Same car as above ,a little worse for wear after trading paint. This is at Beech Bend Park. Bowling Green Ky. I won this night. The tennessee boys were there from Nashville. James Climer was there also Kenny Reiter with the K and K Insurance Dodge. Got another picture of it when I find it.
This is the back stretch at Ascot Park, Gardena California. I drove the Merc for Walter Smith and Bill Fry after Walter quit driving because of his eyes. Ran best of second at Ascot but won Oval and figure eight races at San Gabriel ans Saugus Speedways. The first figure eight race I won at Saugus the oval was paved and the X was watered dirt. I won a race at San Gabriel one night when they let the coupes run with us on the quarter mile because it was so hot the big tires got gooey and glazed over. They were still running the modified coupes then. Check out the California Jalopy Association web sight for pictures.
My late model at the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway the year before they went to the stupid cast iron intake and exhaust rule which didn't last. The next year I ran at Brownstown Indiana and Cambellsville Ky. Fats Coffee was running a Chevelle and then a Monte Carlo. He was the man to beat in southern Ky. then.
This is at Brownstown Speedway Ind. Don Hobbs the Petro brothers (Gene, Russ and another I think his name was Don) John Gill, Johmmy mull and the Asburys and a ton of others. Was some hard racing. I also ran this car at Cambellsville Ky.
Enjoyed the photos, especially the Fairlanes, we ran a Fairlane back in '68-'69 and they sure made pretty race cars.
I have more to post but have to stop for now. I also have Nascar from california and Daytona when we were there with the ARCA car but have to lacate them. they are buried in the basement
Gerald turned this car upside down on the front stretch and ground the roof off. He went back to dirt and I don't think he ever ran asphalt again. Gerald and I were friends. He his shop was in Sellersburg Ind. and he did a lot of my head work. He once told me that no rules were the best rules. And I figured out he was right. Allstarracing.
I saw pictures of this track at a friends house while I was in California. They used to run open wheel cars there. He had pictures of sweikert and I think Rathman and mayby Boyd. We were amazed at the one lane banking. Open wheels there was very dangerous. Wasn't a driver named "Pops" Malone killed there?Allstarracing
Looks like a custom or custom 300 sedan. Had shorter wheelbase than the 500 series. The fairlane 500 sedans were the same as the hardtops as they were hardtops with post trim pieces added to the top and window surrounds added to the doors. You could unbolt and remove them and have a hardtop. The custom series had one piece stamped doors and quarter panels. 57's and 58's were this way. 59's went to formal roof Galaxies seprate Fairlanes and the custom series. all three had distinctivly different roof styles. Allstarracing
I think Allisons win was in a 65 Chevelle and was with a 327. I think he blew an engine on the Northern tour and went to a local dealership there and they helped him with an engine. The reason he ran so good on the short tracks was NASCAR rules stated 9lbs. per cubic inch at that time. He was runnig so much lighter than the big blocks. Like 900 lbs. Big difference on a short track. Thats why I ran a Boss 302 from Vels/Parnelli Jones in my NASCAR sportsman. Allstarracing
I lettered some of Andy's cars while he was still with Del Barker in the Ashland Station at 7th and Broadway Louisville Ky. I also rented part of a garage with his dad "Pappy", brothers Don and carl and brother-in-law rubel off of 32nd and Greenwood when I first started racing. Allstarracing
Johhy Potts Is that you Indybigjohn? I had heard you had passed away. I am glad its not so. This is big Dan Wright the Pink Panther. I have got more pictures to post and more to dig out that you will remember. Some more Dennis Caves etc. for all to enjoy.
I was at Salem as crew chief for Dennis Caves when Sommerville put the Laguna over the back stretch wall and in the trees along the golf course. He had to climb down because the car was off the ground about 6 feet or so. I think Indybigjohn was flagging that race. Allstarracing
Yea the tops were 61 tops and Ford actually went as far as to put out advertisement for this as a removabile hardtop for the public. Check the Ford archives and you will find it. They were going to produce enough to satisfy NASCAR but NASCAR said the model year had allready been determined and Ford couldn't change it but in 63 they let Ford have the 63 1/2 Fastback be cause the notchbacks were slugs on the superspeedways that the competition was lopsided. One did show up at the Fairgrounds. I have an 8 mm movie of it outside of the pit entrance still with the 28 on it. Allstarracing
Whoowee Trickle could drink. Dennis Caves and I were at Winchester to run the Dri-power 400 and it snowed. We were camped in the parking lot with about 40 other teams and Trickle went to each camp or motorhome and had a drink or two or three. I din't see how he drove but you couldn't tell he had anything. A caution would come out and he would light up a cigarette.Allstarracing
I also went to the Crosley races at the fourth street armory. Andy Hampton seemed to be big there. I lettered one of the Crosley bodies for Reds auto service at fourth and oak next to the Knox theater and he put it on the roof of his shop for advertisement. I was 13 or 14 and was doing small sign painting and started hanging around Reds. A sign painter didn't show up to do the work so he asked me to do it. I then lettered his racecar. Thats how I started lettering racecars.Allstarracing
Johnny MacIntosh was the starter at the Sportsdrome Speedway Jeffersonville Ind. when my dad took me there for the first time in 1956.Allstarracing
A lot of these cars were reskinned with new fenders or quarter panels on the original cars.I think I have a picture of Wathens car and it is the same body. Richie Bisig ran a 62 Chevy that was a reskinned 61 with the original roof. There was a 61 Ford reskinned with 62 sheet metal and not the Factory 62 ford with the 61 roof because they kept the 61 front fenders. also there were some older chassis with later sheetmetal. I know Blackie Wangrine ran a 68 torino on a 57 ford chassis at Salem and several Chevelles on 57 Chevy chassis. The Capitol City Body Shop 73 Torino still had the 70 Torino roof. Looked a little funny to the racers but ARCA and the crowds didn't care. Darrel Waltrips 71 Mercury was the Mario Andretti 66 Fairlane and Marty Robbins 74 charger was the old Cotton Owens 66 Dodge. Cecil Gordons 69 Torino was on a 63 ford chassis. Look at the front wheel turning radius in the picture from Daytona. Its way out of wack.
I was tech for the mini cup cars at the Sportsdrome a few years ago and His Grand sons raced in the mini cupcars and were moving up to the Legends. The Webbs run the Admirals Amchor on River Road.
I was stationed at El Toro also 1969-1972 That was what I was in California for when I was racing NASCAR sportsman. I was a navigator on KC 130s in the third Marine air wing. Thats why I had so much spare time. I lived in Norwalk. Had off base housing privileges. It was Orange County and I was there several times. I was at the 71 and 72 Manufactures funny car championships. Semper Fi.
I ran against Ron Sr. at San Gabriel and Orange Show in California. He was running a 64 Failane at the time with the first 351 Windsor I ever saw raced and he gave the Chevys fits This was 1970 I think. John Yost and I were running a 63 Ford. Allstarracing
The no.33 T-Bird is Clem Procter at Riverside. He put the car over the turn nine wall one year. The car was sponsored by the Starlite Bar and Grill that year. The next year he blew the motor before Riverside and Bought the 406 out of my car. That is when I bought the Vels/Parnelli Jones Boss 302. It was the spare left after they sold the team. Floyd Johnson had a 57 Ford with Ron Esau driving and convinced me to buy it.Allstarracing
Denny miles went over the turn three wall at Salem and tore the body completely off of the chevelle he was driving
thanks for the info! I have a neat article in a popular hot rodding , or super chevy that shows a 1970 camaro, I think the mag is '76, that is re skinned onto a 57 chevy frame. I think you mentioned putting a chevelle on a 57 chev frame in an earlier post, was there something superior about the tri5 frame, or was it just because it was already set up, and the chevelle body was easier/cheaper to use. I have even noticed it in the modifieds, vegas and pintos on 37 chevy frames.. also, when they reskinned these cars, in the same year they were available , say a 62 getting reskinned with 64 sheet metal, did they just go to the dealer , and order the sheet metal, or did they have to buy a complete new car and cut it up?
VERY nice to see the pic of Bobby Wawak there...and from somebody else that lettered his car...as I did that for him from about 1983 until he retired when he lived in Midland NC!! You can tell the cars I did as all the numbers were "shaded" in that relflective gold stuff!! Funny, I just found out a couple days ago that Bobby had passed away...VERY sad to hear about that.
Most of the time the 57's were allready good racecars that handled well so they would just put later model sheetmetal on it. I know of a couple of cars that were built new using 57 frames. Some fords too using the 54 to 56 frames. I know that history likes to say the current NASCAR chassis morfed from 65 Fords but the suspension points go back to 54. Even though the frames and suspension pieces look different the suspendion mounting points are exactly the same. Also the 55-57 Chevy and 54-56 Ford frame handled sooo well. When they reskinned the cars to a newer year the would get replacement parts from the dealers. Thats why the real cars gurus would notice hmmm Those body lines are not quite right or that body style did not exist in that year or that is a 63 hood on a 64 but the Associations wanted or needed the car counts for a good show. Also the owners wanted to spend the least they could. A lot of the lobuck teams would get lightly wrecked parts from dealership body shops and straighted them. I know a lot of cars were built from burn outs. Danny Dean and myself built a 73 Torino ARCA car that was a 72 that had burned under the hood and the Insurance company totaled it. We got it from Jim O'neal ford in Sellersbug Ind.
I drove this 55 Chevy at the old Capitol City Speedway in Frankfort for Johnny and Bertha Hall of Louisville Ky.
Dennis Caves between turns three and four salem Ind. I crewed for him. We also ran this car at Winchester, Raceway Park(IRP), Ind. and Queen City(Tri-County) Cincinatti Ohio. I just recieved more of Dennis' Picture from his wife Pat and will post them soon. I have a picture of the car he went over the wall in turn three at Salem and knocked the front axle out of Dick Trickles car hauler.
The Jalopy Journal
