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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1976-04-01, Page 14The Light Touch By JACK LAVENDER JACK'S SMALL ENGINE REPAIR 107 Queen St., Hensall 262-2103 Your Homelite centre for South Huron Maybe money won't buy true love, but it brightens up the search. * * * If you think two and two always make four, you've never watched a man figure his deductions for charitable contributions, * * * Highly educated children are a pleasure. They have such a good vocabulary for explaining why they're late for dinner. • * Trouble with tax refunds is, they 'usually arrive just in time to pay some new taxes. * * The first qualification for becom- ing a good salesman is a willingness to earn. * * * We're qualified to make your out- door machinery perform its best of SPORTS & RECREATION LIMITED Varna, Ont. Tel. 262.5809 START OFF THE MOTORCYCLE SEASON ON THE RIGHT FOOT Join the fun, see the Kciwasakis and Suzukis for '74, watch Motocross movies Fret Coffee & Doughnuts The track will be open for you to ride. SPECIAL PRICES FOR YOUR SPRING TUNE-UP NEEIDS Including N.G.K. PLUGS Only 99 INJECTION BIG RED „ ,,, .....,.Only $1 .49/qt. #or the birt MOTOCROSS‘BOOTS ,,, Only $47.8B For the Street - Big-Savings on SAFETY BARS LEATHER JACKETS Only $69,95 Sat. & Sun. April 3 & 4 a t ItA.13 UT, -0 1976 CHEVROLETS OLDSMOBILES 20 UNITS TO CHOOSE FROM Chevettes, Vegas, Novas, Chevelles, Bel.Airs, Impalas, Cutlasses and one Toronado Brougham Company Car. 3 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Fleetside Pick-ups GET OUR PRICE BEFORE YOU'BUY OK USED CARS 1975 VEGA HATCH BACK Coupe, automatic, radio, 5500 miles, Licence JYY580 1975 AUSTIN MARINA Coupe, 4 speed, Michelins, radio, etc, Licence JEN840 1974 CHEVELLE MALIBU 4 door hardtop, power steering and brakes, radio, Michelins, Licence HNK821 1973 CHEVROLET IMPALA 4 door sedan, power equipped, radio, Shodelite windshield, low mileage, Licence DFY748 1973 CHEVROLET IMPALA Custom Coupe, power equipped, radials, Licence DFU595 1973 CHEVROLET BISCAYNE Sedan, power equipped, radio, etc. Licence DFV033 1972 CHEVROLET IMPALA Custom COupe, power equipped, radio, etc. Licence DFW764 1972 OLDS DELTA ROYALLE 4 door hard- top, power windows, 6 way seat, AM/FM radio, Michelins, new car condition. Licence DFU381 1970 OLDS DELTA 88 4 door sedan, power equipped, electric rear defroster, radio Licence DJHOO7 '3180 '2750 '3295 '2995 '2795 '2595 '2295 12895 '1475 Marry Other Models to Choose Flour USED TRUCKS 1973 CHEVROLET 6 cyl. '/2 to Pleefside, radio, chrome front bumper and caps, Licence $2395 C90607 , Snell litos. Limited Chevrolet — Oldsmobile PHONE 236 ,0660 EXET0i, 010`. the Hole of Guardian Maintenance Exeter Centennial Soccer Club Soccer Registration For Minor (boys 6-16) SOUTH HURON DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL Room 116 Saturday ApriI.3 10.12 noon PeOtration Fee Minor $6,00 Proof of age and 1 photograph will be required for registration. Every one of our Rabbits comes with a Hatchback and a 1.6 !tr. engine, front wheel drive, rack & pinion steering, steel belted radial tires, rear window defogger, reclining front ,seat backs, folding rear sect dual diagonal braking system and the Volkswagen Owner's' Security Blanket, The Amazing rabbit Don Taylor Motors Limited MAIN men- SOUTH/n5-1100 Page 14 Times,Adveaote, April 1., 19Th Corsuck amongst the good or boys: Earl Ross Steer This Way business., Not the'"racing on the edge of death" cliche which is so overworked and off base, but the racing luck which goes with every class of racing, where the salary relies on the fact that the car runs all the way. •"The har- dest part of racing is not finishing, breaking is disap- pointing" he paused, "and it , costs money" By LARRY SNIDER even o little bit of moisture en ignitiion coil, terminals or dis- tributor cap can keep your car from starting. "Understeering" is the ten den- cy of a car, when rounding a corner, to resist turning end to continue moving in a straight fine. Irritated by a rough idle? It may be no more ,than an air leak into the intake manifold. EARL ROSS right, and Gord McKichon, the two major forces behind the Earl Ross racing effort. photo by Young g. * Why let your car irritate you? Bring it over to Lorry Sniders and let us smooth out those rough spots. Larry Snidir MOTORS LIMITED EXETER 235-1640 LONDON 227-4191 Huron County's Largest Ford Dealer 1/4.01011101.101111110•0111.1.11M11.........1111MMI.9001...1 opportunity. The only thing Which super- sedes Earl's allegiance to his sponsors is his unfailing ap- preciation of his crew, directed by Oord, who has been associated with Part, first as entrant and then as.crew chief for almost ten years. Gord is the man that sorts and prepares the cars, works on them so that they slowly tran- scend from the original street machine to the racer, who manages the activities of the pit crew during the races, who Ross called the "key man." Gord is from Nairn, and seems to have been around cars all his life, A substantial part of the crew he and Earl have assembled are relatives, Both Stan and Ken Mcliichan work on the crew, plus several others when the need calls, "They determine the speed of the ,car. I'd say its about 20 per cent the driver and 80 per cent the crew whp are responsible for winning," said Earl. Unlike Petty and Yarbourough, Earl does some work on his car, although he leaves most of it to his crew. Racing is not what one would call an easy life. You bounce from point to point, to race and to arrange business, A typical weekend for the Ross racing effort might find them in Cayuga near Hamilton on Friday, Delaware on Sunday and a short track effort in between. This hopping about has prompted Earl to get his plane licence, which eases the strain but it rushes things at the track. Unlike a Grand National event, they often won't arrive at a track until race morning, about 6:00 a.m. when the team will set to preparing the car. Each track necessitates a different set up of suspension, and more im- portantly different tire rubber compound from one of the 50 that Goodyear provides. Each of the fat tires cost $118, and depending on the right choice it can make or break a race, If luck is with you, they may last two or three races, before they blister but if you are running a Super Speedway, teams often go through up to 20 tires a race. In one race Earl used up 32 of the fat, treadless tires. Again Earl alluded to his crew, who have to change the tires during a race. It can be won or lost in the pits, where six men swarm over the car to clean the windshield, fill the gas cell, change the rubber and in some instances, make internal repairs. Electrical bits which go faulty can be changed and in'some cases major parts like carburetors are exchanged within the pits, allowing the driver to return to competition. Ails Craig is an unlikely place to find a Stock Car driver of Earl Ross's capabilities. and a garage that spends its time exclusively on preparing two or three high performance cars, but Earl Ross is not an unlikely man for Ailsa Craig. Friendly and easy going, it seems that most of the people in the town know him, and take him for what he is: a man who races automobiles, and races them very well, like the man down the street who niight sell insurance, and sell it very well. The thing that separates Earl Ross from the man who sells insurance is the risk factor of his SUMMER EMPLOYMENT ? too rushed, taking his time, casually discussing his automobiles and his complishments. He seems almost too ready to shift the reason for his wins off himself, to Gord and his pit crew, to take visitors through his old home, and his racing lore, His wife Bonnie contributes to the racing effort by ironing stencils onto T-shirts that proudly proclaim that "Racing is , Cantick Power' under a picture of the Firebird and the Coca Cola emblem On the back, "Earl Ross Racing Team" is etched in neat red block letters, She makes maybe a couple of thousand of these shirts which are sold for $4,00 at the car shows where Earl displays his machines, The money is poured back into the cars, In a small den off the living room is what Earl termed his office, but is more a room to collect memorabalia, There is the plaque from NASCAR, small trophies, big trophies and one huge one, from Molson'S, that must stand three feet high, the cup of which is now doubling as a holder for a large potted plant. He trails between his home and garage trying to insure that everything there is to be said is said, his whole focus at this point in his day directed at the in- terview, and more directly, at talking about his crew and his cars, The living room is spacious, with two small wrap around chairs and a little table in front of the bay window. They look an- tique, but when Earl is questioned about- them he is momentarily stopped, his line of concentration broken. After a pause cautiously answered "No, I don't think so," It drives home the idea that though Earl Ross, driver and Earl Ross, father and husband are inexorably tied together, furniture is a triviality that shouldn't infringe on his racing world, which the interview is aimed at. He runs a $50,000 a year operation, that will take him to one Grand National event and high ranked short track events. His appearance at Daytona swallowed over a third of that $50,000, Yet the talk of $50,000' is small potatoes when it is put up against an operation like Petty's, who Earl roughly estimates would spend about $325,000 a year 'to compete in all 30 of the Grand National events, in which he runs full out, wanting to win each one. "You can do all 30 on $75,000," he added, "but then you're just stroking." Earl is quick to give his sponsors all the promotion he can. He is carrying three this year, Coke being the major one, with Valvoline second and Tim Wilkins Pontiac of Chatham third. When posing for a photograph he retrieved an empty Coke can and held it. It's not a matter of strict promo though, because they have given him the money to do what he likes, which is race, and he is pleased and thankful for that exotic machinery he has now. It has only been for the past three years that he has been driving "as the main way to make a living." He started in 1962, When he was 21, in the Hobby Division at Nilestown and Delaware tracks. That year he and a friend bought a 1953 Plymouth four door. He won the points race in his rookie year, and came back the next year to win five feature events in Hobby class. Hobby Division is "a cheap way of going racing" as Earl called it, where the cars had to have either a six cylinder or flat eight engine that didn't exceed 280 cubic inches. They had to use average street tires. Earl worked gradually, for eight or nine years racing more as a hobby then anything else. Things started to pick up in 1971 a converted barn that is given over to the remains of original cars, power tools, trailers and the actual cars.lt is a do-it-yourself persons dream, where they can litter and drop things in a semi- wanton manner and not have to worry about tidying up im- mediately after the work is done. Earl, and his crew chief Gord McKichan, are working on the rear end of a racing 1974 Pontiac Ventura. When the brakes are attached the rear end of the car alone will cost $1,500. Racing is not a cheap business, in fact, its downright expensive. By the time Earl has completed work on one of his cars, an ap- proximation of value places it at $30,000. Half of that is for parts alone. Earl will be racing a Ventura in name only. That and the body are the only resemblance that the car will bear to one that can be found on the street. All the rest is stripped out and discarded. The snout of the car, as Earl calls it, is actually a Camaro front end. It has had everything changed on it to stiffen the suspension which, if left stock, would break under the strains of racing. It has different ball joints, new spring towers, new control arms and a sway bar from another car. The frame of the car itself is all home made. Strengthened by roll bars and beams, the car in its lighter weight is infinitely safer then the street version. When completed it will weigh in bet- ween 2800 and 3000 pounds. This meets most of the basic weight limitations, but for classes that leave it underweight, lead is bolted to the frame in strategic positions. The original doors are pulled off and discarded with the chassis, to be replaced with the lighterweight aluminum doors that Earl and Gord build. The interior is literally gutted. There is no room for a backseat,Am-FM radio and daintily appointed console in the rudimentary world of stock car racing. It is replaced with fire extinguishers, an array of instruments not be found on any street car and a single molded racing seat that fits the contours of the body. Massive belts are included that are worn, with or without government decree. A shift lever hooks up from the middle of the floor, a regular four speed that is left basically the way it comes from the factory except that Gord tricks it up a little bit. That little bit of tricking goes a long way to adding to the car's top end. The engine is the deceiving change, From all outward ap- pearances, the small block that is sitting on the Ventura's adulterated frame looks reasonably like the one coming from Detroit except for the larger air intake. Appearance deceives though, and the engine is a full blood racer bored out, planed head, ground cam mean thing. In Earl's other car, a Firebird, the 400 cubic inch plant has a compression ratio of 12.8 up from the normal 8 to 1 that comes from Detroit. The fuel tank is removed and replaced with a tin fuel cell. The $500 unit holds a skin in which foam sits. 22 American gallons of aviation fuel, with its higher octane count, is pumped into the cell, where it is at least partially guarded from the danger of explosion if Earl should crash during a race. Earl hasn't always raced the Are you qualified to work as a lifeguard or instructor at a public swimming pool ? If so, then send your application at once Exeter RAP Committee P.O. Box 1810 Exeter, Ontario when he started to win con- sistently at major short tracks, in the northern United States and Southern Ontario. In 1972 he took the Canadian Championship Series, followed by six feature wins and a third in the same series the year after. It was 1974 that brought Earl Ross to the forefront. He took over $70,000 in prizes in NASCAR competition, competed in 21 Grand National events, placed eighth in the overall Grand National standing, was voted Canadian racer of the year and the NASCAR rookie of the year. Topping it all off was the place he earned in racing history when he became the first Canadian to win a Grand National Event, the "Old Dominion 500" in Martinsville, Virginia. Last year the bottom seemed to fall out when his sponsor, Carlings, decided to pull out from under him. There were no more Grand National events that year, and he went back to running the Canadian 'Championship SerieS and selected events throughout Eastern Canada and the Midwest USA, This year Earl was picked up by Coca Cola, who wanted to push their participation in the Olympics in Montreal this year. They are sponsoring him around the same area, where he will be running short tracks. He has already finished his short Grand National stint this year with his aborted race at Daytona. Earl is a reserved man, stockily built and on the other side of 30. He doesn't seem to be Application deadline is April 5, 1976. Applicants must be at least 16 years old and must hold one of the following: • RES& - Bronze Medallion or Award of Merit. • Red Cross Societies Water Safety Leader Certificate or Instructor Cer- tificate.. • National Lifeguard Services Registered Certificate. • YMCA Advanced Life Savers Cer- ti,ficate, Basic Life Saving Certificate, or Senior Life Saving Certificate. Still scoreless after year Lirpa Loof, leading scorer in non-sequitor hockey this past season, failed to score in a game held early in the morning of April 1. Loof, recently traded from the Haliburton Halitosis, had three shots directed towards the goal during the game which was played before 323 people, all of whom refused to be identified. In the opening frame, Loof stole the puck at center, sacheyed in alone and fired high and wide, drawing a chorus of boos from the predominantly somnambulent crowd. His second attempt, late in the period, came on a shot from the point that stopped 12 feet short of the net. Finally, in the dying seconds of the frame he swung wildly at the puck, tipping the top of it and sending it careening to safety well wide of the net. The second and third periods were cancelled because the ice melted. By PRO YOUNGS It would have made a great "B" grade movie in the old Hollywood tradition, 'Earl Ross, from "God knows where Ailsa Craig is", coming to Daytona with his Chevy Laguna and an engine built in Toronto, an Unlikely home for a stocker engine if there ever was one and competing against all the good ol' boys, The good ol' boys with famous names like Richard Petty and David Pearson and Benny Parsons and Cale Yarborough with their megadollar spon- sorships and their engines prepared in the more traditional bastions. Competing against the stalwart men of the Southern United States, with their tradition of bootleg running and flat out driving In the movie, Earl Ross starts from the middle of the field, in the heat of Daytona in front of thousands of stock car racing fans who have travelled thousands of miles to swill warm Budweisser and Coors and put up with the dust and to whom Ailsa Craig is as well known as Ochopee, Florida is in Ailsa Craig, Earl holds steady in the race, strategically pitting to gas up and change tires, waiting for the sceptre of attrition to start removing some of the front runners so he can make his move. Around and around, until near the three-quarter mark of the race, when the heat is at its highest, and he begins to move out, passing the lesser of the good ol' boys until he is now a front runner. The men at ABC-TV, traditional coverers of the event speak of him with awe now, as he whips that car around the track. Jackie Stewart, former World Champion Grand Prix driver, rightfully extolls his race with high praise, though he knows little about stock car racing. The crowd, out of Bud and Coors, watches Ross pick off one after another until the waning laps of the race, when he sits on Richard Petty's tail, stuck there as if there is a magnetic pull from Petty's rear end. Both have run the gamut in pit stops, both will go until the end. On the penultimate lap, Earl Ross, NASCAR rookie of the year two years before, shunted by his sponsors the next year, back again, comes out of turn four, still on Petty's tail, slips out of the draft behind the gondol' boy and sliiietlibtV Vast him on the final two hundred yards, He takes the checkered flag, stunning the crowd, deposing the King, the winner of the premier event of stock car racing the Daytona 500, from Ailsa Craig. He is beseeched by well wishers, the hangers on in the winners circle. Sweating and ecstatic, he is helped from his car and his face is splashed across the TV screens of America. Suddenly he is a national hero, up there with Paul Henderson, Kathy Kreiner and others who brought instant fame back home with them to Canada. It would have been a great movie, but it was not to be. Earl Ross one of the two or three successful Canadians in any form of motor sports, ever, had his engine blow up and he finished 39th in the field. So much for Hollywood. The stereotypical image of the race car driver is belied by Earl Ross. No gargantuan home, set back from the road, hidden by trees with the garages safe from prying eyes behind the house. Earl's is an unassuming home, which appeared like all the others in Ailsa Craig except for the cars and vans which dominate the front of the barn-garage. One of Earl's three daughters is excited about the impending day's activities. "We're going on a picnic", adding as almost an afterthought, "My daddy's in the garage." The overcast skies don't dampen her effervescence, Daddy is indeed in the garage, Bumps or bulges on tire tread are a real trouble indicator, The tread or sidewall may be working loose from the tire body, Let an expert see the car NOW * Platinum-tip spark plugs last longer becauAe platinum resists erosion better. Looking for