TURNING BACK THE CLOCK: TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY 1978
By Brian Spaid

July 25, 2008 

   The 1978 season at Tri-City Speedway was one of triumph and tragedy. Ralph Quarterson of West Middlesex was the biggest winner of the year. Lou Blaney of Hartford, Ohio, started to make his mark in a different division. And Dave Schrader of Endeavor laid claim to victory lane for the first time at the Venango County half-mile oval.

   However, that same year, Tri-City suffered its second casualty with the death of Sprint driver Buddy Barris of West Middlesex. The first racing death at the track occurred in 1963 when Sprint driver Jim Seese of Akron, Ohio, crashed into the pit area after a vicious flip off the same corner when the track was a quarter-mile oval.

   Barris was a low buck racer and well-known throughout the region. On May 28, he was making his second start of the season. Racing into the third turn, Barris flipped violently. Rumors spread at the time that the seat belts snapped in his wingless sprinter. Regardless of the reasons, Barris suffered serious head injuries. The near lifeless veteran was pulled from the wreckage and transported by ambulance to Franklin Hospital followed by jaunts to Erie and Youngstown. Barris lied in a coma for over a week before he died on June 5.

   Despite the Barris tragedy, the 1978 season was full of classic Tri-City action. Greenville’s Ralph Clark continued his ownership of the track and assumed the promotional reins as well. Hap Jones was the head of the officiating crew, and the current chief announcer Walt Wimer started to announce at Tri-City that season.

   The same four classes that competed in 1977 returned in 1978. That included the Sprints, Coupes, Semi-Lates and Stocks. The Sprints raced wingless for the second year in a row. The Coupes were the forerunners of the modern DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds. The Semi-Lates were similar in appearance to today’s Pro Stocks, and the Stock division of 1978 was akin to the Thundercars of 2008.

   Johnny Beaber of Gibsonburg, Ohio, captured the Sprint track championship with three feature wins. Piloting his self-owned No. 3x and Jack Lewis’ Simcox Team No. 81 during the season, Beaber held off Quarterson and Blaney for the track title. Quarterson actually won the most Sprint features that season with five victories aboard Jim Ziegler’s No. 66.

   Other Sprint winners included Blaney (2 wins), Buddy Cochran (2), Rick Ferkel (2), Ed Lynch (1) and Gus Linder (1). Ferkel’s biggest victory came in the Northern Sprint Car Classic on July 12. The 50-lap event was Ferkel’s last win at Tri-City despite his vast success over the next decade.

   In addition to the Barris accident, another violent wreck ended the Sprint career of Grove City veteran Dick Bailey. On May 7, Bailey flipped in turn three, broke his arm and suffered lacerations and bruises.

   In the Coupe division, Quarterson piloted Tom Felicetty’s No. 11 to three feature wins and the track title. Combined with his Sprint victories, Quarterson captured a total of eight feature wins at Tri-City, which was a stellar season for a driver who is better known for his exploits at Mercer Raceway Park over the years.

   Back then, the top Coupe car builder was Dick Tobias in Lebanon. Blaney and car owner Bill Thomas acquired a Tobias chassis only a few days before Tobias was tragically killed in a USAC Sprint Car wreck in Flemington, N.J., on June 23. Blaney and Thomas worked on the car throughout the season, and the duo scored Blaney’s first-ever Coupe win at Tri-City on July 16.

   Of note, Blaney and Quarterson will both be inducted into the Tri-City Hall of Fame on Aug. 17.

   Other 1978 Coupe winners included 1977 Sprint champion Ed Murphy (2), 1977 Coupe champion Lynch (2), Steve Wiser (2), Bob Stanford (2), Tom Jarrett (1), Dick Rankin (1), Jim Watson (1), and Clate Husted (1). Driving for the legendary J. Merle Smith, Husted won the 50-lap Western Pennsylvania Challenge Cup race on Aug. 2 over Lynch and Reading Fairgrounds superstar Gerald Chamberlain.

   Lou Gentile of Hubbard, Ohio, was the champion of the Semi-Late class. Piloting the famed Bill Emig No 1, Gentile topped other Semi-Late stars Bootie Petsko and Lou Steadman for the title. The point chase was close as Steadman scored four wins to three each for Gentile and Petsko. But, Gentile was the more consistent runner.

   Other than those three drivers, Reno favorite Les Myers, Gerry Littlefield, Tom Bonnano, Craig Briggs, Bill Bailey, and 1977 Semi-Late champion Mark Weaver all scored one win each.

   Randy Brandon of Spartansburg captured his second career Stock championship in 1978. The 1976 champion scored two feature wins in his Chevrolet No. 18B owned by his parents, Stan and Joyce Brandon. Brandon, 19, was the youngest two-time champion in the history of the track.

   Although Brandon won the title, Schrader was the star of the class. He started the season a couple of weeks late, and that caused him to miss a shot at the track championship. However, the newcomer scored six wins in the Stocks, which was the most in any division that season.  Other Stock winners included John Wood (2), Mike Erwin (2), Jerry Huff (2), Larry Archer (1) and Mel Keener (1).