Ray was an engraver for Hallmark Cards. He engraved this dash plate for La Hoya. I just realized that it was "LaJoya". Have been spelling it with an "H" because that's how Ray has been spelling it. Pretty talented guy.
Ray was Pres. of the KCTA in '55 and '56. Here's his story: Ray: I thought just for the record I would write my memory of the history of the KCTA here in K.C., Mo. I might be off a little on dates or something, but here goes. In 1952, the KCTA was a small hot rod club of enthusiasts in the Kansas City area. We contacted a lawyer and got the K.C.T.A. name incorporated. Then we held drag races at an old "World War II " emergency air field. This was a very large airstrip complex. We, the club, rented the strip from the "Chamber of Commerce" in Edna, Kansas for $35.00 a month. We held officially sanctioned and insured Drag Races, with classes of cars and safety inspections. All sanctioned through "NHRA" the National Hot Rod Assoc. We even held a " 4 State Regional Championship Meet." In 1955, Kansas City had a problem, as did many other American cities, with drag racing on the street! Obviously, this was very dangerous. At this time, our club had the yearly elections and I was elected President of the KCTA, then still just a club of about a dozen members, not including wives and girl friends. The K.C. Police Dept. had an official named Major Eugene Pond, chief of detectives, who asked for a meeting (at the Masonic Temple at Linwood and Paseo in K.C.) for all interested parties and car enthusiasts to attend to discuss the street racing problem. He said we needed proper clubs and one association of same clubs to deal with the Police. Our club informed Major Pond that our Club was already incorporated and actually had the perfect name of "KANSAS CITY TIMING ASSOCIATION". We gave our name and incorporation to the program. We then voted on proposed names for our club, which became "The Cranktwisters". Major Pond got the K.C. Southern Railway to lease some property to build a dragstrip on Front Street near the River. He then got "Midwest Precote" to build the drag strip. This was to be paid off from gate receipts collected from spectators at the races. At that time, I was elected by a vote of association club officers to be Pres. (I was also Pres. of "Cranktwisters".) Things were kind of busy. Along with Major Pond, I signed a note for $60,000 to build the drag strip. In 1956, NHRA wanted to hold official "National Drag Races" in K.C. at our new strip. However, they wanted the strip longer and wider. So, Major Pond and I signed another note for $10,000 for improvements. The 1956 National drags were held very successfully with huge crowds. In 1957, I declined renomination as family and work were pressing me for time. Some of theses photos I'm posting I copied from various HAMBers who picked up on Ray several years ago. Believe this one is from VOETOM. sodbuster also worked hard to help get Ray's story told a few years ago, and Ray is appreciative. grim, Justin Greene, has some fantastic photos of the early KC scene, including some of Ray. (Aside: I'm encouraging him to re-post his great thread of a few years back about Wild Child's, since those photo links are gone.)
Ray: Back in 1954, our club, the Kansas City Timing Assoc., hung out at Jerry Jameson's house, actually in his dads barn, in Raytown, Mo. Jerry is still alive. It was an old dairy barn. The floor was slanted with two deep drainage troughs which were for hosing out the cow mess. The floor had several degrees of downhill slope. The reason I'm telling this is it was hard to move cars past the damn troughs, but we did anyway. This was where I channeled my 34 Ford cabriolet and built and installed my fullhouse flathead. Jerry was our expert on just about everything. Well, one Saturday morning I came driving in and the guys were standing outside and they started yelling Here comes Ray. I thought what the hell are they yelling about? Well, one of the members named Bob Tatham (his car was a 40 ford coupe) had bought an old motorcycle and he had it there. The brakes were worthless, but it ran. It had, as I recall, a built-up Harley engine on a small English cycle frame. Well, no one would try it out. They guessed that I would. Correct! Well, I started it and took off up and down the street. It was extremely hot and very fast, I had to leave a lot of room for stopping. Well, I survived the ride. So . . . Tatham had a shop rebuild the engine, brakes, etc. (Note: they didn't magnaflux the flywheel, it had an open flywheel, no housing cover.) So, Don Broderick (Kevin Brodericks dad) and I told him to put a scatter shield around the flywheel, which he did. Well, we were having drags at the airfield we rented just outside of Edna, Kansas, and I was going to ride it. Well!!!!! My sweety pie said no sir. She was afraid something would happen to me. So, out of respect for her concern, I backed out. So Don Broderick ran it through the quarter mile, except guess what, he was about ¾s of the way down the strip and the flywheel EXPLODED. It bent the scattershield all to hell, but Don only got a big bruise on his leg. When the flywheel blew, he coasted through the traps and clocked about 85 mph. How about that shit? Bob did not rebuild it, he just got rid of it! Broderick was a member of a K.C. club called the "Dragsters". He just was hanging out with us. I am attaching an old picture of inside the barn. Thats my 34 in the background. Bob Taylors deuce roadster is in the background also. Jerry is in the foreground with his back to the camera. fficeffice" /><O></O>
Ray: Here is a picture of Don Broderick (who ran the motorcycle through the quarter at Edna, KS when the flywheel blew up.) Thats Don sitting on the tire of my 34. The other guy is me, Ray Erickson. This was 1954. I ran the 275 c.i. flathead with 2 carbs back then. Later I tried 3 carbs. Finally my wife gave me a Phil Wieand 4 carb manifold and I ran 4 stromberg 97's jetted for a V8 60. Worked perfect including for all the street driving that I did back then. <O</O
Ray: Here is a picture of an accident that happened at the KCTA drag strip. This guy came from Texas, as I recall. His 34 Ford coupe did not have any roll bar gussets . My top guy, Don Wilson, was in charge of "Safety & Inspection" and he told the guy we were running NHRA rules and insurance, so he couldn't run until he had gussets installed, preferably 2/3's up the roll bar. He was furious and cussed everyone out and said this was bull shit", he ran back in Texas without any problem. So, anyway , he went to town, found a shop and had braces welded in. Nuf said there. He came back, passed inspection, AND GUESS WHAT? HIS FIRST RUN he clocked 104 MPH, right front tire BLEW just past the end of the timing light [traps]. He careened off the strip to the right. His 34 rolled repeatedly, ended up setting upright on its wheels, the 34 body was scattered, and HE WAS NOT SERIOUSLY INJURED. Afterwords, he came back to the Safety committee and apologized and said he appreciated those guys saving his life. <O</O
Ray: Back in 1955 & 56 at the KCTA drag strip we used to have a problem with the wiring laid down for the "return phone" at the timing lights. Vandals would find and dig up those wires just for fun, and sometimes break the wire or cut it. Well, that situation was hopeless, so we finally just unreeled the wiring off the bed of a pickup and reeled it back in before we left the strip. When no one was there, like late at night, drunks would drag down the strip, then turn around and drag back down the strip heading towards the starting line instead of using the return road -THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT A GOOD IDEA. However, we didn't have any serious disasters, which was a miracle. The strip was built in a farm field, with no buildings anywhere near it. JUST THINK, NOW ALL WE NEED IS A CELL PHONE!!!! This photo from the 1955 NHRA Nats in Great Bend, KS. provided by Justin Greene.
Ray: Some of you might get a kick out these pic's. They are from the 1955 NHRA national drags races in Great Bend , Kansas. This was an old airstrip. Don Garlits and his crew were there, and at that time they really looked like Swamp Rats. Their car was, of course, very fast. Their tow car was an old Chevy, and I do not accurately remember their clocked times. The Chrisman Brothers were there with their old sprint car turned dragster, with a fuel injected "Hemi". Ed Cortapassi was there with the "Glass Slipper". Dave Marquez was there with his "880" Bakery 32 roadster , flathead powered, bright orange, the best appearing car and crew--VERY FAST. (See July 56 Hot Rod magazine article: Dave Marquez' Speedball Special '32 Drag Race Roadster feature.) Here are the pics I took. Oh Yea! Mickey Thompson was there with his dragster. During eliminations he blew a clutch. The officials gave his crew 30 minutes to pull the engine and replace the clutch. They got back to the start line exactly in 30 minutes , and, as I recall, he won that race. <O</O <O></O <O></O <O></O <O></O
Ray: The "GLASS SLIPPER” belonged to Ed Cortapassi. When he was here in K.C. in 1956 for the NHRA National Drags at the KCTA strip, I was talking to him and I said “Hey, you don't have a tach.” He smiled and said “This son-of-a-bitch is so sguirrelly, I don't have time to look at a tach. I just look straight ahead and steer.” You may not have ever heard this, but for eliminations he stuffed in the flathead. If he was doing speed trials he put in the smallblock Chevy. LONG LIVE FLATHEADS! My ‘34 Ford Cabriolet with a 275 inch flathead, I had 4 stromberg 97s jetted for a V/8 60 with a Harmon-Collins Super "T" cam. Well, it was like a mean rollercoaster when you stomped on it!!! It literally WOULD HIT YOU IN THE GUT!!!!!!!!!! It was ASTONISHING!!
Ray: I just remembered a short story from the early 1950's. I actually cannot remember the exact year. It was about 1950, maybe 51. There was a favorite "Drive-in" where a lot of us kids went on Friday & Saturdays nights. The name of the place was "NUWAY". We would go there with our girlfriends, if we had one, have a burger, etc. But especially to look at other guys cars to see what modifications they had made during the week: de-chroming, hopping up, whatever. Well, at that time in the history of hot rod evolution LOUD dual pipes were very big--split manifolds, blocked heat risers to make pipes really rack--Porter & Smittys were really popular. And the loud pipes were driving normal people crazy. People were up in arms for the police to do something. We had a Police Chief "Johnson" of the Kansas City, Mo. police force. He issued a statement on all local radio stations that starting Friday, they would be giving tickets for loud pipes. It was about 10:30, late evening, I was riding with a buddy on his Harley with a fishtail straight pipe and as we approached Nuway Drive-in, we saw all these blinking red lights. Police cars and tow trucks. If YOU HAD 2 PIPES ON YOUR CAR THEY WERE ARRESTING YOU & TOWING AND IMPOUNDING YOUR CAR. We parked his Harley down the block and walked down to NuWay. It didn't matter if your pipes were loud or not, it would require $50.00 bail or spend the night in jail! Well, there was a guy there that was very well off $$$-wise. He was driving a customized Chevy convertible. He went bail for everyone arrested. The next day I poked a bunch of holes in some beer cans and stuffed them with steel wool and hammered them in my chrome tips on my 49 Ford coupe, and drove that way for awhile til things cooled down. Everyone kind of cooled it for awhile.
Ray's '34 Ford was written up in the Feb. 1957 issue of Auto Craftsman magazine. Got these scans from Ray, they're not very big, don't have this mag. If anyone has it and can scan a larger version, or if you can re-size this in focus, it would be appreciated.
These are some really great customs and I never heard of him before. Thanks for posting and letting us in on his story.
Ray: Here is picture from the K.C.T.A. Guide-booklet published back in 1956. It is the club officers back then. They got my middle name wrong, it's not "Lee". My middle initial is "G", for Gustaf, my Dads name. Erickson, I am half Swede, but my dad was a full Swede. His folks came over from Sweden. He could cuss you out in Swedish and you didn't know what the hell he said. He would just laugh! Bob Taylor was Pres. when we held drags at Edna, Kansas when the club was still the KCTA. Back then he had a "crotch high" 32 roadster. A deep-stepped frame with that flathead in it. He died many years ago from a brain tumor. Lee Dorrell, Liaison Officer, was a K.C. Police Officer who answered to Major Pond, Chief of Detectives of the Kansas City Police force. Lee Williams and Bill Rogers were members of the "Dragsters" club. Myself, Ray Erickson, and Bob Taylor were members of the "Cranktwisters" club. We chose Cranktwisters for our new name when we donated the incorporated name of "KCTA" for the new drag strip and associated clubs. We had already paid for a lawyer to become "incorporated" so we could have drags in Edna, KS. The Dragster club had other members, Bob Sullivan, Bob Rodgers, Bob Reid, Bill Crutchfield, Don Schliecher, Dave Waldo, Bob McConnell, and Don Broderick. Dons son is Kevin Broderick of "FABRICATIONS UNLIMITED--STREET ROD SPECIALTIES". Im sure I've forgotten some of their names after all these years. Lee Dorrell was a member of the "DynoBusters" club, along with Wayne Colby and Buzz Pond, Major Ponds son. Major Pond and his son had a Hemi-powered '36 Ford 3 window coupe.
Ray: A short story from the KCTA drag strip in 1956. I was driving down Front St., coming in to the strip on a Sunday morning for our weekend "dragmeet" and a car pulled up alongside me. It was Lee Dorrell. He was our Police liaison for everything to do with the strip and the KCTA. He grinned and popped the gas pedal and I responded likewise, but we only did it for a couple of seconds. Then we both proceeded to pull up to the starting line of the strip. One of the guys ran over and picked up a green starters flag, came back over in front and pointed at us, whipped the flag up and off we went. Dorrells car was a new 56 Ford 2 Dr., 312 "Y" block, Chet Herbert cam, and a McCullough Blower. The car probably weighed about 3,550 lb's. My 34 cabriolet weighed about 2,450 lb's. I usually clocked 90.45 but he mopped my ass by many car lengths. The 56 was really a fast son-of-a-bitch. He was really grinning when we went back over in the pit area. Thats it!! <O</O
There's lots more. English Ford, Packard, Crosley, Porsche, custom 3-wheeler, Stude, etc. Stay tuned.
Ryan / James This is a great write up and I look forward to the rest of the time line. I have the privilege of being able to talk to Ray almost weekly and have been scanning in photos to do a member profile on him for the Misfits MidWest. He is always willing to pass on any knowledge he can to younger guys, especially those chopping tops and its worth listening to him. He's the kind of guy that if you just met him and started talking cars, you probably wouldn't believe that you had not already heard of him and that what he is telling you is true. I am, obviously enough, an import to KC and its amazing the depth and skill of guys here who are just unassuming humble guys. If they lived on a coast they'd be world famous and selling t-shirts with their names on them for $30 a pop Heres another pic of the LaJoya. In progress as a coupe before the GT type conversion. cheers ricki
Good job, Jim. You've spent a lot of time on this. Keep 'em coming. I'm waiting for the Justin/Jim archive.
Thanks for the article, great read. It's even better when it's an interview. A lot of the history is passing away. The mention of Edna KS caught my attention so I looked it up. Coffeyville Aux. #3 airfield. LINK " According to Edna resident Ed Baker, "The airfield here is in private ownership now. It's owned by Beachners now, a large construction & grain elevator company out of Erie, KS. When I was a kid I used to drag race up there."
I've talked to Ray many times at local events - he's usually there with his '50 '50 Packard (flamed), occasionally with his Crossley-powered chromed out Kustom riding mower! A great guy, and I'm glad he's getting his due. I think of him every time I pass the old KCTA strip (which is now under a new Staples warehouse just north of Front Street, on the West side of I-435). ~Jason
Hello everyone, thanks for your interest in my story. I had knee replacement surgery on Jan.18, and I am still dealing with pain and discomfort. Both of my quadriceps muscles are torn, nobody knows why. This morning when I got up my right hip hurt and the tears in the muscles. The tears are more painful than the knee. The therapist is going to send me to out-therapy starting next Wed. because she said she’s done all she can do and can’t get me over the hump of getting the leg straightened out all the way. Haven’t really had computer problems per se, what I have had is a problem getting to the computer, which is downstairs from my bedroom. But I can get to it every now and then. But enough about my darn knee, I’m here to talk cars! Jimmy will post photos for me since I don’t know how to post the larger photos. First, I’ve asked him to post a copy of a Nov. ’56 Hot Rod magazine article about the NHRA National Drag Races that we staged in KC that year. Thanks to cactus1 here on the HAMB for posting this article several years ago. After he posts the article, I’ll make some comments
Are those my scans from the KCTA thread? It's funny, It took a trip to the NHRA museum in Pamona for me to find out about this chapter in KC history. They had a copy of the magazine there and I made note of the date. I jumped on eBay as soon as I got home to find a copy! Mike
Ha! Hello Ray. I guess I should have read before I posted. I was just talking with my pal Jack Luther about you when he stopped by my shop earlier today. He had nothing but nice things to say about you. Hopefully our paths will cross sometime! Anyway, I am really enjoying all the stories. Get well soon! Mikethegreek
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