RIP Bob Keselowski

[CIRF]

For those who are either too young or never followed ARCA Stock Car racing one of the best ARCA drivers of the modern era has passed away.

Bob Keselowski is Brad Keselowski's father and Bob had a pretty dam good racing career of his own. I personally watched Bob win the ARCA race 4 times at Springfield, IL on the 1 mile dirt track and once at Du Quoin on the mile dirt. 2 wins while driving a Monte Carlo, 1 win driving a Pontiac Grand Prix and 1 win driving a Chrysler LeBaron. Bob won the ARCA Championship at least once (he might have won more but I can't recall for sure).

Bob's first win at Springfield was in August of 1987. Bob had never seen Springfield prior to winning the 100 miler that day. I'm not sure Bob had ever run dirt prior to that first win at Springfield.

I have fond memories of watching Kes put those black #29 cars prepared by Bob's brother Ron through their paces. I remember Brad, as a child, getting into mischief in the pits at Springfield & Du Quoin. Bob was not known for his prowess on dirt but he was plenty tough at Springfield & Du Quoin!!

Rest in peace Bob..................

[fastford]

good read cirf , I never met him but do remember watching him win one of the springfield mile races on TV , I use to love watching that race , anyway RIP Bob .....

[CIRF]

good read cirf , I never met him but do remember watching him win one of the springfield mile races on TV , I use to love watching that race , anyway RIP Bob .....

Your kind words are appreciated, ff!

I was pretty young when Bob first raced at Springfield. At that time I consumed all the information I could cast my eyes upon regarding dirt racing and following his 1st win at Springfield I scoured every bit of dirt racing info I could get my hands on and couldn't find anything on Bob. That's because none existed due to Bob never, or very seldom, racing on dirt.

Little did we know back then that the little blonde headed Keselowski brat running around the pits after the race was over would grow up to be a NASCAR Cup Champion!!



A bit off topic but it's heartbreaking to see what the purchase of ARCA by NASCAR has done to the division. 15 ARCA cars showed up at Springfield this past August for the Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and 4 or 5 of them were Venturini Motorsports cars and one of them won the 100 miler. It hasn't been more than 5 or 6 years ago there would be 30+ ARCA cars at Springfield & Du Quoin and 10 years ago it wasn't unusual to have over 40 cars in the pits at both tracks.

NASCAR has nearly killed this once proud and relevant series that served as a stepping stone division for many, many racers and an affordable division for guys who work a job for a living but still wanted to race at places like Daytona, Pocono, and yes, Springfield & Du Quoin!! Gotta' believe Kes was saddened by what has happened.


MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and all your loved ones, fastford. Be safe and healthy.

[over4T]

John Marcum, ARCA's founder, and Big Bill France, Sr.. NASCAR's founder, were friends and allied the 2 series together. France found a market for the outdated Grand National (today's Cup) cars and Marcum got cars for his series which consisted of lower buck teams, both with and without aspirations of rising to NASCAR.

A good majority of the ARCA guys made successful careers in ARCA and, primarily Midwest, fans got to see some terrific racing on dirt, short and long paved ovals and a few road courses without breaking their banks. The Keselowskis, Jack Bowsher, Blackie Wangerin, Schact, Iggy Katona and many more were among them. Several drivers did move up to NASCAR like 2-time ARCA champ Benny Parsons, whom I first met at Columbus, OH in '68 when he was on top.

Kenny Schrader also found fame with ARCA and still runs a few races per year with them. Not a direct quote but as close as I can recall it recently said after one race that now the field is made up of him, one other older guy and a bunch of kids who don't shave yet.

Sad that a great series has turned into rent-a-ride for rich daddys to put their, what they think, next Larson, Earnhardt, etc.. in. They seldom are. A once great series ain't no more.

[fastford]

well said over4T , I guess one could google and find a lot of stuff on this subject out , but I enjoy hearing it from you guy's ........

[Morgs153]

Condolences to the Keselowski family and all the fans and followers of Bob. I always thought that Mopar owed this guy for all the loyalty he had for the brand in the tough years for Mopar products. Although he ran all different cars through the years Bob ran Dodges in USAC with the Kit Car program and was really well known for success that he had in ARCA with the Chrysler LeBaron. He did wind up in a Dodge truck in the early days of the truck series and I think he served the Mopar fans very well.

[CIRF]

Very true, Morgs. The Keselowski family was quite loyal to Mopar. Not positive but I believe Gary Stanton built some of the engines used in the #29 car when it was a LeBaron. Also, Bob & Ron Keselowski worked with Buddy Arrington and his son fairly closely over the years. It was a lot more work to race a Mopar back in those days, for sure. The guys that were loyal to Mopar back when Chrysler didn't have a NASCAR approved model were Jerry Churchill, Kenny Rowley and of course, Bob & Ron. There may have been more guys running Mopars back in the day but those 3 easily come to mind.