| This Racing Family Brings Four Late Models To The Track | Special Report By Bill Green
"From Behind The MIC!"
Tampa, FL (Aug 25th, 2004) East Bay Raceway Park fan's have seen the four car Late Model family on the track for a few years now. So I figured it was time for everyone to get to know the Erskine Racing Team and the family that drives it.
Every family in racing has one member that seems to be the driving force. Even as the kids come along and join into the Saturday Night activities, that corner stone keeps everyone focused on the current goal or plan for each season.
Now Frank Erskine will be the first to tell you that his two racing brothers and his son Frank, Jr., make their own decisions, but after a few minutes of talking to this straight shooter, you know they get a little something from ole' Frankie.
The brothers range in age from 63 to 58. Frank's the oldest, little brother Ted is the youngest, while David "Tex" Erskine, sandwiched in between them at 61. Three senior citizens from the same family running full blown Late Models on dirt. It has to make for some great conversations at the annual family get togethers. Frank's name sake and son is the 4th and final member of the current troupe. He's the kid in the Erskine Racing pits at 37 years of age.
The family's trip from West Virginia to East Bay Raceway Park has a common ring to it. The family saw their first racing action in go-karts, then stepped up to real racing at Dorsey Speedway in Maryland as the years passed. The move by Frank and has wife Jane in 1991 to Florida came after younger brother Ted was already established in racing in the sunshine state. Ted competed at Golden Gate and other local tracks through the years and visits from the family up north were common.
The thing that really struck me at first was the fact that a veteran racer in his sixties was one of the first guys in the gate and set up in the pits. His motor was already warming up at 4:50 in the afternoon. Here was a family eggier to race, yet winning was not a factor. While Frank's # 7 was currently 8th in the points, the Erskine Racing entries were often, at best, in the middle of the pack. All 4 cars were fairly equal, although Frank, Jr., had the newest chassis from his father's garage, they all still competed amongst themselves more than with the high dollar cars.
Frank's daughter Sherry was not a stranger to the racing scene. Her efforts and mother Jane's attention to details, usually meant the boys knew when their next race was coming up and nobody went hungry. Frank had one other character trait that I've always admired in anyone, straightforwardness. He told me what was on his mind on several subjects.
First on East Bay's new track layout. "They say they haven't changed the physical shape of the track," states Frank in a mellowed WV accent, "but you can ask any of the racers that have raced here for 5 or more years and they'll say the same thing I am. It's narrower. Narrower in the corners and very narrow on the front stretch and coming off turn 4. That's why all the wrecks on the front stretch. And that dang two-wide restart crap needs to go to. If the track's going to remain so tight, then stacking cars up for restarts is not going to work either. Plus, rough driving is a nonexistent call at East Bay. People run over people on the restarts or drive through cars in the corners and nothing is said."
The passion in his voice told me a lot about the man, from his deep roots and to his solid convictions, as he continued. "Dirt cars need wide turns to work by each other. I've race for many years at tracks all across the country and I went through one or maybe two dirt car bodies a year. But, since the redesign on the track and the addition of the Go-Kart track at East Bay, I've used 5 bodies last year and I'm into number 3 and 4 already this year. The track needs to realize that this crazy hobby is expensive enough, without a track's design destroying race cars. My costs have doubled and tripled in a year, I can't imagine what kind of money the high-dollar teams are going through."
Frank knows that he won't race forever, but may get to compete another year or two after this one. Costs may dictate an earlier shift of focus to son Frank, Jr's racing, but Jane and Frank plan on being around racing for years to come. With five grandkids, it's a given fact they'll be at tracks in the future.
As the tracks die off one by one in Florida and the legendary local driver's of the 60's, 70's and 80's leave us too, one has to think that someday it may all be gone. But, with the popularity of NASCAR and a few new owners and promoters that keep the tracks on an even keel, I'm sure Frank's kids and the grandkids will see racing in some form or fashion for years to come.
To see the Erskine Racing Family in action, visit East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, FL. Or just travel to your local Saturday Night oval and get to know your own division of senior citizen's that enjoy racing as a family sport.
Your never to old to race, no matter what your doctor says.
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