To Joe:

A wise old war veteran once intoned, “All gave some, but some gave all.” We who have soldiered on the sweltering track, who have smoked rubber at the screaming contact patch and who have struggled mightily against the wrenching g forces at the tiller; we know that Joe Wozney gave his all to the motor sports programs of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America. Every volunteer and every contender has helped burnish the luster of the silver star in the arena of wheel to wheel competition. But it was Joe Wozney who put it all together. Joe drew up the autocross grid. Joe painstakingly sorted the time trial classes for fairness and for sport. He was on the tower flag a waving; at the computer keyboard performing a stocatto sonata of calculation. Into the night he labored and was ever cheerily present by track side at dawn’s early light.

The first time I drove in a Cosworth Mercedes was as a passenger on the track at Summit Point and Joe Wozney was behind the wheel. Joe was a master of everything which he did and he had no equal in the twisty bits. He worked the close ratio ZF manual tranny so deftly as to have just the right torque available for every part of the track. Using technique which I understand he had learned in the Porsche Club he exploited every inch of tarmac so as to achieve absolutely blistering lap times. Joe never did anything by half.

Despite his unequaled talents as a competitor in the Mercedes-Benz Club of America we will always remember Joe for the invaluable help which he provided to other members and to our gallant company of starpeople as a whole. Joe Wozney, with the indefatigable assistance of Bobbie and a tiny cadre of stalwarts, nurtured and maintained our Club’s driving events. For more than two decades every time that a Mercedes driver enhanced the reputation of the silver star in competition on this side of the Atlantic Joe’s critical input was there, front and center. So great was Joe Wozney’s dedication to our motor sports programs that he ultimately had little time to compete himself, finding his satisfaction in mentoring others and organizing flawlessly conceived events. Autocross, time trials, acceleration runs and drivers education programs in the Mercedes community will ever bear his imprimatur.

Joe served with distinction on the MBCA national board of directors. Here also I had the pleasure of observing his unmatched skills first hand. He was our national vice president during a critical time in our Club’s existence, when our president was frail and ill. Joe chaired the board with the éclat of a seasoned parliamentarian and spoke on critical issues with verve and eloquence. During a pivotal time in the history of the Mercedes Club Joe and a dedicated group of colleagues preserved the heart and soul of our organization. We who enjoy the perquisites of membership in our great and historic club today owe a debt of gratitude to Joe and his trusty associates.

By training Joe was a mathematician and a manager. By character he was a leader and a teacher. His dedication to helping others no doubt had its genesis in his education by the Vincentian Fathers at Saint John’s University. His qualities as a leader were surely shaped by his experience as a naval officer.

Every time I get behind the wheel of one of my starships I am mindful of the glorious heritage of the marque. And personally I have a lifetime of memories associated with the silver star. When I am driving alone down a country road at twilight I sometimes have a sense of unseen passengers aboard. I feel the warm presence of relatives and dear friends who have long journeyed across Jordan. Now I know that I will have a new friendly spirit on board who will help me to get my shifting points right and to mind the apexes in the tight curves.

John Kuhn Bleimaier

December 2009