Late Warsaw driver memorialized during USAC's Indiana Sprint Week
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
KOKOMO – With a near-capacity crowd on hand, Tony Elliott’s memory was honored Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway, the quarter-mile dirt oval where he won eight track championships and more than 60 sprint car features. Elliott, a Warsaw Community High School graduate and two-time United States Auto Club national sprint car champion, died in a plane crash on Oct. 2, 2015. He was 54 at the time of his death. Elliott and three friends – Charlie Smith, his son Scott Smith, and Scott Bibler – were on their way to a Notre Dame football game at Clemson University when the accident occurred. All four were prominent members of the community – the elder Smith was the coach of Tippecanoe Valley’s 1979 state championship football team and later a bank executive; the younger Smith was an attorney in Warsaw; and Bibler was a counselor at Valley and previously the football coach. Known for his boyish smile and zest for life, Elliott was a fan favorite in the sprint car racing world. That fact was certainly evident Saturday night, as a giant picture of Elliott that will hang at Kokomo Speedway was unveiled. At the USAC merchandise trailer, commemorative posters of Elliott with the words “Forever A Champion” were for sale. On a large video board, clips of Elliott’s racing success played for the thousands of fans in attendance on night No. 2 of the annual Indiana Sprint Week. Saturday’s feature event – the Tony Elliott Classic – was won by Princeton, Ind., driver Kyle Cummins. It was Cummins’ first USAC points-paying victory. In victory lane, Cummins was flanked by members of Elliott’s family, and he was presented the winner’s check and trophy, as well as one of the framed commemorative posters. In the pit area hours before the cars qualified and took the green flag for heat races, drivers and car owners gave glowing accounts of Elliott. “Without a doubt, he loved racing,” said 77-year-old car owner Paul Hazen, whose No. 57 car Elliott drove for a number of seasons. “He was a racer. He was good behind the wheel, and didn’t tear things up. He always finished real good, and we won a lot of races together. “He always had a smile on his face. It didn’t matter what ... he was always smiling.” Dave Darland, a Lincoln, Ind., driver known as The People’s Champ, raced against Elliott for years. They shared a track championship at Kokomo Speedway in 1987, along with Warsaw native Terry Shepherd. In 2013, Darland, who was behind the wheel of the Jeff Walker-owned No. 11 sprint car Saturday night, broke Elliott’s record for feature wins at Kokomo. Darland recounted not only Elliott’s talent as a driver, but his “fun-loving” attitude. “He was just a fun-loving guy,” said Darland. “He was always pulling pranks and just having fun. He always had the newest gadget, laser beams or whatever, you know, pulling pranks on people. “He was just a great guy to hang out with and he was a great racecar driver. He could take a sprint car, or a midget, or a silver crown car and do great with it. He was just a fun-loving guy and a great racecar driver.” Elliott won 26 USAC national sprint car points-paying events, eight of them at Kokomo Speedway. He won five USAC silver crown national events, including the Hoosier Hundred in 2000 and 2001. Elliott was the Indiana Sprint Week champion in 1999. His USAC national sprint car championships in 1998 and 2000 came while driving for Walker. “Tony’s dad raced, and my dad raced, so we probably met at a race track when we were 6 or 8 years old,” said Walker. “We grew up at the tracks together, and then he drove and I drove ... and as we got older I wound up putting him in my car. “He was pretty smooth, he didn’t tear a lot of stuff up. He was fun to be around, always wanting to have a good time, the life of the party. “In 1998, we won our first USAC championship together, and then backed it up with another one in 2000. He was a lot of fun to be around and he was a great driver.”
