Frank Blixter

Frank Blixter
Sex	M
Spouse	Vivian Kralick

Frank Blixter was a Master Sergeant in charge of a motor pool on Okinawa when Mel Austin was posted there. He was in his early thirties in 1945. He wanted to get back to the states and fire up the race cars he had stuck in a barn someplace. Home was a town called Livonia on the outrskirts of Detroit.^BR1-1

He met up with Spud McElroy at the end of the 1947 racing season and they cooked up the idea of the Midwest Midget Sportsman Association, a travelling race show.^BR1-11

Frank was mostly the promoter and organiser while Spud concentrated on keping the cars going and running the races. In 1948 Frank had booked sixty-four dates but six were rained off. When it was clear Frank needed help booking races he ran into Carnie Wollett and took him on advance man a few days ahead of the racing crew. Vivian Kralick became Frank's assistant as well as office manager for MMSA with office space at her dad's Herb Kralick Ford dealership. The extra help enabled them to race over 150 dates in 1949.

The first few winters Frank and Spud stayed with Frank's folks, in later winters they got an apartment together.

In May 1950 Frank found Mel Austin pumping gas and invited him to go racing and changed the direction of Mel's life.

So that Frank could get some time with Vivian Kralick away from her parents a trip to Daytona Beach in February 1951 with Carnie and Mel as 'chaperones'. That became an annual trip, with a different fourth person other years.

By the end of the 1954 season he was getting tired of being on the road all summer. Vivian being pregnant made the decision to sell the MMSA cars easier. Frank used his share of the sale to buy part of the Ford dealership and it was eventually renamed 'Frank Blixter Ford'^BR2-15

Frank and Vivian had two children: Kathy born in 1955 and Herb in 1956.^BR2-15

He gave Mel Austin all the old MMSA spares in order to clear out his uncle's barn, only asking for the dealership to be named on a restored car.^BR2-17

Frank bought five years of advertising on the board fence at $2000 a year, paid up front, to enable Mel Austin to fix up the old Bradford Speedway.^BR2-22 He was also one of the MMSA crew who turned out to help Mal Austin clean the place up.^BR2-23

When Mel and Arlene opened the new track it was Frank's idea that they race the two restored/replica MMSA cars as the first event.^BR2-27