Local auto racing: Terry Strong honored at Oswego Speedway ahead of season opener

May 27—OSWEGO — More than 60 cars lined up to take one last lap around Oswego Speedway with Terry Strong, signifying how cherished she was in her role as "Queen of the pits."

Strong left an indelible mark on the area track over the last three decades as a proud supermodified car owner alongside her husband, Pat, and she became a universally beloved presence in the pit area.

Many will open the 71st season of racing at Oswego Speedway on Saturday night with mixed emotions kicking off the first campaign without their queen nearby.

Strong died on April 30 at age 64 after battling a long illness and was recently honored with a ceremonial last lap around the track.

"Terry was a diehard supermodified car owner, there are very few and far between like Terry," said Joey Payne, who spent parts of 15 years driving for the Strong family starting in 1997.

"When I drove for them, Terry had this saying: 'Whatever Joey wants, Joey gets,' and whatever we needed, that car got. She was that type of person where her racecar came first, and Pat might have come second," he later joked.

Pat and Terry Strong entered their first car onto the track at Oswego Speedway in 1992 after Pat built a machine with his friend, Jerry Curran. The duo was initially planning to split racing duties, but Terry expressed apprehension to her husband getting behind the wheel, so Curran raced while Pat became the head mechanic.

The couple would remain as full-time car owners at Oswego Speedway until 2014 — guiding around 26 drivers while spanning four different track ownership groups — and Terry, a devoted mother and grandmother, developed a reputation over that time for helping drivers and other attendees in a variety of ways.

Strong cooked an overload of food and often more than needed for the crew and her drivers, always sharing with other race teams and supporters. Her chocolate chip cookies and macaroni salad were a few of her famous regular offerings within the pits.

She eventually packed an "odds and ends bag," and the Strong trailer became the go-to stop for anyone needing a rare item at the track. One night, she was the only person with a needle and thread present to help a driver repair a rip in his suit, for example.

Drivers also knew they could rely on Terry and Pat Strong in a pinch if they needed a spare part, and they even allowed drivers from different teams to borrow the car for an occasional race.

Otto Sitterly drove their racecar once during the first of his record nine track championship seasons, while Joe Gosek and other prominent drivers have also taken the wheel for Terry.

Her warmth and desire to help companions and competitors alike led many at the track to call her "Mother Theresa," along with her unofficial title as queen.

"The queen of the pits is the best way to describe her, she's just there for everybody, just a really great person that touched so many lives," said Camden Proud, who bought his first supermodified from the Strong family. "We're all going to miss her."

Strong often displayed her passion for the sport of racing and wore her heart on her sleeve each week.

Several of her drivers, including Michael Barnes, also recalled times when she was willing to stand up for them or approach others in a fair and forthright manner if she felt something wasn't right.

"She absolutely loved racing, she loved Oswego Speedway and supermodifieds, and everybody there," Barnes said. "She was a very kind woman, but she could also get spun up and she'd let you know how she feels. She just had this great personality and people were drawn to her, very lively, very involved in their race team, and in helping other teams out or the Speedway if they needed it, she would do it all. ... She's like a mother to everybody and always has been."

Strong was known for sporting plum purple, with much of her house décor and the outside shutters matching the color most prominently featured on the Strong-owned racecars through the years.

She also loved Christmas, opening her doors to ensure a meal for all on Christmas Eve, and it became more evident when she won the initial Christmas in July contest at the speedway after decking out their trailer for the weekend.

Pat and Terry Strong relied heavily on their annual fundraiser to keep racing operations afloat, which became a yearly highlight around the Daytona 500 weekend for all track regulars.

Terry made a buffet of food each year — preparing every dish herself — and turned the event into a staple of the local race calendar.

"The stuff she worked so hard at was to please other people, it wasn't so much about us making money to go racing, it was about everybody having a good time and her making them happy," Pat Strong said.

Terry Strong beat cancer twice after first being diagnosed in 2010. Pat gathered the team and driver Joey Payne to start that season and spoke of likely taking the year off, but Terry insisted they push forward, and the crew made each outing.

They brought their camper into the pits and Terry watched every race on site that summer except one while she was undergoing surgery.

Her generosity extended beyond the area to up-and-coming drivers like Jarett Andretti, the son of racing icon and former NASCAR star, John Andretti, who came to Oswego in 2012 to test-drive a supermodified owned by the Strong family.

Andretti, who now primarily races LMP3 cars on the national IMSA circuit, credited the Strong family for the positive experience they provided in his formative years. They have remained friends and supporters of his career from afar ever since.

Pat and Terry Strong took their last vacation together to Daytona, Fla., earlier this year and spent some time talking with Andretti at the track.

"She was happy and excited to be there, and supportive, and I never saw her without a smile on her face," Andretti said. "She was one of those people you'd want to go and say hi to because you know they'd make your day better, no matter how bad of a day you're having at the racetrack, you thought it was going to get better just because she was around. ... She has a special place in a lot of people's hearts and mine included."

Terry Strong received the most fitting and deserved posthumous honor earlier this month. Following her funeral, Strong was brought for a memorial lap at the Oswego Speedway. She was joined by more than 60 cars on the track and hundreds of others gathered around to pay their respects.

Video clips and photos featuring her favorite drivers and key moments for the race team were on the display screen, and audio clips of Roy Sova announcing their feature wins with Barnes and Payne also played during the touching tribute.

Former Strong drivers gathered from around the continent to honor Terry, including Payne from New Jersey, Pat Lavery from Florida, and Gary Morton from Canada, just to name a few.

"There are legends that have raced at Oswego Speedway that didn't get the send-off Terry did," Payne said. "It was just heart-wrenching and I'm going to miss the hell out of her."