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Buddy Bielarski and NASCAR’s Rick Crawford Coming to National
Sprint Car Museum
on Thursday, September 3, with Fred Moore/Bill Roynon Supermodified #R1
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (August 22) - Mobile, Alabama’s Buddy Bielarski and his
nephew Rick Crawford, currently in the ‘top ten’ in NASCAR Camping World
Truck Series points, are coming to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame &
Museum on Thursday, September 3, for a special reception from 6 until 9 p.m.
featuring Buddy’s newly-restored southern supermodified number R1. The car,
recently restored by Rick Crawford’s Circle Bar Racing team in North
Carolina, is best remembered when it was owned by Fred Moore of Pensacola,
Florida, and driven by Bill Roynon of Tampa, Florida, on Walter “Skip”
Wetjen’s tough Speedway Inc. circuit in the Gulf Coast region of the Deep
South in the 1960’s. Buddy, who also drove the R1 car for Fred Moore, and
Rick will both be available to sign autographs at the free and
open-to-the-public reception in the museum.
According to museum curator Tom Schmeh, “We are very excited to have Buddy
Bielarski’s winged supermodified on loan for 12 months in the National
Sprint Car Museum, as it continues a tradition we started with Ellis
Palasini’s car and continued with J.D. Parker’s machine. We have to thank
Tony Martin of Pensacola for helping make this happen, as well as Buddy,
Rick and the entire Circle Bar Racing team for pitching in and bringing this
project to fruition. We hope Carla Roynon Herrera, wife of 2009 Knoxville
Raceway ‘410’ sprint car point leader Johnny Herrera and daughter of the
late Bill Roynon, will be able to join us on this special occasion. It will
be fun to host NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Rick Crawford just
days before his Speed Channel-televised Truck Series appearance in the Lucas
Oil 200 at the Iowa Speedway in nearby Newton, and just weeks after fellow
Truck Series driver Tayler Malsam raced at Knoxville in the ‘360’
Nationals.”
Said Rick Crawford, driver of the No. 14 International Truck & Engine Ford
F-150 for Circle Bar Racing, “I was very proud to be able to lend a hand to
my Uncle Buddy (Bielarski) and help restore a piece of racing history. I
know it means a lot to Buddy and the folks down in the Gulf Coast region
that saw this car race. Working on it the past few months brought back many
memories of when I was a youngster and watching this car win with some of
the best talent from the region. Having the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
recognize the Southern Supermodified R1 is special to me, my uncle and the
race fans of the Gulf Coast, and I thank them very much."
Those seeking more on the Thursday, September 3, special reception featuring
Buddy Bielarski, Rick Crawford, and the Fred Moore/Bill Roynon number R1 are
encouraged to visit the museum’s web site at www.sprintcarhof.com. Those
seeking more information on Buddy Bielarski, Bill Roynon and “Skip” Wetjen’s
circuit are encouraged to buy the book “Southern Supermodifieds and Other
Early Racers” by Gerald Hodges at www.sprintcarstuff.com. Fans wanting to
know more about Rick Crawford and his Circle Bar Racing team can go to his
www.rickcrawford.com web site.
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