Geoffrey Lauer remembers the good, old days of drag strip racing, when he roared in his 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle, a beautiful muscle car, but there was something else that grabbed his heart.
He’s one of the original founders of the Big Island Auto Club, which was started in 1968 by more than 80 racing enthusiasts.
After all these years, Lauer is still around — no longer as a hot rod racer, but as the voice of the club’s racing events. He’ll be there calling the action at the 36th annual Big Island Auto Club/Tommy Thompson Labor Day Drag Races.
“I’ve been announcing 40 years or maybe more. It tells me how old I am,” Lauer said. “I’ve been doing it since my 20s when the club was just getting started. We used to meet by Lex Brodie’s at midnight to plan our drag races, and figure out if somebody knew where the cops would be, and go racing, usually at Kalapana. That’s where we formed the club.”
The energetic 67-year-old Lauer is originally from New York, and was in the Army when he arrived at Pohakuloa in 1968. He developed roots on the Big Island, and he and wife Suzy have a daughter, Trisha Schillingford, who’s a teacher at Keonepoko Elementary.
Lauer started racing in 1971 and stopped four years later after his engine blew out. That was that for his racing career.
In the 1970s, the club had a temporary racing home at the Old Kona Airport Park. The Hilo Drag Strip was completed in 1978. During the Kona days, he was the track manager and started announcing, sparking his legacy.
“I won one trophy during that time. I wasn’t successful,” Lauer said. “But I was still announcing.”
The announcing tower became his home away from home. For Lauer, it was like a duck finding water. Doing it for more than 40 years became a familiar routine.
“Now, it’s a walk in the park,” he said.
Lauer has tons of favorite memories from the quarter-mile strip of fast times, but there’s one subject that will always be a highlight for him.
“The best is that nobody got seriously injured,” he said. “We’ve had our share of injuries, but the safety enforcement has always paid off. We had a guy on a motorcycle drop top end. He was going well over 100 mph. He had a lot of road rash, but was OK. We make them wear leather and things like that.
“We had a Volkswagen flip over and clear the 6-foot railing and land on the roof. The guy was OK. Adherence to safety has been part of the game. Nobody has ever died or been seriously injured. That’s been a highlight for sure.”
Lauer has enjoyed all the fast times, especially from island residents including Mike Bell, who had a funny car that zoomed over 200 mph, and “Pyro” Pete Comandini from Waikoloa who had a jet-powered Mercedes limo.
“When the economy was better, we used to pull over 100 cars, and have a private promoter do a car show,” Lauer said. “We used to pack the place with 4,000 to 5,000 people. Now, it’s a little tougher with the economy, but it’s starting to come back.
“A lot of people go down, set up tents and spend the day there. It’s a good family day. It’s the only drag strip in the country built in a rain forest.”
That unusual setup catches his funny bone. Another is thinking about the last time he raced. It was during a Grandpa drag event. Lauer didn’t win, but he had a good time.
That’s part of the reason he keeps announcing year after year, decade after decade.
“It’s being around all the people you meet over the years,” he said. “My grandson Christopher loves it. Everybody knows him.”
Everybody at the Hilo Drag Strip also knows Geoffrey Lauer. For those who don’t, they definitely know the voice.