Scott Gaff

Scott grew up in Churubusco, IN and began racing Street Stocks in 1979 at the Warsaw Speedway on dirt.  He made a roaring debut by careening head-on into the wall after the steering broke coming out of the turn.  Scott got his arm broke when the car rolled on it, but was quickly back in the car racing, cast and all!

He quickly improved his skills and moved into the Late Model division on the asphalt of the Avilla Raceway in 1980 and 1981. 

While concentrating on completing his education at Manchester College, he kept his skills sharp by piloting a couple of street stocks at Avilla on dirt for Mike and Marilyn Collier.

After graduating college in 1984, Scott built his first of many modifieds.  Scott owned a total of four different open modifieds that he piloted from 1985 through 1988 at Avilla, Bryan Speedway, and Butler Speedway.  In 1987 he actually owned three different cars.  The other two cars were driven by Terry Fisher and Frank Fyda.

Scott was injured in an automobile accident and was unable to compete again until 1991.  He came back in style by bringing home the feature win his first night back to competition.  This was the beginning of a rather dominant stretch for Scott and his #11 at the Bryan Motor Speedway.  In the 1992 season he won 9 of 17 features, including a string of 6 straight to bring home the track championship.

In 1993, the open modifieds started to dwindle and the lack of strong competition and fluent sanctioning race tracks caused yet another break in his career.  This break was used to investigate and purchase a new e-mod style race car.

In 1995, Scott went back to Avilla, once again pavement.  It took a few races to get used to the different characteristics associated with the e-mod class, but by mid-season, he once again was sitting on the front stretch for his checkered flag picture.

In 1996, Avilla was sold and closed.  This gave Scott the chance to try his hand with the e-mod at some old favorites.  He chalked up several feature wins on the Butler dirt including an ICAR Touring Series feature.  He even brought home a clean sweep night on his first visit to the asphalt of the New Paris Speedway.

In the fall of 1996, we purchased a new home and moved to Auburn, IN.  In conjunction with this, we had to put our personal finances ahead of fun, and Scott did some limited seat time driving the J.D.Byrider modified owned by Gary Richard during the 1997 season.

In 1998, he decided to build a stock car for Melanie and devoted all his time to helping her learn the ins and outs of driving a stock car.  He continued promoting her racing until being offered a chance to drive the dirt late model owned by John Olson.

And here we are!  Still racing… still winning… and still having fun!

Melanie (Herron) grew up in Columbia City, IN and began racing modified midgets in 1982, following in the footsteps of her father and brother.  She began in the ‘A’ class on the asphalt 1/10 mile track in Logansport, IN. She was rewarded by receiving the Rookie of the Year honors.

In 1983, she started traveling to other sanctioned tracks in Illinois, New York and Kansas.  She shocked everyone, including herself by qualifying 3^rd in the Central Championships in Kansas on the 1/8 mile asphalt.  She discovered that she liked racing the bigger tracks.

There was a brand new car to start the 1984 season off.  The new car was capable of racing on dirt tracks that were rapidly replacing the asphalt tracks.  She finished 3^rd in points at the Logansport track against the best competition in the country.

1985 saw Melanie finally starting to make her mark at the national level.  She brought home top 5’s at championships in Indiana, Illinois, New York and North Carolina.  She even managed to win her first dirt race the second time she gave it a try.

1986 was a banner year for Melanie.  She ran full seasons at both the 1/10 mile asphalt in Logansport and the 1/8 mile dirt at Peru.  Along with the weekly shows, she ran every available championship, chalking up 26 weekly shows and 13 championships.  The icing on the cake was her 9^th place finish in the National Modified Midget Association point standings.

Melanie started expanding her horizons by competing over the winter months in many indoor shows in Topeka, Kansas and Kansas City, Kansas.  She also made appearances in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Niagara Falls, NY.  The Niagara Falls race was in competition with full size midgets and gave her the opportunity to compete against midget legends such as Nick Fornoro Jr., Bob and Lou Cicconi, Bobby Seymoure and Indi 500 driver Steve Chassey.  There was none more surprised than Melanie when she actually finished 2^nd in a heat race in front of Nick Fornoro Jr.

1988 saw Melanie and her dad purchase a second car for the team.  This one was a AA-single class car and would be a step up.  Melanie ran both cars in 1988 & 1989 seasons, working at improving her versatility.  In 1990 she concentrated on running the 2-stroke at a track in Ada, Ohio and finished just 14 points out of the championship.

After time off to have a baby in 1991, Melanie ran sparingly in 1992 & 1993, prompting the sale of the car and the end of her modified midget career.

In 1998 Melanie decided she would like to race again, and Scott purchased an old Monte Carlo from a Columbus racing auction.  He turned the previous asphalt car into a dirt car and they made their debut at Bunker Hill Speedway.  She was awful.  It took most of the season for her to get used to the much larger car and the extremely different handling characteristics.

1999 saw the Gaffs head to Butler Speedway with the Monte Carlo in tow.  Melanie had a pretty good season bringing home a fast time and a 4^th place finish in points for the season.  It was decided that rule changes at Butler and a good season showing should be rewarded with the building of a new Camaro street stock.

In 2000, Melanie ran well with the Camaro, but was hampered by “new car bugs” and a light-weight but less than sturdy front bumper assembly.  The close track contact was definitely not conducive to her driving style and she decided to try a little something more to her liking…. The High Banks of Earl Baltes’ Eldora Speedway.

Melanie was in her element racing the big ½ mile high bank dirt at Eldora.  The racing was fast, clean and breath-taking.  Melanie brought home both a heat and a B-Main win being the first woman to ever do so at Eldora.  She finished the season with a respectable 12^th place finish, but only 10 points out of 7^th place.

Since 2002, Melanie has been devoting herself to helping Scott’s efforts in the late model.  She still hopes to bring out the Camaro to “play” when he has an off night, or there’s a special show for the Stock Cars.