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$42,000 heist in Marietta—see back page
SUSQ
Vol. 78 No. 12 March 29, 1978
vs
Dennis Gross, of 45 N. Chestnut Street in Marietta, is
shown with one of his sprint cars. On the right is racing
team member Lynn Berkheimer. The large structure
above the car body is an airfoil which acts like an
Dennis Gross, sprint car racer
‘“It’s like being a drug
addict,” says Dennis Gross
of Marietta. ‘‘Everything
else is just passing time
until you get to do what
you want to do.”
What Dennis has always
wanted'to do is race sprint
cars. Virtually all of his
spare time—and money—is
spent building up to the
magic moment when he
climbs into the single seat
of a custom racer and
zooms around an oval dirt
track.
“I’ve wanted to race
sprint cars since I was
about nine,’’ he says.
Until he was about 13, his
family would spend two
days each weekend watch-
ing races. When Dennis
graduated from high school
in York County, his
guidance counselor advised
him to go to college. He
didn’t want to go to college
—he wanted to race cars—
but he did to be on. the safe
side, and got a degree in
industrial engineering from
Penn State. (He works in
that capacity at the Arm-
strong plant.)
As soon as he graduated
from college, he bought his
first racing car. He’s had
several since: some were
destroyed in crashes, and
one burned up in a garage
fire.
A sprint car costs about
$18,000 and takes several
months of full-time work to
construct. The frame is
built up first from heli-arc
welded chrome-moly steel
tubing; an engine is totally
rebuilt and fitted in; fiber-
glass and aluminum panels
and cowlings are wrapped
around the frame; and a
torsion-bar suspension sys-
tem is designed, built, and
tuned. It’s a lot of work.
All this work can be
wrecked in a second by the
wrong move in a race. The
tracks are about 3/8’s of a
mile long, and up to 24
cars are on it at any one
time, all traveling at high
speed. Dennis showed the
Times reporter a series of
snapshots of his car, with
him in it, flying up in the
air and doing a series of
flips. Another driver named
Kenny Weld, from Kansas
Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
inverted airplane wing to force the car downward at
high speed and thus improve traction. The space on the
sides of the airfoil is available for advertising. Dennis is
asking $2000 for both sides for an entire season.
City, drifted into Dennis’s
car, or the other way
around—Dennis isn’t sure
exactly what happened. In
any case, his car was
totalled. Mr. Weld, per-
haps feeling a bit guilty,
helped him build another
one from the remains of
the wreck.
‘I hadn’t been racing too
long when that happened,”
Dennis says. ‘‘and while I
was rebuilding 1 wondered
if I'd be afraid to race
again. But I found out that
what | was afraid of was
the fear itself—I was afraid
that I wouldn’t be able to
race. Once I got back on
the track, it was like
coming home.”
After several hair-raising
mishaps in the last four
years, Dennis now feels
safer on a track than on the
highway, and gives solid
reasons to back up his
feeling. In the first place,
the drivers on a track are
much more skilled than the
average driver on a public
road. None of them are
drunk, and they're all
paying attention—and all
going the same direction.
Secondly, a sprint car is a
much safer vehicle to crash
in than the average car.
Each sprint car has a
welded roll cage surround-
ing the driver, four differ-
ent seat belts, and (often)
automatic fire extinguishers
that spray the driver in an
accident. Drivers wear two
layers of flame-proof cloth-
ing and crash helmets.
While Dennis is the. one
who actually drives the car,
he isn’t the only one who
works on it. The team
consists of Mike McConell
of Maytown, Brett Gusler
of Rowenna, Phil Uris of
Marietta, and Lynn Berk-
heimer. He gets occasional
help from Marlin Miller (of
Miller’s Mobil), John Lutz
(of Lutz’ welding shop),
Ed Grimsey, Sr., of Mount
Joy, and Bob Flanagan of
Bob’s Barber Shop in
Marietta. In addition to the
work of making a sprint
car, there is a great deal of
maintenance at the track
and elsewhere during the
season.
"[continued on page 7]
UEHANNA TIMES
FIFTEEN CENTS
Who do you know who's
GREAT?? The Lions
want to hear from you
Candidates are being
sought in Marietta and
Maytown area for the East
Donegal Area Citizen
Award. The winner of the
new award, established
only this year by the
Marietta Lion's Club, will
be announced in June.
If you live in the area,
you are invited to send in
your nomination. Forms are
at the Post Offices. Send
the completed form to Pat
Kenney, Jr., 532 Essex St.,
Marietta 17547, by May
1st.
All nominees must live in
the township. Entrants will
be judged on how much
they have done for the
community. When you
send in your nominee's
name, list the organizations
that he or she is associated
with, and what they have
contributed.
A committee of the
Marietta Lions will choose
the first award recipient.
The committee is composed
of Dottie Linard (chair-
woman), Robert V. Cress-
well, Hazel Baker, Doris
White, and the Rev. John
S. Hiestand.
Remember to pick up the
form at your Post Office. It
is a white 82” by 11"
piece of paper. :
No No Nanette
Donegal High School will
present the nostalgic Roar-
ing Twenties musicale, No,
No, Nanette, on April 6, 7,
and 8 in the DHS auditor-
ium, at 8:00 each night.
Returning to the footlights
after such smash hits as
Brigadoon and Camelot,
the performing arts depart-
ment has mounted a show
of superb music, comedy,
and dancing—all to the
catchy tunes of Vincent
Youmans.
The title role will be
played by Becky Zimmer-
man, aided and abetted by
Mark Wagner as Tom
Trainor, her boyfriend. Jim
Johnson, a veteran of
Donegal shows, plays Billy
Early, an adroit lawyer who
also manages to be the
scapegoat. Floyd Runkle
has been cast as Jimmy
Smith, Nanette’s adopted
father, and a millionaire
Bible publisher who works
his way into ridiculous
situations only to be
rescued by his lawyer.
Pauline, the family maid,
is played by Allison
Hawthorne, another Done-
gal stage regular. Joi
Shearer takes the part of
Flora Latham, a former
Follies girl who Jimmy
Smith befriends. Other
roles are played by Deb
Torres, Jolene Lindemuth,
Joyce Darkey, and Tammy
Duke. The entire produc-
tion is under the direction
of Mrs. RoAnn Lau,
Donegal musical director.
Mrs. Mary-Margaret
Peraro is the dramatic
coach. Choreography and
set design is by Mrs. Linda
Ross, while Mr. Glenn
Hess is the stage manager.
Costumes were designed
and made by Miss Kathi
Wiler and Mrs. Betty Nar-
kiewicz.
Other cast members, in
the chorus, are Wayne
Mylin, Bruce Wagner,
Patrick Kenney Ill, Fred
Bigler, Kathi Shelly, Linda
Pennell, Lisa Mummaw,
Margie Endslow, Margaret
Wood, Dorothy Coddington
and Maxine Maxwell.
Mini Sports
Show at DHS
Don’t forget the Mini
Sports Show and Spaghetti
Dinner (all you can eat!) at
Donegal High School on
April 1st starting at 4:30.
There will be a film, food,
demonstrations, and exhi-
bitions. Admission will be
by free-will donation.
The program is sponsor-
ed by the Donegal Fly
-Tying Club and the
Student Council.
Everyone is invited.
Remember, that'a this
Saturday night.