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Herald photo by Eddy Montvtlle Fletcher Belt driven by Formula Ford competition By Phfl English Herald sports writer CRYSTAL LAKE -- Racing can is • sport in a class by itself. But to say that car racing is simply car racing would raise some serious eyebrows at the Belt household. Fletcher Belt (a true race car driver name If there ever was one), of Crystal Lake, Is trying to make sure that nobody ever believes that worn out statement. How does he prove it? With a step on the accelerator and a helpful explanation. Belt, 28, of Crystal Lake, races Formula Ford race cars, a sort of Mini-Formula One racer, seen in international races like LeMans. The machine looks, drives and per­ forms alot like your average Indy race car, with one major difference. Nobody knows very much about it Crystal Lake Formula Ford racer Fletcher Belt kneels beside the object of his expensive week­ end hobby. Belt appreciates the competition and fun he gets out of the sport, but would be equally satisfied with a little more attention and maybe a bit more money. That Is, except for Belt and a few select friends. "When people think of auto rac­ ing, they think of stock cars or something similar," Belt said pa- tientty, explaining the key to his frustration. "Formula Ford Is a somewhat more complex racing style. The track itself Is more com­ plex. You have to brake a lot heavi­ er and use your gears more. "The can are called Formula Fords, because before every race, each driven' can have to meet the same specifications as everyone else. So really, everyone is driving the same car with the same en­ gine," he added. "More of a driv­ en' skill race." The differences between Belt's choice of racing and the more con­ ventional, and better known Indy or stock car racers, are numerous. The Formula Ford racen race on a paved course, similar to Formula One racing, and each driver strides to accumulate points for a National Competition. The car is like a Mini Indy car, smaller than your average racer -- about 13 feet long and five and a half feet wide. The engine Is small­ er, four cylinders as compared to a stock Car's eight, and above all, the sport is more specialized than regu­ lar oval-coursed racing; the main reason being that Formula Ford racing Is an amateur event with very little recognition and very lit­ tle money. "There Is very little money in­ volved," Belt sighed. "Towards the end of the year, when you get to the national level, there's more money involved, but even that's not much. If you're good, you could make $150. "But toe big part of it, more or less, Is that it's a highly compete- tive, expensive hobby," he said. "All of the driven are amateura and the pit crews are all volunteers. Everyone's just out to enjoy themselves." Belt has the best of both worlds. He has a great time competing, and he Is certainly no racing slouch. He recenUy finished sixth but of 54 rac­ en in the* Eikhart Lakes Road America June Sprints. He is fresh off back-to-back wins at the Black- hawk Farms Race Track and has never finished below sixth place in any race. He is presenUy third in racing point totals in the Midwest Division of the Sports Car Club of America to qualify for the Nationals at Road Atlanta In Georgia. All these points add iq> to the * reason Belt enjoys racing only one way. There's the good and the bad of Formula Ford racing, but belt seems to see the former side of it o "I end up spending about $400- $500 every weekend to race," he said with a chuckle. "The main rea­ son I do It is for fun. Enjoying what you're doing, to see how you rank with the other driven in your divi­ sion, and to compete with the others in your class. "In each race, there's usually 30- 40 entries, and when its over, the first five finishers are within one second of the fastest time." But try as he may to accept and explain the differences between his kind of racing and the more popular stock models, Belt has a one-track mind. "When you're in a stock car race, you're on a round track and always turning left," he said. "With this, you tuhi left and right. You go over hnu and hit blind turns. The top speed of the car is 140 miles per hour, and you average about 90-100 during a race on a four-cylinder engine. "I enjoy spectating stock car races, because I know there's a certain amount of skill in both kinds of racing," he said. "But they're both completely different ball- , gaipes.One is not easier or harder than the other, but to be good at both, you have to have a certain amount of skill. In this racing, you have to have more finesse and be more exact about things." Belt started out working on anoth­ er Formula Ford racer's crew, until he decided he had to make a go of it. The money he spends every week­ end comes from his job as a design­ er for Outboard Marine in Wauke- gan. He works -- where else -- in the racing department. "I'm a mechanical engineer, and I enjoy mechanical things," he said. ' "I enjoy preparing and working on an engine, to try and make it better than the next guys. "You look at other types of rac­ ers, and you don't appreciate their sport like you do your own," he added. "It's tough enough just to be reaUy quick with this kind of racing. Anybody can just putt around, but to run in front of the pack takes a lot of skill." While third in the Midwest, Belt still has a strong shot at placing as one of the top Formula Ford Racen in the country. And. the best part is, even if no­ body knows, or even cares about his status in racing's elite, it wouldn't make any difference. Not to Fletch­ er Belt. Tuesday, August 6,1985 Donald Fehr LeeMacPhail Both foes agree: We don't agree By Cerisse Anderson UPI sports writer NEW YORK - Major league playen and owners charged each other with destructive de­ mands Monday as the baseball strike, which both sides repeat­ edly said would be averted, moved closer to deadline. Donald Fehr, acting executive director of the Playen Associa­ tion, said a small group of player and owner representatives held a meeting at which playen laid concessions on pension money before owners. But those conces­ sions were rejected. Both sides held afternoon news conferences at which their only shred of agreement was that no agreement was in sight after nine months of negotiating. Play­ en were set to strike for the second time in five yean at the conclusion of Monday night's 10- game schedule. I "I've got to tell you, that based on what has happened the past few hours, it appears this is go­ ing to turn out to be a rerun of 1981," said Fehr. "I am becom­ ing more pessimistic. "This is a fundamental attack on the system and would artifi­ cially lower salaries for all play­ en with less than six yean of major-league service. "The dispute is not now nor ever has been about money," Fehr added. "It is about the own- en' attempt to put the playen in their place." Lee MacPhail, head of the owners' negotiating team, said his side could not take the play­ en' latest proposal seriously. "I can't say I'm optimistic at this point," he said. "This is not a constructive proposal." Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth conferred with owners but remained away from the talks. ...and here's why By United Press International NEW YORK - Major league playen and owners are locked on two issues in their nine-month negotiations on a new contract. Here is a question and answer summary of the issues and posi­ tions of each side: 1. What Is salary arbitration? Method of determining a play­ er's salary with,the help of an Impartial arbiter. The arbiter chooses between a salary figure presented by the player and his team. 2. What Is the present system for determining a player's salary under arbitration? Under the present system, a player is eligible for salary arbi­ tration after two full seasons in the majors. The salary figure the player presents to the arbiter can be unlimited. 3. How do the ownera want to change the arbitration system? The owners would like to limit the award to double the salary the player made the previous year. They also want to raise the eligibilty to three yean' service Instead of two. 9 4. What do ownen gain under the proposed system? A lot of money. While they are offerring to raise the minimum salary from $40,000 to $60,000, a player could not make mora than $480,000 after five yean of ma- jor-league service. Most playen now probably make more than t h a t u n d e r t h e p r e s e n t agreement. •Playen claim the ownen' plans. would drastically reduce salaries -- and they are right. Noteworthy playen who would be affected by such a plan in­ clude Don Mattingly of the Yan­ kees, now in his third season, making $325,000; and Dwight Gooden of the Mets, earning $300,000. 5. How much of television reve­ nues do ownen currently donate to the playen' pension plan? Traditionally, ownen have do­ nated one-third of the network TV revenues to the playen' pen­ sion plan. Before this season, that amount was about $15 miUion. With the present TV package, the ownen expect to make about $1.14 billion over the next six yean. 8. What do the playen want? The playen originally asked the ownen to carry on the tradi­ tion of donating one-third of the TV revenue, which in this case would be $80,mUlion per year. The playen have shown a will­ ingness to come down from that figure from $60 to $40 million. But here you must go back to Question 1. The ownen will agree to this only if the salary arbitration system is changed. County golf slated WOODSTOCK -- Plans for the second annual McHenry County Men's Amateur Golf Tournament are underway for the tourney slated for Sept. 6-7 at Pinecrest Golf and Country Club, according to McHenry County Men's Amateur Golf Association President Dave Spitzer. "The thrilling windup of the championship flight last year, which required five extra holes to determine the winner, generated consider­ able enthusiasm among area golfers," Spitzer said. Entry forms are available at all area golf dubs and at the Old Courthouse Inn on the Woodstock Square. The tournament is non- handicap. After the first day's play, playen will be assigned to a flight in accordance with their score. A Championship flight and Classes A, B and C will be determined. More than $2,000 In merchandise prizes will be awarded in the tournament and Spitzer stressed the prizes will be equally divided among the four flights. The entry fee Is $40 which includes two days of green fees, prizes and an awards reception at the OCHI on the night of Sept 7. Club officen have determined that no more than 15 golfers will be permitted from an Individual club and that the field will be limited to 72 golfen. Golfers interested in playing must be residents of McHenry County or a paid-up golfing member of a McHenry County golf club. All golfer must by male and at least 21 yean old. * Last year's tourney was held at Plum Tree National Golf Club where the champions were as follows: Ken Kuhn, Crystal Lake, in sudden death of the Championship Flight over Jim Buenzli, McHenry; Tim Byers, McHenry, Class A; and Larry Simonsen, Crystal Lake, Class B. More Information can be obtained by calling Spitzer at (815) 338-6700. Scott Verplank exults after sinking the putt that won hii Western Open Sunday. Prestige is Verplank's payoff, but Thorpe gets the real dough By Kent McDill UPI sports writer OAKBROOK -- Jim Thorpe was in an unusual position for a profes­ sional athlete going into the playoff for the 1985 Western Open title. He had already won the prize. Because Thorpe was playing am­ ateur Scott Verplank for the tiUe at BuUer National Golf Club, he knew he would get the $90,000 first prize money no matter who won the playoff. After the third round, Thorpe was two strokes behind Verplank and five strokes ahead of everybody else, and jokingly said he would let the 21-year-old from Dallas win the tournament if the situation was the same on the 18th hole Sunday. But when the moment came and he was Sportsmen's Club holds annual shoots By Herald News Service McHENRY -- Over 200 members and guests attended the Annual Mc­ Henry Sportsmen's Club picnic and pig roast last Sunday. The yearly event is held in con­ junction with the Club Champion and Lew Pitzen Handicap shoots. John Nicholson of Hoffman Es­ tates won the coveted Pitzen Tro­ phy. Bob Adams of Carol Stream and formerly of Johnsburg, was named Club Champion, while Gene Wagner, Sr. of Antioch received the runner-up trophy. Other winners were Dirk Aissen of McHenry in Class A. Aissen is the trap chair­ man manager. Woodstock's Bill Schroeder was the runner-up. In Class B, Glenn Wedding of Crystal Lake was the top pointget- ter, while Nicholson was second. Crystal Lake's Jim Hamrick won in Class C, while Dave Chamberlin of Mundelein grabbed second. In Class D, the winner was Matt Sommera of Bartlett, while McHen- ry's Jerry Nester took second. The high all-around champ was Wagner. The trophy given to Wag­ ner was donated by Lona Patzke of McHenry in memory of her late husband, Jim. Aissen took the run­ ner-up trophy. McHenry's Arvid Hamrick won the Veteran's Trophy. Jo Lo Schiavo of Twin Lakes, Wis., was the top lady finisher, and, along with husband Larry, won the husband and wife trophy. AL \ \ Keith Adams of McHenry won the Junior Trophy, with the Sub-Junior Trophy going to Gene Wagner, Jr., of Antioch. The Wagners, Gene Jr. and Gene Sr., teamed up to win the parent and child championship. tied for the lead, Thorpe played the last hole-like a man who realty cared about getting that trophy. He saved par with a 15-foot putt after driving the ball behind some trees and forced a playoff, which he lost on the second hole to Verplank. "I'd prefer winning the title," Thorpe said upon accepting the $90,000 check. "I put a little added pressure on myself. Scott told me as we were walking down the 16th fair­ way on the first playoff hole, 'Well, you've got the money'. I told him 'I need to win.'" Thorpe, who is in his seventh full season on the PGA tour, is one of only three black regulan on the PGA tour, and figured a victory could make him a more marketable quantity. "It would mean quite a few dol­ lars one way or another," he said. Still, his huge paycheck from the Western pushed him into the top 50 for the tour this year with a total of $148^78. If Thorpe solidified his position among his peers, Verplank set him­ self up for quite a ph> career when the day finally arrives. He gave absolutely no thought to turning pro after winning the tournament be­ cause he wants to complete school. But the victory did give him a 2- year exemption for all PGA events, which will allow him to play on the tour, remain an amateur and take his time deciding when to turn pro. He said not thinking about the money may have helped him win the tournament. .4