Honoring a Pioneer

 My wife’s 1950 Ford dump truck is special to her for several reasons. For starters, she bought it from the late Vernon Woods of Brooks, a great friend to both of us back in the day.

 And it has something in common with NASA’s Lunar Rover. Both have parts made by the late machinist David Castile, who will be honored at Senoia Raceway Saturday night. 

 Castile worked at a machine shop in Griffin, owned by Frank Ingram, who worked on many high-tech projects for the US Government and others. The duo also worked on one of the first artificial heart pumps. 

 In addition to his other pursuits, David Castile, who died last December, was a dirt track racer who got his start at the old Zebulon Speedway and was in the starting field for the first-ever race at Senoia back in 1969.

 Castile, who raced in the old Limited Sportsman class, was one of a group of Griffin-area racers that included Roscoe Smith, Kenneth Collins, Bobby Pryor and the late Leon Archer among others.

 Castile, like most racers of his era, built his own cars mostly from scratch. He did rely on others occasionally. Like his fellow Griffin racers, he turned to a young Ernie Elliott of Dawsonville for help with the machine work on his engines.

 But for the most part he did things himself, and was known for wringing the most speed he could from what he had to work with, which often was less than many of his competitors.

 His son Franklin Castile recalled that one of his dad’s most memorable races at Senoia came in his last drive is one of his own cars.

 Running a limited car in the unlimited sportsman class, he found himself challenging Leon Archer, one of the top drivers ever from this area, for the win as the laps wound down.

 But Castile’s car, which had an engine with less horsepower than Archer’s and narrower tires, didn’t make it to the checkered flag. His clutch disintegrated, leading to a broken crankshaft. But it remained a warm memory for him to be racing a legend like Archer for the checkered flag.

 In later years, Castile enjoyed working on old cars and spending time with his fellow car enthusiasts. I spent many an afternoon with Castile and others at one of their and my favorite hangouts – Howell Fowler’s salvage yard in Griffin.

 David and I also talked racing most every time we got together.

 His love for racing, and for Senoia Raceway, was evidenced by his wishes prior to his death.

 According to his son, he wanted to be cremated, with a third of his ashes placed adjacent to his mother’s grave, a third spread on Cumberland Island, where he loved to spend time, and the rest off Turn Four at Senoia Raceway, where many a race has been won or lost.

 While Senoia’s Limited racers will be running the 30-lap, $2,200-to-win David Castile Limited Throwdown, Castile’s family and friends will be at the track participating in a celebration of his life.

 It’ll be a fitting send-off for one of the track’s pioneering racers.