that Kenny was still around racing.

 

     Another memory that stands out for me was when I started writing for AARN. My first race that I covered was on Good Friday 1992 at the Linda's Speedway. I was sitting up in the stands and of course my dad was right there with me. One of the drivers that raced Linda's in those years was Blaise Alexander. Dad would lean over to me and say "I'm telling you this kid is going to be a star someday". You know, he was right. Blaise moved into NASCAR Busch and ARCA racing. Sadly Blaise was killed in an ARCA race accident in Charlotte NC. My dad was really hurt about that as he was a big Blaise Alexander fan. I can picture it now up there. Maybe my dad is helping Blaise tune up his race car as he gets ready to take a couple of laps around a race track.

 

     My dad's last local race he attended with me as a fan was 1999 at Susquehanna Speedway. That race will stand out in my mind now the most.

 

     When I witness my first race this year in 2005, I can't help but think that somewhere my dad is watching with me as the first heat gets ready for a green flag. Actually I know he will be watching it with me.