Editor's Note:  This driver feature was written less than a week before Dick Rankin's tragic death on August 13, 2003, in a construction accident. For more information about that incident, click here.

SPECIAL REPORT: VETERAN DICK RANKIN REMAINS YOUNG AT HEART AND READY TO RACE
by Brian Spaid

August 9, 2003 

                May 31, 1980, was a long time ago. Ronald Reagan was heading toward the Republican nomination for his first term as President. The space shuttle program was in its first full year of existence. In mid-May, Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington.

And Dick Rankin was racing hard at Tri-City Speedway.

Driving Bob “Kodiak” Graham’s No. 0 DIRT Modified, Rankin was leading the 20-lap feature that Saturday evening at the Venango County half-mile oval, which was then-owned by Nick and Nellie Kusich and promoted by Bob and Naomi Long. On the second lap, something went wrong. Rankin charged into the first turn, but the car didn’t slow down. With the throttle stuck, Rankin slammed into the first turn guard rail and committed a series of high-flying flips out of the ballpark that many pit observers still consider to be the worst accident in track history. With Rankin knocked unconscious, the car barely missed the ponds when it landed. He was seriously injured.

“I broke my kneecap and was pretty beat up,” recalled Rankin. “I had a slight concussion too. I remember waking up at 4 o’clock in the afternoon the next day, and the doctor asked me ‘what happened.’ And I told him ‘the throttle stuck.’ And the doc said ‘he’ll be alright.’”

Although Rankin, 67, considers that wreck to be the worst moment of his career, it never slowed him down. He continued to race and win. His honed his racing skills every year scoring around 100 feature wins and leading to the best season of his career in 1995.

“That year, I won 12 features, finished second 16 times, and was in the top five 42 times,” said Rankin. “I won Walt Wimer’s Cavalcade title and had a lot of fun.”

After 1995, Rankin slowly wound down his career. Now retired, Rankin reminisces about his victories and track championships. He won at tracks like Tri-City, Lernerville, Sportsman’s, Challenger and Marion Center. He also fondly recalls wheel-to-wheel duels with Lou Blaney, Scott Gurdak, Bob Wearing and Clate Husted.

Yet, the well-liked Fairmount City man still yearns to drive. With a glint in his eye, Rankin dreams of a day when he will pick up the phone and hear a car owner on the other end of the line asking him to race his DIRT Modified.

“I would love to race full-time again. I’m not too old. You’re only as old as you feel, and I don’t feel old. Racing just got too expensive for me. I can’t afford it anymore. My first car had about $1,500 in it. Nowadays, you can’t get a crankshaft for that price.”

                In 2002, he raced twice at Tri-City as a teammate of his grandson, J.R. McGinley. Rankin’s final race ended with a blown water pump gasket while running second in the B main.

                “Right now, I don’t have any plans to race this season. I’ve got one chassis for sale right now. I like to watch J.R. race. I turned my one car over to him, and he works on it on his own. I’m not real involved in his team. I help him out now and then. He’s getting more experience each time out. I feel confident he’ll do well.”

                Although McGinley is following his grandfather’s footsteps, the most well-known is racing relative is Rankin’s son, Craig. The younger Rankin is a track champion in his own right at Lernerville, Tri-City and Sportsman’s. While his father loved DIRT Modifieds, Craig’s passion was Super Sprints. After a successful 2000 season, Craig essentially retired when he and team owner Tim Guzzo split following the loss of a major sponsor. Since then, Craig took over the family business, Rankin & Son Excavating, which Dick started in 1979.

                “I was a little nervous when Craig raced because he drove sprints,” said Rankin, who also drove Semi-Lates and Late Models during his career. “I only ever raced it one time. In 1988, Craig got hurt at Port Royal Speedway, and his car owner, Sonny Hawk, asked me to race his car at Lernerville to keep them in the point race. I started on the pole and ran second behind Bob Felmlee for a few laps. He was racing high, so I moved up and lost it. I fell back to 13^th, but climbed back up to eighth. Ed Lynch Jr. told me that he would have never passed me if I stayed on the bottom. At least my race didn’t hurt because Craig and Sonny won the title.”

                While it was a thrill, Rankin’s one and only Super Sprint race did not deter his love of DIRT Modifieds. He raced his own cars for many years, but some of his fondest memories are racing for Graham.

                “Kodiak, Bobby Reed and I went all over to race. We ran local a lot and then we decided to go to the mile in Syracuse.”

                Every October, the DIRT Modifieds gather at the New York State Fairgrounds for the Eckerd Syracuse 200, which is the richest race for the class. Rankin and Graham tackled the one-mile flat oval on several occasions.

                “I cut my I-teeth there,” laughed Rankin. “The first time out, I was racing down the backstretch and the bottom of my helmet was hitting my nose. I realized I needed to get a better helmet to run that fast.”

                Syracuse produced one favorite moment of Rankin’s career in 1983, and it still makes him wonder just how successful he could have been in that race.

                “We started last in the non-qualifiers race and finished second,” said Rankin. “We then started last in the big race, and I was up to around 24^th by about the 50^th lap when two guys crashed going into turn three and I couldn’t avoid them. We were real fast that day.”

                Checkered flags, a few missed opportunities, and some bad crashes mark Rankin’s racing career. Although he’s a little older now, he remains young and brave at heart, eager for one more chance at victory. Maybe one day, that chance will come. Whether it ever happens doesn’t matter to Rankin’s many fans and friends. For them, the memories of those good times and race wins will last a lifetime.