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Weedsport, NY - May 14, 2007 - By Gary Rowe, HoF Selection Committee
Modified veteran Dave Heaslip has been selected as a 2007 inductee into the DIRT
MotorSports NorthEast Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies are scheduled for Sunday,
May 27 on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds in conjunction with the Advance Auto Parts
Super DIRTcar Series event at the adjacent speedway.
Forty-Seven years. That almost covers the entire post-World War II history of
motorsports; a time when returning GI's were cutting up pre-War cars and taking them
to tracks located in fairgrounds all across the U.S. and Canada to today's ground
pounding manufactured cars and engines. Dave Heaslip is one of the few still active
drivers that has not only traded paint with many of the best drivers in Modified
racing history ---many during their prime years--- but competed successfully against
them.
Beginning his driving career at the old Kingston (Ont.) Speedway in 1962, Dave has
collected over 300 checkered flags behind the wheel of a race car. Including 121
DIRTcar-sanctioned 358-Modified feature victories and 4 DIRTcar Big-Block Modified
wins, Heaslip has registered nine track titles on the DIRTcar circuit having won
season championships at Cornwall Motor Speedway (1983, 1984, 1995), Autodrome
Edelweiss (1995, 1996, 2003), Can-Am (1993) and Frogtown (1998, 2004). While chasing
track titles has always been important and a prime motivator to his career, the
father of five grown children and a grandfather has never really chased the small
block series except in 1983 and 1984 when he placed third each year in the Mr. DIRT
358 title hunts. The "Slip" is also the only driver to win at least one Small-Block
main event every season since the first Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified champion was
crowned in 1983 (and already copped the '07 Edelweiss opener to extend the streak to
25 straight years!).
Dave got his start in motorsports in 1954 when as a 9-year old he accompanied his
father Ken to the old Edgewood Speedway in Alexandria Bay, NY. While never a driver
himself, Ken Heaslip fielded a car that was driven by Doug Battams and numbered
"GO", for Gananoque, Ont., where the family home was then located. While never a big
name team and scoring no wins at either Edgewood on Sunday afternoons or on an
occasional Friday night foray to Kingston, Ont. Speedway, the experience did whet
the appetite of Dave who started his own driving career in 1960 at ripe young age of
15 piloting an old Pontiac Coupe at the now closed ¼-mile Kingston oval.
Friday nights at Kingston and Saturday nights at Watertown (NY) Speedway comprised a
two-track circuit that featured the toughest competition on either side of the St.
Lawrence River. Dave cut his teeth competing against such area legends as Woody
VanOrder, Tony Blake, Freddy Gibson, who was inducted into the Greater Kingston Hall
of Fame in 2005, and DIRTcar Hall of Fame charter member Frank Andre; all drivers
who scored hundreds of wins and garnered dozens of track championships during their
careers.
Painting his father's car number of "GO" on the door of that first car, Dave
surprisingly doesn't remember much about his first win although it came at the
Kingston Speedway sometime in the 1960's. By the 1970's, as he started racking up
wins on both sides of the St. Lawrence River, Dave's car number changed to R-70.
Owning his own auto recycling center, Falls Iron & Metal, in his long-time hometown
of Smith Falls, Ont. provided David with his current number 84. "It was during the
time that Gremlin bodies were all the rage for Modifieds," Dave recalled. "Auto
recyclers always number their parts when they dismantle a car. And when I acquired a
Gremlin body for my race car it had part number 84 painted on the sides so I kept
that number."
Truly an international driver, Dave didn't limit his racing activities to just the
United States and Canada but also raced a BriSCA F-1 in England in BriSCA World
Finals at Coventry Speedway in September 2003. The car is tubular chassis that looks
somewhat like a Modified of the 1970's but has a wing on top of the roof, small
tires and massive side rails and bumpers because of the high contact nature of that
style of dirt track racing. Ten other foreign drivers were entered in the race,
including experienced Dutch and New Zealand drivers who regularly raced in England.
Each driver was given two timed laps, the times were added together and the driver
with the quickest total times started up front. Dave's total time of 34 seconds
allowed him to start on the inside of the third row. But with the contact racing
style of that type of racing only 10 of the 33 starters finished the race and Dave
was one of the ones who retired early. Asked if he had any other memorable wins and
of all the top drivers he had competed against on a weekly basis during his 47 years
of racing Dave thought that his 1993 Championship win at Can-Am was certainly on top
of that list. For much of the 1993 racing season at Can-Am Dave had been locked in a
three-way season-long points battle with Dave Camara and Tim Fuller.
The week before the final points race of the season, Fuller had mechanical trouble
and dropped from contention in the point title chase leaving the final night of
racing to determine if the championship was going to Camara or himself. Things
looked bleak for Dave on that final points night after he came out on the loosing
side of a run-in with the front stretch wall during the heat. "Ricky Wilson loaned
me his car for the feature that night," Dave recalled. Driving a strange car and
starting scratch Dave had motored his way to second-place but it wouldn't be good
enough because all Camara needed was a top-five position, which is where he was
running when the field received the white flag. Then suddenly, coming out of the
second turn on that last lap, Camara tangled with a lapped car and spun out, thus
dashing his hopes for the championship and allowing Dave to capture the championship
crown. After that race the trade press gave Dave the moniker of "Mr. October"
because it seemed that many of his wins and success came in the year end races.
"As far as a driver who is probably the best and offers the toughest competition
that I have had on a weekly basis that is hard to say because I have run against a
lot of great drivers, some of whom are already in the Hall of Fame," Dave commented.
"But if I would have to pick anybody I would say that in my 46 years of racing Pat
and Danny O'Brien are hands down probably the best drivers that I have ever raced
against, or seen, on a weekly basis."
Now 62 years-old and beginning his 47th year of racing the "Slip" plans on
campaigning for "at least one more year" with Autodrome Edelweiss, Frogtown and
Cornwall Motor Speedway once again making up his weekend venues, just as they have
for much of this decade. As for any thought of retirement, "we will see what happens
at the end this season," Dave offered. "After 47 years of doing this each and every
weekend there hasn't been a lot of time left to do other things and there are still
a lot of other things that I would like to do." A big part of that decision will
come from how competitive he feels that he is. "I would not still be doing this if I
was not competitive and if I am not competitive or don't feel like I can continue to
be competitive then I will retire."
The DIRTcar Advance Auto Parts Modified Series is brought to fans across the
Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto
Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB
i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the
contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein
Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric
Manufacturing Company and Wrisco Industries.