Delmont, PA (February 1, 2009) The 32nd Annual Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Awards Banquet was held at the Butler Days Inn on January 31st. The festivities began with the 2008 PCTC Hall of Fame induction process. Bill Awtey, Tom Ehret, Glenn Gault, Jim Magill and Bill Wheeling were honored for their accomplishments in motorsports.

PCTC Awards Banquet Recap by Don Gamble

The 32nd Annual Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Awards Banquet

Contact: Don Gamble, 412-999-6625, speedwayproductions@comcast.net

Delmont, PA (February 1, 2009) The 32nd Annual Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Awards Banquet was held at the Butler Days Inn on January 31st. The festivities began with the 2008 PCTC Hall of Fame induction process. Bill Awtey, Tom Ehret, Glenn Gault, Jim Magill and Bill Wheeling were honored for their accomplishments in motorsports.

Bill Awtey was involved in auto racing for 50 years. He competed in the coupes, semi lates, and the late models. Bill was the track champion at Jennerstown in 1961 and Bedford in 1980. Awtey started building engines in 1991. He built cars for several of the drivers the competed on the local asphalt tracks. In 1991 and 1992, Bill won the Northeast Region Gold Wrench Award from NASCAR.

Tom Ehret started to work on race cars after being hired to work with the legendary Roy Gemberling. Tom hooked up with Jeep Leonardo and Bob May to work on the Leonardo May #4.  He built a radical 1964 Chevelle driven Bob Ashbrook and Harold Smith. The team raced for three years and all the big money shows at Heidelberg, Cloverleaf, Toledo, Midvale and many more. When the Leonardo - May team broke up, Tom stayed with Bob May and Harold Smith and they had one of the most fantastic seasons every at Heidelberg winning the PRA Championship after starting almost half-way through the season.  May then hired Jim Bickerstaff to drive with Tom Ehret turning the wrenches and two more PRA Championships followed.  When May ended his racing operation, Tom joined up with Tom Colella, winning two more championships at Heidelberg. 

After Heidelberg closed Tom ventured south to work for Emanuel Zervakis and Sonny Hutchens on the famed 01 Late Model Sportsman.  Tom found himself in demand and joined Petty Engineering.  He left Petty to join Penske Racing, turning the wrenches on Rusty Wallace’s championship winning car.  Still seeking to expand his knowledge he joined Roush Engineering, where he still is employed.

Glenn Gault started his racing career in 1966 in the Stock Division with a 1951 Ford with a Flat Head V-8 that he and his father built. Glenn was a second generation, his father; Arlie drove the original “Orange Blossom Special” a Flathead Ford coupe #32 on the Canfield-

In the early years Glenn not only took on the Tri-States top competitors and won, he battled the nation’s best competitors and tracks and won his share of races.

Looking through the years that Gault competed he raced against and beat champions and Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Hall of Fame inductees the likes of Tom Colella, Lynn Geisler, Jim Bickerstaff, Herb Scott, Bob Wearing and Blackie Watt.

On the asphalt he not only beat the drivers mentioned above but also Norm Benning, Joe Mihalic, Kenny Hemphill, Tony Diano, Bob James, Harold Smith, Ed Mitchell, Don Gregory, and Bob Senneker. In later years he battled and beat rivals like Steve Peles, Charlie Cragan, Barry Awtey, Clate Husted, Rick Miller, Mark Cottone and Tim Ice.

One of Glenn’s most cherished crowning achievements is his NASCAR Winston Racing Series North East Regional championship that he won representing Motordrome and Jennerstown Speedways in 1988.

During his career he won around 140 races including at least twenty four on dirt. Although he no longer races on a regular basis, Gault stays very close to the sport with his son, Glenn Gault, Jr. who has become a top runner on the pavement of the Lake Erie Speedway. He scored Championships with the NASCAR North East Region, titles at Jennerstown, Motordrome, Clearfield, Sharon, Expo, Lorain County and special event wins Cayuga 250, plus setting the track record at Trenton at 136 MPH.

Jim Magill’s interest in racing began in the early 1960's when he and his father Blair bought an old GMC powered coupe from Dan Henshaw and began running in the "hardtop" class at the Butler Speedway and other area tracks. Magill became a front runner very quickly.

He won features at Hickory (his first) Tri-City, Mon-Duke and the last race ever at Shippenville. The next day Jim was called up to duty in the National Guard.

In 1966, he sold the coupe and decided to go sprint car racing. The mild-mannered school teacher was probably not as happy in the sprint cars in spite of his three wins at Lernerville and one at Mercer. After a very bad flip one night at Mercer Magill elected to return to the full body cars and built a beautiful '34 Ford coupe powered by a small block Chevy. The team became big winners in the modified division during the 1970's.  With that car he won a total of thirty-nine races at six different tracks.

Twenty-eight of those wins came at Sportsman’s Speedway where he was the top winner for a number of years. He scored wins at Butler, Lernerville, Mercer, and the Meadville Fairgrounds plus several championships at Tri-City and Sportsman Speedways. After retiring as a racecar driver and school teacher, Magill has stayed active in the sport as a pit steward at Lernerville and Tri-City Speedways. 

Bill Wheeling got involved in racing while attending the Midget Car races at Canfield Speedway. Wheeling first raced at Glen Drive Speedway in Franklin in the modified coupes in 1956. He won his first race one year later at Shippenville Speedway near Clarion. In 1966, he ran late models on the Stateline/Eriez circuit. His Sprint car career began in 1968 driving for George Wackaski. He won the mid-season championship at Mercer in 1969 and the point’s championship in 1971.

Wheeling competed in many All-Star Circuit of Champions races in the series first year. When Wackaski retired, Bill continued driving sprints for Dan Davis, AI Deane, Red McDowell, and Andy Raiti. In 1986 after being out of racing for 10 years, Bill returned to the modifieds driving for Dick Shingledecker, picking up a win at Tri-City in 1987 before retiring.

Bill raced at many speedways spanning over fifty years with approximately 150 wins. Some of his other car owners included Bert Wible, Tony White, and Bill Peterson.

He won the Mid-Season Championship at Mercer in 1969, the track championship at Mercer in 1971 and the PCTC Senior Series championship in 1999, 2000, and 2002. He started in 1956 and competed in his last race in 2006.

The Ruth & Glade Neil Memorial Sportsmanship Award was presented to the Kennedy Family. The Sportsmanship Award is for individuals that are involved with youth, family, fans, and sponsors. People with a commitment to excellence, while serving as Ambassadors to Racing and Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Involvement.

The Bill Steinbach Memorial Media Award is used every year to recognize an individual who carries on the task of telling everyone about the greatest sport in America and for the promotion of Auto Racing in Western Pennsylvania. It was presented to Mike Lysakowski.

The Art Smillie Award for the Race Track Person of the Year went to Jody Halbedl. Jody is the photographer for Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and the PCTC. She also serves as the Webmaster with our PCTC link on RacingWeb.com

Champions in the various divisions were honored as well as the top finishers in each.

Go-karts Gregory Sherwin, Young Guns, Tyler Atkinson, Amateur Stocks Tony White, Pure Stock/Street Stocks, Jake Simmons, E-Mods Carl McKinney and Mike Hendrickson, Modifieds Robert Curtis, Modified Lites Bill & Susan Stivason, Crate Late Mike Pegher Jr., Late Models Lynn Geisler and Sprints Guy Griffin

Award winners on the asphalt included: Chargers - Mike Lemley, Street Stocks - Joe and Tom Nicola, Modifieds - Adam Kostelnick, and Late Models - Todd Price.

PCTC Rookie of the Year honors were awarded to Courtney Atkinson - Young Guns, Richard Mason III - Amateur Stocks, Pete Rech Asphalt Modifieds and Butch Lambert - Crate Late Models.

Brittany Kennedy served as the trophy presenter.

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