HISTORICAL FEATURE: KODIAK MEMORIAL HONORS MEMORY OF FORMER CAR OWNER
by Brian Spaid

July 13, 2007 

  For the 15th consecutive year, Bob “Kodiak” Graham will be honored with a memorial race this Sunday night at Tri-City Speedway. The Kodiak Memorial will be a 30-lap feature event for the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds and the BRP Modified Tour, with stars such as track point leader Kevin Bolland, Rex and Russell King, Jeremiah Shingledecker of Polk, and Del Rougeux Jr.

   But who was Bob “Kodiak” Graham?

   Born in 1932, Graham was a well-known car owner in the DIRTcar Big Block Modified ranks. His son, Mike, is a co-promoter at Tri-City and other family members, including his widow, Connie, are involved in the operation of the Route 417 half-mile oval.

   Graham started his racing career in 1948. A daring teenager with a love of cars, Graham and four friends towed a race car to tracks throughout the Indiana area.

   “Bob joined the Army and was stationed near Niagara Falls,” recalls Connie. “We met there and he had a good friend named Johnny Clement. They used to race at the first track ever built in Ransomville, New York, behind the garage of a hall of fame driver named Ed Ortiz.”

   Graham and Clement built and raced cars for about four years in the Niagara Frontier. In 1958, the Grahams and their growing family moved back to Indiana. After winding their way through career changes, the Grahams wound up in Sligo where they established a home base in 1966.

   “Back in 1962, Bob got involved with Blackie Watt,” recalls Connie referencing a well-known name in western Pennsylvania racing history. “Blackie and car owner Joe Pitkavish hooked up during this time, and Bob’s connections with Chrysler let them acquire the second Dodge Hemi ever built. They raced that motor all over, and won many times with it.”

   In 1972, Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox opened. Itching to get into car ownership himself, Graham ventured into the game with a driver named Jack Smith from Fisher. They raced a Late Model for two years before Dick Gill of Slippery Rock climbed behind the wheel. After a two-year marriage with Gill, in 1976, Graham teamed with Fairmount City driver Dick Rankin and moved to the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds.

   “Dick and Bob were a great combination,” noted Connie. “They won a lot of races together and loved to race.”

   During this time, the Graham children also started to come into their own as race car mechanics. Graham built all of his engines unlike many race teams today. For Mike, nights in the garage working with his father and brother, Bob, are precious memories.

   “There were so many nights that we spent together,” said Mike. “I learned so much from him. Racing to him was different. It wasn’t only about going out and winning.  It was the camaraderie. He wanted to race against the best available competition at all times, and if we could not be 100% prepared to go, then we wouldn’t go. Every time we raced, we were prepared to the best of our ability to win. The car also had to look its best.”

   Graham took such pride in his race cars, they were considered some of the best appearing every season.

   “In the spring of each year, he always concentrated on winning the mall shows,” recalled Mike. “One time, he went to the Niagara Falls Convention Center. They had all these different cars there, including NASCAR, Indy Car, dragsters, and a lot of DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds. And we walked away with the overall best appearing car in the show. He took pride in that award.”

   Graham raced with Rankin for ten seasons before the team parted ways in 1985. At that time, Ralph Spithaler Jr. of Evans City came aboard. With Spithaler at the helm of Graham’s No. 0, the team won even more races.

   “By the time he died in 1992, we had 53 overall wins at 11 different tracks,” noted Mike. “He wanted to race against the best and was proud of the fact that he was competitive and won at so many different tracks.”

   His generosity also was a known trademark.

   “He always had a stogie in his mouth and wore a cowboy hat,” smiled Connie. “He was gruff sounding, which is why he got his name Kodiak. He just sounded like he growled, but he was soft-hearted. He’d do anything for anybody. When Ted Ryan was just starting out, Bob would give him our leftover tires and shocks. There are other examples. He did that with a lot of guys. He was always there to help the underdog.”

   Graham died of cancer in 1992 at age 59. In 1993, the family, which includes daughter, Deb, started the Kodiak Memorial at Lernerville Speedway. By 1995, the Grahams were done racing cars, and instead were part owners of a race track.

   “I look back and there isn’t one memory that sticks out,” concluded Connie. “I just remember all the time we spent together as a family at the races, traveling to the races, and working on the car. To me, it was just being together as a family and with a lot of good friends.”