Otterbein: Gail Cobb; Memories of a Michigan Racing Legend

By: Fred Otterbein | Equalizer Racing, LLC | Insight provided by: Ron Zimmerman, Robbin Knuth, and Shawna Wood

INTRODUCTION

Gail Dewey Cobb was a highly successful Michigan-based short-track auto racing legend whose racing career spanned in-excess of four decades!

His accomplishments include at least 87 feature wins, several heat and preliminary race wins, season championship as well as other championship winning races, along with his induction into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame, and the Berlin Raceway Hall of Fame. 

A post on Kalamazoo Speedway’s Facebook shared condolences on Gail’s passing and made the following statement, “But the night people still talk about? “The one where Gail won six races in a single evening…in two different cars… across three classes, pure, unmatched domination.”

Over the years, Gail raced: stock cars, supermodifieds, late models, zoo-mods, and street stocks at tracks like the Grand Rapids Speedrome, Berlin Raceway, Kalamazoo Speedway, Spartan Speedway (Corrigan Oil Speedway), Hartford Speedway, Mottville Speedway, Northern Michigan Speedway, South Bend Speedway, Jackson Motor Speedway, Baer Filed Raceway, Galesburg Speedway, I-96 Speedway, and Winchester Speedway in Indiana.  

Gail was also affiliated with many excellent car owners and crew chiefs over his racing career.    

THE EARLY YEARS

Gail’s family and clan were from the Ada Township area just east of the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Gail attended Beckwith Grade School and Rockford High School.

His father Phil operated a service station at the northeast corner of Plainfield Avenue and Leonard Street in Grand Rapids. His mother Elna was a homemaker.   

It all began one Saturday evening in 1958 when Gail and his friends went driving by the former Grand Rapids Speedrome (the “Drome”) located just north of Grand Rapids on the west side of the Grand River and just west of the North Park Bridge.   

While Gail wasn’t particularly interested in the stock car races, he agreed to go along with a night at the races. 

Sitting in the bleachers, boys will be boys and one of Gails friends egged him on as to whether he dared to drive a stock car. Of course, Gail was quick to assert that he would drive one.  Well, the challenge had been met, and his friends forced his hand.  Nervous or not, Gail said that he had to go through with the agreement to show face. 

The following week, Gail would have a car ready to race.  It was a Pontiac sedan from around the nineteen-forties era.  Gail would start with the number eleven.  Race officials quickly advised Gail that someone already had number eleven.  Gail, being a pragmatist, found it easiest to just change the number to twelve. Gail also won the first race he entered that night at the Drome!

When it came time for the payout, Gail told the race official, “you mean you get paid for doing this too?”  

It wasn’t long before Gail would improve his ride with a red 1934 Ford Sedan.  And it also wasn’t long before he rolled over the sedan on the Drome’s backstretch. 

Gail’s first racing sponsor was the Brew Tavern located at 3423 Plainfield Avenue NE. Gail used a 1949 Ford dump truck with a red cab and green dump box along with an excavator’s flat-bed trailer to haul his car to the racetrack. 

A LIFELONG RACING PARTNERSHIP AND FRIENDSHIP

God must have been looking down when he paired Gail Cobb with Ron Zimmerman!

For Ron, Gail’s sometimes gruff demeanor was nothing more than a normal personality idiosyncrasy to be humored.  Gail appreciated Ron’s friendship and low-resistant cathartic personality. In Gail, Ron found the approval of a true friend that he could depend on without looking back.

Ron had been crewing for Bob Mellema who was very accomplished at the Drome. When Bob wanted to go off on his own, Ron was now available to offer someone his crew chief experience. Gail’s uncle Ed suggested that Ron and Gail get together and form a racing team.  After agreeing to do this, they needed a racecar.

Another one of Gail’s uncles had two Ford coupe cars with frames sitting back in his field.

One was a1934 Ford and the other a 1932 Ford.  Gail and Ron purchased these two coupe bodies and began to build a racecar using Ron’s 1949 Ford flathead engine. 

From an employment standpoint, Ron was gainfully employed as a cement contractor and needed a dump truck. Gail knew of one and steered Ron to it. After purchasing the dump truck, Ron later subcontracted his dump truck service to prominent area road builder, L.W. Edison. Soon thereafter, someone at Edison asked Ron if he knew of a front-end loader operator.  Well, Ron immediately recommended Gail and Edison hired him. 

The parallels of Gail and Ron’s relationship continued when Gail met his wife Alice, while she was attending the races at the Drome.  Independent of the Gail/Alice meeting, Ron also met his wife Sue while she was attending the races at the Drome. Sue was also a cousin of Gails. 

Sue passed away after 32 years of marriage. Later, Ron married Marjorie, a cousin of Gail’s.

Ron and Gail have the same birthdate – July 18^th! 

This wonderful friendship of Gail and Ron’s has continued for over sixty-five years!

The career paths for both Gail and Ron continued in a prosperous direction.  Ron would move on from L.W. Edison working sixteen years for Thornapple Valley Meat Company as a mechanic before starting his own company in 1986, Transport Repair Service, Inc., located on Burton Street SW, in Grand Rapids.  

Gail would transition from L.W. Edison to the salvaging of automobiles for the business of iron scraping.  As time went on, Gail accumulated excavating equipment leading to that same business, along with topsoil sales.  Gail purchased land on Maguire Court NE., which was rich in peat moss for the top-soil business. In the process of mining the topsoil, Gail created a small lake. Years later, Gail sold this land to a housing developer.    

Clearly, both Gail and Ron shared an entrepreneurial spirit and affinity for business.

With-the-exception of Ron’s service in the Army between the years of 1963 through1966, Gail and Ron have been together throughout this time!

THE EARLY SIXTIES AND RACING SUCCESS!

In 1958 Gail won his first feature race and in 1959 two feature wins. In 1960 Gail won ten feature wins and sixteen heat races. 

It was 1961 and the owner of a Grand Rapids Big Boy asked his uncle to have Gail stop by to talk to him about sponsoring his car.  Gail did and the sponsorship was arranged.  That year, Gail won nine features and twenty-four heat races and was second in the final points at the Speedrome. 

In 1962, Gail and Ron won ten features, 40 heat races and the Speedrome season championship!  

The above listed statistics are according to Gail’s bio with the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame. 

The 1962 championship didn’t come easy!  With Gail leading in points at mid-season, things went bad, Gail broke a valve-stem and would lose out if he couldn’t find a replacement car that evening!

 Gail’s friend and fellow racer, Ted Chaney, had a car that never finished in the top ten, but he would let Gail borrow it for the feature race. 

The rules stated that Gail would have to start from the back of the field, since the Chaney car wasn’t Gail’s regular season car.

At the end of the thirty laps, Gail won the feature and secured the season championship in doing so. 

THE AMBROSE BROTHERS

Phil and Ed Ambrose were undoubtedly two of the most prominent racing figures in the history of the Grand Rapids Speedrome, as well as beyond. Their immaculate cars sported eggshell blue paint with black and white lettering and the number fifty-one on their cars. They were known for building fast supermodified racecars with exceptional coachwork. Over the years, some of the best drivers drove for the Ambrose team.

In 1962, longtime Ambrose Brothers driver Jack Lindout, under amicable terms, departed the number 51 car for the car owned by Ms. Jackie Atkinson, the red and white number 98 car sponsored by Wolverine Fruit Gardens and Helmus Auto Body. Longtime Atkinson driver “Wild Bill” Wilse, was, after a 20 year long racing career, retiring due to a back injury.

The Ambrose Brothers replacement for Lindout was Sam Sessions, a very capable shoe who later in his racing career would win a USAC Sprint Car championship and a fourth -place finish at Indianapolis.  

One night at the Speedrome when Sam was not available to race, the Ambrose Brothers approached Gail Cobb about driving the number 51 car. Gail said to them, “I’ve never driven a supermodified, but I’ll give it a try.”

Gail would perform dual duties by also continuing to drive his sportsman (coupe) car. 

In his first time racing the 51car, Gail won the Australian Pursuit, the heat race, and the feature races - all in one night! 

Gail would later explain, “the car just went! (fast)” 

Gail’s driving style was never going to propel him towards being a candidate for “Sportsman of the year award”!  

And then it happened.  Gail explained it this way, “seven or eight supermodified drivers approached me in my pit area and said, we don’t like the way you’re driving.”  To which Gail stated back to them, “I didn’t come here to make friends, I came here to win.”  

After some further grumbling by the driver group, Gail told them, “…if one of you want to step forward, then come on, otherwise, I’ve got another race (Sportsman Class) to run.”  

That was the end of the driver disagreements for that evening, however, in Gail’s words, “…the Ambrose Brothers later fired him. They were car owners who didn’t like any kind of problems or to make waves within the racing community.”

In actuality, the Ambrose Brother simply didn’t call Gail for any future race dates - there was no direct firing of Gail,  

During the final days of the Drome’s, paved half-mile track, a supermodified car owner, named Fred from Florida hired Gail to drive that night for him. Gail won a race - the first race Fred’s car ever achieved! Gail said that during that era, owners and drivers would

split the winnings 50/50. In this case, Fred was so happy with the win that he gave Gail the full payout! 

LIFE OUTSIDE OF RACING

Daughter Robbin said that Gail and Alice bought the house on Two – Mile Road NE in 1963 when they got married   

She said that growing up in the Cobb household was pleasant and fun and that Gail was a loving husband to her mother and a good father to her, plus he was a good provider.

Gail was not a man of extravagance and drove an older one-ton utility truck everywhere! Robbin did say the Gail bought Alice a Cadilac because he wanted her to have a big car so she could be safe. 

Horses are a passion of many young women and Robbin had horses when she was young.  

Robbin said that her mom Alice was a very good cook and baked bread and prepared many meals from scratch. Gail loved her cooking. “He liked his meat and potatoes, and especially her venison recipe”

Robbin said, “…we had a very active household.” 

Gail loved to hunt and he had a red bone dog named Ringo who was a good hunter. 

With regards to dating and boys, Robbin said, “Gail would talk to potential suitors in a gruff voice and let them know who was boss.”

Robbin said,” Gail would have his grumpy moods, but she and daughter (granddaughter) Shawna would just say, I love that old grumpy man.” 

The following memories are from granddaughter Shawna Wood’s earlier years at grampa, and grandma Cobb’s house: 

“For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to be with my grandparents {Gail and Alice). It was a place of love, comfort, joy, and happiness for me. I can remember helping in the garden and playing in the yard.  They rarely told me no. They taught me how to work hard for things I wanted in life, to learn from my mistakes and to treat everyone equally,” 

“That is where I learned my grandpa could play the guitar, I will always remember him singing away while playing.”

“I was later told by Gail’s friend Don Meinke that my grandpa was an excellent jitter bug dancer.  Wish I could have seen that.”

“The one memory I will forever hold close, is the love he had for my grandma. I can’t explain how he looked at her and how his eyes would light up and that big smile would appear.” 

As Shawna indicated, there was a soft side to Gail that people often didn’t see.

“I HAD TO BE TOUGH -

WITH A NAME LIKE GAIL”

Even before singer Johnny Cash came out with the hit song, “A Boy Named Sue,” Robbin said that Gail would occasionally excuse his grumpiness by saying, “Growing up I had to be tough - with a name like Gail.” 

A few years ago, I walked into the New Beginnings Restaurant on Michigan Street NE., in Grand Rapids, and there was Gail Cobb sitting alone, gazing out into space in contemplation.  I walked over to his table, and he invited me to join him, which I happily did. 

 We might have talked about politics and business but mostly we reminisced about racing while eating lunch.  

The early racing days at the Speedrome were the focus of our discussion.

In that discussion, Gail shared with me his racing relationship with long-time racing flagman and Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame (MMSHF) inductee, Jimmy Meyer.

A common practice for a winning driver at the Speedrome, was for the driver to slow down after the race finish and grab the flag on-the-run from the flagman and take a lap around the track to celebrate the victory (a Victory Lap).  When Gail was about to grab the flag, Jimmy would drop it as-a-way to show his disdain for Gail and his driving style,   

Eventually, Gail had a remedy for this.  After the win, Gail would point his car directly at Jimmy while driving towards him. After a couple of incidents like this, Jimmy decided to do things the conventional way and honor Gail’s win by handing him the flag staff for Gail’s Victory Lap.  Gail said, “…we got along after that.”  

It was at this moment that I heard Gail Cobb express a sentiment that I didn’t think I or anyone else would ever hear him say, when Gail said, in a very contrite moment, “I had a bad attitude back then.”   

This moment of humility and self-reflection was refreshing for me to hear from Gai! 

Gail bought my lunch that day, which I appreciated, and that was the end of another one of our very great conversations.   

MOMENTS & PERSPECTIVES  

Ralph Bargo was a very special competitor of the Cobb/Zimmerman racing team back in the early sixties. 

Ralph had a 1932 Ford coupe painted an attractive brown color with a gold tint and white painted interior and wheels. It was an exceptionally clean-looking car for the time. 

Ralph was regarded as a mechanical genius by many, and he won a lot of races!

One day Gail asked Ralph why his car was so fast. Ralph’s reply was, “… Since I’m going to quit racing after this season anyways, I will tell you.”  “I use a 1956 Oldsmobile rocket carburetor.”  The Olds 1956 Rocket engine was a dominant one for the time!

Gail and Ron adopted Ralph’s generous advice on the carburetor and their track success improved. 

In the mid-eighties, Randy Sweet set track records at both Kalamazoo Speedway and Berlin Raceway with a special radical flat plexiglass wing (board) placed on top of a full- bodied racecar.  Gail’s subsequent comment to me one day about Sweet’s wing invention was, “… very few racing things impress me – but that was one of them!” 

Later, Gail would try the flat wing himself with great results!

In the late nineties, driver Scott Baker and Gail became very good friends.  They even crewed for each other for a couple of years.

One of Gail’s saddest and most disappointing times in auto racing was when he learned the news of his friend Scott Baker’s death that happened during the Jasper Engines & Transmission 150 ARCA race at Toledo Speedway, on Friday night, June 23, 2000, 

From an article in the Grand Rapids Press by Doug Vanderlaan, “Ada man devoted to the pursuit of victory,”  Gail was quoted as saying, “A lot of race car drivers tell you how much they like driving a race car, I never really liked the driving – the only thing I liked about racing was the winning.”

GAIL – THE OTHER SIDE!

It’s important to remember with this story that while Gail and his driving ethics and political correctness may not have always been ideal, there are plenty of others who in the competitive world of auto racing, and in life, are not blameless!  

In 1999 at Berlin Raceway, the Super Stocks Championship was being contested.  Driver Jeff Terrell was leading the points race when his engine blew up in a heat race!

Gail told me the story, how Jeff asked Gail if he could borrow Gail’s car for the feature race to maintain his points lead. Gail said to me that, “… my car was really running fast, and I thought I could probably win the feature with it.” So, he said, “… while he was reluctant to loan it at first, he finally decided to give the car to Jeff.” 

Jeff went on to win the feature race that night and the season championship!

Jeff remains eternally grateful to Gail for this act of kindness.

In loaning Jeff the car, maybe Gail reflected on the 1962 incident where he, in a similar situation, needed to rely on Ted Chaney’s car to win a championship!

GAIL’S LAST FULL SEASON OF RACING (THE YEAR 2000)

Car owner Don Vandenbosch had a goal of winning a Sportsman Championship at Berlin Raceway, so he put together a championship racing team! 

Two veterans would head Don’s team.  Jamie Haam would serve as the crew chief and Gail Cobb, at sixty-three years of age, would be the driver. 

Gail would win four feature races that year and the 2000 Season Championship before retiring from full-time racing. 

It was a splendid way to finish his career!

THAT SPEEDROME MAGIC & BENCH RACING WITH GAIL

The last years of the Speedrome included the paved quarter-mile era from approximately 1957 to 1963 and the final era, which was the paved, very fast one-half-mile track, which operated from 1964 through the middle of 1966.  At this point, the State of Michigan exercised its rights to acquire the Speedrome property for the future development of the US 131 Expressway.  It was a sad day!

While Gail had also raced on the Speedrome’s half-mile paved track during the time they promoted the mid-fifty-era stock cars as a class, it was the quarter-mile paved track that he loved the most.  

For the last few years of Gail’s life, I would occasionally drop by his home on Two-Mile Road NE for a little gabbing with my old friend. We’d talk about his excavating equipment, which I liked, and a few other things, but mostly about the Speedrome quarter-mile days.  

There was something magical about the quarter-mile period of the track!

Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, the price of gas was around 30 cents per gallon. During intermission the Speedrome would play upbeat songs like Domenico Modugno’s Volare. Dreamy songs like Santos and Johnny’s Sleep Walk, and I Only Have Eyes For You by the Flamingos, were popular. Times seemed easier and a little more romantic then. 

Gail’s hansom slick-back hair style and his 1932 Ford coupe fit right in with the John Milner (Paul Le Mat’s) American Graffiti Movie image.  The times and events surrounding the Speedrome were magical! 

Gail raced during the tail-end of the racing careers of championship drivers like “Duke” Melinn and “Little Beard” Haan, along with that of Black driver and perennial favorite Sam Ash. Gail’s primary competitors in the Sportsman Division were drivers such as: Bob Mellema, Johnny Dalton, Buddy Stewart, Phil Anible, Don Videan, Ralph Bargo, Ralph and Larry Lawrence, Rich Senneker, Bart Arrigo, Don Wenger, Al Blume, Davey Taylor, Marv Blaine, Roger Whittaker, and others. 

At one point in time, the Speedrome had three divisions: the Sportsman, Supermodifieds and Strictly Stock Divisions, all providing the racing fans with a very exciting show!    

Just a few months before Gail passed away, he moved the Big Boy coupe into his small garage near the house. Maybe, as he became weaker with age and his medical condition, it was easier for him to visit his old friend, the number twelve Big Boy car. 

On my last visit to Gail’s home, we walked out to see the Big Boy car in the nearby garage. Leaning inside on the driver’s side, I could look down and see a big hole in the floorboard!  Gail said that when he raced the car, he could see the ground passing by and the fuel in the carburetor bowl!   Ron recently had the engine rings and bearings replaced and a general overhaul of the engine. 

It was the last time I saw my friend Gail before he passed away!

Gail had degenerative glaucoma. In the past few years, he also suffered from coronary heart disease and had stents inserted. Up until just days before he passed, Gail chopped wood! 

He recently contemplated open-heart surgery but ultimately opted against having it.

Thankfully, longtime friends Wade Gilcrist, Don Meinke, Dian Thomas and others were frequent visitors and helpers around the Cobb residence, particularly during Gail’s final years. 

A legend has passed. 

May he rest in peace! 

“FOR DUST YOU ARE AND TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN” 

GENESIS 3:19

“I did it my way” is the inscription that Alice Cobb wanted Gail to have placed on his grave marker, along with an image of the Big Boy car of the early sixties, which Gail agreed too. 

Alice is buried in Ada Township’s Finley Cemetery on 2 Mile Road just a few miles from their longtime residence. In the springtime, when the weather is nicer, Gail’s ashes will be placed there as well, 

Sue Zimmerman, the late wife of longtime friend Ron Zimmerman is buried there, as will be Ron Zimmerman. 

It is a special place and the culmination of some long and wonderful friendships!