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

In regards to the matching engine, rear, etc, you don't really know if they changed the engine or running gear or body panels through the course of the car's time as any specific Special. If you got a heart transplant are you the same person or are you misrepresenting yourself?

 

As long as it is a human heart I'd consider you the same person. A "Robo Cop" deal, not so much.

As far as engines and drive trains, I apply the same logic. A Kurtis-Offy needs an Offy in it. If the car ran a quick change it needs a quick change.

If I put a Subaru flat 4 in my Edmunds it hardly represents the Weed-VW regardless of the dash tag. Mine happens to have the original body panels -paint, decals, & dents- along with the seat and upholstery. The rest of the running gear got recycled into the Weed's next generation Edmunds coil car.

It took almost two years to scrounge up enough pre-1982 components to assemble the car, and that was on a midget with "standardized" components. It is a lot tougher with more unique vehicles.

One of the reasons the Fredrickson midget roadster can be restored is that it had so many parts that wouldn't fit a regular midget. It raced for over 20 years with four different motors; you have to pick one version and go with it.

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois

 

Thanks for the pics Ron, I'm guessing this is 1962 Trenton 150 with Ward lapping the 74 of Mathouser and the 89 of Jack Conely. Meanwhile, Elmer George is all loaded up and ready to hit the long dusty after a DNQ.

 

Agree there Rootie, by the score board it is somewhere after lap 20, with Foyt 1 leading, Ward 3 , Branson 7, Sachs 2, Jones 98.

 

Good tribute to Racer5c, Roy's dads modified on the home page here...:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=447883

 

Just ran across this while going through some old stuff. I think Carter's pit crew were handing these out at a 1975 USAC midget race in Denver. Been in my collection ever since. Wish I could have seen this guy in a sprint car, did get to see him wheel a midget several times.

Here's the back side of the post card.

 

It even has the USAC stamp on the asphalt tires from the last time it ran with Bob East driving it at Winchester.

 

:d...

 

As almost always, Rootie is correct, the Trenton pics are from '62. Here are some more from that day....

 

This photo of Ken Felker's realy has me rubbing my head. I know its from the first race at Pocono on the 3/4 mile track. I think it could be Troy Ruttman Jr. in his first/last ride. The story goes the throttle stuck on the Watson roadster, but, he appears here to be unconscious. Is this Troy Jr.? Can anyone help with this?

 

Troy Jr.,was in a Kuzma lay down car, not a Watson and it does look like the car. It was the Jim Robbins car that Troy Sr. had driven. The car used to be in the McConnel, collection in an unrestored condition.
There were only 2 fatalities in the Watson roasdsters, oddly enough one was in the 1959 winner (Bettenhausen) and one was in the 1960 winner ( Nolan Johncock after the car had been converted to a super mod).

 

If you never saw Pancho in a Sprint Car you missed seeing one of the best drivers that ever strapped his ass in a Sprint Car, if you ever saw him at Winchester or Terre Haute then you know what I mean!!

 

There was mention of Troy Jr's accident several years ago in a Sport Illustrated article about Troy's younger brother Joe when he was making a splash in NASCAR. Joe was closer in age to Troy Jr (known as J.R.) than Troy, and the two were close friends. The theory expressed in the article, although the actual cause was apparently never known, is that JR had a heart attack and drove into the wall full-throttle. The picture seems to support this, as it does look as though he is unconscious.
Joe stated in the article that when he got to the car JR was sitting in the cockpit with his eyes open and his hands folded in his lap, looking for all the world like he was just peacefully waiting to be pushed off.

 

I think that may be Ruttman:

http://www.jakessite.com/07/notforgot/ruttman/ruttman.html

 

This would be from 1963. Interesting pic though, everyone seems quite intrigued with Gurney's "funny car." I'll bet none of them, in their wildest dreams, could imagine what Indy car racing would become 50 years later.

 

Rootie it could be '63, going though these slides they get mixed together. In any case, they are cool history. Thanks for helping to correct my mistakes.

 

Tonite's contributions....Rich

 

A few more.....

 

I think that is Bobby Black in the Ezra Brooks car. That car is still around with the original body panels and upolistry?
Jim Graybeal

 

Jim, found a better color shot that has to be posted yet,driver was Joe Saldana...Rich

 

RABs32,
Joe did drive the car. Charlie Masters won the USAC at Salem in the same car. Thanks for making things straight. Bobby Black and others drove the car.
Jim Graybeal

 

DITTO !!!!!

Another way to look at it is .. No matter restoration, recreation, tribute, original, etc., etc. .. If shown & promoted properly .. importantly they all teach new people about the rich history and the evolution of this sport the we all enjoy so very much.

Just my two cents worth.


Originally Posted by Rootie Kazoootie
Call it what you will, I certainly have no problem looking at it.

 

Rabs-that new set is from one of the 1971 USAC races at WG that Mitch Smith won.
He won both USAC features at WG that year and the one at Selinsgrove too.

My uncle took me to see all three races. I probably have his racing programs from these races here "somewhere".

First WG race 1971 6/19/71

1: Smith, Mitch (5 - Wasson) 2: Tobias, Dick (17 - Ruppert) 3: Nordhorn, Don (4 - Amerling) 4: Dickson, Larry (1 - Leyba) 5: Beale, Rollie (3 - Kilman) 6: Kunzman, Lee (42 - Ziegler) 7: Bettenhausen, Gary (2 - Davis) 8: Waldo, Lennie (10 - Wachholtz) 9: Sheaffer, Jim (58) 10: Anderson, Johnny (46 - Werglund) 11: Black, Bobby (21 - Morse) 12: Busson, Karl (95 - Cedoz) 13: Earnshaw, Leigh (82) 14: Oskie, Jimmy (34 - Peabody) 15: Osborne, Lee (7 - Meskowski) 16: Sessions, Sammy (6 - Leffler) 17: Bigelow, Tom (84 - Gehlhausen) 18: Parsons, Johnny (18 - Forberg) 19: Puterbaugh, Bill (8 - Niebel) 20: Weld, Greg (44 - Stapp)
Qualifications
1: Smith, Mitch (24.02 - NTR)

The second race I only have top five for the Ted Horn Bill Schindler Mem.

9/25/71
1: Smith, Mitch (5 - Wasson) 2: Bettenhausen, Gary 3: Tobias, Dick 4: Snider, George (44) 5: Dickson, Larry



Selinsgrove 7-17-71

1: Smith, Mitch (5 - Wasson) 2: Osborne, Lee 3: Adamson, Bobbie 4: Tobias, Dick (17 - Ruppert) 5: Kunzman, Lee

 

9/25/71
1: Smith, Mitch (11 - Wasson) 2: Bettenhausen, Gary (2 - Davis) 3: Tobias, Dick (17 - Ruppert) 4: Snider, George (44 - Stapp) 5: Dickson, Larry (6 - Leffler), 6th Larry Cannon (71 - Hoffman), 7th Ronnie Rough (50 - Hank), 8th Jackie Howerton (97 - Howerton), 9th Pancho Carter (18 - Forberg), 10th Sam Sessions (42 - Ziegler), 11th Lennie Waldo (10 - Wachholz), 12th Joe Saldana (21 - Morse)



Selinsgrove 7-17-71

1: Smith, Mitch (11 - Wasson) 2: Osborne, Lee (7 - Meskowski) 3: Adamson, Bobbie (42 - Ziegler) 4: Tobias, Dick (17 - Ruppert) 5: Kunzman, Lee (4 - Amerling), 6th Joe Saldana (21 - Morse), 7th Bruce Walkup (29 - Seymour), 8th Tom Bigelow (25 - Smith Speed Shop), 9th Pancho Carter (18 - Forberg), 10th Larry Cannon (71 - Hoffman), 11th Greg Weld (6 - Leffler), 12th Darl Harrison (45 - Maloy)

 

Thank you very much Michael!

The photos are probably from the 9/25/71 show then.

 

I remember Chuck Booth spent some the in the car.

 

Visited Bob McConnell's place today. It never Gets old, but you know.. as Beautiful as the Indy Roadsters are.. I find myself returning over and over to the Foyt Watson #9 and the Ted Horn "Babe" car.

They make my pants tight...

 

While the restored collection is nice though.. The Unrestored building is one of my favorites. These are cars awaiting restoration, along with a few parts!

 

I'm afraid that a lot of respected museums don't share your defintion; mainly because there are so very few original cars around. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum has numerous parts cars/recreations and cars with another more famous paint job on display being represented as the real original cars. Somebody told me that the AACA defintion of an "original" car involved the current owner having at least 50% of the original frame. After that recreation parts could be used if the originals weren't available. I don't know if that's actually the rule or not but more than one person has told me the same story.

 

Josh,

There is the candy store!

I wish Bob would decide to bring the AJ Foyt #9 to Hershey this Oct!


That number #99 Indy car was my Uncle`s first Indy car. I helped work on it when I was 12. Couldn`t go in the pits though of course,back then.
Jerry sold it to Bodine and he made it into a super Mod to run Oswego.