Bob Icenberger raced at Lake Garnett back in the original days. His daughter Valerie connected me with Bob, and we had a fun interview. Bob raced a 1962 Sprite MKII that was coral pink and usually sported the SCCA national number 13. He raced all over: Grain Valley, Texas when Dick Smothers raced there; the airport in Shreveport, LA; War Bonnet in Oklahoma; Hallet when Paul Newman raced there and Bob even visited with Newman; Heartland in Topeka; the Greenwood Raceway in Iowa; an airport at Independence, Kansas; at Des Moines when Art Bunker was racing there with his Porsche; in Arkansas with Toly Arutunoff and pretty much all over, including Lake Garnett.
Bob was his own pit crew and prep team with Valerie handing him tools when he was at home in Bartlesville working on his Sprite. Valerie did go with her dad to Lake Garnett one year. Bob remembered Ray Pickering, who had more means for his cars, and even had a driving school where Bob helped teach.
Bob remembered Lake Garnett as a dangerous course with the stone bridge and no chicane back then. He remembered the loud exhaust noise when going over the stone bridge (I think my MG’s straight pipe sounds good on the bridge). One year his Sprite broke down and he was picked up by Carroll Shelby who was doing a track check. Bob said Shelby was very friendly.
Bob still has his dash plaques from Lake Garnett as well as some SCCA magazines on Lake Garnett. Bob still lives in Bartlesville, OK and remembers the cookouts Toly had there at his house. Bob made the 2009 Lake Garnett Reunion in his Sprite. Fred Stores was instrumental in the reunion. They did interviews, had a car show and even did some laps around the lake. He is 87 and still drives two Hudsons to nearby shows in Oklahoma.Russ Sifers
