THREE TO RECEIVE MORROW AWARD AT RIVERSIDE LEGENDS EVENT MARCH 27

Tom Cecil, the 500cc Club of America's Director, had the following to say about the honored trio: “Those three guys were the early pioneers of the 500s. They were wonderfully eclectic, racing for the pure fun of it, while tweaking the noses of the so-called "elite motorsportsmen".

Cecil went on, "The only one I know very well is Tom Meehan. I don't know if he'd like the comparison, but if Pete Lovely is our Stirling Moss, then Tom is our Alf Francis. Pete recruited Tom from the Foss Tugboat fleet, promising 'I can't pay you as well as the tugboats do, but I can promise you a lot more fun.' And so it was. As for Ralph and George, besides their adventures in 500cc racing, George built the original VW Special as it was called; sort of a poor man's Porsche 550 - which ran very well. Ralph had a number of different cars, including the HWM Chevy, which he advertised in the Seattle Times for $5400."

Named for 500cc stalwart Harry Morrow, and first presented at the 33rd Monterey Historics in 2006, the Morrow Award celebrates the fact that many across the country consider of the late bookstore owner/racer as the true spirit 500cc open wheel racing in the United States.

The "Morrow" is presented annually at prestige events throughout the country. The actual Cooper F3 alloy wheels goes, not necessarily to the winner, but to the person who best represents the sportsmanship and camaraderie of 500cc vintage competition. Aircraft engineer Morrow founded the legendary Burbank, California Autobooks shop in 1951.

All three of these west coast drivers went on from their early days barnstorming up and down the Pacific Coast in 500cc cars, working their way up the grid to bigger and faster machinery with Ormsbee taking part in the seminal 1958 Times Grand Prix at Riverside. This trio was the type of racers who made racing so much fun back in the day. Hell-bent-for-excitement, with no ambition to go “pro” (pro didn’t pay anything back then and, besides it was frowned on.) they raced for the same reasons that mountain climbers climb.

These three now join John Streets, Bob Wenz, Bob Schilling, Bruce Kessler, Peter Becker, Ken Nichols, and Tom "Rigger" Cecil as Morrow awardees.

The annual Legends of Riverside event is a limited-attendance event (only 250 are available for the full three-day presentation). The small number of tickets sold assures attendees of personal contact with any of the close to 100 authentic motorsports legends and special guests on hand for the event. Adding to the experience are locally-catered lunches and dinners, along with the screening of a number of racing films, in some cases with the one or more of the film’s actual participants sitting right there watching along with the ticket-holders!

FOR MORE EVENT INFORMATION (And full bios on each of these three racers … And many other Riverside Legends) : www.legendsofriverside.com

The annual Legends of Riverside event is a limited-attendance event (only 250 are available for the full three-day presentation). The small number of tickets sold assures attendees of personal contact with any of the close to 100 authentic motorsports legends and special guests on hand for the event. Adding to the experience are locally-catered lunches and dinners, along with the screening of a number of racing films, in some cases with the one or more of the film’s actual participants sitting right there watching along with the ticket-holders!

03.09.10: THERE ARE STILL A FEW TICKETS LEFT www.legendsofriverside.com