Hello and welcome to Black Dog Racing!

My racing resume can be found on page two. Allow me to say at this point that if I were to say anything to upset you, what an arrogant bastard you must be to think that I was referring to you! This is the story of the origin of Black Dog Racing.

When I was young, I narrowed my life choices down to two.  Music and racing. If I was going to be good at either, I would need to concentrate on one or the other.  I elected to concentrate on racing first. Automobile racing is a young man's sport. If you are a wealthy young man, go for it. I was never a wealthy young man. Undeterred, I set off on the path of race car driver stardom.

Whether you have money or not, you need a place to start. With money, you might just buy a car and go off and race it. Without money, you need to know where to go to learn how to drive. Today, there are many opportunities.  You need some money, but you do not need to buy a car. I chose the Jim Russell International Racing Driver's School located at Le Circuit in Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. I signed up for driver's school when I was eighteen. I was in college. I was covering my financial future with a degree in engineering mechanical design. What else would a motor head be?

One reason for Jim Russell is the Ford Festival. Racing in England and the world is far different than what it is in the USA. I would like to see a show of hands. How many of you know what a Formula Ford is? A Formula Ford is an open wheeled vehicle designed for the specific purpose of racing. The engine is in the back, behind the driver. It is designed to carry only the driver! Jim Russell had a program at the time to recruit new drivers. The reward was a one year sponsored contract to race in England. The requirements were to attend the driver's school, do some lapping sessions and enter the program to compete. I returned when I was twenty one ready to do some laps and go to England.

Of course there were others who had the same idea! All together there were twenty four drivers divided into four groups of six. The top two in each group would then compete against the top two in the other groups to form a final race group of eight. There were three guys there from Wisconsin and one guy from Louisiana. Every day for lunch we would leave the track and go to La Porte Rouge.  One cool thing is that this was French Quebec. We were no longer in Kansas, Toto!  We all had the same disease, in love with driving as fast as possible around a track going up and down and around. I love to hear the Americans telling everyone how hard it is at tracks that are ovals. How they whine when they have to turn to the right!

So, here is the picture. Four guys in a car driving the Quebec country side, living life to the fullest. We all picked up French accents. It just could not be helped. While returning from La Porte Rouge on our way back to Le Circuit, a Leetle Black Dog came running out to meet us. Le Woof! Le Woof Woof! Oh, what fun! Memorable moments. I should only have had a camera. Well then there is the screen play! That dog became le joke de jour!

Well I finished third in the race where I needed to finish at least second in order to advance to the final race. None of the guys advanced. We were each told that we had finished third in our race. So, we were good, but not good enough. I do not know if there was any real purpose, but each one of us was in a different heat race.  We could have all advanced!

Now, encouraged, I bought my first race car! It was a Lola T-342. It had seen some professional racing, as well as club racing. I have plenty of racing stories. If you have a story, you may contact me at BlackDogRacing@applecitye.com . I might use it here.

If you have enjoyed reading and would like to know more, try a web search with Formula Ford.

Russell T. Seaman, P.E.