David "Dave" Lape (January 13, 1947 – September 7, 2022) was an American dirt modified racing driver, fabricator, and promoter. His cars always carried the number 22 adorned with 13-point flames as a tribute to his childhood mentor, car owner Bob Whitbeck and his driver Pete Corey.[1]
| Dave Lape | |
|---|---|
| Born | David W. Lape January 13, 1947 Amsterdam, New York |
| Died | September 7, 2022 (aged 75) |
| Retired | 2013 |
| Modified racing career | |
| Debut season | 1964 |
| Car number | 22 |
| Championships | 13 |
| Wins | 191 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1977 Super DIRTcar Series Champion | |
Racing career
editDave Lape began his stock car career campaigning a Modified Sportsman at age 16 in 1964 at the Victoria Speedway near Schenectady, New York. It took Lape five years to win his first feature, but he then went on to win 191 main events at the renown tracks of the northeast, including Canandaigua Speedway, Orange County Fair Speedway, the Syracuse Mile, Ransomville Speedway, and Rolling Wheels Raceway in New York, and the Devil's Bowl Speedway in Vermont. Lape captured the track championship at Fonda Speedway seven times, and also captured three points titles at Weedsport Speedway NY, two at Utica-Rome Speedway NY, and one at Albany-Saratoga Speedway NY.[1][2]
Always a trailblazer, Lape operated Champ Car Fabrications from 1983 to 1996, building winning cars for himself and others. From 1988 to 2000, he and attorney Andy Fusco teamed up to promote races around the Northeast.[3][4]
Dave Lape was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association, the Northeast Dirt Modified and the New York State Stock Car Association Halls of Fame.[5][6]
References
edit- ^ a b "Multiple Fonda Speedway champion Dave Lape dies". The Daily Gazette. September 7, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Hill, John (July 23, 1982). "Lape exhausted Weedsport winner". The Post-Standard. p. C3. Retrieved March 8, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Dave Lape Returns to Weedsport Sunday For Autographs". DIRTcar. May 29, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
- ^ O'Brienl, Dick (July 21, 1988). "Overflow crowd enjoys debut of modified stocks". Syracuse Herald-Journal. p. F3. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Multiple Fonda Speedway champion Dave Lape dies". Speed Sport. September 7, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Yasinac, Robin (April 4, 2013). "Lape running down through last laps of his career". The Times Union. p. B3. Retrieved March 9, 2024 – via NewsBank.