Checkered Flag, Latimore Valley Fairgrounds/EMMR – A lot of us grew up loving racing of all kinds. The sights, the sounds, the smells of it all. Dennis White is no different. A smile grows across his face as he recalls what started it all for him and how it’s going today. “When I was a boy of age 10-12, my dad and I would go to the race track. I grew up in Allentown. I was within walking distance of that half-mile dirt oval. At that time the Indy car drivers were coming through there and running sprint cars so you were seeing the biggest names in the sport! Foyt would run, Johnny Thompson, Parnelli Jones won at Allentown, Jim Hurtubise won at Allentown, Tommy Hinnershitz, of course…this was the royalty of open-wheel racing and we got to see ‘em. Doing this with my dad was what got me hooked on it. Then 50 years go by and I haven’t done anything about it so I go, I guess I better start if I’m going to do something with it. But it’s worked out great. Good bunch of people at the club and an opportunity to run the car. I’m not setting any land speed records out there, but we have a lot of fun.”

The “club” White is referring to is ACOT. ACOT, which stands for Alantic Coast Old Timers and was founded by legendary racer Roscoe, “ Pappy” Hough (Look him up. Truly a legend.). ACOT has performed the remarkable feat of being a continuously running club for over 40 years. According to White, “The club, ACOT, is full of guys my age, basically, guys that are running cars from the 50s and 60s mostly, some of them are ex-professionals, some of them are retired, like me, that just had an interest. It’s been tough the last few years. We had some folks age out and some with health issues. We’re trying to kind of rejuvenate the club. We’re struggling a little, but we’re trying.” White pretty much sums it up, the reason why a lot of these guys are taking laps on the old, dirt oval at this event, “[It’s the] Kind of a thing I never got to do as a younger guy, I saw an opportunity and do it now or you’re not going to do it.” Not only are these guys doing what they had always wanted to do, they’re also keeping the history of these cars alive. It’s not every day one gets to see an old sprint car running around the track these days, you know.

White looked fondly at his car as he told the story of how he came by owning it and his start in driving it. “The car I got in 2016. I had never driven a race car of any kind. I got this one from a fellow who was an ACOT member and was retiring down to Florida, a fellow named Craig Patterson. Craig died within the last two months coincidentally. I bought it in ‘16 over the Fall and kind of worked on it and learned it over the Winter. In the Spring of ‘17 we took it out. Evergreen was the first run. It was an unusal day because it snowed. On my first ever sprint car drive it snowed, but we got a few laps in before that stopped it. That was my rookie year. The car’s been around a lot longer than me obviously, than me as a driver, I mean. Between ACOT and EMMR, that’s mostly where we get our track time.”

Seeing firsthand the size of the smile on Dennis White’s face, I had to ask the obvious question, is it more fun to do than it looks? The answer was not a surprise. “It’s twice that. It’s more fun than I even imagined. It’s a little…when you first start…it’s a little intimidating, especially on dirt because you’re never going where you’re pointed, it took a little getting used to. Being an older car, we’ve got to pay our dues and work on it a lot, but it’s worth the effort.” His wife would back that up by adding, “He smiles more on the track than anywhere else.”

While this day was full of fun and smiles for everyone in attendance, White did add a solemn observation, “These cars are a distant past to a lot of younger people. They kind of look at them and say ‘what’s that?’” This is a reminder to everyone who attends an event like this to not take it for granted. On the grounds on this day there was more racing history and vintage automotive engineering than a lot of people outside car culture see in a lifetime. Attend and support as many events like this as you can. Bring a friend. Let them know how special all of this is. It’s something Dennis White understands.

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