Oval trackers...stand up and be counted!

I know that the HAMB is more drag racing oriented, but there seem to be quite a few either past or present circle burners here. I know of a few: Bobby (K9Racer), Modifieddriver, Bill (rustynewyorker), etc, but how about the rest of you? I'd like to see pics of roundy rounders you have raced, and if you're still running in regular or vintage races? Also, if any of y'all belong to a vintage racing club, how about a link if possible? I'll be building a site devoted to our '32 Chevy Modified and also the '63 Galaxie I'll be building into a Late Model. So a links page to as many clubs as possible would be great...

Thanks, Jan

BTW, here's a pic of our Chevy plus my '63 Moredoor that we'll be racing with a link to the club: http://www.vintageamericanracecars.com/

 

Here I am winning a heat race at a little bullring in northern Minnesota. Raced the ovals for 25 years....all open wheel.

 

A lot of folks can put the pedal down and go straight, but they lack the courage to make a hard left with the pedal pressed all the way down. Gave up the straight runs years ago, perfer to go around in circles. I run, different class, with Modifieddriver in the National Vintage Racing Association. I have a 55 Chevy with a 250 six banger (Limited Sportsman) and a 56 Ford with a 406 FE (Late Model). Can't post pic's, for some reason this site thinks I'm a "foreign host" and won't let me post pic's. I guess Billy Bob was right when he told me I needed a passport to go outside of South Cackalacka.

 

I started circle track racing in '68 with two buddies. I started driving in '70..ran sportsman cars in the SE Wisconsin area 'till '72 when i switched to late models. Quit after '73....came back in the late 70's and ran until '83. I also raced IMCA modifieds in the 80's.

I got into race promoting and worked at a couple Wisconsin tracks...Capital Speedway (now Madison International), Slinger, 141...the had two of my own leased fairground dirt tracks before I quit in '88.

I met a lot of Cup drivers who were making personal appearances and running their own short track cars. I used to do the PR for these tracks and would arrange TV interviews with the visiting "hotshoes"....Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin (sponsored him for the second half of the '84 ASA season), Rusty Wallace, Neal Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jody Ridley and a few more.

had alot of fun....

 

I raced Midgets, Sprint cars and Champ Dirt cars for around 20 years. I was fifth in USAC National Midget points in 1990, I am also the last person to make a USAC race driving an Offy, and also the last person to start a feature driving for A.J. Watson, I know the last two don't mean much to most people but I am very proud of both of them.

 

You should be!

 

I know bigticket owned and drove a hot modified ,think it had an algon injected 427 ford i believe very competitive .

 

As you should be ! My only connection to A.J. Watson is we ate White Castles together after a Hoosierdome midget show back in the 80's....

 

Been around dirt track racing all my life, I havent drove in several years, owned a couple of cars, now i just sponsor a couple of cars. Two of my employees race. Racing is in my blood!!

Here is a WISSOTA late model that I wrench on

 

Offy AND AJ Watson....WOW!!!!

 

My family owned lawrenceburg speedway in Indiana during the 80's, been around open wheel since I was born.

That offy stat gave me goose bumps.

 

The G.O.T.R.A. site used to have great pics and links to some really neat old circle trackers. Good Old Time Racing Association. If you go to americanmemories.com, you can plug in racing, race tracks, autoist or motorist and see some really neat '20-'30's race cars and wooden tracks. Shoot, being scared to push on the pedal and hang a left ain't near as scary as doing it on a wooden race track like they did in the days of the speedsters.
Huey

QUOTE=Junkyard Jan]I know that the HAMB is more drag racing oriented, but there seem to be quite a few either past or present circle burners here. I know of a few: Bobby (K9Racer), Modifieddriver, Bill (rustynewyorker), etc, but how about the rest of you? I'd like to see pics of roundy rounders you have raced, and if you're still running in regular or vintage races? Also, if any of y'all belong to a vintage racing club, how about a link if possible? I'll be building a site devoted to our '32 Chevy Modified and also the '63 Galaxie I'll be building into a Late Model. So a links page to as many clubs as possible would be great...

Thanks, Jan

BTW, here's a pic of our Chevy plus my '63 Moredoor that we'll be racing with a link to the club: http://www.vintageamericanracecars.com/[/QUOTE]

 

I've got an '84 Gran Prix set up for what we call the "Factory Stock" class. It needs a motor right now . . . maybe next year. I also built a front wheel drive class Ford Probe for my son. It is a hoot. I know some guys around here that are in a vintage racing league. I want to get into that too but I have too many projects.

 

I was leading a USAC feature in 90 at "the burg" and flipped all the way to the pits, my neck is still messed up

 

could it have been 1988?
I won that year

 

dave you asshole, you are going to be the death of me! You do know Randys Street Stock is fresh and for sale cheap? How about a VAGABONDS team car?

I grew up around this stuff but have never had a chance to run one. I think my folks have a pic of my sitting in Hank Albers sprintcar running back in 75ish, I was a little tike! My dad wrencjhed and crewed for him for many years in the 70s in and around North Dakota.

 

I really dig stockcars of the '60's and '70's. Especially local late models. We had some of the greatest cars and drivers at Raceway Park in Blue Island, Il. back in the day.

If I wasn't so hot for a trad Hot Rod or Kustom, I'd like to build a '66 Impala circa '66 or '67, Raceway style.

What can I say....."some times ya feel like a nut, sometimes ya don't!

Joel

BTW; I'll post some pics of what I'm talking about after the Pile UP.

 

I never drove but owned a couple circle track cars, the last a UMP modified. One particular feature win for my modified will always be one of the highlights of my life.

Got out of the "spending side" and had a circle track race shop for about 6 years......much easier on the wallet! Sold it, moved, and working to start another shop....this time selling all forms of performance parts.

 

Thanks, guys! I've been kicking back enjoying what you all have written. I just knew that there were more circle trackers hiding out there... I started racing in 1968...blew my entire $125 of graduation money on a '53 Ford stocker with a Merc flathead to race at Sharon (Oh) Speedway. Except for being race director/part owner of an asphalt track in Western PA dirt country from '84 til '90, I ran my own cars plus had a few rides until '96 when it got too expensive for me to maintain a car. I've run Hobby cars, dirt Semi-Lates, 6 cyl powered Modifieds, asphalt Sportsmen....nothing big, though in my travels I got to meet quite a few famous drivers. Someone mentioned Jody Ridley. I used to help his brother Biddle crew for him when he came up our way. That Falcon he raced in the '70s...built by Bill Elliott, kicked a lot of Chevy ass!...

I'd been planning to buy a Mustang mini-stocker after the '05 season to feed my racing Jones until this vintage racing deal came along. Now I've got to learn *not* to use the chrome horn on somebody's sprinter or Mod. Rough driving is me but the VARC frowns on that...


Keep 'em coming please. The stories are great!

Jan

 

I've been going to roundy-round races since I was 6 years old (1958), been racing since '78, off and on. I've cut up some cars that I'm not proud of; a '70 Chevelle, a '67 Buick Skylark GS, a '69 Cutlass S, a '63 Chevy Impala, and a '55 Chevy, all 2dr HT's. I raced the Mustang II in Mini Stock in '02 (Track Champ and Rookie of the Year), The pickup in '03, and the Camaro in Hobby Stock in "04. This year I was the flagman at Thunder Valley Speedway in Mosca, CO (elevation 7,600 ft).

 

WoW!! If you could post any pic's that would really be cool
My earliest memories were midget racing at Lake Side Speedway Denver CO

Thanks!

 

Shit Tman I think we both have enough projects to keep us busy!
lets see between the two of us there is, build new house, build new shop, final assembly the sedan, AV8 complete before the drags 06,your drag car project before drags 06, jesse's 55 straight axle project, etc, etc etc.

Shit lets go racing

 

I did some local drit tracking back in the mid 70s through the mid 80 when I got priced out of racing. I was the car owner/ builder in the hobby stock class. Three of the current top 10 in point standings late model drivers at Freeport Raceway Park got their start in racing in my heaps-o-junk. I started a new to racing driver almost every year during my car owner career, some were good, some were bad. There were usually 25-35 cars in our class, I don't ever remember being out of the top 10 in points any year.

My personal driving career lasted 3 weeks. I managed to wreck the car twice and blow up the motor. Sure was a lot of fun.

A couple of years ago my son's friend was running a car in the hobby stock class (would have been a late model when I was racing.) They almost got me suckered back in. That kid could drive, but the car was a heap. I started helping them and once we got the car to go around the track, he made huge improvements. Won his first ever race near the end of the season. He and the guy that finished second raced side by side for the last 10 laps and he beat the guy by a fender length. I would have been building him a car, but life got in the way and he ended up going back to Arkansas to live.

There is a club in WI called Vintage Modified Stock Car. They do a few vintage races around WI and do a bi-monthly news letter. Address is:
Vintage Modified Stock Car
3321 S.54th St.
Milwaukee, Wi
53219
Phone # 414-321-7948
Tell John you heard of them from Gene Koning.
Gene

 

Before I moved a couple of months ago, I was on pit crew for this Super Street. We built a lot of engines for these, hobby stocks, and IMCA modifieds...I kinda miss it actually.

 

Not quite in the class of some of you guys but I raced tintops in Victoria, Aust from the age of 12 (1978) till a major rollover ended it 10 years later. In 1981 our car held all three zone titles for the classes it ran in. My older brother in the modified sedan class, my mum in the ladies and me in the under 16s.

My mum is still the secretary of our old club. I haven't been there for years. I miss it but can't afford to keep pouring money into the money pit.

Pete

 

I wrench on some dirt modifieds up here in the northeast ( www.bretthearn.com ). I haven't been to the track much this year though. hopefully ill get out to a race sometime this month though. great thread by the way.

 

Hi Jan! I drove from the late 60's to the early 80's (stocks, claimers, and vintage early open wheel stocks). Was the last one in our area to run a Hudson ('54 Jet). Some of the best times of my life were spent flying around the oval. I've never that special type of feeling of elation since. Those of you who've done it know exactly what I mean. Regards, Dave.

 

I'm from the supply side of oval track. From 1973 to 1988 I subcontracted component building for Howe Racing Enterprises in northern Michigan. My shop built all of the roll cages, frames, a-frames, fabricated spindles, sway bars that went on some of the fastest midwest short track cars of that era. An accident in July of 1988 almost killed me (industrial overhead shop door collapsed on me, spent 5 years, 3 1/2 in the hospital, recovering and 7 brain operations). After I learned how to walk, get dressed, feed myself I had to sell my shop and have been taking on fabrication projects that interest me since. I sure miss the turmoil of impossible deadlines and seeing the cars you built take the checkered flag. At our peak we were using up over 2,000 ft of roll cage tubing a week.

Frank

 

OK... but i aint playin the pivot man no more. oops,,, wrong thread

I'm suprised LionHeart hasnt gotten in on this one... he used to run a few different roundy round cars. That man has owned one of just about every damn car there is, and ran some cool "flatty class" (cant remember the name of the class) circuits as well. MN HAMBers, if you ever get an invite from Lanny to go out to his place, bring a chair and something to drink and get comfy, the mans a car history book on two feet.

 

i gotta tell ya Rick, listening to you talk about your race days was the highlight of my summer up till the Drags... i coulda spent another whole day BS'n with you.