Just like the grease and oil that got under their fingernails, the memories from Pittsburgh's International Dragway won't go away.
Last week, the Pittsburgh C.A.R.S. hot rod club held its second banquet to celebrate the brief but successful history of the track, which grew off the success of front-straight racing at the old Heidelberg Raceway.
The banquet room at Peter's Place in Collier was overflowing with more than 250 racers and fans of PID to witness 10 more drivers and officials inducted into the Pittsburgh C.A.R.S. / PID Hall of Fame.
"We had a Heidelberg Pittsburgh C.A.R.S. Night and had about 60 people the first time," said Hud Hood, President of Pittsburgh C.A.R.S. "Everybody pretty much raced at PID so we decided to do something more. We try to do something at Pittsburgh Raceway Park but it is not an exclusive event and always on race day. So the banquet is something that is all ours."
The walls at the banquet were lined with at least 1,000 photos detailing the history of PID from its earliest days as part of Heidelberg Raceway and even the ill-fated exhibition inside Three Rivers Stadium.
Pittsburgh began as a way for Heidelberg owner and promoter Ed Witzberger to placate the many requests from drag racers that wanted to turn part of the track into a drag strip. It opened in May 1963, and closed in April 1976.
While the track started at Heidelberg Raceway, it ended at what used to be an airstrip in Findlay. After a good initial response, Witzberger partnered with Chuck Campbell, who had built an airstrip in South Fayette.
The airstrip was in a valley with tricky wind currents, so it became a natural for the base of the drag strip. So a new runway was built on top of the hill and the racers used the old runway.
The pictures on the wall were brought by Bill Truby of Sheraden. Truby raced, but also took thousands of pictures of his times at PID and also at the old Keystone Raceway, where he won a track championship in 1978.
"I started going as a young kid in 1970," Truby said. "I just shot the pictures because they were interesting and I was interested in photography."
Bob Boburka was one of those inducted into the Hall of Fame last year and even though his career has expanded far beyond PID to include NHRA Winston Super Stock championships in 1987 and 1989, he is appreciative of what the track meant to many people.
"It was grass-roots racing," Boburka said. "You began with a Street Stock and worked your way through. My first race car was a 1957 Chevy wagon. One thing that was different was that Keystone was always there after PID closed. But it was not the same."
Others inducted this past week were: Walt Mentzer, Harry Luzader, Bill Brookman, Ralph Fisher, Mike Kosky, Beaver Butter, John Matusek, Harry Sheehan, Lenny Petruski, John Kunsak and Wes Leopold.
"Something like this is great because it shows the guys I started with appreciate what we did back then," Leopold, of Bethel Park, said.
Leopold was in attendance with his son, Wes Jr., who also races. Both have held NHRA Super Stock records in their careers. For the younger Leopold, of Bridgeville, the night was special for all of the drivers who were inducted.
"I remember seeing all of these guys when I was young," Wes Leopold Jr. said. "It's just great to come around and see the guys who were your heroes as a kid, and to relive the stories."
