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

I understand that Balboa Stadium in San Diego, CA is still standing .. although now a mere shell of it's former self .... plus that it's in a state of disrepair - similar to our Hincliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ here in the east.

On my next trip to San Diego .. I hope to stop by and take a look at what's left of Balboa Stadium.

 

Not much recognizable nowdays, as they tore down the architecture, but it's still being used as a run of the mill high school football field.

 

Thanks for the Don Thomas photos.
Steve

 

Ok I got this thing to work. Don's upright sprint car is not a Hank Henry car. I have photos of my car on it' belly after Don transfered most parts to his new upright he built. It had a CAE body and still had the Buick. He then put a Chevy in it and was CRA champion in 1966. That winter Hank Henry and Don frabricated that beautiful body. Over time Don's part was forgoten and the car became a Hank Henry car. In the last photo Don is running with Bill Vukovich Jr.

 

Yes the car restored as the Cheesman car is actually the Dunseth car that Larson was killed in. I believe it was built with the spare Cheesman frame.

 

Toledo


http://stores.ebay.com/Greenfield-Gallery

 

O.K. thanks Steve. So let me get this straight, the #44 that Thomas drove in the CRA in 66 was built by Thomas alone but was then rebodied/reworked by Thomas and Henry to become the #81 that he drove on the USAC tour in 67. (?)

 

Yes, I just called Don to conferm what I posted, Don built the car in 1964 from parts off my roadster. Henry built the body and he and Don hung the body on the sprint car. Early in 1967 it was no. 1 at El Centro. Don went back east and drove the Smith's speed shop car and others. not being able to keep a ride, One time he got fired after finishing third with the car running on 7 cylenders(sp). He came home and got his car no. 1 and renumbered it no.81 as you see in the photos. Look at some of the drivers he raced against that year and as you said finished 6th.

 

It all makes sense now, thanks, Steve.

 

George Gruber ?

 

I agree with SteveE about the car Larson was killed in. They had the car and pictures at Knoxville a few years ago.
Anybody going to Zephyhills Hills? I will be there Thursday.
Jim Graybeal

 

I do not know the entire trail of the Cheesman car , but I do know that Skip and Joe Tetz of Middletown NY ran the car in URC in the 70s. It sat for years until my friend Butch bought and restored it and sold it to its current owner.

 

I saw the name Besecker on here and that name rang a bell. One of these photos was on the KC Raceway website. I'm not sure where the other came from. Audie Swartz in the Gene Beseker #0.

 

MANY THANKS CTtoPA .. trentesept & RippinChip!!!

Pretty obvious that the yellow Brenn rear engine midget is not the Don Edmunds car.

Looking at the pictures of the Brenn car made me wonder what USAC thought of that independent front suspension????

THANKS AGAIN!!!

 

Heard rumbing that Sun Praie Wis. track might be in trouble.

 

That would be a real shame. One of the longest running Midget tracks in the country.

 

Isn't the midget HoF in sun prairie?

 

Here is the official announcement from the BMARA website


Friday- February 12, 2010------The Badger Midget Auto Racing Association is pleased to announce that Beaver Dam Raceway will be the home track for BMARA throughout the 2010 racing season.

Recent developments within both organizations have opened the door for negotiations and a contract is in place. BMARA will join Beaver Dam Raceway’s existing and successful Saturday night show for 9 races. BMARA will also be partnering with Interstate Racing Association’s sprint cars for a special event on May 1st bringing the total races to ten.

Beaver Dam Raceway is a 1/3 mile high banked clay oval and a perfect fit for the Badger Midget Racing Association. BMARA is excited about this great opportunity, the possibility of not only growing our fan base, but also creating a long lasting relationship with Beaver Dam Raceway as we move into the future."


It is rumored that Angell Park Speedway (Sun Prairie) may be attempting to run a schedule as well

 

The Sun Prairie situation is complicated and the outcome is unclear at this time. Badger has decided to run elsewhere this year and Angell Park is starting their own sanctioning body to continue with the Sunday programs. For more complete info I suggest checking the Badger and APS web sites.

It doesn't do midget racing any good for those of us with incomplete knowledge of the situation to banter about it on the Internet.

The HoF is at APS.

For those interested in the ongoing restoration of the Ernie Fredrickson #50 midget roadster I'll be posting progress reports on the cageless midget thread. Just this morning I got a call from a guy in Colorado who, as a pre-teen in 1955, hung around Ernie's garage when it was built. He was very happy to learn it was being restored.

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois
#11 Mongrel-VW [1977 vintage]
#3 Edmunds-VW [1980 vintage LWM-393 Ex-Harry Weed NEMA/ARDC]

 

Good evening, How about some dirty photos ....Rich

 

A second helping....

 

Here's a few more to make up for slacking on posting shots....Rich

 

Don Edmonds was not capable of building an ugly race car. Just sayin !

 

Agreed. IF there was a school on 'how to build ugly race cars', Don would have flunked out.

 

Rich,

Another terrific set of USAC at Reading.I`ll never forget Gary B blasting around in that cammer!

Looks like it says Rice on the Helmet in the #43-I guess Larry Rice.

Love that shot of Leonard Faas and Bruce Walkup. I don`t remember that car,but it looks like a really sharp sprinter.

I was there that day,and in the one shot of the #92 the man on the rt looks just like the guy who lived next door. He used to help us with the Indy car,so He could have been there with us. Hard to believe it was almost 40 yrs ago.

 

Re: the Cheeseman/Leffler/Dunseth/Larson car.

After Cheeseman died around 1960 it was sold, at some point, to Leffler. During the 63 season it was run in the same configuration as the Cheeseman with the Pankrantz tail and Offy powered as seen in the first 3 pics. It was listed as either the Leffler Spl. or the Mohr Spl. I don't know what, if any, involvement Dunseth had in the car at that point. In the 4th pic, from 1965, it has gained a SBC and a headrest tail. I suspect that those changes were made after it was rebuilt from the New Bremen crash in 64, but don't really know for sure. Of course by 1966 it looked even more different and the Dunseth sponsorship was prominant. The 5th pic is from Terra Haute one week after the Larson crash at Reading. Leffler did a quick fix up job on the car and put Greg Weld in the seat for twin 30 lappers that weekend. The only real concern Weld had in driving the repaired car was that they had all the blood cleaned out. While it's kinda graphic, at the end of this short vid you can see the end of the Larson/Riegal crash and it shows the car remained remarkably intact despite the violent crash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPGwnmL51GY&feature=related

 

Who is driving the #11 at Reading?
Thanks

 

Spike,

Although that looks like a number 11 it is actually #1 and it is Larry Dickson driving.

If I remember correctly the number was a large red #1 with two white blocks inside the large #1.

 

Rootie, I don't see the commonality of the Dunseth with the Cheeseman. Welds car has an integrated roll bar, not an add on, the rear radius rods are different and attached in a different geometry, the nose and front nerf bars are different.

 

True, but Leffler supposedly made major changes to it between 64-66. How much of the original Pankrantz car remained is open to speculation. The 'restored' Cheeseman car was touted as being built from the Tetz car which was the former Dunseth car (?)