~ By Tom Boggie

When I was perusing Lebanon Valley Speedway’s 2022 schedule the other day, I couldn’t help but notice how many “memorial” races promoter Howie Commander has on the docket. I really think that’s great, taking a night to remember people who helped build the foundation of dirt track racing.

There’s going to be a new one this season, the Bryan Goewey Memorial on Saturday, July 2. The 44-lap race will pay $10,000 to win.

Although many people remember Goewey, who died in 2018, through his affiliation with his family’s car dealership business, Ken Goewey Dodge, he made many lasting relationships through racing, both on the track and behind the scenes.

Goewey was part of the Lebanon Valley Speedway “Rat Pack,” which included Randy Ross, Rick Beckmann and Dave Leckonby. After a couple of years doing all the crap jobs on other drivers’ cars, Ross and Goewey decided to strike out on their own, with Goewey behind the wheel.

Goewey’s driving career was like a meteor – it burned bright for a short period of time, and then was gone completely. In 1988, he and Ross made their first appearance at Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, and after winning the non-qualifiers race, Goewey drove to a fifth-place finish in the 200 in the Go-Ross Racing Olsen to earn Rookie of the Race honors.

In three runs at Syracuse, Goewey finished fifth, sixth in 1991 and 15th in 1992, driving one of the Madsen Overhead Doors team cars after racing just twice during the regular season at Lebanon Valley. His average finish of 8.7 is still the best in Super DIRT Week history for any driver with at least three starts.

As quickly as it started, Goewey gave up his driving career to concentrate on his business, but got back behind the wheel again in 1994 to run a limited Busch North schedule in his own car, sponsored by Primetime Vans. He only ran four races that season, but achieved what was one of the highlights of his career on June 5, 1994, when he finished fourth in the Watkins Glen 125. In those days, the Busch North series had its own Capital District clique, which included Goewey, Brian Ross, Jeff Spraker, Randy Snyder and another former Lebanon Valley big block driver, Steve Nowakowski.

When I did a story about Goewey for “Trackside” magazine in 1992, he said the most fun he ever had in a race car was at the DIRT/Asphalt race at Pennsylvania International Raceway in 1990.

“I had sat out the whole year, but Bobby Hearn built a car for me for Nazareth.” Goewey said. “I felt more comfortable at Nazareth than I do here (at the Valley). A lot of people were intimidated by Nazareth. The best of the best were nervous, but I loved it. I ran second to Danny Johnson for 45 laps, but then we broke a lifter and I finished fifth.”

Goewey kept his hand in racing by being an owner. In 1998, he prepared a car for Dave Blaney to run at Syracuse, and Goewey later put Blaney behind the wheel of a Busch Series car in 2001. Goewey’s stable of drivers also included both Jack and Ronnie Johnson, as well as Tony Stewart.

Ironically, when Goewey finished fourth at Watkins Glen, his crew chief was Greg Zipadelli, who went on to become Stewart’s Winston Cup crew chief. So when Stewart wanted a ride at the Valley, Goewey always made sure he had one.

I had the pleasure of being friends with both Bryan and his brother KC, and I always found Bryan to be incredibly positive and upbeat, more concerned about sharing the spotlight than being the center of attention.

He was truly one of the great people in our sport, and it’s commendable that the Valley has added a memorial race in his honor.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

In doing some research, I took a look at the 2012 season at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and was astounded at what I saw. In 19 starts, Brett Hearn, who won the modified title that season, finished in the top five 18 times. He began the season with finishes of third, second, first, first, first, second, first and first before getting caught up in a wreck in Week 9 and finishing 19th. Later in the season, he missed a race because he was in Saratoga Hospital suffering from an infection. He finished the year with six wins and eight second-place finishes.

Weather could be a problem for Albany-Saratoga’s tech and warmups session this weekend. Keep an eye on the track’s Facebook page for updates. If all goes as planned, the 57th season of racing will begin on Friday, April 15, with a 57-lap modified feature paying $5,700 to win. The rain date for that show is Sunday, April 17.

In news out of the West, Glen Ridge Motorsports Park has scheduled a practice session on April 24, one week prior to its opening day activities.