[Keith Seymore]

I knew of a few "higher ups" in GM that did quite well racing back in the day. On of the things GM would do is ask these executives to stop racing, citing safety concerns and the concerns of organizational disruption in the event of an unfortunate racing accident.

One story like this concerns Wisconsin native Owen Snyder Jr. Owen was the Plant Planning/Launch Coordinator for the Janesville Assembly plant for many years; he was/is also a successful dirt track and sprint car racer. He was quite famous locally as a class champion, series champion and general man-about-town.

One day he got "the call" from Central Office: he was to cease racing immediately. In response, he did what any successful, able, red blooded American male would do when faced with that dilemma: he continued to race under an "assumed" name.

He even showed me newspaper clippings: "Who is this Roy Brown?" and "Brown beats Snyder's Track Record".



Incidentally, Owen's son (Owen III ) is a successful racer and entrepreneur in his own right. Owen III was "little Al's" crewchief when he won the Indy 500 in 1992 and with Eddie Cheever in 1998. I had forgotten but was reminded that World of Outlaws multi time champion Steve Kinser is Owen's son-in-law.

http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=2719