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by Jerry Reigle Area Auto Racing News Feb 16, 1999 Following his eleventh place finish at Saturday afternoon's sprint car feature event at Lincoln Speedway, Dave Ely didn't appear to have any bit of apprehension of his sprint car return. The return to the sprint car game has somehow seemed to come natural for the 21-year old Sinking Spring driver who suffered a season ending injury last August at Bob Miller's Thunder on the Hill sprint car finale at Grandview Speedway. Ely, the younger nephew of sprint car guru Don Kreitz Jr., has stepped up to the anticipated challenges and to date this season he's accumulated some respectable finishes - seventh and sixth last weekend at Lincoln and Williams Grove respectively. "Actually I came into this season with more confidence than any in my six years of racing sprint cars," said Ely. "In our last 21 races before I got injured in 1998, we had 19 top ten finishes." Ely silenced for a brief period. "I guess you could say we were one of those quiet teams who somehow were always there at the end. It's a matter of taking one step at a time." Then came the crash at Grandview. Some say he and Greg Hodnett survived what may have been one of the more devastating sprint car crashes seen in recent memory at the Bechtelsville facility. The end result had Ely sitting out due to a broken clavicle (collarbone). Though he was expected to return in time for the season ending Williams Grove National Open, the doctors never gave him clearance to compete due to the problems related to a severe concussion. "I was ready to return after five weeks, but it took well over eight weeks for the doctors to gave me full clearance due to the concussion," commented Ely, an employee at the family run Kreitz Oval Track Parts and entrepreneur of a fledgling shocks dyno operation. "(The doctors) said if I returned any sooner than that and if I was involved in a crash, that I would be in real trouble." "Sitting out six months like I did gave me some problems, though," he added. "In this sport, you really lose a lot when you're not active in it." "Besides the physical conditioning aspect of it, I lost some of the technological aspects of sprint car racing," said Ely. "With the way this sport develops technologically, you have to keep up on things closely." When Ely emerged from his Eagle-chassied car on Saturday, he stood around well-wishers and admitted the speedway tested his honed skills. "Ill tell you, the race track was challenging today," he said. "It was a bit too heavy for this experimental car we're trying." Though his uncle Don (Kreitz Jr.), was a mere few pit stalls away from him, Ely, who drives for his parents, Mike and Vicki, likes to utilize his own knowledge along with his father's on the speedway. "We like to view this relationship as one in which we help each other out." And Ely has called upon some of the greats, including Doug Wolfgang and Joe Gaerte, for some needed advice on how to prepare a sprint car. He later admitted Wolfgang was the driver who he immediately took a liking when he first started attending races. For the remainder of the season, Ely, driver of the Leroy Schannauer Plumbing/C. Irwin & Son Food Distributors/Heeke's Supplies/Fastener Place-sponsored sprint car, is looking at focusing his attention at Williams Grove and Lincoln speedways. In the second week of racing at both facilities, he ranks in the top ten in both point standings. "We have two cars ready at the present," said Ely. "We'll run at the Grove and Lincoln along with some of the big-paying area shows, and as of now, we're probably not going to run on Sundays at Selinsgrove Speedway." "We basically want to go out and be as consistent as possible and have some good finishes," he added. "I really expect to do well this season." And of course, all is turned back to the crash that sidelined Ely for the final two months of racing in 1998. But in true racing form, he responds as only the best of the business would. "I've seen pictures and videotapes of the crash and it was bad," he said. "But it doesn't seem to bother me much ... it's just part of the sport." | |