If you were to ask me who's my favorite driver, the answer would be "the Ole Pro", Neal Sceva. Bart and I went to the races at Columbus Motor Speedway every Sunday night. We had our own little competiton going on as he pulled for "Gentleman Jim" Cushman in the immaculately prepared #95 Chevy prepared by Jack Jacobs. We both had our share of bragging rights, as these two were always in contention for the win along with Dick Freeman, Don Gregory, Jim Bickersaff, and the list goes on and on. Back in the late 60's and 70's, CMS was packed with fans and racing was intense!
Those were the "good old days". We moved south in 1974 and short track racing has never been the same. Jim Cushman retired and moved to Atlanta where he passed away in 2002. In 1985 cancer took the life of Neal at the age of 62.
Neal was truly a racing legend with 615 wins....racing was his relaxation. His home track was Shady Bowl Speedway and he knew the track well with 100+ victories at the DeGraff, Ohio track. Neal was always partial to Fords and his career started in a Model A coupe. In 1970, he captured 17 feature wins driving a Torino. Man, I had the bragging rights that year...LOL. Neal did it on his own as he had no big money or sponsors.
He did venture into the bigger races at times as he won the 1954 Ohio NASCAR Championship and the 1974 ASA Midwest 300 at Salem, Indiana. I believe his last feature win came in 1984.
I'll always cherish the memories I have of Neal in his #51. He made an impression on me that will last forever. Every sim race Bart and I enter in CFRL and NASS, we both feel the same way...the legends roll on.
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