Helping to keep racing on track

By Jane White/Daily Sun sports editor
Thursday, August 30, 2007 9:25 AM CDT

When the Beatrice Speedway decided to say thank-you to racing supporter Garold Kleveland recently, it did so in a big way - a 40-foot way that is.

Saturday night as the Beatrice Speedway celebrated its 50th anniversary, Kleveland was honored during intermission for his years of service to the local racing community.

“Garold Kleveland has been a big part of Beatrice Speedway since Aug. 25, 1957,” Beatrice Speedway promoter Tim Fralin said. “He's supplied a wrecker and crew to every race we've had at the Speedway since that date.

“I don't know what we'd do without him.”

The Speedway's way of “saying thank you” to Kleveland was to honor him during the anniversary celebration and to name the catwalk in the back pit area after him.

Along with all of the other things he'd done for the race track over the years, Kleveland helped with the construction of the original section of the catwalk, which has since been added to.

“We made a 40-foot long sign and we're naming the catwalk after Garold,” Fralin said. “That's just a small step toward the appreciation he really deserves.”

Fralin said it was time to recognize Kleveland and track officials believed there was no better time than on the 50th anniversary of the Speedway.

Kleveland said he was “surprised” by the honor.

“I was really surprised,” Kleveland said, adding his family knew about the recognition, but didn't let him in on it. “Everybody kept everything pretty secretive.”

While Kleveland said the catwalk has been a nice addition to the pits and a bonus for those wanting to watch the races from the track's backstretch, he admits he's never seen a race from there.


“I've never watched a race from the grandstand, either,” Kleveland said, adding he “pits” with his wrecker along with the race car drivers on the track's infield.

From their spots inside the track, Fralin said Kleveland and his volunteer crew are always ready and waiting to help.

“On any given night, Garold has three to six trucks out here,” Fralin said. “If we had to pay for that by the hour, the cost would be astronomical, especially over 50 years.

“To have him supply that for us at no cost every week is incredible.”

Fralin said Kleveland is “always there” when the racers need him, whether it's to tow their car off the race track or help load the car when they are ready to go home.

“If you need something after the races or you need a ride home, they'll tow your car,” Fralin said. “They've done it for numerous drivers out here over the years.”

Aside from the equipment and manpower he and his crew provide, Fralin said Kleveland also brings a lot of knowledge to the racetrack each week.

“When you've been at it as long as Garold, there's probably nothing anybody could teach him,” Fralin said.

Fralin said Kleveland always finds a way to get the job done with the least amount of damage to the race cars involved.

“We've seen him do the two wrecker bit where one is going backwards because there's no wheels on the car or it's incapable of moving,” Fralin said. “When you're hanging a car in mid air and hauling it with two wreckers, it takes special effort.

“They take good care of the equipment when they take it off the track. They don't just hook on and pull it off. They treat it like their own.”

As a former racer at the Beatrice Speedway, Fralin said “more than once” he's been taken off the track on the hook of one of Kleveland's wreckers.

“It means a lot when they show respect for your equipment,” Fralin said.

Along with taking care of their primary duties of pushing and towing race cars, Fralin said Kleveland and crew are always willing to help safety crews when needed in critical situations.

“They're always right on the spot,” Fralin said. “If somebody is hurt, they'll lend a hand if needed.”

Fralin said Kleveland's crews have helped cut drivers out of cars after wrecks.

Although races had previously been held at another location in Beatrice, the first races at the current Beatrice Speedway, located on the Gage County Fairgrounds, were held Aug. 25, 1957.

Kleveland and his wrecker crews have been a mainstay at the track since that time. He was previously honored by the racing community when the Beatrice Speedway Hall of Fame recognized its first class in 2002 and he was one of five individuals inducted.

When the track first opened, Kleveland said “everyone” was anxious to help. He said each race night there were multiple push tracks and pack trucks helping with the racing program.

Kleveland said he and his family were “new in town” when he first started volunteering at the former race track at the old fairgrounds in 1955.

In the early days, Kleveland said everybody who had a wrecker or push truck was at the track on race night.

“I don't know if we were ever really asked to get involved or if we just wanted to be part of it,” Kleveland said.

When he first started working the races, Kleveland said he had an old panel track, which he used as a push truck. The earlier-day race cars, including models like the 1932 Plymouth, had to be “pushed” to start Kleveland said, and it took a number of push trucks just to get races started.

Kleveland bought his first wrecker in 1959 and immediately started taking it to the race track.

There have been many positive changes in racing since he first started working at the track, Kleveland said. He said all of the safety equipment at the Speedway has improved greatly over the past 50 years.

Kleveland said radios, which help the safety crews stay in contact with each other, were one improvement.

Over the years, Kleveland said his “duties” at the race track had changed.

“Now, the four-wheelers do the majority of the pushing,” Kleveland said. “They're quicker and they're more maneuverable.”

Another positive addition was when fire trucks were first used at the track.

“We used to carry a fire extinguisher in our old power wagon,” Kleveland said. “But that was slow and we were dumb. We didn't have near the safety features we have now.”

Kleveland said track fire crews are now specially trained in how to handle situations on the race track.

“Having the fire truck and the ambulance there has taken a lot of responsibility off us,” Kleveland said.

Driver's safety, however, is always Kleveland's first concern, though.

The incidents he remembers most over the years at the Speedway have involved driver injuries, including having to extricate drivers from their cars.

Watching and helping other rescue personnel work to free drivers from wrecks has prompted Kleveland to add to the equipment he brings to the race track.

Pipe cutters, which can be used to take the tops off race cars and free drivers, were one addition he's made over the years.

“It all evolves from just the experience of things happening,” Kleveland said.

Kleveland said track officials have been proactive in “getting things done” when safety issues need to be addressed.

Kleveland said a lot of people, include Gage County Ag Society members, volunteer their time at the Speedway week after week all summer long and work to make racing a good experience for all involved.

“You have to have a respect for what they're doing,” Kleveland said.

Racing has done a lot for the Beatrice community, Kleveland said, and to be a “rung” in its ladder is nice.

“The races bring a lot of commerce to our town,” Kleveland said. “I don't know that all of the town people realize that to the degree it is.”

While his most recent honor was special, Kleveland said his biggest reward over the last 50-plus years has been in the friendships he's made with drivers, their crews and others at the local Speedway.

“Everybody tries to help each other,” Kleveland said. “The biggest share of the drivers and their crews are real appreciative and that makes it fun.”