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

Rootie, thank you for another interesting photo!

Notice the flagpole in the background. At first I thought it might have been from car owner Lucy O'Reilly Schell and her international Maserati effort. But now I don't think so.

From the photo it looks like the three flags are for the nationalities of the drivers in the 1940 500. Obviously, there were plenty of Americans. But there were also two Frenchman (Le Bègue and Dreyfus driving for Lucy) as well as a driver from Argentina (Raúl Riganti).

So the three flags (from top to bottom) are from the United States, France, and Argentina.

I guess in 1940 the 500 was still trying to live up to its official name as the "International 500 Mile Sweepstakes".

 

Another shot from Indy 1940, showing the 21 of Nalon the 27 of Hinnershitz and the 8 of Thorne.

 

Wow Rootie, That is my new favorite pic of Indy!! So much to take in.

 

Dick Gaines leads Scratch Daniels and unknown at Terre Haute circa 1966.

 

unknown = Jay Woodside in the Ted Hall/Chevy.

 

View attachment 3273069 View attachment 3273069 This is a Watson Indy Roadster I built it has a Chevy 4.3 TBI V6. I hope to run at some future vintage events next year. I still have to build the stainless exhaust system. But I got the hard part done, A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones signed my dash panel!

 

Vukovich about ready to leave. 1953

 

back to sprint cars, no radiator. Ochtrup photo.

 

Prominent 1950s roadracer John Fitch tried Indy 1953 driving Crawford roadster and the Brown Motors upright but was a DNQ in both.

 

John Fitch was born in Indianapolis and remembered being driven at speed around the Speedway by his stepfather at an early age. His stepfather was a manager at Stutz and I believe was also a AAA official at the track. Fitch was a P-51 pilot in WWII and was one of the very few to have managed to shoot down a Me.262 jet.

 

Herk, Sacramento 1961.

 

Duane Carter, Reading circa 1953.

 

Louis Tomei, Indy 48.

 

Rodger Ward, Sacramento 1961.

 

J.R. goes inside Mickey Shaw while Mel Kenyon, in a somewhat rare sprint car ride, takes the high line, Terre Haute 64.

 

A.J., Knepper, McElreath and Branson, parade lap, 66 Hoosier 100.

 

Otis Stine, Williams Grove 1940s.

 

Juan Fangio, Indy 58.

 

He couldn't get that one up to speed. Turns out the frame was cracked.

 

Hank Rogers hiking along at Trenton circa 1950.

 

That is an interesting photo to me Rootie, as it is attributed to ca 1950, but the construction of the car - exposed rail frame, wire wheels, I-beam axle, lever arm shocks, etc - would suggest that the car is a survivor from an earlier era, maybe late '30s or pre-war '40s. The hairpin control arms may have been added later. Interesting to me in that that is exactly the look I am striving to create in my replica car - a "survivor car" with a few upgrades to remain competitive. Thanks for posting it.

 

That's the Earl Steffen Offy. Quite famous east coast car which still exists in the Eastern Motor Sports Museum if I'm not mistaken. Eddie Sachs came to be noticed while driving it in the early 50s.

 

Jimmy Bryan ISF, 1955 I believe.

 

J. B., ISF 1956. He sure didn't have much problem finding his way around that place.

 

Bud Tinglestad in Hopkin's car at Trenton 65.

 

NASCAR pioneer and their first champion, Red Byron, gave Indy a shot in 1947 in this old flatty powered rig. Not surprisingly it was a DNQ.

 

love the little airfoils on the rear spring hangers and shackles...

 

Jud Larson, Daytona 1959. Note the the cockpit fairing.

 

It's not really that interesting but I'll share it. My dad, Chuck Hulse, gave me some of the story behind this photo at breakfast yesterday. This was Hank Blum's new 4 bar and was finished in time for the last 3 dirt races of the 1962 season. Dad qualified 9th and running OK for the first half of the race when a power steering hose started spraying fluid. Somehow it was spraying into the cockpit and literally soaked his gloves and the steering wheel with PS fluid. During the caution for Allen Crowes accident, he managed to signal to Hank Blum about the problem and did a very slow "pass through" into the pits for a bunch of rags. When the green came back out he was again soaked with the last of the fluid. He repeated the pass through one more time and then just hung on from there.
He remembered the car was just about undrivable for the last 40 miles. This was the first dirt champ car he ran with power steering. They were able to really boost the caster to about 12 degrees. With all that caster, no power steering, an oil coated steering wheel, oil soaked gloves and a bunch of shop towels in his lap he hung on for a 7th place finish. He thinks he was gesturing, my mom, my brother and myself who were in the stands that day letting us know what was happening or possibly to an official. Who knows he was always so happy to be racing he could have been just clowning around.
Hank Blum "leased" this chassis to Al dean and Clint Brawner for my dad to drive in the 63 season. They did well when mechanical troubles didn't get in the way. After my dads accident at New Bremen in early 64, and Mario took over the Dean ride, Hank sold it to Weinberger Homes where Johncock struggled with it but Bobby Unser had some success with it a couple years later.

 

Man, what would you give to talk to these guys. Left to right, Leo Goosen, Fred Offenhauser, and Bud Winfield. Oh yea, there is a NOVI there also.