Features VINTAGE SPRINT CAR PIC THREAD, 1965 and older only please.

I said it before and I`ll say it again-Best thread ever!!!

 

Josh, when I worked at the IMS museum the Bellanger car was one of my two favorites, I sat in it every day when I worked there.

 

Damn you! Whats was your other favorite?

 

Josh those are some great pic's thank the Bowles family for sharing...Anybody heading to Lawrenceburg for the first race?????I'm gonna try like hell to make it, curious to see how the new configuration is going to work out.....Ryan

 

Funny you should say that..

The Burg wont be ready for about a month and a half. They have already cancelled the first three weeks, including the USAC show.
Twin cities picked up all three weeks and Gas City took the USAC date, so I'll be traveling.. You should too, sprinters at twin cities is a hell of a show, and USAC is USAC!

As for the new configuration.. Its not the Burg anymore.

The redneck Latemodel guys will be happy.. I can here them now.. "De dun built Tally Dega fer us!"

You know the only thing Late models are good for?
They keep the hillbillys out of the sprint cars!


Here was the Burg the way REAL racers loved it.. old wooden seat covered grandstands, No wall, and one of the last good Bullrings.







Her she is now...














Im all for improvements.. But this was not. The only thing they did as far as an improvement was they built a NICE entrance shack! That was actually needed.




There just wasn't any reason to do this. Your not gonna get any more cars from other tracks.. They say they want big TV shows, Yeah thats great for the Weekly racer. TV has done wonders for nascar... They are all the same and its more of a soap opera than anything.

And contrary to what many believe... Its gonna be a huggy pole bottom feeder race track now. You don't drive up hill to turn, and its very tight.. Paper clip tight.

BUT.. I'LL STILL GO.. and the bottom line is, Its SPRINT CARS! You could turn ten sprinters loose in a hay field and its gonna be a good show!!

 

Let me know if and when you go to Twin Cities, it's been a few since i was there but would love to go again, I'm ready... Look's like Lawrenceburg should just stock that thing and make it a pay lake.......but like you said I will still go also.. But hell yhea I'm ready for a trek to twin cities give me a shout...

 

Found some more.

 

The great thing about the old burg was it was a place to learn. YOU COULD ROLL OF THE TOP OF THE TRACK AT ANY POINT TO AVOID ANY INCIDENTS AND BE OUT OF HARM"S WAY . SO THEY LANGTHEN IT TO A 3/8 AND RUN THE LOW BUCK TEAMS OUT AND THEN THE PUT A GODDAM WALL ALL THE WAY AROUD THE JOINT . FUCKIT IM DONE !!! PAVE THAT BITCH AND RUN CABS OR STOCK THAT FUCKER WITH BASS .. THANKS DAVE RUDISELL FOR THE DEATH OF THE LEGENDARY LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY MIKE WHITNEY

 

Those burg pics make me really sad, my day is done now. Is anybody going to Eldora this weekend for the USAC opener? Depending on temperature I am going to go.

 

Yeah, we'll be there. Dad and I always make that show. When we were racing, That was the only show we would get to go to and just watch. It is always special.. The one time I had a ride for that show in a mod WE GOT SNOWED OUT!! I was really pissed caused IT WAS A GOOD RIDE!!

Speaking of Eldora.. Check out the Wooden wall.. My favorite place to stand. Damn, theres a lot of history at that place. and check out the Injector balls in the guys hand! Very cool.


Joshua Shaw

 

It was yellow you will have to guess.

 

I'm going to bed c ya!

 

I've been for the King's Royal and crewed on a few late model's at World 100's (all about 20 years ago, damn I'm getting old), but never been for any regular show's. It's been to long I need to make the trek back there.. We ran down to Florida during Speed Week's a few times there were some pretty killer track' in Central Florida, lots of bullring's. It's one hell of a way to spend a Febuary, racing most every night or the week, that was way back in B.C. (before children).

 

Any photos out there of the "City of Roses Special"? Hector Honore's sprinter before the famed Black Deuce. I'm not sure who drove it, but I know it wasn't Pete Folse. Pete jumped in the Deuce after Bobby Grim left Honore.

PK

 

1956 Reading PA

 

It was talked about early in this post a bit, But I'm not sure if any pics surfaced..

But here's one that came out of a private Album here in Cincy a guy gave me. Theres that Hand painted logo... and this picture was taken at the Great "Jungle Park".

 

That could be "The City of Roses" Spl on the Outside of row two here as well.. This picture came from the same collection. Yeah.. Look at the "design" on the top of the hood.. Kinda a reverse scallop.

 

Hey Al, What's that little tidbit on the bottom of the picture poster about the USAC Eastern Stock Block Champion???? I never heard of the USAC Eastern Stock Block Championship. Any info on that???? ........ great car!

 

Here's a good one for all you vintage Indy guys to get your Nascar "buddy's" on.

Next time your stuck at Family or work "get together" and your cornered by some Idiot talking Nascaw.. Ask him this "loaded" Trivia question:

What year did the MOST BEAUTIFUL race cars race at Daytona Speedway?

...while they stumble about thinking of the "Winged Petty years" and the big body 60's, tell them it was:

APRIL 1959... and they weren't STOCK CARS!


From left to right: Dick Rathman, Jim Rathman, Rodger Ward, Dempsey Wilson, Elmer George and Bob Christie fill the first three rows at DAYTONA! (check out the two "upright" cars in the fourth row!!)


USAC went to Daytona a month before Indy and Ran ONE race. It didn't go well.. Just two months before, Marshall Teague was killed trying to set a world speed record at Daytona, in an old 1955 Indy car with Wheel covers and a canopy. Then, Jerry Unser was given a chance to wring out the new leader card dirt car on the big oval!?!
well, He spun it, and although he didn't hit anything, Slidding across the base of the track and Slaming into the "banked" part, "bent the shit out of her" according to AJ Watson. Dick Rathman set the pole for the Event with a speed of 173.210. His older brother Jim Rathman Dominated the race and won. BUT, on the last lap, "Little George" Amick, who had turned the overall fastest lap of 176.887 in the second round of qualifying, lost control of the new Bowes Seal Fast car and Started flipping Violently. He flipped for 2,200 feet. (almost half a mile) He died instantly... After that day, the Indy cars would never return to the High banks.

 

I GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS.. See the car leading. Looks like Hillegass car. The "Dear Lake In" car is a Hillegas car.. The Doc Bowles Offy #19 a page back is a Hillegass car...
ALL OF THEM HAVE AN "O" in the front nerf bar.. WHY?

Most builder/owners did this cause of there name.. Aggy always had an "A", Hoffmans have an "H", and so on..

Where is the "O" in Hiram H. Hillegass? It didn't stand for "Offy" cause the Deer Lake car is a Flatty..

Anyone know whats up?


GREAT PICTURE BY THE WAY! Check out the guys turning there back cause of the dirt spray!! YES!!

 

Here's a picture of that Sumar Special (now restored). Funny thing is I've been reading Smokey Yunick's book for the last couple of weeks and he talks in detail about Marshal Teagues accident in that car. (He spoke to Marshal just hours before and told him not to try it)




Phil

 

I wondered about that myself when I read it. I had never heard of it before either. It was nice for me to see the car again after almost 50 years.

 

I am relatively new to this website, and I must say it's been absolutely great, but it will take me weeks to catch up and read through all the posts. I can only go through a few at a time and then I get sensory overload.

I have a suggestion to make things little more manageable. Keep your photo posts to a maximum of 800 pixels wide. This is plenty big enough to see the photos clearly and won't take as long to load the pages. Some have been posting with thumbnail links, and that helps a great deal and is even better.

Also, when you reply and quote another post, delete the picture link from the quote. This will prevent the photo from showing up in the reply and having the same pictures showing multiple times in all the posts.

Thanks everybody and keep 'em coming, but not too fast or I'll never catch up.

 

Hey thanks for the City of Roses Spl. pics... I did some research on my own and discovered a number of drivers for the car including Harold Shaw, Cliff Griffith, and Travis "Spider" Webb to name a few.

PK

 

All of Hector's cars carried that name as his hometown of Pana IL was called the City of Roses. The first sprint car was white with black and Bobby Grim started in that car with him. The car chaged to the Bardahl Special and the solid black around 1951. Around 1953 Hector had Hiram Hillegas build the final sprint car that carred the Bardahl sponsorship until he retired and sold the car.

 

I'm not sure who drove for Hector early on but Bobby Grim was about 1951 until he went to USAC around 1958 and then Pete took over. In the early 60's the writing was on the wall and Hector switched to Chevys. That and the influx of asphalt tracks into IMCA'a schedule led to it's gradual fading and Pete left around 1964. A series of racers drove the car after Pete & Hector parted ways

 

Another of Jud at Reading, I believe taken by Kenny Cole.

 

That's why both Jud & Ken are in the Hall of Fame. I think Jud is actually spinning out in the one I put up. The Pfrommer car was my all time favorite sprint car.

 

The Antique Auto Museum in Hershey PA had a pretty nice race car display there last fall.