Dave Ely - News Archives June 1997

News Archives
Dave Ely is a student of Sprint Car Racing by Linda Mansfield Trackside Magazine, June 1997 Dave Ely's Sprinter could be the 101, the number traditionally associated with college freshmen courses. He is definitely going to school. Ely is postponing a college education to study the art of Sprint Car racing with a carefully-mapped out schedule of "classes" from Ohio to West Virginia, from Delaware to Canada. The move makes perfect sense for the 19-year old Ely, part of the gifted-accelerated program at Wilson High in Reading, PA. His team is co-owned by his parents, Mike and Vicki Ely, and Larry and Jan Mealy Gilbert of Douglassville, PA. Ely, in fact, carries the number 77 and that, too, is a big part of the story. "If he decides to go to college later, that's great," explains Larry Gilbert. "Sprint Car racing isn't like it was 15 years ago. Now you have to make your mark by the time you're 25. It would be a sin to make him go to college when all he thinks about is racing. He is totally committed to making his living as a Sprint Car driver and he has the talent and the family background to make it." Ely, who captured 35 features and three track championships in three years of go kart competition, is in his fourth season with the Sprints. He spent the first two years with Keystone Auto Racing on Speedways (KARS) winning twice. His first win came in his eighth race - June 18, 1994 at Seacoast Speedway. Last year, he competed in 35 Sprint events in United Racing Club, Empire Super Sprints, Ohio Sprint Bandits, 350 and 410 sprint competition. Finishing second in only his third URC race, he finished ninth in points despite missing many shows. The 1997 plan was 41 races on 26 different tracks in nine different states or provinces. Ely had never raced on 13 of the tracks. The schedule includes four WoO events this month in New York State. The Elys and Gilberts feel this type of schedule is of more benefit than running a single series and going for a Rookie of the Year title. Ely went racing in '97 with two new Stealth chassis and three motors - two Jerecos and one Brown. He is on schedule and it should come as no surprise. The nephew of Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car superstar Don Kreitz Jr. and the only child of noted race car mechanic and fabricator Mike and Vicki Ely, Dave has been preparing for a Sprint career all his life. He is actually a third-generation driver on both sides. His paternal grandfather -- also named David Frank Ely -- drove Modifieds in the late 1960s and early '70s before dying of a sudden illness at 28. One of his numbers was 77, the same number his grandson now uses. His maternal grandfather - Don Kreitz Sr. -- raced Modifieds, Sprints and ARDC Midgets. Before retiring to help his son in '78, he had over 190-top 10 finishes including a pair of Reading Fairgrounds Modified wins and seven ARDC features. Father Mike Ely has worked with, in addition to Kreitz Jr., Fred Rahmer, Howie Locke and Red Coffin in the past. He also worked on Penske Racing's IROC cars. En route to 58 feature wins, Mike Ely was the '83 URC Mechanic of the Year (Kreitz Jr. was the champion) and the '86 Checkered Flag Fan Club Mechanic of the Year. Ely-wrenched cars have won the Kings Royal at Eldora and the National Open at Selinsgrove and on the WoO and All-Star Circuit of Champions. Jan (the daughter of the late URC veteran Dick Mealy) and Larry Gilbert bring a wealth of experience as well going back to the 1970s. In 1995 Ely substituted for Billy Ellis in Gilbert's Sprint in some URC shows and when Ellis left later in the year, Jan was quick to lobby for Ely. "We're convinced Dave has a lot of talent and he's going to be a superstar," says Jan. "We've never been happier and someday we're going to be on top of a trailer watching Dave race at the Knoxville Nationals." "I'm not ever ready for Eldora yet, let alone Knoxville," Dave admits. "But by running a lot of different tracks and a lot of different series, I'm going to get better at setting up the car, driving on different types of tracks and against different drivers." While economics plays a key role, the '97 agenda was designed with gaining experience foremost and that includes time trialing. "It's important to time well because that affects where you start," Mike Ely notes. "Running only two laps by yourself as fast as you can is a lot different than qualifying in a heat. Some drivers can time trial well, but others never get the hang of it." Ely set fast time in his first time trial effort last year. He also drove his first wingless Sprint show and finished fourth. And he learned a lot. "My best race was in July at the Delaware State Fairgrounds," Ely recalls. "I started seventh and had the lead in three laps. Then I got taken out by a lapped car. I was a little down, but I talked to Doug Wolfgang about it. That weekend he had just run his 2,700th race and I had run less than 65 sprint races. Doug said that when I've run as many races as he has, I'll come to realize that I'm the one that really took myself out of the race because I should have anticipated what that lapped car was going to do before he did it." "I should actually think of it as if I hit that lapped car rather than it hit me. Even with that finish, it was a good race for me because there's usually not a lot of passing at that place." It's the kind of lessons young Dave Ely will continue to learn. Back to News Archives

News Archives

Dave Ely is a student of Sprint Car Racing
by Linda Mansfield
Trackside Magazine, June 1997

Dave Ely's Sprinter could be the 101, the number traditionally associated with college freshmen courses. He is definitely going to school.

Ely is postponing a college education to study the art of Sprint Car racing with a carefully-mapped out schedule of "classes" from Ohio to West Virginia, from Delaware to Canada.

The move makes perfect sense for the 19-year old Ely, part of the gifted-accelerated program at Wilson High in Reading, PA. His team is co-owned by his parents, Mike and Vicki Ely, and Larry and Jan Mealy Gilbert of Douglassville, PA.

Ely, in fact, carries the number 77 and that, too, is a big part of the story.

"If he decides to go to college later, that's great," explains Larry Gilbert. "Sprint Car racing isn't like it was 15 years ago. Now you have to make your mark by the time you're 25. It would be a sin to make him go to college when all he thinks about is racing. He is totally committed to making his living as a Sprint Car driver and he has the talent and the family background to make it."

Ely, who captured 35 features and three track championships in three years of go kart competition, is in his fourth season with the Sprints. He spent the first two years with Keystone Auto Racing on Speedways (KARS) winning twice. His first win came in his eighth race - June 18, 1994 at Seacoast Speedway.

Last year, he competed in 35 Sprint events in United Racing Club, Empire Super Sprints, Ohio Sprint Bandits, 350 and 410 sprint competition. Finishing second in only his third URC race, he finished ninth in points despite missing many shows.

The 1997 plan was 41 races on 26 different tracks in nine different states or provinces. Ely had never raced on 13 of the tracks. The schedule includes four WoO events this month in New York State. The Elys and Gilberts feel this type of schedule is of more benefit than running a single series and going for a Rookie of the Year title.

Ely went racing in '97 with two new Stealth chassis and three motors - two Jerecos and one Brown.

He is on schedule and it should come as no surprise.

The nephew of Central Pennsylvania Sprint Car superstar Don Kreitz Jr. and the only child of noted race car mechanic and fabricator Mike and Vicki Ely, Dave has been preparing for a Sprint career all his life. He is actually a third-generation driver on both sides.

His paternal grandfather -- also named David Frank Ely -- drove Modifieds in the late 1960s and early '70s before dying of a sudden illness at 28. One of his numbers was 77, the same number his grandson now uses.

His maternal grandfather - Don Kreitz Sr. -- raced Modifieds, Sprints and ARDC Midgets. Before retiring to help his son in '78, he had over 190-top 10 finishes including a pair of Reading Fairgrounds Modified wins and seven ARDC features.

Father Mike Ely has worked with, in addition to Kreitz Jr., Fred Rahmer, Howie Locke and Red Coffin in the past. He also worked on Penske Racing's IROC cars. En route to 58 feature wins, Mike Ely was the '83 URC Mechanic of the Year (Kreitz Jr. was the champion) and the '86 Checkered Flag Fan Club Mechanic of the Year. Ely-wrenched cars have won the Kings Royal at Eldora and the National Open at Selinsgrove and on the WoO and All-Star Circuit of Champions.

Jan (the daughter of the late URC veteran Dick Mealy) and Larry Gilbert bring a wealth of experience as well going back to the 1970s. In 1995 Ely substituted for Billy Ellis in Gilbert's Sprint in some URC shows and when Ellis left later in the year, Jan was quick to lobby for Ely.

"We're convinced Dave has a lot of talent and he's going to be a superstar," says Jan. "We've never been happier and someday we're going to be on top of a trailer watching Dave race at the Knoxville Nationals."

"I'm not ever ready for Eldora yet, let alone Knoxville," Dave admits. "But by running a lot of different tracks and a lot of different series, I'm going to get better at setting up the car, driving on different types of tracks and against different drivers."

While economics plays a key role, the '97 agenda was designed with gaining experience foremost and that includes time trialing.

"It's important to time well because that affects where you start," Mike Ely notes. "Running only two laps by yourself as fast as you can is a lot different than qualifying in a heat. Some drivers can time trial well, but others never get the hang of it."

Ely set fast time in his first time trial effort last year. He also drove his first wingless Sprint show and finished fourth.

And he learned a lot. "My best race was in July at the Delaware State Fairgrounds," Ely recalls. "I started seventh and had the lead in three laps. Then I got taken out by a lapped car. I was a little down, but I talked to Doug Wolfgang about it. That weekend he had just run his 2,700th race and I had run less than 65 sprint races. Doug said that when I've run as many races as he has, I'll come to realize that I'm the one that really took myself out of the race because I should have anticipated what that lapped car was going to do before he did it."

"I should actually think of it as if I hit that lapped car rather than it hit me. Even with that finish, it was a good race for me because there's usually not a lot of passing at that place." It's the kind of lessons young Dave Ely will continue to learn.

Back to News Archives