We had heard about this event through a local event calendar. It was held at the fairgrounds in High River, Alberta, on the track normally used for horse and chuckwagon racing. I contacted the organizer, he said they had 10 confirmed racers, and 4 more display cars. It was fantastic! They ran time trials, 3 heats, a parade lap of sorts featuring all the cars, and a gennie 50's era V8 powered sprinter, that was a true museum piece, that made a couple hot laps.
The red, full bodied car with the whitewalls was plated and insured, and I heard a story that he got a speeding ticket at 92 mph. It was fast, enough to lap the field during his heat. The blue and yellow sprinter is a local car, built in '52 using a combination of '40 Ford and '40 Chevy fenders to form the body. I didn't get the story on the red number 11 car, but it sure looked to be the real deal, as opposed to a recent build, but I don't know. The organizer told me on the phone that one of the participants ran board tracks in Brooklyn in '24, but I don't know which one, or if it raced or not.
The yellow full-fendered car was a display only car, and was absolutely gorgeous. If it weren't for the chain in link fence in the action shots, it would be hard to tell when the pictures were taken. Eric Rickman I ain't, so the action shots aren't terrific.
This was the "parade lap", the white car in the 3rd shot was the pace car, which exited and let 'em run hard for a couple of laps
Help! So, I have videos saved as MP4s in the media player dealie on my computer. I can't figure out how to get 'em on here. Do I put them on the youtubes so it has an URL? Anyone? Please?
Is there anything cooler than a bunch of retro machines going in circles making dust and noise? So neat, thanks!
So that's all I've got. Unfortunately, we didn't get video of the sprinter under power, but it was awesome! It was their inaugural event, and there's talk it will be held annually, maybe a couple times a year. There's a pile of little towns around here with fairgrounds that have horsy tracks, so maybe it can expand further. And I've got a T frame stashed in the rafters of my garage...
The Jalopy Journal
