Ohio Trike Crew’s Tim Stefanko Sr.

A little boy, a few days shy of his 4th birthday, eager to race his YT60 Tri-Zinger at Summit Co. Fair on August 2, 1998 marks the beginning of the journey that would later resurrect 3 wheeler racing in the Ohio mainstream and eventually take it national at the 2012 Pine Lake EDT National, where Ohio 3 wheeler racing began in the 1970s.

After racing the Summit County Fair, Tim Stefanko, Jr. would end up instantly addicted to the three-wheeled version of ATV racing. A few days later he insist that his father Tim Sr also race his Tri-Z in the Medina County Fair. This would also mark the beginning of a very long relationship with Faircross race promoter Wayne Phillips and CRA (Competition Riders of America) liaison Peggy Ademic.

“We had to race in quad classes then,” says Tim Sr. “It was rare that another 3 wheeler would show up.” Once bitten by the MX bug, Tim and his son sought out other tracks that would let them run. Enter Wayne County Speedway, in Orrville, OH, also run by Wayne Phillips, and an outlaw track called Smith Road Raceway, run by local vintage MX legend George Singler. This is where Tim met Brian Chilenski who continues to race with OTC to this day.

In the early 2000’s Tim was racing both trike and quad in both motocross and harescrambles while unsuccessfully attempting to recruit more 3 wheeler racers from the 3 wheeler internet forums. Tim recalls, “I had almost given up on trike racing, as trikes had lost their competitiveness with the newer quads until I noticed that spectators paid little attention when I raced my TRX250R well, but were enthusiastically supportive when I raced the Tri-Z for a last place finish.” He adds, “This was the turning point for me when I decided as a +40 year old, I’d rather perform for the spectators on my Tri-Z than be a serious quad class competitor on my TRX250R. Because I never stopped racing my Tri-Z, the doors never closed for 3 wheelers at all the venues I raced, but I still could not manage to drag anyone out there on a trike to race with me for some years later.”

Tim Stefanko, Jr. – Lorain Co. Fair – September 1999

Tim was very active on a 3 wheeler internet forum begging for fellow trike riders to join in and race the “vintage” ATVs of yesterday, but remained unsuccessful in getting very many riders to actually do it. In 2004, as Robert “Howdy” Shively began to plan annual gatherings for members of this internet forum, Tim organized and setup the first all 3 wheeler motocross races the country had seen since the 80’s. In this informal environment he was finally able to introduce reality motocross to the internet “armchair racers”, and solicit participation by a great number of people, almost all of whom had never seen it before, let alone participated in it. He continued to organized three wheeler motocross racing at this event until after 2007. “We had to withdraw our support as an organization, as the annual event had evolved into something that we felt may be damaging to our family friendly image that Ohio race promoters expected of us,” recalls Stefanko.

The success of these races were enough to motivate Derrick Adams of Bucyrus, Ohio and his nephew Brandon Robinson to start twisting arms and rounding up some local riders from their area to join efforts to get trike racing off the ground in Ohio. On January 1, 2005 they all got together for a group ride in Wellsville, OH, which turned into a long term partnership. In April of 2005, they got together for a team harescramble in the snow at Sunset Ramblers Motorcycle Club in Galion, OH, who turned out to be quite gracious in welcoming 3 wheeler racers to their events. Later in the summer 2005 a 7-man group of trike racers were given their own motocross class at Sunset. Derrick was instrumental in getting out the trikers from his area, and getting them to participate, often even loaning machines out for others to race. By Labor Day, Derrick and Brandon brought another rider with them to Smith Road Raceway in Medina, OH to join Brian Chilenski and Tim for their first 3 Wheeler Class there since one isolated occasion in 1999. By 2006 the small group had enough racers attending to actually hold two different trike classes. “Derrick raced with us for several years until he eventually got serious in quad racing nationals. He still gets a hold of a trike and runs with us on rare occasions, and often refers new trike racers to us, and still takes an active interest in OTC Racing. He is truly a co-founder,” explains Stefanko.

For Christmas in 2005, at age 11, Tim Jr got his ’84 Honda 200X, and at that point he was finished with racing mini quads! By 2006, Derrick, Brandon, Tim Jr and Senior were touring the Faircross races in Ohio, which was the genesis of OTC Racing, sometimes with an extra racer or two. We also began getting more participation at other venues, especially Smith Road Raceway where the crew eventually began to outnumber quads! Over the next few years the dedicated group of die-hard trike riders grew rapidly, and began developing a reputation and rapport with promoters. When the internet world started to show more interest they were often referred to as “that Ohio crew”. Derrick seized on this and began referring to themselves as OTC for the “Ohio Trike Crew”. As word got out of their successes in Ohio, groups and individuals began arriving from neighboring states where 3 wheelers simply were not permitted to participate in local races.

Louis Mielke commutes from Maryland on a regular basis. Tim Keister and the Tionesta gang began bringing riders from PA and NY, up until 2011 when they stopped commuting in favor of starting a more local ride group. Bill Casey and the TPC group has also contributed in the cause and brings several new racers from NY and Indiana to OTC Racing over the years. “It’s been outstanding how it’s snowballed and how everyone has helped one another out,” says Stefanko. “Mark Dalziel was discovered right in my hometown or Rittman, OH, and was a longtime friend of Brian Chilenski. He has spent many nights working on other people’s equipment, and supplying parts just so they could race, and often loaned trikes to racers just so they could participate. With his years of sponsorships as a bike racer and connections with local businesses, he was able to acquire support and a sponsorship for OTC from Cycles
R Us in Chippewa Lake, OH for the 2012 Cycles R US, OTC Grand Champion Series and continues to be a key supporter.”

Lorain Co. Fair 2011 – Tim Stefanko, Sr. and Tim Stefanko, Jr.

There have been many others who have traveled long distance, or joined locally to race over the years. Tim estimates that over 100 riders have joined in on the fun. Some raced a few events, some raced long periods, and a few have been in it for the long haul. Their families have participated and assisted in varying degrees, whether it be on the track, preparing food in the pits, furnishing photography or whatever. In 2010 he was joined by his wife Jenny who shoots the videos we now see all over YouTube, which is directly responsible for recruiting most of the new racers.

“I launched the OTC Racing message forum in December of 2007 with Tim Keister helping in its operation until 2011. By 2008 Derrick had suggested we publish an OTC event schedule at the beginning of each year, to concentrate and target attendance for greatest impact. As we became well known in Ohio area race circuits, and developed a great rapport with different promoters, we began getting invitations to other venues, and regrettably, eventually too many to accept,” explains Stefanko.

Internet gathering at Haspin Acres – 2005 – 2 Stroke A Class – Brian Chilenski, Derrick Adams, Brandon Robinson, Jim Stackhouse, and Tim Stefanko, Sr.

He adds, “In 2009 we were invited to run at Earlywine Racing in Maysville, KY. Though we had to decline, Jeff Berry of Paducah, KY, and occasional OTC racer, began building a three wheel race group at Earlywine in 2011. We were finally able to accept the invitation for a weekend event in February of 2012, where promoter Nikki Earlywine was most gracious and accommodating. Jeff did a great job of putting this together and working with her, and coordinating with the OTC. It was billed as Round 1 & 2 of the 2012 Battle Between the States Series with Round 3 later run at Smith Road Raceway on Memorial Day. Round 4 at Smith Road Raceway on July 4th was added after ending Round 3 in a tie between OH and KY. Joe Tolle of ATV on Demand.com did a remarkably awesome job of covering this event with an incredible video and we expect that Kentucky will add to its trike racing group in 2012!”

In 2009 the group gained access by invitation from part owner Josh McFadden to Malvern Raceway in Waynesburg, OH after Wayne Phillips purchased a part interest. Malvern had always denied trikes before that under the old ownership.

Tim Stefanko, Sr., Tim Stefanko, Jr., Derrick Adams – 2008 Richland Co. Fair

In 2010 the OTC faithfulls were approached by Peggy Ademic of the Competition Riders of America, Ohio’s predominant sanctioning body. She offered an 8-race CRA Three Wheeler Series in 2011. Of course the group happily accepted and were honored to participate. This continued in 2012 as a 7-race series. “We owe a great deal of thanks to Peggy, everyone at the CRA and the six CRA facilities that made their tracks available to us, including Trevor Vine’s “bike only” track.”

In 2010 the group was invited for the first time to a national AMA event by Wayne Phillips at the AMA Dirt Track Nationals at Wayne Co. Speedway in Orrville, OH, but because their schedule was fully loaded, they were unable to accept. This led to an interest from Bud Fischer for this same series in 2011 at Pine Lake in Ashtabula, OH, which was forwarded to the group by Wayne’s son-in-law, Greg, but again, the group had already committed to other events and they were unable to accommodate. In December of 2011 Tim contacted Bud Fischer BEFORE they had filled their 2012 schedule! This time the group was able to make it happen! “Bud was very enthusiastic about having us as a spectator treat to break up the monotony of all those quad classes. His passion and history in the sport seemed to be driven by a father/son relationship that I understood well, as he mentioned the passing of his father, and icon of the sport, Bill Fischer last year. It was intriguing to listen to Bud speak of the days when hundreds and hundreds of 3 wheelers graced the starting lines at Pine Lake.

Smith Road Raceway – Memorial Day 2011

Shortly after the 2012 OTC Race schedule was posted, this event in particular began catching some interest from the 3 wheeler internet communities, which had pretty much ignored the activities of OTC Racing for years. Then Bill Casey of TPC Trikes mentioned via internet that some former pros had caught wind and were interested, and that Jackie Meadows would be sporting a borrowed TPC Trike. After that, the news that three wheeler racing at this year’s national at Pine Lake went viral, and suddenly everybody was interested in being a part of the “rebirth of trike racing”. “We welcome all the new interest to the trike racing scene in Ohio, though I tend to think “resurrection” is far more accurately descr
iptive than “rebirth”, and being well into my own 15th consecutive season of trike racing, I can only ask, “What took you so long?” Tim adds, “We are proud to have Bud Fischer as a new OTC Racing supporter this year in what is our first national event, but also continue our unending gratitude to all those other promoters and insiders who have supported and encouraged us throughout the years including: Peggy Ademic, Wayne Phillips, George Singler, Jock Jacobs, Joe Tolle, Jon Overholt, Faircross Promotions, Patriot Promotions, Summit Indoors, Smith Road Raceway, Sunset Ramblers, Malvern Raceway, Big Game Raceway, Hidden Valley, Pymatuning Raceway, Amherst MC, Lightning Raceway, TV Land, Earlywine Racing, Big Valley, LL Raceway, and Western Reserve and many more.”

George Singler Farewell Race – Labor Day 2011 – OTC Racing presents George with Thank You plaque signed by all 22 OTC racers and their support crews present – In Photo – Mark Dalziel, George Singler, Tim Stefanko, Sr., Tim Stefanko, Jr., and Flyin’ Brian Chilenski. George retired after 40+ years operating Smith Road Raceway. 

OTC Racing welcome new trike racers of any skill range to join them at the numerous area events, and all they ask is that participants act to preserve the great reputation they enjoy among industry professionals. “We race sober, we put safety above all (no deliberate contact), we follow the promoter’s rules to the letter, we always race with sportsmanship and make it obvious we are having fun, and we encourage and recognize participation and showmanship, and the ability to have fun and enjoy the experience over the finish order, says Stefanko. He adds, “It took years to overcome a very negative stereotype of trike racing, and we do not wish to see it resurrected! You’ll notice “high degree of skill and speed”, and “professionally built race trike” are not on this list of requirements, as we welcome beginners on trail machines as much as avid motocrossers. Our forum with information and scheduled events is at http://otc.myfastforum.org.”

“So while we are showing a well-deserved gratitude to Bud Fischer and crew for extending the privilege of allowing 3 wheeler racers at the 2012 Pine Lake ATVA Extreme Dirt Track Nationals, we can also thank dozens of regular Joes whose names you’ll never recognize, who since 1998 have scraped up the money from the family budget and made the trek over and over again to Ohio tracks, and put in all the hard work and long term dedication in order to enjoy the sport of trike racing, and as a result resurrected a dead sport and gave it life again, and then you can thank all those local promoters for taking this ill-reputed sport and giving it the opportunity to be positively showcased and achieve the mainstream popularity that it never enjoyed, even in the 80’s.” Tim concludes, “Wherever you see 3 wheelers in competitive racing today, chances are its roots come from the OTC Racing group, and I salute all who have played a role in the Ohio Trike Crew over the years, and portrayed trike racing in a positive light to be favored and enjoyed by promoters and spectators alike, as we look forward to another rewarding season of OTC Racing in 2012, and our debut at Pine Lake July 20-22.”

http://otc.myfastforum.org/

Tags:

Comments

comments