Quarter Scale R/C car racing in Michigan -  A brief History

It all started in a basement of a medical building on 8 mile road in Detroit, Michigan. At the time an enthusiast had purchased a car and was having difficulties assembling it. He called a friend and that person called a friend and soon a meeting was set up. A meeting was held to show everyone the sprint car produced by W.C.M. of Buffalo, Texas. At that meeting were a few 1/8 scale R/C racers, including Jim Blaha, “Stubby” Wilfong, Lou Przybyla, Jerry Grasby and John Druskinis. The appearance and resemblance to a full size outlaw sprint car caught everyone’s attention.

Trying to find a place to use the cars was a little more difficult than with smaller scale R/C cars. It was decided that if we organized, it might make it easier to find a spot of asphalt to use. The Great Lakes Quarter Scale Racers club was formed with its first President being Jim Blaha.

The club had some success but a location for practice and racing was not happening. Jim had other obligations and the presidency was moved to John Druskinis. Meetings were held – at first in Lansing - when interest in ¼ scale began to take off. John became a distributor of W.C.M cars (one of the first in the country) and that eased the availability issue. Many more of the other R/C car racers joined the club, including Dave Lee, Marv Thomson, and others. There was also interest in the Toledo, Ohio area with Roger Martin -  a previous Toledo Quarter Midget Club director – joining and supporting the club efforts.

Early on, the club was successful at securing a home on quarter midget tracks in Waterford, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio. Eventually the ¼ scale cars became more interesting than the quarter midgets and the Waterford club “tossed out” the R/C cars.  That left the Toledo track which then became the “host track” of the GLQSR.

 

At about this time, John received a call from Keith Famie ( a Royal Oak restaurant owner and entrepreneur) about setting up a charity race. John did not have time to devote to organizing the race with the Royal Oak city council, and asked Jim Blaha to attend the city council meetings. To make a long story short, through the efforts of Keith Famie, John Druskinis, and Jim Blaha the Royal Oak Grand National race was created. John had also become a Raco distributor at the time and invites to all of the ¼ scale racers throughout the country were sent out. The response was great and included many racers from around the country including Jon Rahe (owner of Raco). The first race was a success and a large amount of money was raised for the “Make a Wish” foundation. The table was set for a long (and still standing ) relationship with the City of Royal Oak.

Quarter scale was starting to take off in popularity across the country. In particular rumors of a permanent track in  Illinois were spreading. The track was in Machesney Park, Illinois. Jack Hendrick the owner and John Druskinis conversed to see if a series could be formed between Machesney Park and the GLQSR club, using the Toledo Quarter Midget track as their home base. This was set up and soon racers from the Midwest were attending races at Toledo as well as Machesney Park raceway.

The GLQSR club continued to grow. John Druskinis helped to form QSAC which helped to organize and enforce rules throughout the country for ¼ scale cars. Races at the Knoxville Nationals, Indy raceway Park, Freedom Hill, and others were held and the hobby was well on its way to being a solid performer in R/C car racing. Eventually GLQSR was well stocked with Lansing, Michigan area drivers and Randy Brown became the GLQSR club President. The rest is history and the club continues to flourish today.

The original members of the GLQSR went on to other interests. Jim Blaha passed away several years ago. Stubby Wilfong retired and last heard was enjoying his grandchildren. Lou Przybyla continues to race R/C cars as a hobby (a longtime supporter). John Druskinis raced ¼ scale for many years and decided to look into other hobbies which now include street rod fabrication.

The GLQSR club, the Royal Oak Grand National race, the Knoxville Nationals races, and Machesney Park raceway continue on to this present day.