At 87, Earl Seiler returned to the track he helped build and took one last lap — this time on foot, hand-in-hand with his daughter.

The Aleppo resident and his daughter, Nancy Patterson of Edgeworth, walked from the starting line to the finish at Pittsburgh International Race Complex at the end of October.

Along the way, Seiler reminisced about the original BeaveRun Motorsports Complex he helped bring to life. The facility later became Pittsburgh International Race Complex, known as Pitt Race, in Wampum, Beaver County.

The track closed in November, and the site’s future remains uncertain.

“It was miraculous that we were able to go from trees to a racetrack in roughly six months,” said Seiler, who was one of the first to drive the course in June 2002.

After some financial challenges with the original ownership, Jim and Kathy Stout of Ohio purchased the track in 2011. The couple declined an interview with the Sewickley Herald but posted a letter on Pitt Race’s website:

“When we purchased the BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in 2011, our goal was to take the struggling racetrack headed toward bankruptcy and transform it into a world-class facility for all things motorsports — the Pittsburgh International Race Complex (known as Pitt Race).

It was an investment for sure, with many risks and challenges ahead of us, but it was much more than that…

As motorsports enthusiasts ourselves, we wanted to share our passion with others and provide the ultimate customer experience which included reimagining, expanding, and beautifying the property.

When we reflect upon all Pitt Race has meant over the years, it wasn’t only about racing; it was about the friendships, memories, and community that grew around it.

And our accomplishments as owners were never ours alone. They were made possible by the hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication of so many — from our incredible staff to our dedicated sponsors and vendors. Together, we built something that reached far beyond the track itself, leaving a lasting mark on everyone involved.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who helped make Pitt Race possible. Just like the memories you created with us, we’ll never forget you.”

Seiler won’t forget those memories either. Sitting at his dining room table, he looked over a drone image of the track — an endeavor that became his focus after retiring in January 2001 from a career in engineering and computers at Union Switch & Signal.

He first learned about the racetrack through the Allegheny Region Porsche Club of America. With nothing like it in the area at the time, the possibility of such a facility nearby captivated him. He soon became the construction manager, coordinating the automation of the initial excavation. Work began in December 2001, and by June 2002, the track was ready. After the Stouts purchased the property, the course was lengthened. Seiler’s wife, Judi, contributed too, sewing the various checkered and caution flags used during races.

“Jim and Kathy cared about every detail,” Earl Seiler said. “If they spotted a candy wrapper on the ground, they would pick it up. They insisted on having the cleanest restrooms.”

In the beginning, car clubs were the primary users of the track. Over time, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix and MotoAmerica began hosting races there, Uber tested autonomous vehicles, and visitors could book ride-alongs in exotic cars or drive them with an instructor.

Seiler, Patterson and her husband, George, became trained high-performance driving instructors. The family—Earl and Judi Seiler, Nancy and George Patterson, and their daughter Kate—attended The Last Lap farewell event Nov. 1. The 408-acre complex hosted a car show, kart rentals, and final rides around the track.

“There were so many other car enthusiasts there,” said George Patterson, who added that the facility should have an “Earl Lane” in honor of his father-in-law.

Seiler does keep one meaningful memento: a steel coyote figure. After discovering a coyote den on the property, he set up a trail camera and labeled the area Coyote Gulch. Jim Stout later turned two of the captured images into steel art.

“I can see it from my office window,” said Seiler, whose replica of a 1964 Porsche 904 was purchased for the movie “Ford v Ferrari.” “A little bit of the track lives here.”

Others feel that sense of loss as well.

“Going to Pitt Race was an experience and I made so many friendships that intertwined with the business part of my life,” said Duane Smith of Sewickley, the service manager at Sewickley Porsche. “We are extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to have Pitt Race. It was truly a community. It was a step above the rest of the racetracks.”

The closure, said Paul Pigman of Sewickley, a former chief driving instructor for the Allegheny Region Porsche Club of America, will affect many people.

“We are grateful to Jim and Kathy, who made Pitt Race one of the finest facilities,” Pigman said. “It wasn’t just a track. It was a passion for so many. It brought people together.”

Pigman compared high-speed driving to a dance — smooth, fast and requiring intense focus and trust, especially when sharing the car or the track with others.

For Nancy Patterson, the memories of the track live in every detail her father recalled: the location of each tree, the temporary trailers and the long hours spent working with borough officials and the track’s designer. She remembered the day he cleared part of the future course with a machete, accidentally slicing his left thigh. Alone and without cell service, he improvised a tourniquet out of toilet paper and surveyor’s tape before driving himself to a hospital in Monroeville — one of the few places he knew how to reach.

Patterson also remembered her dad’s first lap in a green Nissan Pathfinder.

“They were all hanging out the windows and doors as we all cheered as they crested the hill,” she said.

After their October walk around the track, father and daughter returned to the car for one last slow drive.

“We followed the line he so carefully laid out all of those years ago,” she said. “We stopped to have a final photo in front of the Pitt Race sign at the entrance of the track. Although we knew we would be back the following weekend for our final goodbye, this would be my last opportunity to see the track up close and personal. Those few hours on the track are something that I will remember forever. We ended our lap at the winners’ circle and I was so proud to be with the biggest winner — my dad.”

The place her father helped bring to life, where cars once reached 145 miles per hour on the straightaway, roaring with energy, now sits silent.

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