Dick Swartzlander is a living legend in Western PA racing history.

He was recently inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. That was the fourth honor bestowed to him that includes the Lernerville Speedway HOF, Pittsburgh Circle Track HOF, and the Twin State Auto HOF. The 88 year-old Sarver resident started his career in 1954 and drove until 2008, garnering 436 victories and seven championships!

He then became a car owner for his son, Dan, who retired in 2017.

“I still have two race cars in the garage and I am afraid to go to a track too much. The racing bug might get me,” Dick lamented.

He came from a family whose lineage produced at least a dozen drivers.

Dick said, “I can remember my cousin David who drove in the Pure Stocks; he had a wooden leg. Before the race, he took the leg off and handed it out the window because he didn’t want anything happening to it. David said you only needed one leg to drive!”

He remembered his cousin Mel, who was burned over 85 percent of his body in a fiery accident at Blanket Hill Speedway. It was tough to watch him recuperating for seven years.

“They had to graft on a lip, ear and nose. So with a lot of time on his hands, Mel took on-line college courses and got a college degree,” Dick said.

When he healed, Mel decided to race again. The first night out, he wrecked his car and the second night out he rolled it. He decided to quit and turn the reins over to his son, Brian Swartzlander.

Brian has 14 championships and currently leads the Lernerville Modified class with 96 victories on the all-time charts.

Dick said, “I don’t think there is anyone smoother on the track than Brian! He is one of the most consistent driver on the track.”

Dick plays a little banjo and the drums. Brian plays the drums, also.

Dick added, “I believe there is a correlation between playing the drums and the timing of the rhythm to the hands to the steering of a car and foot on the throttle that gives you success in driving. It also helped me with the coordination of driving various types of racers.”

After college, Dick went to the marines for three years and was going to re-enlist. His late wife Pearl did not want that to happen and bought him a ‘38 coupe racer with a six-cylinder engine.

He was 24 years old and got a job at Gulf Research, where he tested engines on the dynamometer and did research on fuel and additives.

So Dick started in the old coupes. He first used an English style cloth helmet and later a coal miner’s hat that he cut the sides out to protect his head. The apparel worn to drive was a T-shirt and jeans with a red handkerchief tied around his nose to keep out mud or dust.

For safety measures, they tied two belts together, anchored them to the floor and put it around his waist. There was one roll bar over his head.

Over the years, he has competed at three-dozen racetracks. Dick prefers dirt to asphalt because of control factors. He says, “It is 25 percent car and 75 percent driver to win on dirt and the opposite on asphalt!”

Besides coupes, Dick has piloted Sprints, Indy cars, ARDC Midgets, Formula one, Enduro cars, V-8 Modifieds and Late Models. His favorite class to drive was the Sprints, which he piloted for 22 years.

He is the only person at Lernerville and probably the United States to win a V-8 Modified, Late Model and Sprint feature in the same evening. He drove these three divisions for three years. You had to be good shape to handle this.

Dick said, “I was honored when Late Model driver Todd Bachman called and asked me drive his Late Model one night when he was stuck in West Virginia. I was 75 years old and It made me feel good that someone wanted me to drive at that age!”

One story that he has never forgotten involved Harry Hein. Hein bumped his racer on the white flag lap while Dick was leading and passed him. Dick recovered and when Hein reached turn four, he slowed his car and let Dick pass him to win. Afterwards. Hein apologized and said he didn’t mean to hit Dick and it was his race to win.

Dick’s second wife, Audree, and her late husband were friends of the Swartzlanders years ago. Dick’s wife Pearl and Audree’s husband passed away about the same year. After not seeing one another for 20 years, they met again. The lovely twosome have been married for 15 years and are thoroughly enjoying life after racing!

Honoring Dad

Rush promoter Vicki Emig will honor her Dad’s memory by producing the Bill Emig Memorial Rush Late Model show at Lernerville Speedway during the “Firecracker” weekend. It will pay $10,000 to win.

Carol Gamble is a racing columnist for the Butler Eagle