Local Headlines

Mechanicsburg – Williams Grove Speedway will host the first-ever Gary Beam Tribute Race in honor of the late Williams Grove track champion car owner coming up this Friday, September 2 at 8 pm.

The Beam Tribute will showcase the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint cars in a 25-lap main event paying a hefty $4,088 to win in honor of Beam’s famed No. 88 sprint car.

Time trials will be used to set the sprint car lineups for the night.

The 358 late models will join the 410 sprints for the show with $800 posted to win the limited late model main.

Fireworks will also help kickoff the holiday weekend.

Adult general admission is $16 for the racing program with youth ages 13 – 20 priced at $10.

Kids ages 12 and under are always admitted for free at Williams Grove Speedway!

The Williams Grove portion of the weekly 50/50 drawing will be donated to the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing.

Friday’s posthumous honoree, Gary Beam of Gardners owned and fielded his famous No. 88 sprint car for decades going back to the early 1980s with drivers in his seat including Joey Gravino, Larry Jackson, Scott Gesford, Chuck Reinert, Barry Camp, TJ Stutts and Kevin Nouse but undoubtedly his most prolific drivers were Maynard Yingst and Todd Shaffer.

Shaffer himself garnered Williams Grove Speedway track titles for Beam and his co-owner wife Patty Beam in 1995, 2007 and in 2009.

As owners, Beam and his wife Patty scored a total of 37 sprint car wins during their ownership career at Williams Grove Speedway.

Yingst drove Beam’s No. 88 to a win at Williams Grove over the All Star sprints in the National Open Prelminary back in 1986 while other Grove All Star wins for the team came at the hands of Shaffer in 1997 and in 2009.

The car beat the Division II World of Outlaws with Shaffer wheeling at the Grove in 2002.

The team of Beam and Shaffer scored the Williams Grove Diamond Series title in 2009, won the prestigious Williams Grove season opener in 2009, claimed the Jack Gunn Memorial in 2000 and in 2001, took the Mitch Smith Memorial in 1998, walked away with a speedweek main in 1998 and finished a best of second in the Williams Grove National Open in 2007.

With a track record like that, it’s easy to see why Beam will be honored this week at Williams Grove Speedway.

Friday’s Beam Tribute will be another race in the 2016 Hoosier Diamond Series at Williams Grove.

Keep up to date on all the latest speedway news and information by visiting the oval’s official website at www.williamsgrove.com or by keeping up with the oval on Facebook or Twitter.

This article posted by Williams Grove Speedway. Click here for more track information.