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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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Interrogation
by Gary "Hammerdown" Costa |
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| "Lone Wolf" |
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I would like to talk with you about a
book that I have recently read, and one that I highly
recommend. This great book is called “Lone Wolf”. It’s
about the life and times of one of the best ever to climb
behind the wheel of a Sprint car-Doug Wolfgang. “Lone Wolf” is a history book and an
autobiography all rolled into one. Dave Argabright is the writer, so it
doesn’t take a neurosurgeon to figure out that this is going
to be one helluva read. I’m an avid reader, and have read some
of Dave’s other masterpieces; “Hewitt’s Law” (Jack
Hewitt), “Still Wide Open” (Brad Doty), and “American
Scene” (Dave’s collection of stories). All great books
too, I might add. However, I really felt compelled to let
you, the fans know about this book, as it has really played on
my heart strings. Bar-none guys, this is by far the best
book I have ever read. We all know that Doug was an absolutely
bad-to-the-bone Sprint car driver, but in addition to his
magnificent driving prowess, he was also damn sharp with the
wrenches, and obviously a great welder. What I really enjoyed about this book, was how honest he was about himself. I don’t like a lot of BS, or things to be sugar coated, and none of that flies in this book. Wolfie is brutally honest, and I for one
admire that. He pulls no punches about others, himself
included.
Wolf spits out words with fire, and his
determination to become one of the best is unparallel. And he
also talks candidly about the sacrifices that he made to
become one of the best Sprint car drivers ever. He also takes us on a journey from his
humble beginnings, and what he achieved to become included as
one of the elite “Big-3” in Sprint car racing. As we fast
forward in the book, we travel to the fire at Lakeside. This
part of the book really touched me. I will just say that
he’s an incredible human being, no doubt. Doug touches on many topics. He speaks
about his struggles, and things that he had to overcome to
race, and the changes that he had to make to become a happier
person. If you looked up the word
“perseverance” in the dictionary, you would see a picture
of Doug Wolfgang. After the fire, the odds were definitely
stacked against this great man, but, just like we remember him
being relentless behind the wheel of a Sprint car, he
soldiered on, did what he had to do, and was relentless on
putting things back together. This is truly an inspiration to
me. As most of you already know, he created
his chassis company, “Wolfweld”, located near his hometown
of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The photos in the book alone are worth
the $30.00. You will see a lot of pictures that will bring
back some really fond memories. I do not know Dave Argabright, but I’ll
tell you this race fans, we are extremely lucky to have a guy
out there like him, that can bring us a story like “Lone
Wolf”. In ending, Wolfie may not be racing
Sprint cars anymore, but he’s even more badass in my eyes
now. Doug Wolfgang was a hero of mine before
this book. But I love the guy even more now, I think you will
too. Get “Lone Wolf” here http://www.daveargabright.com/
or call (317) 631-0437 Everyone has a story about Doug Wolfgang. Let me share mine with you… It was at Kings Speedway in Hanford,
California for a Wednesday World of Outlaw showdown. Doug was
mashing the gas in the Williams Bros. #8 at the time. After
the race, I went down in the pits, and there was a pretty good
line of fans. I had a program that I wanted him to sign, and I
also wanted to purchase a shirt. I finally reached him. He was
perched at the side of the trailer, and he had the arms of his
fire suit tied to his waist.
Everyone stopped and was watching Doug
talk to me. But it just wasn’t registering on my end. The
reason was that I was just in complete awe that this legend
was taking the time to talk to me, and he made me feel like a
star. Thanks Doug….. |
Waterford,
Ca…Hello race fans! I must first begin by apologizing to all
of you for taking so long to pound the keys. Well, I dusted
them off, so let’s go!
(Jim
Fisher Photo)
Doug
looked like an absolute warrior! After he signed my program, I
asked him if he had any shirts, and he told me no and
apologized. I said thank you, and started to walk away. All of
a sudden he yells for me, “Are you going to be at Ascot this
weekend?” I told him maybe, and he kept talking to me. The
truth is I didn’t know what he was saying.
