"Why do we always try to win the Pole? Why not go for an Italian or a German once in a while?

Photos courtesy Michael Keyser

Oscar Koveleski is a man of taste. This he proved by wearing plastic fangs to scare motorists who passed his motorhome while towing to races.

Oscar is probably best known for his CanAm efforts, where he raced the #54 McLaren.

He is also remembered by older model car enthusiasts as a mover and shaker in that hobby, and as operator of the Auto World mail order business.

It stands to reason that any organization founded by this paragon of refinement would be equally tasteful and refined.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with racers, reason failed and Oscar was left to establish the Polish Racing Drivers of America in 1970. His trusty lieutenants and Fellow Founding Fathers were Tony Adamowicz and Brad Niemchek.

The PRDA was an attempt to have a little fun with life. It conducted its affairs with tongue firmly in cheek, from lamenting the racing tradition of winning Poles to running in the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shinning Sea Memorial Trophy Dash with a van stuffed with gasoline drums that would -- theoretically, as it turned out -- allow the van to go from the New Jersey to California without refueling.

The Frostbite Falls Chapter was founded in 1971 in a dismal army barracks at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, by myself and Ted Spencer. We viewed it as an antidote to the humorless olive drab lives we were leading. Or as a revolutionary act of resistance against the forces of military darkness who insisted we get haircuts, I don't remember which. Whatever the reason, we forked over our three bucks for lifetime memberships.

It wasn't long before we began planning a night race around the Camp Humphreys runway with 2.5 ton trucks liberated from the motorpool. The race was canceled when we realized that the runway's corner workers, the MPs, carried .45 caliber pistols and were notoriously humor impaired. But we did officially sanction the rat hockey games that would erupt when rodents from nearby rice paddies wandered into our barracks.

The PRDA's philosophy guides my amateur racing efforts to this day. I race hard, but I never let the hard stuff get in the way of having fun at the race track.

I've written to Oscar asking him if he has any historical artifacts he would like to share with his legions of fans. If I receive anything, or discover any worthwhile material on my own, I'll post it here.

If a PRDA member out there in cyberland happens to stumble across this page, check to see if you an old copy of the newsletter or maybe a decal. I'd love to post them. Let me know via e-mail.

--John Mikes
Member 817