Denise Kimes-Stoltzfus

Denise Kimes-Stoltzfus joined TDC in January 2010 and has recently accepted the position of Membership Coordinator.  She has lived her entire life in the Coatesville Area where she graduated from Coatesville High School.  She lives in the Honeybrook area and is a divorced mother of three, Michael, Matthew, and Nicole.

At age 16, with learners permit in hand and anxious to hit the road, she scared the "you know what" out of her mother in a 1968 Camaro.   At the time, it wasn't a "Muscle Car" it was the "family car".   (Keep in mind, mother Doris never had the car over 35 mph and Denise hit that in first gear pulling out of the driveway her first time!).  Back in the day, on Friday nights she and the others would cruise thru downtown Coatesville like they were on "the strip" and hang out at the A&P Parking lot and in front of the school until the police chased them away.  Denise also became interested in motorcycles while working as a bookkeeper at a motorcycle shop. 

Denise's next "toy" was a 1972 Triumph TR6, a two seater, convertible.  For a few years, she had both the Camaro and the TR6.  Then in 1975, she purchased her first brand new car, a 1975 Monte Carlo.  Next was a T-top Grand Prix.  Then, after spending enough money on cars, she decided to invest in Real Estate and "settle down".  Next came marriage with children, so went the cars and motorcycles.  The next vehicle was a 1983 GMC Jimmy four wheel drive.  And as the number of children increased, Denise needed yet a bigger vehicle so, much to her husbands dismay, she brought home a brand new 1988 Suburban.  Plenty of room for EVERYTHING! 

As the children grew, so did the desire to get back into cars.  Denise had married a "motor head" and they both enjoyed the cars.  So, in 1996, they purchased a 1968 Chevelle.  The car was tubbed out and had a roll cage.   Nice car, but one slight problem; no back seat for the kids.  Well, hubby isn't cruising around town without wifey and kiddies, so Maple Grove Raceway, here we come!  We used the Suburban as the tow vehicle, packed up the kids, the cooler, and the race car almost every weekend to drag race.   Yes, we were the epitome of the motor head drag racing family.  The kid's vocabulary in elementary school consisted of words like reaction time, tire pressure, dial and burnout.  We had greasy French fry fingerprints all over the back bumper of the car as the kids pushed it down the staging lanes.  All three children grew up with a love for cars just like their Mom and Dad.   At age 16, the boys were driving down the quarter mile.  In high school, Mike and Matt rallied classmates and for the first time, Twin Valley won the High School Challenge.  Nicole began racing last summer.  (Denise plans to run the quarter mile this summer; says something about it being on the bucket list).

The children are grown and all have their own cars now.  Her oldest son Michael, age 23, purchased a 1967 Chevelle which he is in the process of restoring.  The car still has the original 283, but he swapped the power glide transmission for a Muncie m20 4 speed, new quarters, trunk, radiator, hooker headers, etc.   The 67 has the "special" dealer option car alarm which includes a tumbler in the driver side quarter panel next to the fender tag to activate it.  Michael graduated from Penn State with his degree in secondary education, but he continues working at Maple Grove in the summer and has won several trophies racing.  His greatest accomplishment was winning the Ford Nationals in 2006, (two first place titles, Street and Super, in the same day) in a stock Ford Taurus station wagon.  Michael was undefeated the entire day and had a perfect .000 reaction time in final round of Super. 

Matthew, age 22, made his hobby his career.  He graduated from Thaddeus Stevens Technical School in Lancaster (thanks to their scholarship program) and is working as an auto mechanic at M & M Garage in Bowmansville. He was given the 1972 Z-28 Camaro that his parents drove while dating and is in the process of restoring it.    He also is rebuilding/restoring a Mercury Capri to drag race. 

Nicole, age 18, is following in the footsteps of both her grandmothers and aspires to do hair and makeup. She presently attends Pulse Beauty Academy and West Chester University.  Years ago, she wanted a Corvette but has since changed her mind and now she wants a DeLorean DMC-12 (probably so she can travel in time and get away from her mother!)   But for now, she's the proud owner of a 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse which she wants to restore/rebuild with her brother's help (although Michael did buy her "auto repairs for dummies" book for Christmas).  Nikki doesn't mind getting her hands dirty under the hood.  She does her own oil changes and can't wait to get started on that hearse.

As for Mr. Motor Head, well let's just say he had a mid-life crisis.  Many men purchase cars or motorcycles when that phase of their life hits, but since he already had the cars, he went off in search of greener pastures on the other side of the fence.  Denise gave him back "his life", but she kept the 69 Chevelle!  (Says she got the better deal!).  Denise is looking forward to meeting new people, making new friends, and help our club grow within the community.