The Scoop
MIKE RANDERSON – “ROGER REGETH SALVAGED MY RACING CAREER”
Posted on: Thursday April 14, 2022
Mike Randerson (right) poses with “The Bear” Roger Regeth (middle) and longtime crew member Geno Weber. This trio put the popular “Les Stumpf Ford Chevy” in victory lane dozens of times in the mid-1970s.
Noted race car chassis builder Mike Randerson credits Roger “The Bear” Regeth for salvaging his career in the stock car racing game.
Randerson was flat broke after a 1973 racing season in which Randerson was stuck with an underperforming number 70 Camaro driven by Jerry “Medina” Smith on the pavement at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. To add insult to injury the car’s motor blew up on the final race of the year.
“I had a pretty good-sized tire bill due to Al Piette and I told him I’d have to wait to pay him off with my income tax money,” Randerson recalled. “Then in early 1974 I lost my brother George and had a lot on my plate. Fielding a car to go racing just wasn’t in the picture for the 1974 season.”
This is where “The Bear” enters the picture. “Roger had been running for Gene Wheeler early on in 1974 and for whatever reason things weren’t clicking with those two,” Randerson explained. “My race car was sitting outside on the trailer in the driveway and when the snow melted, I had enough gumption to pull it back in the garage and start working on it again. I had no real plans or money to race it that year. I had intended upon selling it and recoup some of the losses I had incurred.”
Unbeknownst to Randerson Regeth had been doing “drive byes” at the Randerson household, just snooping around and seeing what was cooking. “By that time Wheeler had gotten J.J. (Smith) one of those Boyce Trackburner chassis,” Randerson said. “That’s where some of the animosity started with Regeth and J.J. because I think Roger maybe felt like he was 2nd fiddle a bit with Wheeler’s two car team. I think Roger was looking for an out from Wheeler at that point.”
One day Regeth popped in when Randerson was tinkering with the race car. “Roger inquired as to what I was going to do but I had no sponsors and no money at the time,” said Randerson.
Regeth was able to strike a deal and his friend Jerry Sheriff purchased the car. “He asked me if I’d maintain the car for a percentage of the winnings and I did,” Randerson said. “Roger got 25 percent and I got 25 percent. It was huge relief for me. And I was excited at the prospect because I had a lot of respect for Roger. I saw him at Indianapolis State Fairgrounds. He made a believer out of me.”
This Camaro, driven by Jerry “Medina” Smith in 1973 would later become the famous “Les Stumpf Ford Chevy.” (Pete Vercauteren photo)
Engine builder Lynn Blanchard of Blanchard Speed Shop agreed to put a motor in a percentage basis. Regeth obtained sponsorship through his employer Les Stumpf Ford. The car itself became a conversation piece as a “Ford-sponsored-Chevy.” “Heck I don’t think Les Stumpf Ford cared much in fact if anything it became sort of a conversation piece,” Randerson suggested.
Roger was still driving for Wheeler at this point. “When Roger quit driving for Wheeler we got a bonus when his crewman Geno Weber came along with Roger to our team and man what a great addition Geno was,” Randerson said. “Geno did whatever you asked him to do. He was just fantastic.”
The duo didn’t get the car out until mid-July. “Heck, we didn’t even have a trailer to use so I borrowed a single axle trailer from Ray Dietzen and we took off for Shawano,” Randerson said. “I was afraid we weren’t even going to get there as that thing swayed so badly, I could only go 45 mph. on the way to Shawano.”
Pulling a shaky trailer, the team got to Shawano late. “Roger went up there early and marched up the scoring tower and was pleading his case with track announcer Jerry Rhode,” Randerson said. “Time trials were essentially done. Finally, they agreed to give us a couple of laps. We unloaded the car and the track was already worn out. He had a couple of hot laps. Wouldn’t you know it Roger got fast time on a junk track. That was the start of it all for us. Our chemistry was absolutely great.”
Mike Randerson poses next to “The Bear” Roger Regeth with the famous “Les Stumpf Ford Chevy” at Shawano Speedway in 1975. (Pete Vercauteren photo)
Regeth and Randerson hit it off big time. The camaraderie was great. “Roger took real good care of us,” Randerson recalled. “He’d take us out to eat if we’d get a rainout. When it came to something I felt we needed to make the car go faster, I could barely get the words out and Roger found a way through sponsorship or whoever to get what we needed.
“Roger called my wife Phyllis the ‘boss lady’,” Randerson explained. “Phyllis would distribute the money. We paid Roger once a week.”
“Back then at the tracks the drivers always collected the race winnings,” said Phyllis Randerson. “Roger went to Chicago for his job. Sometimes I wouldn’t get the money until the end of the week. Come to find out he loved to play the horses when he went down to the Chicago area! He’d eventually pay me but that was funny.”
According to Randerson despite Regeth’s on track persona of being a true villain the local racing circles, off the track “The Bear” was among the kindest of souls. “He was anything but “The Bear” to be honest with you,” Randerson recalled. “He was a kind soul who helped a lot of people. He took good care of his mother and always went ahead and helped get things done. He didn’t work on the race cars, but he always made sure we had the resources to go racing.”
When the late 1970’s rolled around Regeth was always doing everything he could to send business Randerson’s way once RanderCar Racing started. “I remember this one-time Phyllis and I were at a point we had to go to Speedweeks and make some connections to help grow the business,” Randerson recalled. “We went to a trade show down at Daytona at the Plaza hotel. There were a lot of connections available there with the suppliers. Roger came across a deal at Mercury Marine. They had a big lot of stuff to get rid of including a lot of big block chevy stuff. Roger came to me and said ‘Mike for $3,000 I can get this whole lot of stuff. We’ll sell that stuff and we’ll split the profits.’ We did just that. We wound up selling a bunch of big block parts to Carl Wegner. That gave us the money we needed for that particular trip.”
Randerson added “Roger was such a giving man who did so much behind the scenes. Moreso than a lot of people really knew.”
(Portions of this story were pulled from the 2018 release “The Bird & The Bear.” This book is available for purchase at this website. Simply click on the “books” tab on the upper left corner.)