When Lucy Lilienthal climbed from her machine after winning the Junior Dragster "A" Division final last Tuesday at Dunn Tire Raceway Park, her father Joe stood just a few feet away with a proud, misty-eyed look.

The moist eyes came both from the happiness of seeing his daughter win and to sadness involving the loss of friend Andy Passero, 39, who died in a highway accident last October.

Passero, the son of veteran drag racer Joe Passero Sr., of Fort Erie, Ont., was involved in the Junior Dragster competition at Dunn Tire, fielding dragsters for his sons -- Mac, 13, and Drew Passero, 10, as well as their cousin J.J. Passero, 10. All three Passero youths still race Junior Dragsters at the strip.

On Tuesday, the Junior Dragster community came together to honor Andy's memory with the running of the first annual Andy Passero Memorial.

"This is for Andy," said Joe Lilienthal. "We're here for Andy. People don't realize unless you knew him that he was such a good guy. He died way too early."

Lucy had a big night Tuesday. In addition to winning the "A" division final over Robert Bauer III, she also claimed the King of The Hill race by beating the night's "B" division victor, Jacob Halleen. She began the night by winning the held-over "A" final from the previous week, besting Dunham Hill.

"He [Bauer] is second in the points to me right now so it's a big win for me," said Lucy, 15, of the "A" final win over Bauer. "This is a good feeling because I've been doing bad the last couple weeks. I'm the first and only girl to win a Junior Dragster championship here so maybe I can do it again."

Despite his loss to Lilienthal in the King of The Hill, Halleen, 9, had a very successful evening as he won the first two races of his career, including the held-over second chance race from the week before as well as the night's "B" division final over Drew Passero.

When ask how he enjoyed winning his first career races, Halleen, shyly responded "good" and "I'm happy." Also winning Tuesday's second chance event was Evan Kalinowski.

This night however had a much deeper meaning than about winning and trophies.

It was about remembering Andy and bringing comfort to his family. Two of the prime organizers of the event were Mel Waters and Brian Kalinowski, whose children race in the Junior Dragsters.

"Mel took care of things on the Canadian side and I'm on the American side so he locked me in on helping out on the American side because I have more contacts over here," said Kalinowski.

"Everybody that we asked for door prizes or money for the race or for some other type of help, they all stepped right up. I think we ended up with 56 people that donated something towards this first memorial race."

Waters was equally proud of the event.

"This is for the family and all the friends that were close to Andy," said Waters. "Brian and I talked about this event last February and we wanted to do something. Sharon Hughes [Junior Dragster director at Dunn Tire] gave us a ton of help. Andy really enjoyed coming out here and seeing the kids have a good time."

Mac Passero, a three-year driver in the Junior Dragsters, remembered what his late father taught him about drag racing.

"My dad said to have fun and make sure I get a good light every time," recalled Mac. "I know tonight will be fun."

When the event concluded, Joe Passero Sr., took time to reflect on the night and what it meant to him.

"There was a lot of people who came out tonight to remember my son and he was friends with a lot of these people," said Joe as his voice cracked with emotion. "We all pull together when times get tough.

"I thought we had a good turnout tonight and I'm very happy for my family. They're having a good time. This makes me feel good. I know Andy would have been proud of tonight. It's just too bad he wasn't here to enjoy it -- but we have good memories from when he was here."

Local connection

Two weeks ago, a huge upset took place when part-time Nitro Funny Car driver Bob Bode of Barrington, Ill., won the Nitro Funny Car class at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. Bode beat some of the best including Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III, Tim Wilkerson and Jack Beckman.

The huge win has an area connection as local businessman and former racer Walt Przybyl Jr. of Lancaster served as the team's crew chief.

Przybyl, 50, drove Alcohol Funny cars for many years before retiring in 1997 to a business.

Przybyl resurfaced in the sport in 2003 when he served as a car chief for local Nitro Funny Car driver, the late Vinny Arcadi and his crew chief, Glen Mikres. At the time, Mikres was also helping Bode. Through this association Przybyl met Bode and eventually joined Bode's camp.

"Bob was making solid runs at Brainerd but I didn't think initially we could win the race," said Przybyl. "After we had our second solid run in eliminations and Bob was driving very well and the data looked safe, it started to creep into my mind that we could go really far and possibly win.

"The greatest thing about the win that sticks out in my mind is that after we won, when I turned around literally 15-20 crew chiefs and car owners came over right away and shook my hand and said, 'Good job.Ð

"After we got back from Victory Circle, several top drivers stopped by to congratulate us. It was a thrill I'll never forget."

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