 A photo I took at the 2005 Monterey Historics, an event I just-so-happened to be in town for as I had to fly in to Sacramento to pick up a 1982 El Camino and drive it back to Milwaukee.
Little did I know, but Chris Gruys owned this rather famous Sunbeam. Chris Gruys, on the other hand, was a bit infamous. Google that fella, if you get a chance. I didn't know his name until 2024, when I was tracking down the Cicada Mk. I. I knew who owned it in 2011, so I called that chap, and he told me Gruys purchased it from him, but it was delivered to another fellow in Sonoma, California. And there it sat. Until it didn't. It seems Mr. Gruys owed a bit of money to several people, which court records show in the sum of more digits than I'm comfortable mentioning. So it was that the Cicada and a few other cars went to one of the parties who Gruys owed money to, with the assumption that the Formula B Cicada was actually a world conquering IndyCar worth a large bit. It was not. (Insert laughter here.) So one phone call turned into another and that party was found. A deal for a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what the would-be world-conquering IndyCar was made, and it came our way thanks to Don Hoevel Racing, who picked it up outside Atlanta. Amazing how a photo of one thing somehow ties itself to something completely different.  Khyro hard at work on a special item we'll be giving away at the track this year- The Little Racer Coloring Book 2026, featuring the cars and sights of Kettle Moraine Preservation & Restoration !
Bill Nesius lent his photographic and artistic talents to this endeavor, for which we're endlessly grateful. We'll have them, free of charge, wherever we go this year for kids of all ages. Bring your creativity!  Mike Hartgraves gave me a quart of oil today.
But not just any oil, the kind that sponsored AAR in 1978. Good man!  Around 20 years ago, I sent an email off to yawpower.com. Yaw Power was at thr time, arotary-engine performance shop in Arizona that belonged to Paul Yaw and Dan Murphy. Murphy was one of three creators of the Cicada Racing team, and their main driver.
While I was never able to get in-touch with Murphy during his lifetime, Paul and I stayed in touch, and last year, he sent me all of Murphy's racing files, including his beginnings, his Cicada scrapbooks and his later LeMans and SRF photos and clippings. And today, January 20, 2026, Paul gave me something he'd been holding onto for nearly 20 years- the domain for Cicada Racing's web presence. In a few minutes time I made sure to populate it with what the website represented as a placeholder, but you can be sure it'll grow in size in the coming months. Thank you Paul- it'll be an honor to remember Dan, Harvey Wiesse and Don Hunt with this. www.cicadaracing.com  We got an email this past weekend that confirmed something we had known since December- the car we have affectionately known as 'Mike's Elden' captured the 2025 Monoposto Racing Vintage Formula Ford championship, backing up its 2024 title.
For those of you who may not know the story, when we brought Michael Argetsinger's 1973 Elden PH10B home from Connecticut in September, 2019, we knew it was going to be an uphill battle to make it race worthy again. Once we returned the car to the track in 2023 for its first race outing in our hands, it tried to cut itself in half when a flywheel attempted to jump ship- also taking out the crankshaft and starter in the process. But that autumn we made two excellent decisions- Wayne Brown of RB MotorSports Engineering would take over as Formula Ford engine builder from that moment forward, and Scott Young Enterprises would hone in on our gearbox dilemmas. The results since then have been nothing short of amazing. In 2025, the Elden started in six races in the VFF class, taking home six wins in the process. That's never happened for us before, and we're humbled by what we've done together as a collective in making this short-wheelbase special truly fly, as Mike did with the car in the summer of 1973. Along with RB Motorsports Engineering and Scott Young Enterprises, a special thanks goes out to Werth Racing Enterprises, Reid Hazelton, American Cylinder Gas, Shippert Racing Services, John Hayduk, UEMSI / HTV, the Argetsinger family for their encouragement, and the Monoposto Racing series for hosting such a positive form of vintage competition. With that said, the Elden will be back in 2026, but will sit out the Weathertech International Challenge weekend so that the team can focus on the All American Racers Eagles they are bringing to the event. Cheers Mike!  Out 1968 All American Racers Eagle Mk. IV is supporting an engine for the first time since December, 1968. We had some fitment dilemmas along the way, but we are in good shape for final riveting.
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[email protected] Hubertus, Wisconsin 'Where History and Integrity Meet' |