Legendary Driver To Be Saluted

Fort Wayne, Indiana Dec 13, 2010 FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- They could have thrown a dinner in his honor, bought him a set of golf clubs or given him a rocking chair. But that just didn't seem to be the proper way to recognize a man who has spent his life in the fast lane. Instead, when the 13th annual "Rumble in Fort Wayne" unfolds Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center, legendary sprint car driver Hank Lower will be presented one of the best seats in the house -- one right behind a steering wheel. The man known as Hurryin' Hank has accepted an invitation from promoter Tony Barhorst and chassis builder Rich Tobias Jr. to compete in the Slingshots by Tobias division of the two-day indoor race fest. The cars are lightweight, scaled-down versions of East Coast modifieds, and Lower expects them to handle much like his winged sprint car.

Still competitive at age 72, Lower is wrapping up his 52nd season and has won more than 200 features in the United States, Canada and South Africa, plus five sprint car series championships. He finished third in the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series standings this past season. "That's nice of them to do that," said the humble Lower, a lifelong resident of nearby Angola, Ind. "I appreciate that. I always considered Fort Wayne my second hometown. I worked in Fort Wayne (as a millwright and fabricator) and, of course, I raced a lot at Baer Field. It's very nice to be honored. "I never thought when I started it would be anything like this." Lower launched his career in 1959, won his first feature in 1965 (in a Model A Coupe at Avilla) and moved up to winged sprint cars in 1978, racing on both dirt and pavement. A member of five Halls of Fame, he captured the Sprints on Dirt championship in 1982, '83, '86 and '94 -- winning 15 of 31 features in 1986 -- and the HOSS title in 1997. He made his only USAC start in 1989, at Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, Mich., and promptly won the feature.

COMPLETE SHOWS BOTH NIGHTS: A full day of racing is scheduled for both New Year's Eve (Friday, Dec. 31) and New Year's Day (Saturday, Dec. 31), with spectator gates opening at noon and the main portion of the event at 7 p.m. each day. The five-division program features midgets, winged outlaw modified midgets, Slingshots by Tobias, karts and quarter midgets. INFO AVAILABLE ONLINE: Information on tickets, special hotel rates and entries are available at www.rumbleseries.com or by e-mailing Barhorst at tbracefest@aol.com. -30-

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Speedway Entertainment is owned and operated by legendary chassis builder and racecar driver Rich "Toby" Tobias. Speedway Entertainment is located in Myerstown, PA and is the sole manufacturer of the Slingshots and the SpeedSTR's.