Rösner and Coll are top men’s seeds in Nantes 
By SEAN REUTHE

French No.1 Camille Serme will headline the Open de France – Nantes 2019 Presented by Tailor Capital when the PSA World Tour Silver tournament takes place between September 9-14 at the picturesque Chateau des ducs de Bretagne.

The Open de France – formally known as the Open International de Squash de Nantes – has this year upgraded to a PSA World Tour event after featuring on the PSA Challenger Tour in 2018 and will use a best-of-three games format up to and including the quarter-finals, before reverting to the traditional best of five format for the semi-finals and beyond.

The increase in prize money and prestige means Nantes will play host to a top-class draw featuring five of the world’s top 10 players across the men’s and women’s events.

Serme, the highest ranked female French player of all time, will be the star attraction as she competes for the lion’s share of the $73,500 prize purse, and the 30-year-old from Créteil will feature alongside high-profile players such as World No.7 Sarah-Jane Perry, World No.8 Amanda Sobhy and World No.11 Alison Waters.

Defending champion Nele Gilis and last year’s runner-up Emily Whitlock also return, while French trio Coline Aumard, Melissa Alves and Enora Villard join Serme in the draw.

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The men’s draw is headed up by Germany’s World No.5 Simon Rösner, New Zealand’s World No.6 Paul Coll and Welsh World No.13 Joel Makin.

Gregoire Marche – the Aix en Provence-based World No.16 who has won this tournament in three of the past four years – is the highest ranked French player in the men’s draw, while former World No.6 Mathieu Castagnet, Baptiste Masotti and Benjamin Aubert will also carry home hopes on their shoulders.

The 2018 men’s champion Declan James is seeded seventh for the tournament, ahead of fellow Englishman and former World No.1 James Willstrop, who he beat at the Théâtre Graslin last September to lift his biggest PSA title to date.

The Open de France features an equal prize fund of $147,000 split equally between the men’s and women’s events. Round one matches will be played at La Maison du Squash, while round two matches will be split between that venue and the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne. The Chateau des ducs de Bretagne will host all matches from the quarter-finals onwards.

All of the action from the Chateau des ducs de Bretagne will be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.

Tickets are available for purchase via the tournament’s official website. For more information, follow the tournament on Twitter,Facebook and Instagram.

Squash fans can also support the event by participating in the tournament’s crowdfunding campaign. Contributors can get involved in one of the most unique tournaments on the PSA World Tour and will earn rewards and other benefits. 

Open de France – Nantes 2019 Presented by Tailor Capital.

Men’s Entry List:
1) Simon Rösner (GER)
2) Paul Coll (NZL)
3) Joel Makin (WAL)
4) Zahed Salem (EGY)
5) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
6) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
7) Declan James (ENG)
8) James Willstrop (ENG)
9) Daryl Selby (ENG)
10) Raphael Kandra (GER)
11) Mathieu Castagnet (FRA)
12) Borja Golan (ESP)
13) George Parker (ENG)
14) Chris Simpson (ENG)
15) Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP)
16) Alan Clyne (SCO)
17) Ramit Tandon (IND)
18) Richie Fallows (ENG)
19) Ben Coleman (ENG)
20) Mahesh Mangaonkar (IND)
21) Baptiste Masotti (FRA)
22) Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
23) Nathan Lake (ENG)
Wildcard) Benjamin Aubert (FRA)

Women’s Entry List:
1) Camille Serme (FRA)
2) Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
3) Amanda Sobhy (USA)
4) Alison Waters (ENG)
5) Hania El Hammamy (EGY)
6) Nele Gilis (BEL)
7) Olivia Blatchford Clyne (USA)
8) Millie Tomlinson (ENG)
9) Emily Whitlock (ENG)
10) Nadine Shahin (EGY)
11) Mayar Hany (EGY)
12) Tinne Gilis (BEL)
13) Milou van der Heijden (NED)
14) Julianne Courtice (ENG)
15) Coline Aumard (FRA)
16) Lisa Aitken (SCO)
17) Olivia Fiechter (USA)
18) Alexandra Fuller (RSA)
19) Haley Mendez (USA)
20) Melissa Alves (FRA)
21) Lucy Turmel (ENG)
22) Farida Mohamed (EGY)
23) Menna Nasser (EGY)
Wildcard) Enora Villard (FRA)  

Preview by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA, Andrew Dawson and Artyom Liss

Nicol David, Camille Serme and Borja Golan lead Ambassadors’ visit 
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent

“It’s not just a four-day thrill,” said Gakuo Ndirangu, a driving force of squash in Kenya, as the 2019 WSF Ambassador Programme visit to the country’s capital Nairobi drew to a close at the Nairobi Club after a comprehensive programme of squash activities led by three of the sport’s leading players.

An action-packed programme of coaching sessions, refereeing workshops, player clinics, exhibition matches and media conferences were the focus of the World Squash Federation initiative led this year by Malaysia’s former world No.1 and record eight-time World Champion Nicol David, France’s world No.3 Camille Serme, Spaniard Borja Golan, a former world No.5, together with Belgian national coach Ronny Vlassaks and international referee Marko Podgorsek, from Slovenia.

“I cannot find the words to express our feelings about the huge success of this visit, and our gratitude to the WSF team for coming to Kenya to inspire our players,” added Ndirangu (pictured above, second from the left, with the WSF Ambassadors at the Nairobi Club).

“But this is just the foundation and now we need to build on it.”

Players young and old from all over Kenya – including three who travelled for 29 hours on a bus from Rwanda to participate in the event – converged on both the Parklands Sports Club and the Nairobi Club for the eighth edition of the annual WSF initiative.

The three international stars duly thrilled the local squash enthusiasts with opportunities to play with them, learn from them and, of course, be photographed with them. At both clubs, the stars entertained the crowds with a light-hearted exhibition match – David and Serme pairing up to take on Golan.

Kenya’s top two players, siblings Khaaliqa Nimji and Muqtadir Nimji (Muqs) both took full advantage of the visit. As a 12-year-old, Khaaliqa competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games – playing against Nicol David in the Mixed Doubles event – then later put her education on hold for two years to train for the 2018 Games in Scotland.

“It’s been a really good experience, playing with world-class players – and it’s been a lot of fun as well,” said the now 21-year-old who moves to Canada later this year to begin a degree course at Waterloo University. “And being able to get some help on how to improve my game has been really helpful. I played with both Camille and Nicol and it was a lot of fun.

“Overall I think the visit has been really successful to boost Kenyan squash – it’s what we needed!”

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Miss Nimji, already a Level 1 coach, attended the coaching workshop and later had a one-to-one session with Vlassaks: “Ronny did give me some really good tips. It was a really tough session, in fact, but I enjoyed it! He said that, with what he told me, I can improve my game within a couple of months.”

Younger brother Muqs pitted his wits against Serme and Golan and plans to further his love for squash at Birmingham University in England – a university with a strong tradition in the sport, where he will study Sports Science.

The coaching workshops created a good deal of interest and were well-attended. “The sessions were a big success – there were a lot of participants on the course, more than 20,” said Vlassaks, now the Director of Squash at Squash on Fire in Washington DC.

“I did it a bit differently from last time, it was a bit more practical and more interactive. I showed them a lot about what I’m doing and I think they found that very interesting as they don’t have a good coaching background here yet.

“Also I definitely thought that I changed some minds in terms of coaching – about how you look at coaching and how you develop a player from the beginning. Not only looking at the hitting, but everything that happens before that as well. So from these points of view, I think this was a very successful Ambassador Programme Coaching workshop.

“There’s only one way to take this forward – for the federation, or maybe the clubs here, to organise a structure for coaches so they can develop more players. I’ve told them I’m willing to help and give them advice – and willing to visit them to run a coaches camp.”

Despite the lack of a single qualified referee in the country, Marko Podgorsek’s workshop attracted significant interest.

“There isn’t a single qualified referee in the whole country but hopefully that’s going to change in a short time, especially with their involvement in the WSO (‘World Squash Officiating’) online courses and the exams,” Podgorsek explained. “Hopefully they will undertake those.

“I think I have managed to give them a basic insight into the technicalities of squash refereeing and the process of decision-making which hopefully should raise their standard of refereeing and understanding of the game.

“They are all players to a decent level, which also helps a lot, and from what I have seen they appear to be quite eager to take a step forward and establish a refereeing organisation and meet on a regular basis for all them to progress within the refereeing business.”

Rwanda, without a national federation, boasts just two courts in the whole country. But, despite a 1,200 Km journey, enthusiasts Gafirita Emmanuel, 25, Habimana Christian, 28, and 20-year-old Christian Shema (the trio pictured in the gallery with Vlassaks) took full advantage of the Kenya visit, discovering world-class squash for the first time and participating in both the coaching and refereeing workshops.

“Coming here was very important for us,” said Shema. “We have gained a lot of knowledge about squash and the way to teach people how to play. We will be working hard to grow squash in Rwanda in the provinces – not just in the capital Kigali.

“We want to be ambassadors in our own country and show Rwandans that squash is a very good game.”

At the press conference at Parklands Sports Club, club chairman Sam Waweri announced that the club was launching a sports academy. The private club is opening its doors for youngsters to come in free to learn how to play squash.

“We want to take squash to the next level, and we are privileged to have you WSF Ambassadors here.”

David, Golan and Serme thrilled the local players and, as a result, have undoubtedly earned an army of Kenyan fans.

“We’ve had a great few days at the two different clubs where we have seen many, many people showing up to share time on court with us and asking lots of questions,” said Serme (pictured with a Kianda School pupil), runner-up in the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals championship in Egypt last month.

“So I’m very happy with this week in Kenya. I was impressed with Khaaliqa – I’m sure she could become a good player – and I will remember those three guys from Rwanda, coming such a long way to be with us.”

Golan added: “There are some good players here, juniors and seniors, and some who want to go professional like Muqs, the number one. The main thing here is that everyone here is really interested, very enthusiastic and want to improve their game. They ask questions all the time – what they can do to improve and how they can prepare for the game.

“We had some great days of squash and learnt a lot from them,” continued the 16-time Spanish national champion (pictured above). “These two clubs were unbelievable – a lot of other clubs around the world have more courts and more players, but their enthusiasm is really special. It’s clear they want to take squash to another level. They love the game so much here, which is what impressed me. I was very happy to be here and help them in some way.”

In summing up the impact of the Kenya visit, Gakuo Ndirangu said: “The future here now is very bright. We have always had a lot of enthusiasm for the sport, but it has needed to be energised – and your team has done this over the past few days.

“There are a lot of sponsors who said they were willing to help us, but this programme has given them confidence. ‘As long as you are doing initiatives like this, we will support you,’ they have said.

“The juniors are our focus and in ten years time, we expect to have a strong presence in the world of squash.

“It is very exciting that squash is the leading sport at the new Sports Academy at Parklands,” Ndirangu continued. “The fact that they are offering this to kids free is a big step.

“Our aim is to increase the base of squash players – especially kids – so that when they are at a reasonable level, we will have a big pool to choose from.

“Our government too is very supportive and as soon as we have structures in place, I am confident we will get their backing.”

WSF CEO Andrew Shelley was delighted to see pupils from local schools Braeburn, Peponi, Kianda, Banda, Hillcrest and Chalaw Academy. He concluded: “Year on year, the WSF Ambassadors Programme has allowed us to link with and support squash nations. This year has been no exception – but was exceptional.

“The local leadership, the volunteers, players and clubs are all completely aligned in wanting to develop squash in Kenya – something that we were able to support in a small way with coaching and refereeing workshops, our wonderful players integrating with the community and helping raise the profile of the sport in the media. The hospitality we received was superb too.”

“We can be certain that an energising of squash is now well underway in Kenya.”

The WSF Ambassador Programme first visited the Baltic country of Latvia in 2011, followed by a trip to the African countries of Malawi and Namibia, then Panama and Venezuela in 2013, Papua New Guinea in 2014, before focussing on the Balkan region in 2015 with appearances in Serbia, Romania and Croatia.

In 2016, the team visited Dalian and Macau in China. After the 2017 edition was postponed, the WSF team headed to Armenia and Ukraine in 2018.

Pictures courtesy of WSF  

Millie makes major rise in rankings as Nicol David bows out
By SEAN REUTHE 

England’s Millie Tomlinson has broken into the top 20 of the PSA Women’s World Rankings for the first time after the July rankings were released.

Tomlinson began the 2018-19 PSA World Tour season ranked at No.27 in the world, but has risen steadily up the rankings over the past 10 months and reached two semi-finals throughout the campaign.

The Duffield-based 27-year-old has risen a spot after eight-time World Champion Nicol David was removed from the rankings due to her retirement. Egypt’s Yathreb Adel (No.16), Hong Kong’s Joey Chan (No.17), Belgium’s Nele Gilis (No.18) and America’s Olivia Blatchford Clyne (No.19) also move up a place as a result.

The rest of the women’s rankings are unchanged. Egypt’s Raneem El Welily retains top spot for an eighth successive month ahead of compatriot Nour El Sherbini at No.2, while Camille Serme (No.3), Nouran Gohar (No.4) and Nour El Tayeb make up the rest of the top five.

New Zealand’s Joelle King (No.6), England’s Sarah-Jane Perry (No.7), America’s Amanda Sobhy (No.8), Wales’ Tesni Evans (No.9) and Hong Kong’s Annie Au complete the top 10.

England’s Alison Waters stays at No.11 ahead of compatriot Victoria Lust (No.12), India’s Joshna Chinappa (No.13) and Egypt’s Salma Hany (No.14), while Hania El Hammamy takes the final spot inside the top 15.

PSA Women’s World Rankings Top 20 – July 2019.

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Picture and graphic courtesy of PSA

French ace back up to career-best ranking
By SEAN REUTHE 

France’s Gregoire Marche has risen two spots to a joint career-high ranking of No.16 in the PSA Men’s World Rankings for July.

The 29-year-old from Aix en Provence closed out his season by winning the 5R Montpellier Metropole Open last month, taking the title without dropping a single game throughout the event, while he got the better of England’s former World No.1 James Willstrop in the final.

Marche moves up two spots from No.18, while Willstrop moves up a spot from No.19 to take the Frenchman’s place.

Egypt’s Ali Farag has seen out the season as the World No.1, enjoying his fifth successive month atop the world rankings. He leads an unchanged top five, including compatriots Mohamed ElShorbagy (No.2), Tarek Momen (No.3), Karim Abdel Gawad (No.4), and Germany’s Simon Rösner.

The rest of the top 10 is also unchanged as New Zealand’s Paul Coll (No.6), Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar (No.7), Peru’s Diego Elias (No.8), Colombia’s Miguel Rodriguez (No.9) and India’s Saurav Ghosal (No.10) retain their places.

Marwan ElShorbagy (No.11), Omar Mosaad (No.12), Joel Makin (No.13), Zahed Salem (No.14) and Fares Dessouky (No.15) also see their rankings stay the same.

English duo Declan James and Daryl Selby drop to No.17 and No.19, respectively, while Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly closes out the top 20.

PSA Men’s World Rankings Top 20 – July 2019.

Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Picture and graphic courtesy of PSA and Artyom Liss

Cardiff Blues wing Owen Lane is determined to keep his place among the Wales "legends" he used to idolise and make it all the way to the World Cup.

Lane is one of two uncapped players in the 42-man training camp that will be cut to 31 for the tournament in Japan.

The 21-year-old says he is still coming to terms with the fact he is training with British and Irish Lions stalwarts.

"I find it surreal to be surrounded by players I have grown up watching," he explained. "It is pretty special."

Wales will travel to Switzerland and Turkey for training camps and face England and Ireland in home and away matches, with the final World Cup squad named at the beginning of September.

Lane is hoping to progress from being a little star-struck and just happy to be training with Wales to being a contender for the World Cup squad.

"Hopefully I can learn a bit from the players on and off the field and I can emulate them," said Lane.

"As a youngster growing up you look at players like Alun Wyn Jones and Jonathan Davies. They are not just Wales legends they are [British and Irish] Lions legends.

"You aspire to be in this environment. I find it odd I am training with them but everybody has been welcoming.

"Now I am here I realise how hard it is to try and stay here and get yourself in that World Cup squad.

"Once you are in a camp like this, you don't want to let it go."

Lane had been earmarked for a place in the squad before now, but his progress was checked as he suffered untimely injuries before the last three key Wales squad announcements.

"I was pretty disappointed, even though I wasn't in the squads before; I thought maybe I had a chance to be selected," said Lane.

"Injuries are part and parcel of the game but I would be lying if I said it was not tough.

"Those things [the prospect of missing out on the World Cup], definitely go through your mind but as a youngster you are not expected to go on and do things.

"If you concentrate on getting fit and return to a good run of form and put your hand up, hopefully you can put yourself in a position like this."

TOLEDO, Ohio – One of the most talked about drivers in the United States, Hailie Deegan, is gearing up for her fourth ARCA Menards Series start this Saturday night.

Deegan, driving the No. 55 TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota for Venturini Motorsports, will make her first start at the three-eighths mile Elko Speedway in Saturday night’s Menards 250.

The track, the smallest on the ARCA Menards Series schedule, has a lot of similarities to another three-eighths mile she raced on earlier this season, Colorado National Speedway in Erie, Colo.

Deegan competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West there on June 8 and made a last-lap bump-and-run pass for the win, her second of the season and the third her career. In each of those victories, Deegan made a last-lap pass for the win and each of those passes involved some contact with the leader.

Deegan makes no apologies for her style of full-contact racing. It’s something she’s been taught and the timing of it is no coincidence.

“It’s funny because people say I will be in second and I try to be dirty,” she said. “They say I take my swing on the last lap because I don’t have any other chances. I take my swing on the last lap because I was trained to do it on the last lap. I could do it earlier no problem. But I wait for the last lap because I know if I do it earlier they will come back at me. That’s what my driving coach has taught me. It’s on the last lap and always on the last lap because that’s what really matters. We practice it two or three days a week. Taking your shots with one lap to go. That’s when you have to take your moves. The last race I should have won it easily but there was a caution that took away the twelve car-length lead I had coming to the checkered. It goes by each situation, but people will either love it or hate it. I won’t make everyone happy even when I make the cleanest pass possible.”

While she doesn’t like making comparisons to other drivers, it’s hard to not see the similarities in her take-no-prisoners approach to the last lap and another famous driver’s approach to the same situation.

“I always looked up to Dale Earnhardt coming into racing,” she said. “I think 90 percent of the racers here have. He’s arguably the number one figure in NASCAR, ever. I think it’s something that people respect him a lot and anyone who is a true racer respects Dale Earnhardt. There aren’t any true racers that don’t. People take that differently but in the end he was a badass racer and everyone knew he was.”

Deegan has never been to Elko Speedway before, and although she does have plenty of short track experience and success under her belt so far, she still likes to come to a new venue prepared. She has spent as much time as she can learning the nuances of Elko’s racing surface and characteristics from a far, mostly through reviewing footage of previous races there.

“Tracks that are on the Toyota simulator, I go on that,” she said. “I practice on the simulator at home. I watch a lot of footage. I watch a lot of past races, test sessions, anything I can get my hands on I study as much as I can. When I get on the track I want to be as fast as I can instantly, I don’t want to worry about getting up to speed. I want to get to the track on top of my game. I really like watching old races because you can see where the fast guy is running and what he’s doing different than everyone else. You get to see where you can make passes, which is crucial on these short tracks. That’s the hardest part. Watching it and learning it is like a straight guideline. It’s like having the answers to a test.”

With wins in the K&N Pro Series West already in the record books, Deegan is anxious to get the ball rolling similarly in the ARCA Menards Series. She has a methodical approach, and with a top-ten finish at Pocono she’s now ready for her first ARCA top five run.

“Coming out of the gate really strong is big for me,” she said. “I like to come out of the gate strong and not have to work at it to get up to speed too much. I like to make my goal for each race and then get better throughout the day. The goal for Elko is a top five. We have a top ten in the ARCA series now we need a top five. Once we get that first top five then we’ll adjust to our first win. We need to set a new goal every week and then work our way into it.”

CHICAGO – Perhaps the most popular driver ever to wheel a stock car in the Chicagoland area, Ray Young died Saturday at the age of 87.

Known, as the “tobacco-chewin’ truck driver,” Young enjoyed a racing career that spanned some 30 years, winning a total of eight area track championships at five local speedways.

Young was born in Whitwell, Tenn., a small town northwest of Chattanooga on March 15, 1932.  The attraction of more and better paying jobs up North brought a 17-year-old Raymond H. Young to Chicago in 1949.  A stranger to the “Windy City” area, Young began attending the stock car races at Blue Island’s Raceway Park, watching the likes of Bud Koehler, Bill Van Allen, Bob Pronger and others do battle.

At the age of 20, Young began racing himself at Raceway Park in 1952, wheeling a 1941 Ford coupe, No. 23L on the paved, quarter-mile track.  Records show that Young won three back-up races along with one team race victory that first year.  Late in the season, Young’s Ford tangled with another car and ended up bouncing end over end down the main straightaway.  Young was uninjured.

A few years in the Army halted Young’s racing career.  Once out of the service, Young raced a 1950 and 1954 Oldsmobile at the “World’s Busiest Track.”  Racing sometimes four-nights-a-week, Young scored his first career feature win at Raceway Park on Wednesday night, June 24, 1959, driving his Nydam Brothers Auto Rebuilders-sponsored 1959 Studebaker Hawk No. 99 to the checkered flag ahead of Bob Williams and Bob Pronger.

Hailing from Chicago, Young was Raceway’s late model champion in 1962, wheeling a ’57 Ford to 16 feature wins, including the track’s annual 300 Lap Classic.  Young repeated his 300 Lap Classic victory in 1964.  In 1973, Young was again the late model champ at Raceway, nailing down 17 feature wins.  He won his last stock car feature race at Raceway Park in 1974 and ended up with 107 career wins there.

Perhaps one of Young’s finest performances in Chicago area stock car racing was when he won four 30-lap feature races in one night at Raceway Park in 1964 during one of the track’s popular Monza Classic events.

It was Sunday night, July 12, and the then 32-year old Young was one of the top drivers in the track’s rough and ready late model division.  The old paved speedway measured slightly under a quarter-mile and it sometimes took and little pushing and shoving to get to the front.  Young and his S&H Auto Radiator-sponsored 1963 1/2 Ford No. 99 started off the night by setting fast time during qualifications with a lap of 13.15 seconds.

The first 30 lapper saw a field of 24 start with Young lining up last in a very competitive field with the likes of Bud Koehler, Ted Janecyk, Johnny Kapovich, Harry Simonsen, Don Oldenberg, Stash Kullman, Rich Miller and “Legs” Whitcomb among his fellow combatants. Young was up to the task of winning the first feature and three more that night – all after starting at the tail end of the field.

Young also was a late model titlist at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind., in 1966, driving a ’64 Ford Fairlane, and at the Waukegan (Ill.) Speedway with back-to-back titles coming in 1969 and 1970.  Young won a total of 31 features at Waukegan during those championship seasons.

Young was among the front-runners at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill., when the track opened in 1971, replacing the old Mazon Speed Bowl, where Young was the track champion in 1970.  Young had the distinction of winning the first 100 lapper at Grundy at the end of the 1971 season.

Young was the overall winner of the Chicagoland Driving Championship (CDC) in 1975.  With points tabulated for feature races at Grundy, Illiana and Waukegan, Young won a total of 10 CDC features on his way to the crown.

The 1976 season was a banner year for Young.  He won his third career Waukegan driving title, winning a total of nine feature races.  On May 9, Young captured ARTGO Racing’s CAM2 Classic 100 lapper at Grundy before a standing-room-only crowd witnessing only the second ARTGO event in history.  Young and his 1976 Camaro bested Bob Senneker and Joe Shear with NASCAR’s Bobby Allison finishing seventh. Young closed out the season, winning the first of two consecutive Tony Bettenhausen Memorial 100-lap races at Illiana.

In 1977, Young began to faithfully follow the American Speed Ass’n Circuit of Champions tour.  Young’s best ASA season was 1979 when he finished third in the points.  At Waukegan in 1977, he would win three 50 lappers in only six starts.

Young ended his Chicago area track title-winning ways in 1978 when he copped season late model honors at Grundy.  The “Friday Night Racin’ Place” saw Young win seven features.   Young would end up with 25 career feature wins at Grundy.

For a long time, Young’s race team was housed in an old barn-like garage situated among a block of neat, middle class homes on Cottage Grove Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Dolton.  The garage was guarded by Young’s dog, Oscar.  A visit to the garage might mean a “nip” from Oscar!

Young’s last full season of racing was in 1982 with him competing in the ASA series.  He took his final competitive ride in a stock car in 1983.  A truck driver for most of his life, Young was the owner of O’Rourke Cartage in Chicago for many years.  He was inducted into the Mazon Speed Bowl/Grundy County Speedway Hall of Fame in 2004 and into Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2013.

Jack McGrath didn’t need to drive race cars.

Unlike many of his peers who turned to racing during the Great Depression to put food on the table, McGrath had no such concerns. His family was wealthy.

McGrath’s father fully expected his son to join him in the family business, a meat processing plant in Los Angeles.

McGrath had other ideas, however. Auto racing captured his passion. It seduced him, fulfilled him and eventually killed him.

His infatuation was ignited by a fascination with cars. During his early teens, he laboriously rebuilt a $15 junkyard Model T.

“I got it running great,” McGrath told writer John Painter. “But my father wouldn’t let me drive it on the street. The only place I could ever give it a ride was around the plant’s yard.”

As much as McGrath’s father detested his tinkering with cars, his loathing erupted when McGrath began racing. A grievous rift resulted and years passed without father and son speaking.

In 1935, the 16-year-old modified a ’29 Ford roadster to run on the Muroc Dry Lakes. He hustled it to 100 mph. When more success followed, he opened a speed shop to provide engines to Los Angeles hot rodders.

World War II curtailed racing, but after the war McGrath became immersed in going fast. His reputation grew, catching West Coast promoter Bill White’s attention. In mid-1945, White offered McGrath a ride in his track roadster.

It was his first closed-course competition and he took to it instinctively. In 1946, McGrath won the first CRA championship and repeated as the organization’s  champion in ’47. Along with the roadsters, he dabbled in sprint cars and midgets — and won in them.

In May 1947, barely 18 months after his first oval race, McGrath appeared at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, seeking a ride. AAA officials gave a startled glance at his thin résumé and sent him home.

McGrath turned to his hero, Rex Mays, “… I wish I could be like him,” he once said. Mays found him an AAA sprint car ride. McGrath capitalized on the opportunity, gained experience on the Championship Trail and qualified for the 1948 Indianapolis 500.

In 1949, McGrath arrived at Indianapolis in the little-regarded City of Tacoma Special. He put the car on the front row, the first of six front-row starts, five consecutive, in his eight Indianapolis 500s.

McGrath certainly knew how to get around the speedway. Explaining McGrath’s touch at Indy, his longtime mechanic Jack Beckley said, “He loved high speed. Many guys thought they wanted to run there, but once they saw those long straights they had second thoughts. Not Jack.”

For 1950, Kansas oil millionaire and car owner Jack Hinkle signed McGrath and Beckley. McGrath never drove for another owner.

Nicknamed the “Three Jacks,” the team was one of the best of the era. McGrath won at Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Speedway and the New York State Fairgrounds in 1950, and in six seasons claimed four championship wins, 26 top-five finishes and nine poles.

The one win McGrath never managed, however, was the one he most wanted — Indianapolis. He had front-row starts in 1951, ’52, ’53 and the pole with a track record in ’54. But nagging problems stopped him short of victory.

In 1955, again a favorite for the win, he charged from the front row only to be challenged by Bill Vukovich on lap four. What ensued was one of the most intense battles in Indianapolis history. For 54 laps, neither backed off.

Then, suddenly, McGrath was in the pits with the hood up. He was out of the race.

Three laps later he watched with a stunned crowd as Vukovich perished in a multi-car accident on the backstretch.

McGrath reconciled with his dad and intended to drive for Vuky’s crack mechanics Jim Travers and Frank Coon in 1956. With their mechanical expertise and McGrath’s uncanny talent, it was a dream scenario that could have led to Indianapolis glory.

But racing is a tragic sport and McGrath was killed in a wild accident on Nov. 6, 1955 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.

The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions invaded Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, for the annual running of the Lou Blaney Memorial.