Midget-Car Racer Dies After Speedway Crash

Paul Grosso, who helped found an association of midget-car enthusiasts, died early Sunday from injuries suffered in a demonstration race at Saugus Speedway.

Grosso, 67, who was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center after the crash, was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m., said a hospital spokesman.

The Van Nuys resident carried on a lifelong love affair with cars, dating back to his school days at North Hollywood High School, where he met his wife, Florence, said his grandson George McFarland, 23.

As a member of the Western Racing Assn., Grosso participated in demonstration races at tracks from El Cajon to Napa, said Dan Fleisher, the president of the association. The association was formed 13 years ago to retain the heritage of the early midget race cars, the precursors to modern-day midget racers, Fleisher said.

“We keep these cars as true to the eras of the ‘40s and ‘50s as possible to allow people to see the cars and hear the sounds,” Fleisher said.

Grosso’s car, Flossie’s Offy, named after his wife, was a classic midget car of its era, equipped with a 110-cubic-inch, four-cylinder Offenhauser engine, a popular German racing engine of the era.

Grosso’s business office, where he sold lighting supplies, was known to most of the 325 members of the association as “The Bunker,” and was a favorite gathering spot, Fleisher said.

At a demonstration race on Saturday, Grosso collided with Rudy Sorer, whose car spun out in the middle of the main straightaway on the paved one-third-mile oval about halfway through an eight-lap demonstration race, Fleisher said.

Grosso’s car shot into the air, flipped once and landed on its wheels in the accident, Fleisher said. Fleisher said Grosso’s car was thrown into the air after it apparently hit the wheels of Sorer’s car.

“You could have gone 10 miles an hour and go over the wheel of another car and go airborne,” he said.

Sorer was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, where he was treated for cuts and lacerations and released, said a nursing supervisor.

An autopsy is expected to be conducted to determine the exact cause of Grosso’s death, friends and family members said. Services for Grosso are pending.