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

I looked around and found some football picks with the same or similar score board.(from Gilmore) Wife was telling that she read that the set of that dancing with the stars show is on that location today. Mentioned some haunting rumor going around about the dancing accidents...blaming the former racing site and spirits of disgruntled drivers.. I think more likely tripping on egos or fighting over the mirrors.
I read about a huge crowd attending weekly shows. way more than todays racing draws. I guess racing had less to compete with then.

 

I hope the spirits of old racers haunt the sets of all those stupid ass "reality" shows. Actually, in the late 40s before TV became wide spread, midget racing was kinda the reality show of the day. Crowds of 50,000+ weren't uncommon at places like the L.A. coliseum and Soldiers Field for a midget race back then.

http://www.auto-history.tv/filmarchive/racing/TQ95NH4B/

 

Thanks for the history lesson. Once again the HAMB tells the whole story. It is like a living history museum. GREAT!!! Slim

 

Racing has hurt itself with the 'one shape fits' all mentality. Going back and truly finding the real elements that made us watch, save the pictures, retell the stories, and come here 30 years later---Putting those elements to work in todays arenas is doable. Cages are here to stay, need to accept that. But, do 90% of the cars out there need to look like each other?

 

There are a lot of other elements that need to be worked on too, but now they need to go in the right direction.

 

As a 35+ year subscriber to NSSN, Chris E. has written many times on the decline of midget racing after the boom of the late 40s. Primarily he attributes it to the sameness of the cars; virtually all KKs with Offy power etc. add to that the diversity of the, then, new hardtop/jalopy racing and the explosion of TV. What goes around comes around sometimes.

 

hi new guy here, im pretty young and gotta say that i really respect all you guys who were there and helped build the sport. i think a lot of younger people think they know it all. we dont know when to be quite and listen. i would have loved to seen aj, and pj douling it out. anyway love the stories and this thread. any of you guys raced at kokomo, gas city, wincheter, eldora. some of my favorite tracks.

 

Post #777! Yee-haw, good luck. I have a huge superstition with this number, so keep in mind that from now on I'll only be interested in "editing and updating" all of my old posts so's I can keep my post number right here. lol...................kinda







Welcome Colin!

 

Better run out and buy up some Lotto tickets!

 

Yes, part of the movie was filmed @ Gilmore Stadium which is today the site of CBS TV. GMP did make a replica of the scoreboard which can be found @ some diecast race car shows. ml9.

 

A couple of pics of the Ariz. State Fairgrounds 1955.
The first pic appears to be the pace lap/start with #65 Jimmy Reece on the pole, #16 (?) Johnny Tolan outside and alone in 3rd may be (?) Jack McGrath, who would be starting his last race, as about 85 laps later, his front axle would break causing him to crash to his death.
The 2nd pic shows Reece, with (?)#10 Bob Vieth and possibly (?) #55 Tony B. last in the pic.

ADDED---- J. Tolan-- getting ready- Phoenix 1955

 

The first pics i have ever seen of the Phoenix dirt mile. I would love to see more pics of any of the old dirt miles, and close up action shots of racing at these places. My favorites are Phoenix, Denver, San Jose, Detroit, and Del Mar.
If anyone has any, could you please post them?
Thanks

 

Yeah, what he said! I want more too.

 

The young Mickey Rooney on the poster very much resembles the young Greg Weld.

 

Couple more Phoenix:
1958 start, Rex Easton-pole- #9 Jud Larson-#3 Red Amick-#5 Tony B.

1963- B. Unser #31- B. Tinglestead #27- Sonny Helms.

 

The last race held at the Del Mar Fair Speedway, until the 1990s, was Nov. 1949. Which will probably be forever linked to the death of Rex Mays on lap 14:

 

Greg Weld was taller

 

"Greg Weld was taller "

So are most fire plugs.

 

Rootie-
Thanks very much for posting these great photos. There is almost no old photos of the miles out there.

 

thanks for the old photos of the fair grounds race track. The grtandstands are still standing. Big track is gone, but they do have demo derby during the fair...

 

Thought I might share some pictures of a beautiful midget a friend of mine built and also a picture of Jeff Gordon @ age 13 at the Hanford Ca. Speedway. They wouldn't let him race this night but let him run some hot laps. He was running as good as or better times than the hot shoes. The fellows name with the midget is Leroy Sabbatini, he has about 100 vintage tether cars also. Also a v/8 60 midget just as nice as the offy. He is located in Fresno,ca.
Gary

 

Welcome Colin, Eldora is the first place I drove a sprint car Winchester was the second

 

'Anytime you guys want to talk about the Arizona State Fairgrounds is fine with me. But Spike! If you liked San Jose and Del Mar, certainly you would have loved Sacramento? A lot of those old dirt miles had so much personality and provided some of the best racing ever.

 

Check this site out. Lots of Midget photos and a little blurb about the car in the Abott and Costello movie mentioned earlier.

http://www.landyscott.com/photos.html

HG

 

A few from Sacto:
1955-#6 Sweikert-#78 Amick
1956-#15 Boyd in the Bowes rdstr. #44 Eliasan
1966- #4 Branson- #98 Dick Atkins
1961- Templeman pole-#2 Ward
1958- J. Thompson #7- Rutt #67

 

Rootie, I second the thanks for the Phoenix pics U posted, very much appreciated.

On another note, do you or anybody else know of anyone who would have a pic of the Seymour & Deakin sprinter # 25 driven by Red Riegel in '66. The only pics I have found were in Racing Pict. showing Dave Lundy's flip in Ohio. There are a lot of the car in Weinberger colors but none of the car as of '66. Also, the car does not show up in the USAC owners pts in '67. Does anyone know if Seymour sold the car & whatever. Any info would be appreciated. ml9.

 

My thinking for the lessening of midget races! Darn things go to fast!

Balboa stadium used to run midgets in 1940 with the times of about 18-22 seconds for the quarter mile! In 1946 they were at about 12-14 seccond,

Ok,now they are running the 1/2 mile in about those time.

cars go by too fast to really see the cars, and hard to see what the drivers are doing! And, to be frank, it looks too darn dangerous!

People like excitement, but they don't like people getting hurt, and I suppose that it is much more tense for the public than it used to be.

Take a look at those old midget racers and see how slow they are really going , compared to today. the more speed the less visablity of the what the drivers are doing.

Hey, I could be wrong, but there really is not much entertainment is seeing a open wheeler going by so fast you can't even read the number.

Because of the speed of the cars the race times are a lot shorter.

So, you see a lot of different types of cars at the tracks, you might have 5 difference classes of racing, where in the midget area you had one class, in about a 2 hour show.





shoot me down , folks, shoot me down

 

Amen to that I for one don't like all the support classes.If I go to see the sprint's I want to see sprint's an ditto for the midget's.

 

Track operators (not promoters cause their aren't any anymore) don't think about putting people in the grandstands anymore, they worry more about the back gate, thats why their are so many classes, not making enough money? lets add a shit stock class, a modified class, a road runner class etc etc etc.