The article below was written by Gary McCredie
DICK FLECK: "It's About Time I Started Repaying Racing"
When Scott Wasser, now assistant managing editor (but then sports editor of the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times Leader) wrote a column a year ago on Pocono International Raceway's Dick Fleck, the piece was entitled, "Video's Mr.Wizard."
It was appropriate title and here's why. When you walk into the 2.5 - mile speedway's infield press room a day or two before a race, you're confronted by a mass of video equipment lined up on a shelf against a wall. Included are several color television sets, two or three tape decks, a device that can turn a TV picture into a black-and-white photo tapes and other assorted accessories. And the latest addition is a large-screen color TV, which along with the smaller units displays tapes of past events at Pocono, as well as a live transmission of a race if it is being televised.
It all belongs to Fleck, 53 of Collegeville, Pa; a town about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. Fleck's official title at the Pocono is "video coordinator," but there's a lot more to the man than just that. First there's Fleck, sales manger for Sosmetal Products Co, of Philadelphia, a manufacturer of automotive after market parts such as tune-up kits, flashers and ball joints, with salesman in 38 states.
Then there's Fleck, the ex-race driver, who ran his first race when he 15 and has driven everything from jalopies to USAC Champ Cars. And, too, there's the Fleck who's on the board of directors of Checkered Flag Fan Club of Pennsylvania and who is also the executive director of the Auto Racing Fraternity Foundation, a benevolent organization that sets up trust funds for race drivers and/or their families who can no longer provide for themselves.
And finally, there's the Fleck that was one of the founding fathers of the Pocono Mountains racing complex that includes the 2.5-mile three-cornered stock car track, two road coursed, a drag strip and a 3/4-mile oval.
"I started out as a spectator at the old Sanatoga Speedway outside of Pottstown, Pa; and I drove my first race when I was 15 at the old Yellowjacket Speedway in Philadelphia," Said Fleck. "It was under a fictitious name at the time, but it had to be.
"I graduated from high school and went into the Navy and when I came out, I started driving again on a stead basis. We were driving modified coupes and my best year was 1957 when I won three track championships, Sanatoga, Hatfield and the municipal stadium in Philadelphia (the site of the recent Live Aid Concert for African relief). " I won 57 features and 101 qualifying races."
A year later, Fleck won the last race ever run at Sanatoga and three years after that he helped to found a new short track sanctioning body, PROS- Professionals Racing On Speedways, head-quartered at Hatfield.
"The first six races were rained out, so somebody said PROS stood for "Probably Rain On Saturday," Fleck, laughed. "But I saw I couldn't race and run the sanctioning body, too, because it would put me on both sides of the fence. "So I gave up driving because I felt I could do more for racing running the group. So I did that for six years."
Shortly thereafter, Fleck met Dave Montgomery, a building contractor who had an idea for a superspeedway in the Pocoonos area. The two got together "over a glass of beer" and Pocono International Raceway was born.
"Why did we design it with three corners?" asked Fleck. "It was because Dave was more into sports cars and I was more into the oval racing, so we hit a compromise. "I allowed him to give it different turns and banking so it would have a little more of sports car flair and he agreed to make it all left-hand turns. That's how it all came about."
The three-cornered track is unique to NASCAR Winston Cup racing. Each straightaway has different length and radius, and at 14, eight and six degrees. respectively, the three turns are relatively flat when compared to the circuit's other.
"But at the time, USAC (United States Auto Club) was the sanctioning body in racing and they were demanding flat tracks," said Fleck. " They were afraid of high banks."
Fleck and Montgomery, along with Dick Price (still on the Pocono board) then attracted a group of investors and the ground breaking was held in 1965. The first race, a Supermodified event, was scheduled for October 1967 but was snowed out. It was finally given the checkered flag on May 4, 1968, and saw the death of Roy Ruttman Jr; to date, the track's only fatality.
"I was the race director and we ran a full schedule of 16-20 races on the 3/4-mile track in 68 and 69," said Fleck. "The 2.5-mile track was completed in 70 and the firs USAC race was July 3, 1971 The Schaefer 500.
"Boy, it was bad, a close deal on getting it ready on time. People would come in and say "Where's our seats? and we'd say, "Follow that man with the boards."
As the video coordinator, Fleck works with ESPN, or whomever televises Pocono's races, feeds lines into the VIP suites, services the media, and provides race tapes for anyone who wants them. Any money he makes is donated to various funds for disabled drivers and needy families.
"My quote on that is, "It's about time I started repaying racing," said Fleck. "It's been good to me for so many years, so I'm trying to repay it by doing anything I can. "My life is in this sport."
Grand National Scene August 1, 1985: