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| Winnings from oval and drag racing earned by John Kovatch IV, of KME Fire Apparatus, are donated to the NFFF. Shown are two of Kovatch’s dragsters and one of his oval racers. (Photo courtesy of KME Fire Apparatus.) |
John Kovatch IV believes in supporting firefighters and their families and achieves that goal by building a not-so-typical piece of apparatus.
Kovatch, the director of business development for KME Fire Apparatus, builds race cars in his off hours—both drag racers and oval race cars—and donates all his winnings from organized races to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). KME Fire Apparatus makes a matching contribution to Kovatch’s donation.
Earlier this year, Kovatch and KME presented the NFFF with a check for $11,000.
“Racing became a hobby for me because my dad was a drag racer, which is how I got involved,” Kovatch says. “Until 2009, I was only doing drag racing but then tried oval racing for the first time at Big Diamond Speedway in Minersville, Pennsylvania, a 3⁄8-mile dirt oval.”
Kovatch enjoyed oval racing so much that he decided it was where he wanted to put his racing energies. He also decided that his winnings would go to the NFFF and convinced KME to match any money he donated.
His first full year of oval racing was 2010, and although Kovatch placed high in several races, it wasn’t until his 13th race of the season that he crossed the finish line first.
“A field of 24 cars was in that feature race, and the winner got $600,” Kovatch points out. “But you can win money for placing high in the finish, too.”
Kovatch’s race car is a modified sportsman class vehicle with a custom-built racing frame, a sheet metal body, and a 350-hp Chevy engine. By fine-tuning the engine, Kovatch and his mechanics can get the output up to 358 hp.
At Big Diamond Speedway, racers run in 10-lap heats to get placed in the 20-lap feature race. Heat races have up to a dozen cars in them, and the feature race has two dozen.
The racing effort is made possible by the collaboration of a number of Kovatch’s friends, including the assistant chief of a local volunteer fire department, a business owner, and some KME employees who work on the race cars at night and come to the races to serve as mechanics and crew members.
Kovatch estimates it takes between 40 and 60 man hours to work on the race car’s body, chassis, and engine to get it ready for a race.
“We maintain our own engines, and while we have a professional engine builder make it for us, we do the full maintenance on the motor from week to week,” he says.
And because “we trade a bit of paint more often than not in a race,” Kovatch says, his team usually needs to work on the body after a race. A speed shop cuts and shapes the sheet metal for them, and the team installs it on the car.
“After a race, we disassemble the entire car, clean it, then rebuild it,” Kovatch says. “That happens pretty much every week.”
Kovatch notes that he grew up in the vehicle industry.
“My family owns not only KME but also a Ford auto dealership and a used car dealership, so it’s in my blood to be a motor head,” he says.
Cathy Hedrick, corporate relations specialist for the NFFF, says the group was surprised to receive the Kovatch-KME donation at the beginning of this year.
“It’s exciting that John and KME are giving back to the fire service by promoting our Everyone Goes Home program,” Hedrick says. “They carry our logo on their race cars very proudly, and it is prominently displayed so people see it when he races.”
Hedrick continues, “It’s heartwarming to see a corporation, through John, give such support to the fire service. It sends a message to other corporations that there are many ways to give back to the fire service and support the families of fallen firefighters.”
The NFFF is a nonprofit foundation whose entire budget comes from private and corporate donations, as well as federal, state, and private foundation grants.
Besides KME, companies in the fire industry supporting Kovatch’s racing efforts include Fire Research Corp., PPG Industries, Hale Products, Waterous, Akron Brass, Code 3, W.S. Darley & Co., Allison Transmissions, Keystone MidAtlantic, Ramcocas Metals, H.O. Bostrom, Xode, and International Trucks. Pennsylvania businesses include Jack Rich Oils, General Vending, A&W Plumbing and Heating, Radocha Excavating, and GME Steering.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based freelance writer. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
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