CURT BISH SR. AND JR. IN SEARCH OF THUNDERCAR WINS AT TRI-CITY
by Brian Spaid

July 16, 2004 

   Who has the dominant Thundercar? Well, that depends on the race track.

   At Tri-City Speedway, Don Blake Jr. of Titusville and Robby Switzer of Kennerdell are running neck-and-neck for the track title. Only 10 points separate the veteran racer (Blake) from the young lion (Switzer) in the chase for the championship.

   Down the road at Mercer Raceway Park, however, the Bish family literally owns the third-mile oval.

   To date, Curt Bish Sr. of Titusville has nine feature wins at Mercer while his son, Curt Bish Jr. of Oil City, has three wins. It was not until this past weekend that another driver was able to break the Bishes 12-race win streak when second generation racer Travis Norman topped Bish Sr. for his first career victory.

   “I’m a little surprised that my son and I have been so dominant at Mercer, but I did a lot of homework over the winter months,” said Bish Sr.

   While the racing patriarch worked on a new car and learning more about the setups on the Thundercars, he also dabbled a little on the computer. Several well-known drivers on national and international levels of motorsports have indicated that they learned to drive some tracks from computer racing games. Bish Sr. decided to try it too.

   “On one of those computer games, there’s a track like Mercer. I raced it a bunch of times learning the groove and where to put the car in the corners.”

   At first, the whole concept sounded a little crazy. But, his first night out, Bish Sr. lapped the field – twice. Since then, he’s added eight more wins in Mercer’s class, which is called Strictly Stocks instead of Thundercars.

   “Every week, Curt and I work on our cars to make them faster,” added Bish Sr. “A lot of people are after us there. At Mercer, there’s a rule that you start in the back of the pack the week after you win. It’s a small track, so it’s more of a driver’s track. You have to pick your way through the field. I’ve started in the back many times and won.”

   Despite their success at Mercer, the Bishes have been unable to match it at Tri-City. Bish Jr. scored one win last season and added another in 2004. So far, Bish Sr. is winless at the Venango County half-mile oval.

   “I’m not real sure why we haven’t had as much success at Tri-City. But, I think I’ve got it figured out and we can beat Blake and Switzer.”

   Following the lead of the top two pointmen, Bish Sr. believes that gear selection is the trick to beat Blake and Switzer. Both of those drivers tend to race the very top groove around the track giving them huge amounts of momentum off the turns. In fact, their mutual love of the outside cushion propelled them to multiple wins this season -- five for Blake and three for Switzer. Bish Sr. is positive he can match their pace.

   “We’ve been working on our gear selection the last couple of weeks. Last Sunday, I was able to stay with Blake before he broke and I finished second to Robby. You watch, I’m going to win one at Tri-City.”

   While Bish Jr., 25, started his racing career in the Thundercars at Tri-City in 2003, Bish Sr., 45, raced Pro Stocks in years past. In 1990 and 1991, he competed at Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox. When Tri-City reopened in 1996, he assisted on the pit crew of Oil City driver Jerry Huff. In 1998, he hooked up with Townville driver Greg Becker and drove a Pro Stock from his stable for three seasons.

   “I quit after the 2000 season. I just couldn’t afford to do it anymore. Then, last year, Tri-City announced the new Thundercar class and my boy wanted to get involved.”

   They took turns racing one car last season at Tri-City. Over the winter, they decided to build a new car, which is a 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo No. 00. The older car, a 1984 Pontiac Grand Prix No. 00X, was retained and now they run as a team.

   “At first, we were going to run the old car at Mercer and the new one at Tri-City, and we were going to take turns driving at each track. Then, I started winning at Mercer, where the points go to the driver, not the car, and we decided to race as a team at both tracks.”

   On opening night at Tri-City, as his son drove to victory lane, Bish Sr. continued his dubious honor of rolling every race car he’s ever driven with a crash in turn two.

   “I don’t want to be remembered for that. I want to win a lot of races. I want to win 20 features at Mercer this year and set a record that will be hard to beat in the future. And I’m going to win my first feature at Tri-City soon.”

   Bish is also in line to win the track titles at both Mercer and Tri-City. Consistent domination at Mercer should turn the trick there. At Tri-City, it will take innovative mechanical knowledge for Bish Sr. to vault past Blake and Switzer and other top contenders, including his son, as the titleholder.

   Sponsors for the Bish team include Dennis Baker Construction, O’Neil’s Plumbing & Heating, A&C Buffet, Deets Sugar Shack, Gravatt Painting & Wallcovering, and Subway of Franklin, Grandview Auto Body, The Arlington Hotel, The Earring Lady, Shook’s Garage, Jerry’s Auto and Shook’s Auto of Oil City, Nnel Auto Salvage of Dempseytown, Honest Bob’s Race Shops of Kaneville, and Venango County Treasurer Deb Sharpe.