A tale of two Toms: The Savages' history in auto racing
Anyone remotely interested in auto racing in these parts over the past six or seven decades knows the name Tom Savage.
The name Savage is recognized as an author, radio announcer as well as track announcer, writer for a half dozen or more racing publications, associated with professional sport teams including the National Football League, pro basketball, even the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and now, Badlands Motor Speedway near Brandon.
How in the world could any man accomplish so much? Well, one man didn’t. There are two Tom Savages, father and son (because the youngest Tom Savage isn’t a junior, we will call him “Tom A. Savage”).
The Savage saga and auto racing actually began in the mid-1940s in Indiana. A young Tom Savage was taken to a midget auto race by his father. The little speed plant in Alexandria hosted the popular little midget speedsters, then all the rage across the country.
“My dad was a fan of the Indianapolis 500 and he took me and my brother to my first race,” Savage said. “It was pretty exciting. Those little cars were loud and colorful.”
The date was 1946. He also got to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the big Memorial Race that same year. Tom’s father had attended his first Indy 500 in 1927.
“We lived in Anderson, then moved to Muncie, Indiana,” Savage said.
There he became a regular at Leo Turner’s Alignment Shop, a favorite haunt of many racing drivers. Living only two blocks away, Savage was soon put to work sweeping floors, etc.
“I remember Pat O’Connor and Red Amick, both Indy drivers spending time at the shop,” he recalled – O’Conner drove Turner’s big car (the forerunner of the sprint cars).
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One of Tom’s duties was to procure steaming cups of coffee in glass bottles.
“They gave me shop rags so I wouldn’t burn my fingers,” he smiled.
The racing bug had bitten Savage badly.
“We went to the (Indy) 500 several times,” he said. “One time a friend and I decided to skip school to go to the speedway to watch them practice before the big race. The railroad tracks were near our house. We knew the train would be heading for Indianapolis, so we hopped aboard an empty boxcar. We didn’t know where the train was going to stop, but we decided that we could just jump off somewhere near the speedway. Well as luck would have it, the train stopped right across the street from the speedway. We watched practice, then hopped a ride back home on the train.
“We got home about dark.”
When they were older, they’d sneak into the 500 by climbing a fence to watch practice. Several years later in telling the story to Tony George, George laughed and said, “You didn’t have to sneak in. Practice sessions were always open free of charge to race fans.”
In 1954, Savage’s father was transferred to Sioux Falls. “‘Gosh, South Dakota?’ I thought, ‘and leaving all this racing behind?’” he recalled.
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Much to his surprise, South Dakota in the 50s was a hot bed of racing.
“I had the distinction of watching the first race at the old Soo Speedway, Huset’s and Madison,” Savage said.
Savage lists Pat O’Connor, Jim Matthews and Doug Wolfgang as the best drivers he has had the privilege to watch. He wrote the book “Jim,” a tribute to the Mitchell super-modified driver after Matthews died during a race at the old fairgrounds in Sioux Falls.
“I’ve always admired Doug Wolfgang,” he said. “He was a heck of a driver, but what set him apart was he was also a darn good chassis man. He just amazed me.
“I saw him in a race at Rock Rapids, Iowa after he got hurt. The sprint car he was wheeling had a turd motor. Doug got shoved off the track, but managed to keep control and pull back on the track in last place. In 15 laps he passed every single car and won the race. Second place driver Mike Ellingson, who had been leading, said nobody could have beaten him except Wolfgang.”
As a kid, Savage always wrote notes in the margins of programs at races he attended. He kept them in banana boxes.
“I guess that’s where my writing started,” he said. “I eventually got a notebook and did the same thing.”
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In the early 60s, he started writing a column for Hawkeye Racing News. After that, his racing articles appeared in “Midstates Racing,” “Dirt Track Fury,” “Darn” (his own publication), “Flatout” and even national publications such as “Open Wheel” and “Stock Car Racing.” His style of writing is instantly recognizable.
While spending 34 years running the meat department at Sunshine Foods, Savage always wrote about his favorite sport. When the Rubin family owned Huset’s and started “Wheel to Wheel,” Savage was the man behind the publication.
His writing led to announcing. Fred Buckmiller of Huset’s Fame was the first to ask Tom to sit behind the microphone. He even announced the races at Knoxville. Then, for many years, had a weekly radio program about auto racing.
So what’s changed over all these years? “Roll bars and tire technology,” he said. “I still remember seeing those drivers in t-shirts with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in their sleeves, slamming around the high banks of Winchester Speedway posting 16-second laps.
“All without a roll bar.”
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It just seemed natural that Savage’s children should follow in his footsteps. Daughter Lynda did advertising for Huset’s Speedway and helped produce her father’s radio show. Son Jeff is an excellent photographer, whose many racing photos accompanied his dad’s stories.
Then there is Tom A. Savage.
“I remember as a kid rolling down the hill and playing off the fourth turn at Huset’s,” Tom A. said. “I guess I was about seven or eight when we’d accompany dad to races at Rock Rapids and Jackson.
“When we went to the races at Huset’s on Sunday nights, Mom would come and get us after intermission, because there was school the next day.”
The younger Savage attended Sioux Falls College, majoring in journalism.
“I concentrated on the public relations side of journalism,” he said.
But he is also a superb writer in his own right.
After graduation, he took a job with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, but moved on to the Houston Rockets in 1997.
“My wife said winter in South Dakota or Texas, take it,” he laughed.
Tom A. also worked with the L.A. Lakers, Indiana Pacers and Seattle Supersonics. But his tenure with the Pacers led him back into the auto racing fold. He spent four years as director of public relations for the Indianapolis 500. He also spent two years representing players with the National Football League.
In 2012, he left it all behind. No longer married, he had a daughter Isadella. He had even worked out a deal where he would work for three weeks, and then take one week off to be with his daughter.
“I knew I didn’t want her to grow up without knowing her dad,” he said. “My former wife Nancy and I are still good friends, so I moved back.”
He even wrote a novel about that experience. Then he got a telephone call from Chuck Brennan. Brennan was going to purchase Huset’s Speedway and wanted to know if Tom A. would be interested in helping out.
He was.
Now the newly remodeled and renamed Badlands Motor Speedway carries the mark of Tom A. Savage. He is in charge of the overall day-by-day and race-by-race activities.
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“And we have just begun,” he said, visiting with visitors in the executive suites that tower over the seeping north turn of the speedway. “Eventually I hope to see us build a Hall of Fame here, housing restored race cars and dedicated to the nearly 100 drivers, car owners, mechanics, officials and media representatives named to the hall of fame.”
The idea for a hall of fame came from the elder Tom Savage, who was named to the hall in 1998.
“I always hoped to have a reunion of all living members and have a picture taken,” said the elder Savage. “Maybe my son can get that accomplished.”
Tom A. said the first memorial race will be held at Badlands Motor Speedway on July 24, honoring the late Randy Droescher.
“There are so many deserving people that should be honored,” Tom A. said. “Maybe we can have memorial races for everyone in the hall of fame someday.”
Justly proud of the transformation from Huset’s Speedway to Badlands Motor Speedway, Tom A. was quick in his praise to Dave Galyen, who was head of facilities for Dollar Loan Centers and helped with the remodeling of the track near Brandon.
“He is the hardest working man I’ve ever seen,” Tom A. said. “We’ve done a lot here, but there is more to be done.”
Whatever remains to be done you can be sure there’ll be a Tom Savage at work behind the scenes to make sure everyone – competitor and fans alike – have a good experience.