Biography

 

Marilyn met World of Outlaws driver Jan Opperman and Indy 500 winner Bobby Unser in Thompson Falls in the '70's. This sparked a fire about racing that has burned for almost 40 years.

When her husband, Larry Lessor, started racing in the bombers at Big Sky Speedway she decided she was not going to become a racing widow. So while her children Alex and Sarita were sitting in the stands with a babysitter, she helped Larry on his car in the pits.

In 1987 she started writing the weekly results article for the Daily Interlake and the track programs. In '88 she was elected secretary of the NWMSCRA and held that position for a record 7 years. During that time she also ran the pit board on raceday and served as a race judge and scorer in the tower. That was an extremely exhausting job because all race cars had to be physically counted as they crossed the finish line and quite often there were 20 or more cars in each race. In 1988 Marilyn had her name engraved on the Sportsman of the Year trophy which was given each season to the person most influencial in the stock car racing community.

The racing tradition that was ignited many years ago still burns as she watches son Alex race and daughter Sarita pit for him at Raceway Park. With her husband and fellow Hall Of Famer Randy Vickhammer they are fixtures at the racetrack today.