Steve was already a big sprint car sponsor and race fan when I met him. His Parker Stores had Donny Shautz running WOO as their guy. I got a chance to go to his office and see his photo room and have lunch with him in the early 90's. He wanted to get involved with the Wagsdash as a big sponsor, with one stipulation...It had to be at Manzanita. The 2nd Wagsdash was at Manzy and after Steve Ostling won the 30 lapper I went to the winners circle to talk with him and asked all the Wagtmers in attendance to come down and celebrate with us. A dozen or so made their way down, and most were locals. So unfortunately, I had to say no to Steve because I had to have the Wagtimers at Manzy and that wasn't going to happen. Steve thanked me and gave me a nice check for the next Wagsdash and we didn't talk about it again. I saw him at races over the years and one day he called me and asked for one of my red and white polka dot hats? He then explained he was opening a sprint car racing museum in Phoenix. To say I was honored is a shocking thought. I was blown away and had nothing to say. Thank you. I took him two hats, one brand new and never worn, and a slightly worn out one that I had retired. As you can expect, he took the old one and placed it in the museum with a picture and I was thrilled.

Steve built one of the most jam packed museums I have seen and in a very short period. It is marvelous and is a great place to go to see history of our sport and I feel Steve when I go there!

Arizona Open Wheel Racing Museum

3534 East Broadway Roa

Phoenix, Arizona 85040

Phone: 602.276.7575 or 602.438.0022 Hours

Wednesday – Friday: 12:00pm to 5:30 pm

Saturday: 9:00am to 1:00pm

Sunday – Tuesday: Closed

Updated 7/17/17