The Stineman family likes speed -- 100 mph speeds -- as they race around the track

I'd never been to the Lorain Raceway Park. Now, I'd covered several Cleveland Grand Prix in the late 1980s and through the 90s. In those days, I'd interviewed the big names like Andretti, Rahal, Penske, Fittipaldi, Sullivan and Unser Jr. One week ago, I made my maiden voyage to the asphalt track in South Amherst in search of another big name in racing, Stineman. A family legacy The drivers all stood next to their cars, stretched along the track in front of the grandstand and the early evening's light cast a golden glow on each, as track announcer David Wallencheck conducted interviews before the Saturday night crowd. "Our next driver is Spencer Stineman," Wallencheck announced to the faithful. "He's the latest in the winningest family in the history of this track." Spencer is the son of TJ and the grandson of Terry. Combined, those three drivers have over 200 wins at the oval that was originally Lorain County Speedway. Spencer is actually the fourth generation of drivers in the Stineman family. His great grandfather, Hal, is the original. My friend, Andy Young, led me across the track and into the pit area before the evening races began. He wanted to introduce me to the Stineman family. The ⅜ of a mile oval was quiet. "When the engines start," Andy said to me, "this track comes alive and my job, tonight, is to make sure you don't get run over." I laughed. (My friend is not the same Andy Young who is editor emeritus of this newspaper.) The trailers in pit row are in a line, one nondescript box after another and the cars sit quiet as mechanics turn ratchets and wrenches. "This is Speedy," my friend Andy said to me as he introduced me to Spencer Stineman. The 26-year-old reached out his hand and I said, "Speedy, huh, as a race car driver that's a nickname with a lot to live up to." The beginning Hal Stineman was a mechanic in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War. He worked on submarines and ships. In civilian life, he worked on cars and trucks and owned a gas station. He also raced cars. Hal started racing stock cars on Saturday nights at Cloverleaf Speedway in 1960. His wife, Marillyn, drove her husband's "Hard Top" car with an in-line, six cylinder, Chevy engine in Powder Puff races. Hal and Marillyn had four children. Hal Jr., Randy, Sharon and Terry. All four took to the tracks. The boys raced stock cars and Sharon was a drag racer. Terry, the youngest, will turn 72 in August. He is standing near me at the Lorain Raceway Park with his arm propped against the tent post that covers his son, TJ's, open-wheeled modified race car. As always, there is family all around. TJ and Spencer, along with crewman Jay "Siff" Grega are getting the number 37 car ready. "My first recollection of my dad racing was when he was in an accident," Terry said. "Our mom used to take us all to the track and I remember that night being so worried. That memory sticks with me." So does the smell of fuel and tires. Terry doesn't race anymore but it takes just one scent of either to bring it all back. "I'd run small-block Chevys with a Chevy Impala body." Terry started racing the summer he got out of high school. It was 1972. "I'd race three days a week. There was a lot of competition and it was fun. It was also a lot of work," he said. Drivers at this level don't do it for the money. They have career jobs. Terry was a mechanic and owned a body shop and machine shop but the bulk of his career was in management at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. TJ is an automation engineer at Lincoln Electric and Spencer is a telecommunications technician for Local Union 38 working on major sports venues. Terry got real close to making big money racing cars, though. Hitting the wall "This is Kenny Pennington," Terry said to me, introducing the man who walked into our conversation. Pennington raced cars with Terry's dad, Hal, in 1961. He speaks with a thick West Virginia accent. "The whole Stineman family can drive," he said as he held both of his hands in front of him, making the motion of a driver turning a steering wheel, "but this guy, this guy is the face," and he pointed to Terry. Pennington owned cars and Terry eventually became one of his drivers. Terry raced Pennington cars on the ARCA circuit. ARCA is the Automobile Racing Club of America. Bobby Dotter, a three-time ARCA Champion driver and Michael Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 champion, also raced for Pennington. When Terry drove on the ARCA circuit, he raced against guys like Kyle Petty and 1992 Daytona 500 champion, Davey Allison. Terry started to lean on his son TJ's car as we talked. I noticed him labor to do it. "What's the first thing to go on a driver," I asked. "Oh this," he said, referencing his slow movement. "This is a result of hitting a wall at 200 mph." It's August of 1982. Terry is 28 years old and racing at Talladega. Talladega Superspeedway, in Alabama, is one of America's most historic tracks and races. In August of 82, the race was just over 40 laps in on an 80-lap run when a car in front of Terry on the straightaway lost control and dropped down in front of him. "Everything went into slow motion," he said as he relived the moment. Terry hit the wall. He broke his neck on impact. "I remember thinking, well, I'm still alive but something doesn't feel right." He was losing consciousness and the physician at Talladega's infield medical unit wanted to lifeflight Terry to a local hospital but they couldn't because a big storm was about to hit. So, they put sandbags around his head and neck and took him by ambulance. Terry wore a metal bracket with screws in his head for a year. It took nearly two years for him to recover from the broken neck. "I knew it (the accident) ended my racing career for the most part," he said to me. Terry raced smaller tracks after his recovery but it was never the same. Racing with your father TJ and Spencer are sweating through their fireproof suits. The temperature is 90 degrees. It is over 120 degrees inside their cars. "We don't run with windshields so it doesn't get terribly hot in the car," Spencer said to me. Spencer and his dad, TJ, are in the same race on Saturday night at Lorain Raceway Park. Spencer has been one of the fastest drivers on the local tracks for the last five years. His nickname, Speedy, is painted in script on the top of his race car door. "My dad has really worked hard to make us fast," he said. On the ⅜ of a mile oval in South Amherst, the drivers will get to 110 mph on the straightaway before turning into the 12-degree banked corners. I asked him what it takes to go fast? "A good setup," he answered, quickly. Spencer was 13 years old when he started racing modified cars. "I like to win," he said to me. "I'm all business. I may not look like I'm having fun but I am." His dad started racing go-karts, powered by a lawnmower engine, when he was 10. TJ is now 51. "I've been going to the track for as long as I can remember," he said. "My grandma used to take me and my cousins and we'd sit in the stands and I remember the smell of the tires, the smell of the smoke. They don't smell like that anymore." On this night, I noticed TJ, as he prepared to race, in a trance-like stare at his hands as they gripped the wheel. "Can you still feel the power after all these years?" I asked. "I can still feel it but it's more the competition," he said. "I enjoy trying to figure it out. I enjoy trying to figure out how to make your car go faster. The setup up. The springs and the shocks and the tire pressure, the engine combination and goal ratio, the geometry behind it all. That's addicting to me." When Spencer first started racing the modified cars his dad told him to start slow and get a feel for the car. "After a few laps, I was getting comfortable quickly and I began to pick up my pace," Spencer said. "I was really only going about 30 mph but dad would wave me down since I wasn't really ready for the higher speeds yet." "I think I'm a good mixture now of aggressive and patient when I need to be. Actually, I think I'm very patient. My dad and my grandpa like to give me a lot of advice," he said with a smile and a hint of sarcasm. Terry's final race was 20 years ago at the half-mile oval at Sandusky Speedway. TJ had a car in that race, too. TJ was the fastest qualifier and Terry was second fastest. "I remember sitting back a little bit," TJ said to me, "and watching him, seeing him make a few moves and the next thing I know he's leading the race and I'm still watching." Terry won his final race and TJ finished third that day. "Sometimes, I do the same thing (sit back and watch) with Spence. I'm up close. It's a different view and I like that perspective.'' Slow is smooth and smooth is fast With more than 200 wins combined at Lorain Raceway Park, you would be right to say that "winning" is the signature of the Stineman family of drivers. Winning though, is not what is most important to the men behind the wheel. "Running clean," Terry said. "That is absolutely the most important thing to family." Terry will tell you that it was his father who stressed sportsmanship, racing fairly with a legal car and treating other drivers the way you wanted to be treated. "We don't block em, cut 'em off or run them up the wall. If someone is faster then, he's faster. That's it. We don't win every race," Terry said, "but we do it cleanly." I asked TJ how long he plans to continue to race? "As long as the track stays open, I'll drive," he said. "I'd be curious to know what my heart rate is before the race," Spencer told me. "I can feel my heart pumping but as soon as the engine starts and the wheels are moving, it's all gone and the world is going by me at 100 mph. The sparks, the smells, the noises, the vibrations, I can see and feel it all and I love it." As Terry and I talked in the pit that day, he looked at me through his stylish sunglasses and said, "I can really appreciate what they're doing and the racers they've become. They're just good kids, you know. You want them to do better than you did and I'm very proud of (TJ and Spencer). It's been a lot of years and it's been enjoyable. I've had my day. It's about supporting them." "Racing is in our blood," TJ said in a matter-of-fact manner. "And the legacy," he continued, "is pretty cool. It shows that we've been successful at teaching each other and learning as we go along." Yes, successful indeed. Contact Ron Jantz at rjantz@chroniclet.com.