Richards Parks Corner below
Ya want a brand new VINTAGE Indy Roadster?
Or how about a VINTAGE standard Kurtis Midget or even a Kurtis Midget Roadster?
Call Pete, ph # below or click on logo for direct access to his e-mail
address
317-910-8950
Vic Cesena
New and Vintage
Auto & Truck Parts
Sales and Service
Memorex Dr.
Santa Clara, Ca.
95050
Ph# (408) 982 0494
Fax (408) 982 0498
Feb 28 2010 The two Winfield carbs sticking up through the hood on those early race cars, provided an easy target to sabotage.
Going Racing with
"Methanol Mel"
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
Washington
OWR3 contributor
A Fuel problem or Sabotage?
Just before WWII, the Northwest had a good field of big cars that raced up and down the coast, and a weekly race in Canada.
This true fuel story deals with a Canadian trip.
The story was told to me on one of my trips to Canada’s Langford Speedway, with my former Cragar big car, the new owner Dick Barber, and his driver my friend Claude Walling.
The story goes that a front running rocker arm big car made the trip, along with several others on the six hour ferry ride to Canada. When they all arrived at the speedway, cars were pulled to warm up and hot lap. This rocker arm job was pulled around lap after lap, and it failed to fire. Returning to the pits, they checked the mag, the air pressure in the fuel tank, and everything. Returning to the track again it still would not fire, and they began checking the fuel at the Winfield carbs. Zero, not one drop was getting into the engine, but a strong stream was arriving at the Winfields. By this time, not only did they miss practice, time trials, and the heats, the main event was coming up.
As the cars were lining up for the main, one alert mechanic pulled the cover off the carbs to expose the floats and their needle and seats. Now under each float was a short cigar butt wedged to keep them closed. The owner was hot, they got to start on the rear, and cigar smokers were not popular on the ferry trips after that.
Feb 21 2010
Going Racing with
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
Washington
OWR3 contributor
A Fund Raiser
The Ballard district of North Seattle, planned a new Hospital in 1952. Our midget club was invited to assist in a fund raising parade with our race cars.
( Some of us were already acquainted with the Hospital staff !. )
The route was to cover about 5 miles over city streets with 2 Police escort patrol cars, a sound truck with signage and an auto dealer's pick up to provide help for any cars with problems. At the briefing the two Police officers explained we were to keep it under 40 MPH.. This was fine with us, as it had been raining all morning.
Four of us turned up -
Mel Anthony in the Homer Norman # 55 Kurtis Offy.
Mel Anthony ( bending ) prepares the Homer Norman # 55 Offy for the North Seattle Fund Raiser Run. Note the slick tyres and Mel tells me the man with the hat was his "personal" x-ray Technician !
Clark "Shorty" Templeman in the Jack Whalen # 1 Bardahl Kurtis Offy.
Clark "Shorty" Templeman above in the Jack Whalen Bardahl Kurtis Offy #1, one of the other "runners" in the Ballard charity street parade. The banner in the background says it all.
Also running in the fund raiser were.
Dick Deahl in his own # 22 Kurtis V8 60
Kenny Gardiner in the Don Budwick # 3 rail V8 60.
We were push started with difficulty, especially the two Offys. Now moving the 2 miles down the "wet" street , I was wondering if I had heard the WRONG speed quoted by the Police officer !. Those two officers must have been having a ball !, escorting us with sirens, lights and I swear, a hefty 70 mph or better speed. The turns were gradual up until we approached Freemont Ave. Now we had to make a quick 90 degree left onto a wet brick road. "Shorty" was leading, then Dick, Kenny and myself. I backed off, but not enough as I could see the others pushing and sliding. Half way through the turn I lost it into the Curb, killed the Offy engine, and there I sat while the group went on up the hill to Woodland Park.
This was in front of a Tavern and a guy standing there with a beer in his hand remarked ,
" you guys are gonna need the new Hospital before it's built !"
The escort patrolman made the guy put his beer down and help push the car onto the street so we could re start. The patrol man push started the Offy using the bumper of the Patrol car then raced ahead escorting me up the mile or so hill.
Now if I thought we were going fast before, this next mile was UNREAL !
EVERY BUSINESS AND HOME EMPTIED OUT TO SEE AN OFFY, ( with 1/4 mile gears)
WIDE OPEN ON A MILE STRAIGHT.!
We finally caught the group , what a relief !, as I didn't want to bend the Homer Norman Offy again.
This was the same car I got end over end with in 1950 at the Del Fanning benefit race held at Aurora Speedway. Incidently the car was the former Edlebrock # 27, the sister car to the "Offy Killer" Rodger Ward whipped the Offies with at Gilmore one night.
Mel sits in the # 27 V860, the former Edelbrock car driven by Perry Grimm at Gilmore. This is at the Del Fanning benefit meeting 1950. It wasn't to be Mel's day !
The car has been immaculately restored by Harry Stryker Sr. and is now owned by Bob Ware of Long Beach, Ca. Bob is the son of Bath-Tub Bob, who raced at Gilmore in the Offy hey days. Bob still keeps the car bright red with "The Norman Offy" title and runs it at Vintage Meets.
2010 starts here
Jan 18 2010
Have you ever wanted to go out to the garage Jump into your very own replica indy Roadster fire it up and take it for a ride down the street? Or better yet drive it up onto a trailer then take it to a vintage or replica get together at one of this countries finer race tracks, get in it there and turn some laps over 100mph in it? Well if you dream like that Mac Miller (Tom McGriff) can get it done for you either way you would like it.
I have seen his Boyle Valve spl turn some laps on the 2 mile high banked Texas World speedway last fall at close to it with that little Ford engine.
Mac in the Boyal Valve replicar at Texas World spdwy on the banks.
So if you want a dream come true just give Mac a call maybe you could be the new owner of the Laydown roadster He is contemplating building right now.
aXe
The Mac Miller Specials
by Tom McGriff, proprietor of Mac Miller¹s Garage INDY
Over the last three years, I have had the opportunity to build new versions
of three of my favorite race cars of all time, a 1920s Miller style Speedway
car, a 1960s style USAC sprint car and an early 60s Watson style Indy
roadster.
#1 Fike Plumbing Special
These projects began when I was contacted by Dr. Robert Dicks of Greenwood
IN, about building a new replica of Parnelli Jones¹ 1960, 1961 and 1962
championship winning USAC sprint car, the Fike Plumbing Spl.
During our planning meeting, I laid out specs for a car that would be the
most practical and enjoyable vintage style racecar possible.
This car features a 2.8 litre V6 engine, 3 spd automatic transmission and
differential rear axle, all out of the same Ford Mustang. Advantages of this
power train are self starting capability, gasoline fuel and repair &
maintenance parts are available from any local auto parts store.
The car is built, using a select combination of production car parts, race
parts, and hot rod parts installed on a custom designed tube frame with
newly designed fiberglass bodywork.
Suspension features a front cross leaf spring, parallel mounted rear
torsion bars and tubular shocks, just like the original, Hank Henry built,
³Fike²
The car is finished off with a set of, 60s style, Firestone ³ribs and
diamonds² dirt track tires mounted on Halibrand style wheels, original style
upholstery and, finally, the classic blue and white ³Fike Plumbing Spl.²
paint job.
#98 Agajanian/Willard Battery Special
Following a season of great results and experiences with the ³Fike³ sprint
car, Dr. Dicks commissioned me to build a new Parnelli Jones, 1963 Indy 500
winning, Agajanian/ Willard Battery Spl. #98 Watson roadster.
During our planning session, we had to make a choice between building a
³recreation², using real vintage suspension, steering, brakes, driveline.
etc, or a ³replica², using all new modern components and systems. We,
wisely, chose to go all new and avoided the time and hassle of sorting up
scarce and expensive original vintage parts.
The concept of this roadster was different from the sprint car. It was to
be built as close to the design and ²look² of Parnelli¹s original 1963 ²Ol¹
Calhoun², as possible, including a standard ³Watson blueprint² frame and
extensive bodywork modifications to include the custom shape windscreen
fairing, large recessed nose air scoop and front suspension fairings.
The suspension is a standard Watson cross torsion bar, Watts linkage setup
with front and rear Panhard bars. It is equipped with Watson standard, four
front shocks and two rear shocks.
This car was, also, to be built, using the best race quality components
and systems available, including brakes, steering, suspension and fluid
systems.
This car features a 2 litre, 4 cyl Alfa Romeo engine and 5 spd. Alfa
manual transmission. The engine is equipped with side draft Weber carbs and,
of course, that spectacular, OFFY style, exhaust system.
The radical offset rear axle was custom built to my specs, using a ³midget²
QC center section, ³stock car² style side bells and 3 ³ axle tubes. This
type of axle was chosen so that we could use a ³differential² and, from a
handling and installation standpoint, it has been a very good decision.
As with the sprint car, the advantages of this powertrain choice is self
starting capability and gasoline fuel??. Oh! And it is far less expensive to
buy and maintain than an OFFY.
The ³look² is complete with a set of custom built Halibrand style ³kidney
bean² wheels and three eared ³knock offs², dimensionally correct Firestone
³Indy 500² tires, original style upholstery and, what was, probably, the
most spectacular roadster paint job ever. Pearl white, red and blue scallops
and gold leaf lettering.
#15 Boyle Valve Special
The Boyle Valve Spl. #15, 1928 Miller replica was commissioned by Carl
Schulz of Indio CA.
As with the ³Fike² car, the ³Boyle² was designed to be as practical,
enjoyable and reliable, as possible, by using selected street, race and
hotrod components combined with a custom designed rail frame and Miller
style bodywork.
Also, like the ³Fike², the Boyle uses a Mustang based powertrain,
including a 2.3 litre, 4 cyl SOHC engine, 3 spd automatic transmission and
stock differential rear axle.
The 2.3 SOHC Ford engine is, actually, quite a close relative to the Ford
engines used in race cars throughout the 30s. Many of them were Ford 4 cyl.
A and B blocks with ³after market² SOHC racing heads.
The suspension is a refinement of the original 1920s Miller FWD design,
using four, parallel mounted, half leaf springs and custom made aluminum
rotary ³friction² shocks.
The car is finished with 4² wide wire wheels and vintage Firestone Deluxe
Champions, burgundy upholstery, a Miller style exhaust header and a very
colorful white, red and blue paint job.
The culmination of these three projects came on September 28 2008, when all
three cars participated in a spectacular vintage meet on the high banks of
the incomparable Winchester Speedway in Indiana. This event marked the only
time that these three cars will ever be at the same track at the same time
and all three did considerable track time.
The Bob Dicks team saw Dr. Dicks driving the #98 Agajanian roadster and
Randall Cook at the wheel of the #1 Fike sprint car, while ³mac miller,
hisself², was wheeling the new Carl Schulz #15 Boyle Valve Spl.
The Bob Dicks cars run, regularly, at vintage meets throughout the summer.
Over the last three years, they have participated in meets in Indiana, Ohio,
Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The #1 Fike Plumbing Spl. made an
appearance at the 2008 Amelia Island Florida Concourse, in honor of Parnelli
Jones.
In addition to the experience of owning and running these cars, Dr. Dicks
has become personal friends with Parnelli.
The #15 Boyle Valve Spl. participated in a number of Indiana shows and meets
including Mt. Lawn Speedway and Winchester Speedway, before being delivered
to owner Carl Schulz in Indio, California. Its first West Coast ³on track²
appearance should be at the big Fontana ³California Speedway² meet in March
2009.
A few final comments on the Mac Miller Specials.
* These cars are brand new, built from the ground up from a pile of tubing
and a roll of fiberglass and are never misrepresented as the real cars. They
are replicas designed and built for maximum reliability, ease of operation,
minimum operating, maintenance & repair cost and maximum enjoyment.
* These cars are built with all new parts and systems. No vintage parts are
used because, it is my policy that all real vintage parts should be reserved
for the restoration of real vintage cars.
* These cars are designed and built to run. While many cars that show up
at vintage meets, including some real cars, sit quietly and motionless on
display, the Mac Miller Specials are ³in motion² and ³making noise², on the
track. Over the past three seasons, these cars have completed close to 100%
of all lap time available to them.
The next Mac Miller Spl, based on the ?56/¹57 Kurtis 500 Indy roadsters, is
well along in construction and could make Indiana appearances next summer.
Design drawings, parts & material lists, part number & parts source lists
and design consultation are available for all of the Mac Miller Specials.
Also available is complete fiberglass bodywork for all Mac Miller cars.
E-mail for information and costs.
Tom McGriff
Proprietor of Mac Miller¹s Garage INDY
P.O.Box 22444
Indianapolis IN 46222
Tel: 317 738 6405
e mail: macmiller46241@yahoo.com
Jan 10 2010
Racer Rich
Indiana
Contributor to OWR3
Gary Gasper
Indiana
Photo Contributor to OWR3
Another Visit With Steve Truchan
story by Racer Rich photos by Gary Gasper
Gary, Indiana
Just about five years ago I was fortunate to make a visit to Steve Truchan’s machine shop in Gary where he restores race cars in his spare time. Steve was most gracious with his time that day and showed me the cars he was currently working on. When I left him then he had told me to come back anytime. I really didn’t think it would take this long for a return visit to Steve’s shop but unfortunately our busy life has kept us from making a second trip to see what Steve has been doing …..Until today.
I mentioned doing this adventure with our RaceStar photographer, Gary Gasper and he was in total agreement to making the trip with me. We contacted our popular Shadyhill Speedway flagman, Steve Parkes who is a very close friend of Steve’s and he arranged our visit.
On our arrival we were greeted by both Steve’s, along with some other guys that would become new friends. Meeting Roger Goodan, Jim Tauber and Rene Vasquez for the first time and during short conversations with them they told us they were “Steve’s Pit Crew.” We also met Paul Mollick who told about his racing days a number of years ago. Paul drove stock cars at numerous tracks throughout the Midwest and did some ASA racing.
We were delighted to see a friend of Gary’s at the shop this day. Gary had recently done a story and photo session with Chuck Alm. Chuck is known as ‘The Patch Man’ since he has a collection of racing patches and decals that are now nearing 1600 in number. Since Gary knew Chuck, they had some good conversation time together. It was my pleasure to get in a good visit with Chuck and we agreed that we should get together in the near future so that I could see his collection in person. Please remember it took me five years to get this return visit in Chuck, but hopefully we can work out something soon.
Our flagman’s way of introducing the final guy we were meeting, was to say that he was one of the best drivers ever at the Crown Point Speedway. He was talking about John Nimetz, who I had watched race on a few occasions but had never met before. Actually John knew more about me since two of his close friends, Mike Kingma and Rich Rish have driven our I-MOD during the past few years. This fact sort of glued our relationship together and we had some great conversation during the time we spent together.
Well, we were here to see what Steve had been doing with his restoration hobby. He definitely has been busy as he has many more cars now than he did during my first visit. While some of the guys were removing dust covers and rolling them around for Gary’s camera, Steve started telling about his prized possessions.
His latest addition is a former Super Modified #21 that he recently finalized with his paint job. This car was originally built by Wally Meskowsky and Paul Leffler.
Next we see a #54 Champ Dirt Car formerly owned by Ronnie Ward, Rodger Wards brother.
Then we are told about the #2 Indy Car Roadster that was owned and built by Steve's dad, Steve, Sr. The car has the first 16 valve 220 C.I. Miller engine in it's front compartment. While driving for another owner, Steve Sr. passed his Rookie's Test at the Speedway in 1946. Some of his best finishes were a 3rd place at Springfield, a second place at Atlanta and a 4th place finish at Langhorne.
Sitting close by is another #2 that was owned by Shorty Cantlin and built by Clyde Adams. This car has the same type engine in it as Sr.'s car has. This motor finished 2nd in the 1932 Indy 500. Steve, Sr. drove this car to a Sprint Car win at the famous Jungle Park 1/2 mile track in 1941. Along side is the #1 Boyle Products Special that was built in 1931
The guys had rolled out a #14 Foyt rear engine Indy Car that Steve was working on during my first visit to his shop. A very neat race car and the only rear engine vehicle he has in his collection. The guys in picture L to R Roger Goodan, John Nimetz, Steve Parkes and Chuck Alm
Steve still has his #94 Silver Crown Car that he entered in some of the Silver Crown races in 1988 and 1989. Our flagman, Mr. Parkes drove this car in the Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fair Grounds one mile dirt track in ’88. By now Steve, who is also a mechanic, had excused himself to go get a friend’s car started on this very cold morning in northwest Indiana. Mr. John Nimetz drove the car at the Hoosier Hundred and at the one mile Springfield dirt track in ’89. He was very happy to have Gary take his picture with the car. Other drivers that drove the car for Steve were Ed Lynch, Jeff Bloom, Rich Vogler, Steve Kinser, Jim Keeker, Danny Milburn and Tony Elliott.
As we were touring the cars, of course different ones were telling racing stories. Steve told a good one that I really liked. He had Whitey Gerkin driving his stock car at Illiana and he told that the car was equipped with some pretty competent brake pads. When Whitey came in from hot laps, one wheel was smoking badly and when they checked for the problem they found the brake pad completely destroyed. Whitey told them to just clamp off the brake line and he’d run with three wheel brakes.
After the heat race, which he won, they found another brake pad totally wore out. Again they decided to clamp the brake line for that wheel so now he only had two wheel brakes to run the feature. Whitey won the feature and when he returned to the pits he had no brakes at all. Steve asked him, what are you doing to wear out these big brake pads we had? Whitey told them he wasn’t backing off the throttle entering the turns so he had to really stand on the brakes to get it slowed down. They all had a big laugh over this, just as our group did after hearing this colorful story.
As we continued to admire the cars on display, Steve tells about one of George Walther’s Dayton Steel Wheel Specials. The #77 Indy Roadster was originally built by Gordon Schroeder and like all of Steve’s cars, he has done a beautiful job of restoring it. The car raced in the Indy 500 in 1951 and 1954. Elmer George was the last driver for this car as he raced it in some of the 1955 races.
As we moved along we see a #1 Boyle Products Special that was built in 1931. Bill Cummins drove the car to the 1934 National Championship. Russ Snowberger owned the car for about ten years starting in 1937. During this time Louie Unser won the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1939-40 and 41 in this car. Later the car was bought by Lou Rasse who had Frank Werne drive it and the car was last raced in 1947. Steve eventually bought the car from John Snowberger, Russ’ Son.
Next we see a #94 Indy type roadster that had been raced as a Super Modified around 1964. Beside it is a #1 Sheraton Thompson Special Foyt Dirt Car from 1968. A.J. won a lot of races with this car.
Last in line is Steve’s next challenge. It’s the #0 Todd Gibson ‘Flintstone Flyer.’ Steve will soon be working on this car to make it the newest restored vehicle in his collection.
After returning the cars back to their original spots and putting the dust covers back on them we enjoyed some more conversations.
Gary and I were preparing to leave since Steve is busy running a business and we didn’t want to wear out our welcome. Like my last visit, Steve shared a lot of time with us and we really appreciate his hospitality.
Getting to meet our new friends from this day and spending some time with our friends, the two Steve’s mentioned throughout this article, made it an even better adventure than we had anticipated. I’ll always believe that racing is the ‘Greatest Sport in the World’ and one of the best parts of it is the friends we make along the way.
This was a fun morning that both Gary and I enjoyed. There is no way we can do justice to Steve’s hard labor of love on restoring these race cars. However, we both hope that we can give a glimpse to our racing friends, through our words and pictures, From the enjoyable visit we had at Steve Truchan’s machine shop.
2010 Starts Here
Dec 27 2009 California is one of those strange geographical areas of the world where time, people and opportunity come together to form the events that change our lives and destinies forever. Beautiful weather, a large population, the availability of racing tracks and talented racers, mechanics and owners has made the Golden State a mecca for all forms of motorized racing. In rural and industrial centers, hidden away in alleys and side streets of every city throughout the state are machine shops and garages that form the core of our racing heritage.
Richard Parks
Southern California
OWR3 contributor
Gone Racin’…To the Conze Machine Shop
It is from these centers that the local mechanics turn out the cars, boats and motorcycles that vie for trophies, prizes and championships on local and national tracks. Perhaps you’ve heard of Keith Black, Ed Pink, Jim Deist, Iskenderian Cams, Vic Edelbrock, Arias Engineering, Blair Speed Shop, Bell Auto Parts, Ak Miller, Taylor and Ryan, Tony Capanna, Carrillo Rods, Dave Zeuschel, the Chrisman Brothers, Holly Hedrich, Casale Engineering, the Winfield Brothers, Andy Granatelli, Hilborn Fuel Injection, Justice Brothers, Jerry Kugel, Frank and Arlen Kurtis, Earl Mansell, the Meyer Family, Barney Navarro, Earl Evans, Danny Oakes, Joe Reath, the Pierson Brothers, Rich Hallett, Rudy Ramos, Louie Senter, Jim Travis, Al Teague, Mickey Thompson, Fritz Voigt, Alex Xydias and many more. These people and many more made great contributions to the racing scene here on the West Coast and throughout the nation.
They built cars, boats and motorcycles, parts and products that were vital to the racing world. Some sponsored drivers and events and even did a little racing as well.
One machine shop that has had a great impact on the automotive scene in California was the Conze Machine Shop, formed just after World War II by Andy, Elaine and Vince Conze, and their close friend, C.B. Philips. Andy was born in San Francisco in 1911 and Vince followed two years later.
Their father immigrated from Germany and their mother from Luxembourg. The family settled among the German community of craftsmen in the South Los Angeles area on 127th street, and Mr. Conze was a master wood cabinetmaker, imparting his skills, work ethic, pacifism and garage to his sons.
Elaine was born in Morris, Illinois, in 1911, and her parents were immigrants from Norway. She came to California in 1934 and married Andy in 1937. Invited to a party to celebrate the completion of a boat for a race at Marine Stadium in Long Beach, California, in 1937, she saw Andy working under the boat and said hello. Andy called the next day to ask Elaine to accompany him to the race to watch, as Andy was the riding mechanic on the race boat.
Andy loved to draw and took drafting and architectural classes in school, earning commissions, doing odd jobs, as well as being a mechanic through the dark days of the depression in the 1930’s. With equipment at his dad’s shop, Andy earned some military contracts for designing and making parts for the war effort during World War II, but would never discuss with anyone what kind of parts they were. Andy raced at the dry lakes (Muroc) in the 1930’s, driving a ’32 Ford four-banger and had a top speed of 86 mph, a very good speed for that time, and won an award from the McMillan Oil Company.
Vince Conze took a slightly different path than his brother. He preferred to build and tune cars rather than drive them. Trading a piano for a car body and adapting a Clyde Adams car, Vince built and rebuilt a sprint car into a race car that campaigned on local and eastern race tracks during the 1930’s. Known as the #26 car, the body was purple and was powered by a Cragar overhead Twin Cam. Driven by George Robson at Oakland, Winston-Salem and other tracks throughout the country. Robson gained some notoriety in this car, and left soon after to race in the Indy 500, under another car and owner. Frank McGurk replaced Robson in the #26 car and raced at Carrell Speedway, El Centro, Legion Ascot, and on the eastern circuit at Winchester, Williams Grove (PA), Thompson (CT), and many other tracks around the country. Some of the other racers who drove this car were: Joie Chitwood, Ted Horn, Chuck Stevenson, Sam Hanks and Pierre Bertrand. Bertrand was also famous for grinding cams and for training Clay Smith. Vince
Conze and his boyhood friend, C.B. Philips, attended Los Angeles Polytechnic High School and took night classes in machining during the Great Depression. They worked at various garages and machine shops in the 1930’s, as good machinists and mechanics were highly valued, but work was never steady in those uncertain times. C.B. and Vince finally found permanent employment at Douglas Aircraft as the nation teetered toward war in the late 1930’s. Vince was quick to point out that his skills were honed to a fine point by the experience he gained working with metals, alloys and the critical clearances demanded by the aviation industry.
Andy was working for the Harvell Corporation, which made zinc diecasting parts and alloys. After the war ended in 1945 and the government cancelled or failed to renew war contracts,
The Conze Brothers and C.B. Phillips took a gamble and formed Conze Machine Shop, pooling their savings and buying up lathes and other machinery at war surplus bargains as many machining companies downsized or left the business. Work continued to come in, as a nation at now at peace, demanded a return to the motorsports racing that they loved. No matter how busy they were, there was still time to go racing, although the rule in the shop required one of the brothers to stay home, so they alternated, allowing Andy and Elaine, or Vince to go to the races, especially the Indy 500. Conze quick change rear ends and other parts were popular at the tracks and their attention to detail and to design specifications put them in demand. The demands of the business required them to attend the races and especially the Indy 500 and to represent their products.
They were often asked to look at parts designs and to make recommendations or changes. Vince was a crewmember on the Novi car and built the front wheel drive, spindles and other components, and did the machining on the engine. He also built parts for other sprint cars and quarter midgets.
Elaine tells the story of the time they were at the Phoenix 100 and she noticed the crew struggling to shift their bodies to remove the wheel lock wing nuts (knock off nuts) and sometimes loosening the lock when they meant to tighten it as they replaced worn tires. She mentioned this to Andy and he designed a three pronged, angled wing lock nut on a cocktail napkin at a restaurant later that evening. Elaine took the napkin to Jorgensen Steel and had a casting made. The new design improved the efficiency and the time it took to change tires during a race. It also ended mistakes, for if the crew hammered in the wrong direction, the Plomb hammer would slip off causing no harm. According to Elaine, they never patented this design change and freely shared this new discovery with others.
According to Rod Larmer, a former employee of the Conze Machine Shop, the Conze’s were very generous with their ideas and resources and the one thing that irritated them the most was a greedy nature in people.
After the war, Vince continued to modify the #26 car and changed nearly every part except the grill. He replaced the Cragar with a Miller, and the color scheme to white and it became known as the #5 car. This car was raced throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s, and according to Larmer, was painted by McGurk, as Vince was unconcerned about the exterior appearance of the car, preferring to concentrate on the engine. The #5 car ran at the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb and on local tracks on the West Coast circuit. Drivers who raced this car included AJ Foyt, Johnny Poueleson, Allen Heath, Rex Mays, Walt Faulkner and Frank McGurk. It was later donated to the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb Museum in parts and used to restore other cars.
Vince designed the Down Tube car, which he adapted from designs on off road racing cars and had Eddie Kuzma build at Kuzma’s shop in Gardena. Al Unser Sr won the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb with the Down Tube car in 1964, but no one could figure out how to make it run well on oval tracks. Slim Roberts also raced this car at Pike’s Peak and it was later donated to the museum there.
Vince owned a Watson roadster, which was driven by George Benson at Hanford. This car was donated to the Indy 500 Museum and used to restore other roadsters.
Vince did the machining for the Novi and continued to provide parts for it as late as 1951, but won only once at Indy, when he was awarded a ring for being on the crew of JC Agajanian’s 98 Special, driven by Parnelli Jones in the 1963 race.
Vince never married, and Andy and Elaine never had any children of their own, though they always made their employees feel like family.
Andy and Elaine created some memorable trips together. They loved primitive camping. They explored Mexican jungles to see the ancient ruins and stayed with the native Indians in their villages. They visited the Pribaloff Islands to live with Aleut Eskimos and watch the seals, walruses and exotic birdlife. They have hiked, backpacked and camped in every state in the USA and all of the Provinces of Canada, except one. Conze Machine Shop closed in 1993.
Elaine kept a sign-in book of all the customers that visited their shop since it first opened in 1946, and hopefully this log will find its way to one of our automotive museums. A fitting tribute to one of the finest and most innovative of the many machine shops that existed during the golden age of California auto racing. Many thanks go to Rod Larmer, C.B. Phillips, Andy and Elaine Conze, Bud Meyer, Ed Iskenderian and Robert Schilling for their help in preparing this article.
Dec 17 2009 The Champion Building
Going Racing with
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
Washington
OWR3 contributor
Much has been written about champion drivers, cars, and owners. Little or nothing has been mentioned about a champion building. Ok now that I have your attention, the building I write about was, and still is named the “Champion Building” in downtown Seattle, Washington
The great Seattle fire in the later part of the 1880’s created a building boom of fire proof construction, and this building so named by the owner’s last name, was built of massive steel and concrete. It has survived earthquakes, fires, and time over 100 years, and is located across the street from the famous Seattle Public Market, also called the Pike Place Market. The building once housed a meat packing company, a tire shop, and a variety of specialized shops. The second floor, reached by a steep ramp, was an auto repair and body shop when I knew it in the late 1930’s. Fred Heath, the father of racing legend Allen Heath, ran the shop, and also the parking garage which was located on the roof. My first connection to the building as a teenager, I would visit the shop on my way to a swing shift job, to view the race cars that were either being repaired, or groomed for the next race. I remember the wild antics of Allen as he would smoke the tires on customer’s cars while taking them to the roof top parking area. My wheels then were a nearly new, 1940 Harley-Davidson model 45 motorcycle that came with a “thick payment book”. One day Allen talked me into letting him take a lap around the block on the bike. I gave him instructions, and he whizzed down the ramp, jumped the curb across the street, and traveling down the sidewalk, he headed for the market. He rode into the market, went the full two block length of the market between the rows of vendor’s stalls, got turned around and rode back. Many were furious, but some were not surprised, however in later visits I would park the Harley a block away from the market.
Allen and I would often walk the length of the market en-route to a coffee shop. On the way back, Allen, always the clown, would grab an apple here, an orange there, or any fruit he could pilfer. Most of the vendors knew him and expected his pranks.
Fred Heath was most generous to all the racers, especially those that arrived from out of town. Some were from Portland, Spokane, and Canada. They would stop in and make use of the facilities. On one visit an out of town driver pulled in with his race car, and out stepped a young lady. Someone asked: “Hey Jim (not the real name), where is your wife?” Jim’s reply: “She wanted to stay home this trip, but this is Mary, she’s nice.”
Chick Barbo and Allen Heath were intense rivals on the track. Neither was very friendly with each other. However Allen’s dad would not tolerate any friction in or near the shop, so they had to behave. Chick in addition to being a very good midget and big car driver was an expert sign painter also. He did many midgets, one in particular was a nice new little four cylinder Star powered midget from Spokane. I watched Chick paint the number 72 on the purple and white car, and no fan ever saw it race. The car was lost when trailer and all broke loose from the tow vehicle while going over the steep two lane Snoqualmie Pass on the trip back to Spokane. It went to the bottom of a deep ravine, and was impossible to salvage. Someone did reach the car, and found it rolled up into a ball without any tires left. The trailer was never sighted, and both may still be there.
I began racing in 1946, and we often raced seven days a week. I did this for two weeks straight, but finally it proved too ambitious for the car and I. To make travel easier, I would often park the race car and trailer in Fred’s shop. I will never know how my 1936 Ford roadster could pull the trailer, race car, and all the tools up that steep ramp. And more amazing I don’t know how I ever got stopped coming down the ramp with the less than efficient Ford mechanical brakes! After parking the car I would then drop off Barbara, my new girlfriend at her home, and I would head for my home. One night while backing into the parking spot, I came up with an idea, and asked Barbara if she would consider marriage. She accepted and the rest is a 62 year history.
Fast forward 60 years from that memorable night. Over the years we had told family of the “Champion Building.” They knew it almost as we remembered it. Two years ago the family made arrangements to take us to dinner on our 60th Anniversary. Grandson Andy was to pick us up at 5:00 and we were ready. When I went to the door, there was the family, but no car in sight. Across the street was the longest limo I had ever seen. We all climbed aboard, they opened champagne, (legal in limos here), and we set out for other family members. We finally arrived downtown Seattle, near the popular Seattle market. The limo driver let us out on the steep Virginia Street at Post Alley. Grandson Andy instructed him to return at 7:00 p.m. Now I am confused as we walked the alley to the first roll up electric door. It rolled up as we arrived and a gentleman invited us in. There are always new restaurants opening, so I figured this to be another. As we walked the long carpeted hallway, the man mentioned “You must be the racer.” Now I am really confused, and the whole family except Barbara, knew where we were headed. As we neared the front of the building, I was asked: “Do you know where you are?” We were now at the West end of the building looking out over beautiful Elliot Bay on Puget Sound. Instantly I recognized my old parking corner in the Champion Building and it was emotional for a moment or so. We were gifted with champagne, cheeses, and a beautiful vase of flowers. Andy had arranged this great surprise when he had been in the area figuring on internet wiring for his company. He met with Mr. and Mrs. Martin who own the building. In fact Cheryl Martin is a third generation Champion family member. Dave Martin allowed he “married the boss’s daughter.”
The little office where we celebrated was the exact spot I kept my first race car in. Now I will mention another champion. That same little office still has the original sign with the logo of a famous coffee co. Starbucks! It was the starting office where Howard Shultz began his famous company
Dec 13 2009 A Steam Racing Primer At the dawn of the twentieth century, all forms of automotive power were being developed- gasoline, diesel, electric and steam- without a clear cut favorite. The Stanley Brothers used racing extensively to promote their Stanley Steamer vehicles. In 1906, Fred Marriott in the stream-lined Stanley ‘Rocket’ set the automotive land speed record at Daytona Beach at 127 MPH, beating out four other competitors, and was awarded the Dewar Trophy. The Rocket’s boiler was 30? in diameter and 18? deep, with a steam pressure between 800 to 900 pounds contained in a car weighing 1600 lbs. A second attempt in 1907 with an improved ‘Rocket,’ met with disaster when the car crashed at over 130 MPH. The Stanley Rocket’s absolute LSR record stood for three years until it was surpassed by a gasoline powered 200 HP Benz, but the ‘Rocket’ continued to hold the steam powered land speed record. Added by the editor Back to Kevins “Steam Racing Primer “ Based on the interest from three steam car manufacturers, in December 1910 the AAA Contest Board announced plans to allow steam powered cars to compete equally against gasoline powered cars in the inaugural International Sweepstakes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, or at least compete in their own race. A.C. Newby, one of the four founders of the Speedway, noted in an interview in The New York Times that “the gasoline car has been given every opportunity for development and “that racing has done more than one other thing to bring about the present perfection” and that “the steam car could be developed greatly by racing.” However, as we all know, the gasoline powered cars eclipsed all others as the source of automotive power. During his October 1947 speech at the L. Strauss trophy presentation, Speedway President Wilbur Shaw surprised many by revealing that a steam powered car was being developed as a 1948 entry by David Osborne and Paul Kuehl of South Bend Indiana. The men who were Studebaker engineers, proposed to convert the Studebaker power plant of their 1947 entry to steam power, similar to a planned truck engine conversion. Mr. Shaw revealed that he had conferred with the technical committee and found no restrictions to a steam entry. However, the steam powered Osborne/Kuehl Special never materialized. Then, on April 12, 1948, Lawrence D. ‘Don’ Suttle of Detroit Michigan filed the 34th entry for 1948 ‘500.’ The “Suttle Steamer Special” was described as a two-cylinder front-wheel drive creation with a piston displacement of 226 cubic inches. Suttle’s supplemental entry information claimed that the power plant had only 16 moving parts and the car was direct drive. Mr. Suttle estimated straightaway speeds of 200 MPH because he claimed the car weighed but 1,270 pounds. Mr. Suttle later notified the Speedway that his entry would not be ready in time due to problems with the efficiency of the condenser to recover water. The ‘Suttle Steamer Special’ never arrived at the Speedway – did it ever exist? There was a no further steam race car development until the late 1960’s with Bill Lear’s short-lived Indy car dream, which is the subject of a future article. After the closing of the Lear Steam Indy Car operation, various assets were liquidated in the late 1970’s. Jim Crank of Redwood City CA bought one of the working steam engines, rated at 250 HP, and installed it in a modified Fiberfab Aztec 7 kit car, with the intention to break the world land speed record for steam powered cars. Crank was unable to break 100 mph, and he sold the car to the Robert Barber, who after rebuilding the car was able to reach 110 MPH in 1984 at Bonneville. During a subsequent attempt in 1985, the car reportedly reached 145 MPH, but caught fire during the run. The car is currently on display at the National Automobile Museum in Reno Nevada. Finally, on August 25th, of this year, at Edward's Air Force Base in California, the British Steam Car, weighing over 6600 pounds with an LPG fueled boiler producing 580 psi of steam, and driven by Charles Burnett III, set a new record with an average speed of 139.843 mph over two consecutive runs over a measured mile. The Stanley Brothers’ “Rocket” steam LSR record had fallen after an astonishing 103 years! Our first trip to I will take You right to the dock and return to the sprinter later. We were waiting to board the Tawassawan ferry for They must not have been very environmental in those days. Bob had his helper Randy roll the barrel to the edge of the dock, where he was to siphon the methanol over the side. Randy rolled the barrel right next to a water faucet and hose. He then installed the siphon hose into the barrel, made like he was starting the flow, then turned on the water. He held the two hoses together so it appeared that the barrel was being drained. The official bought it and left. After a few minutes Randy turned off the water and we all helped roll the full barrel onto Bob’s trailer. A dragster machinist had talked him into o-ringed heads instead of head gaskets. I decided to leave the radiator cap ajar, so if we could find a hose, we could run. No luck, there were no spare hoses that size in the whole pit area. Western had just installed a new restroom in the pit area. I spotted a length of ¾ inch galvanized pipe holding up a partition between the stalls. I unscrewed it, cut 2 short hoses, from the blown one, clamped the pipe in the middle, and Dennis went the entire main event with no problem. I returned the pipe to the infield restroom after the race, and later we had the heads filled and milled to use Fel-pro gaskets. Mel Anthony
Taking you Back with
Kevin Triplett
Kevin Triplett
Walnut Creek, CA
OWR3 Contributor
The 1906 Stanley Rocket
Here is the record holder now, Impressive? I don’t think so. A million dollars of ingenuity later and could only beat the old mark by 12 mph? Lets hope there is more to this car than that?
The 2009 British Steam car
In August 2009, the British Steam Car, driven by Charles Burnett III, smashed a record that had stood for over a century: the land-speed record for a steam-powered car. Burnett drove his vehicle on a track at Edwards Air Force Base at an average of 139.843 mph, breaking a record set in 1906 by Fred Marriott, who drove his Stanley Steamer Rocket at 127.659 mph.
Read more here: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1934740_1981016,00.html#ixzz0ZUllocEt
By Kevin Triplett
Dec 11 2009
Going Racing with
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
"Methanol Mel" Anthony
Washington
OWR3 Contributor
The Methanol Caper
Bob was a veteran CAMRA racer, and was president of the new WRA club. (both CAMRA and WRA are gone now)
They would allow Bob to board if he dumped the fuel over the side into the bay.
Since Dennis was a rookie, I wanted him to start with a smaller 302 Cheve engine.
While hot lapping with a group of fast cars, a small Gates Green Stripe hose blew.
Bob Gregg was right behind and did a fantastic job of missing everyone that spun out. The new o-ring set-up allowed high compression into the cooling system.
Dec 4 2009
Automotive HammerArt
The 1955 Sumar Indy 500 car Reproduction
A full-service restoration and fabrication shop on Gasoline Alley just outside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Denny Jamison and his team perform fabrication and restoration work on vintage race cars, hot rods and sports cars.
A few years ago going by the Van Craft midget restoration and building shop I discovered right next door this place that does remarkable restorations and creations.seem lore on the Day
Just over a year ago going by there they had this copy of the 1955 Sumar streamliner built for the Indianapolis 500 under construction. The original car didn’t fare to well in its streamlined livery. But after tossing aside the fenders and Driver bubble. It did manage to make the race with Jimmy Daywalt driving it and have a very creditable 9th finish in 1955.
See more on the Daywalt chapter of this car here, http://www.angelfire.com/in4/jimmydaywalt/1955.htm
This was the car in which Marshall Teague crashed to his death while attempting to break the closed course speed record at Daytona in 1959. In 1959 USAC announced that it would run an Indy race at the new Daytona speedway. With Marshall as his test driver, Chapman Root entered the Sumar Special. The goal was to attain a speed of 180 mph.
On February 10, Marshall ran 171 mph.
So now at HammerArt who was commissioned By Don Smith it is being recreated. Shown here, in its 12-4-2009 state of reconstruction.
Drawing on the wall of the Sumar indy 500 streamliner at Hammerart
Sumar chassis and the Body on the wooden bucks with a reproduction Kurtis Roadster midget.
Front view with its big Offy Engine and lots of tubing there.
Drivers office check out how close the driver is to the drive shaft Torque tube.
Front view of the Aluminum body
Back view of the wooden bucks and the all aluminum body as it takes shape.
It is now just a matter of time to see the completed car and it will be out at the Don Smith collection in Terra Haute. Oh by the way that Kurtis Midget Roadster in the third picture which was commissioned by Don also to Van Craft who did most of the recreation from Kurtis drawings. Hammerart now has it to finish up as Van has some health issues to take care of.
aXe
1935 Gilmore Stadium
The very first Turkey night Grand Prix
Bob Swanson driving the Ware Midget ,
wins the 75 lap main event driving the "Flying Bathtub". This was one of only two of the races ran at 75 laps. The other was in 1945, it was won by Danny Oakes.
Danny Oaks in the car in later years
Now 75 years later they run 98 laps and on November 26 2009 Bryan Clauson came home the winner of a 98 lap race. 98 laps are now run in honor of JC Agajanian who promoted this race for years at Ascot park in southern California.
I first went to the GP in 1966. I saw Parnelli Jones put on a masterful display of driving to win that one.
Around this time I was a stooge for Ollie Johnson and George Benson. They had been going to that race for a few years, getting closer to winning it every year. It was a 150 lap race then and it seems every time they got close to a win they would run out of fuel near the end and fade. They finished 4th in 1968 running out of fuel the last 5 laps. In 1969 with the race shortened to 100 laps they came through and won it!
But before that unknown to Me back up north indoors at the Oakland Exposition building in 1958 I saw this antiquated rail midget brought out to race, Driven by an unknown driver Jan Tresner,(not sure how to spell his name?). Needless to say it wasn’t a very competitive car. Being at the time over 25 years old!
The owner now in background Bob Ware
It was owned by a racing photographer writer named Jack Fox then. Now 51 years later as I walked through the fan area of Toyota speedway there was a vintage car display, and I spot this old midget that looked surprisingly like the one I had seen back in 58?
So I asked the guy closest to it if there were more like that car? He said no that was the only one and it had won the opening Midget Grand Prix back in 1935! And now the first GP winner here at So Cals Toyota speedway!
The guy it turns out was the son of the original owner builder.
Bob Ware is now the owner and head restorer of the car. He told Me after Jack Fox ran into some problems and lost control of the car. It sat in an orchard up north in California’s San Jose area for years. It was then rescued by him in about 1980 and restored by this dedicated crew.
Wow in the last month I have seen a fully restored midget picture of the first midget to win a sanctioned midget race at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento California in the early 1930’s. Funny but it is located in a Motorcycle museum in Clovis, California .
Click on the logo below to visit the Rouit museum
Dan Rouit and the midget on display at his Museum
Wow it sure seems Vintage enthusiasts are getting the old cars out of their burial places so to speak and reviving them to close to their original specs all over this country.
Vintage race car restoring and Reproduction is an ongoing industry from coast to coast. And it keeps on getting bigger!
If you get the chance to see some vintage exposure at Your local track don’t pass it up there is a virtual museum on wheels in very part of this country with cars from close to 100 years old on display and even running exhibition races going on all summer long.
aXe
Forty years ago this week this combination won the annual "Ascot Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix".
George Benson and Ollie Johnson teamed up in the early sixties and won some of the big west coast midget races back then not just the Turkey night show,
Another win was the BCRA's biggest show of the year back then , The annual night before the 500 midget race at San Jose speedway.
In 1967 they were the West Coast USAC Midget championship team.
George along with his driving talents was a very good car builder and His cars won several midget championships out west.
It now is that time of year again and the Turkey night GP lives on, not the same one from years ago but none the less one of the biggest midget races out west still.
My last Venture out to Ascot to see this race was when My son wasnt even a year old, He is now 34!
So in the morning I am off to see just what they have to offer down there on the paved track? Sprints Midgets and Focus cars all on the same program?
aXe
On the TWS Hills, The Offy’s were Singing!
TWS Vintage meet Day 2. Well I doubt the walls at TWS ever heard the song of those mighty old 250cui Offy’s sing?
What a thrill it would be to hear thirty three of those big Roadsters with their Offy engines just Rumbling around this speedway! But it will never happen.
Sad for me to say but, I never got the chance to hear those engines in a full field running at full tilt in a race on pavement. Closest thing for Me were the dirt cars at Sacramento on that dirt Mi. in the late fifties and sixties.
So the next closest thing for Me would just have to be here at TWS where 7 of them, a few of the real cars and a few replicas. That would just have to do.
There were 2 that go up on the walls here on Sat and got those big engines just roaring for several laps ! You would have thought their was big purse for the winner?
But no it was just for old times sake and the personnel thrill of it. Ant to show those wanting to see how it was done in the old days.
All these folks that do this Vintage thing whether it be original car restoration or just getting a replica car going should be thanked for without them those who never saw them before would never get the chance to see them and find out some of what it was all about. Not that us old guys don’t need to see them. Well this old guy was just thrilled to see those two cars going at it! The sound of those offy engines just pushing the cars as fast as the drivers wanted them to go. Was great to hear and see.
Well now this weekend was mainly for the sports car groups and there were some great vintage sports cars. One that caught My interest was this Bugatti F1 car. Now you really had to be a strong person to drive this thing with its No power steering and cable operated brakes. What a brute compared to today’s cars.
The car on the left below is the Bugatti on the right is a Talbot.
The Static displays of Midgets and the Sprint car of Don Menards was great also to look at.
Oh Yes there was one Sprint car allowed to run with the roadsters on the big track it was even a Roadster Buick V8 powered, built way back and driven then by Don Thomas, Now owned and driven by Steve Bonesteel.
Then this little Abarth car of John Furlow's caught My eye. The two side draft Weber carburetors were just about as big as the engine. Specialy after John Told Me, "121 cubic inches, the carburators I mean!"
I had to leave on sat evening so didn’t catch any of Sundays runs and if You didn’t get there You should watch for next years edition and try to get to see this ? Hey I almost forgot there were over 100 SCCA cars racing hard on a 3plus mi road course also in those 3 days!
Pictures and Stort by
aXe
CVAR 18th Annual Vintage Festival at the Texas World Speedway.
Texas World Speedway "NEEDS" A Sugar Daddy or a few of them!!
The last time I was at TWS was around 1993, it was for a Winston West ARCA stock car race. Not many fans braved the weather to go there and the crowd was around 8 thousand.
After that race there were fireworks and none were in the skies! A couple of law suits and one of the owners going back to Japan, I am not sure about that one though.
Now a couple of owners, managers or? later it is but a ghost of that track from back then. Weeds cover most of the property and none of the access roads lead up to the main grandstands any more. The track surface is in dire need of repaving. Just about every where you look is a deteriorating facility! Sad but a facility so close to a couple of major population areas and not haveing any races for race fans is very sad.
They do run sports cars for private testing
(No fans allowed) and a few other training events for private enterprises.
The main part of a major speedway is already in place, All grading needed is in, All Water, Electricty is there, Access roads outside the facility are there. The stands are there but have some minor problems. The Timing and scoreing towers with some suites below them are in. They were new around 1990 so didnt get much use.
The whole thing needs to be upgraded for the racers and fans both or in a few years it will go the way of most race tracks, It will be sold for redevelopment the would justify owning acreage of this size. Surely they cant be making a very good return on what goes on here? compared to what selling the place for developing would bring them.
Anyway today with great weather I got to see some Real Vintage and Reproduction Indy Roadsters try those very high banks. And a slew of sports cars I know absolutley nothing about that kept dissapearing behind the back stretch walls up that hill, I have no idea were they went but that track was listed at over 3 mi long and the big oval is only 2 mi long so they were out there for an extra mi plus..
There are also a few vintage midgets and a Sprint car on hand. that I was saddened to learn was not the Hank Henry car the owner Don Menard had last time I talked with Him 18 years ago. It was a put together car with parts from Henry, Edmunds, Beck and five other sprint car builders from back in the fifties,sixties and seventies. Don told Me his old Hank Henry car now resides in either New Zeland or Australia?
If You like old Midgets Indy Roadsters or Sports cars mostly small bore and one great looking sprint car. get on out here tomorrow or sunday they will be going at it all day both days.
pictures and article by aXe
Schmidt Spl and the Boyle Valve spl
Bill Jones and His Checkboard midget
Bills Checkboard car #3 history
Don Menard and His car of many builders 8 to be exact
#15 Boyal Valve Reproduction and #2 Watson Roadster
Watson Roadster
Watson Roadster
Albert Offy
Sports Car
Mobile Flying Red horse
Historic Indy Cars, Racing Legends Celebrate America's Racing Heritage
By PAM SHATRAW
Victory Lane Magazine
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, November 9, 2009 - This weekend fans will enjoy over 60 years of America's Racing Heritage as Historic Indy Cars and Road Racing Cars roar toward the green flag during the CVAR 18th Annual Vintage Festival at the Texas World Speedway. November 13 through 15, racing fans will enjoy the unique sights and sounds of sleek Indy Roadsters and earlier Indy up-right cars running on the banked oval for the Victory Lane Historic Indy Car Showcase presented by Vintage Oval Racing Magazine.
This traditional event will feature the Indy Cars, and Indy legend Bill Jones, whose 60 plus years of Indy Racing History will be shared during the weekend. Also featured on-track are 150 vintage racing cars competing on the Texas World Speedway 2.9 mile road course.
Car owners and drivers enjoy the thrill of on-track action and the opportunity to participate in the competition and pageantry with the legends of America's Racing Heritage. Between on-track sessions, the Historic Indy Cars, Sports Cars, and Sports Racers will be on display in the paddock. Owners and drivers will eagerly discuss each race car's history and answer questions from the fans.
|
Partial Indy Car Entry List |
|
|
Car |
Current Owner |
|
1927 Miller Boyle Valve Special |
Carl Schultz |
|
1959 Simonize Special |
Larry Pfitzenmaier |
|
1960 Watson Roadster |
Charles Faulkner |
|
1960 Meskowski Indy Roadster |
Bill Boone |
|
1962 Sprint Roadster |
Steve Bonesteel |
|
1963 Searly Motor Freight Special |
Bruce Revennaugh |
|
1964 Watson Roadster |
Bud Taylor |
|
1965 Watson Roadster |
Richard Morrison |
The Historic Champ/Indy Car Association promotes preservation, restoration and education of Historic Championship and Indy cars. It salutes the significant contribution to American Racing Heritage by registering, promoting and organizing displays at on-track events and historic races. Hundreds of cars are currently on the register and more are being added.
The Historic Champ/Indy Car Association has been organizing and promoting Historic Championship and Indy car on-track showcases for nine years. These events are made possible with assistance from Victory Lane Magazine, Vintage and Historic Racing News Magazine, Vintage Oval Racing Magazine, and Victory Lane Motorsports Marketing.
For more information call Pam Shatraw, HCICA Events Manager 650-321-1411, CVAR 817-228-2140, or Texas World Speedway 979-690-2500.
on Nov 8th,
Pictures by
http://www.rickmandelson.com/
Stan Shopple, Stan Lobitz and Oscar Koveleski
in picture below
"Polish Racing Drivers of America" logo with a Thanks To Stan Lobitz message
I am not sure about this car and the guys behind it?
But I do know it is a Beauty! I dont know if it is a replica or the Real one?
Nov
Taking you Back
Another race track closes Bay Meadows California
Kevin Triplett
California
Contributor to OWR3
On May 11, 2007, the Bay Meadows Race course in San Mateo, California entered the homestretch, presenting its last regularly scheduled horse racing program. The Bay Meadows facility, built during 1933 and 1934 on land formerly used as a Curtiss-Wright airfield, was conceived, and operated by William P. Kyne. Bay Meadows, so named because it’s location in a meadow close to San Francisco Bay, opened to the public on November 3, 1934, and was credited with many innovations, including the Daily Double, Puett electric starting gate and the photo finish. The famous thoroughbred Seabiscuit won the Bay Meadows Handicap in 1937 and 1938, and noted jockey Bill Shoemaker began his career at Bay Meadows.
The tradition of motor racing at Bay Meadows was largely overlooked in the massive local media coverage of the track’s closing. During the decade of the 1950’s, Bill Kyne and J. C. Agaganian promoted motorcycle, AAA midget and AAA championship car at the 83.5-acre facility, which also staged late model stock car races. The front straightaway of the 1-mile dirt track is 85 feet wide, and the backstretch 75 feet wide. The grandstand, featuring Art Deco architecture, has a published seating capacity of 12, 000. Unlike the preparations at the similar track at the California State Fairgrounds, at Bay Meadows, race cars ran directly on the horse racing surface, built of sandy loam, which often resulted in a rough and dusty track.
The first AAA championship car race at Bay Meadows was held on November 26, 1950, the day after the last race at Gilmore Stadium. This was the last Western race of the 1950 season, and featured a strong field of the Championship cars and stars of the day, including Bill Schindler, and Sam Hanks, who was starting his first ever dirt track race in the Russo-Nichels entry, filling in for an injured Paul Russo. A total of 12 cars failed to qualify for the starting field. Jimmy Davies led the 18-car field into turn one, with the action captured in a photograph later used as the cover photograph for the April 1951 issue of Speed Age magazine. Davies could not hold the lead through the first lap, which was led by Tony Bettenhausen in the Belanger 99 Kurtis. Bettenhausen led the rest of the way. The checkered flag flew on lap 149 of the scheduled distance of 150 laps, and after taking the flag, the Belanger 99 ran out of fuel. This added to the later controversy regarding the scoring of the race. Hours after the event, AAA officials decreed Tony Bettenhausen was the winner, so many of the fans in attendance had to consult their newspaper next morning to find out who had won the race.
At the 1951 championship car race, held on November 11, 1951, there were fewer entrants than the previous year; however notable entrants included the previous week’s winner at Phoenix, 1950 Indy winner, Johnnie Parsons, Tony Bettenhausen and Henry Banks. Missing the show was Bill Vukovich, who was too slow in the former City of Tacoma car, one of four cars that failed to make the 18-car starting field. Jack McGrath in the Hinkle Offy led the field from the pole for the first 23 circuits before retiring with a burnt piston. Continuing his performance from the previous, Tony Bettenhausen in the Belanger 99, grabbed the lead from Jim Rigsby, driving for Bob Estes, on lap 32 and led until he was forced to pit for tires on the 129th lap. Johnnie Parsons led the rest of the way in the Wynn’s Friction Proofing Kurtis 4000, scoring his second straight victory and second win in 1951. As it was the final race of the 1951 season, fans saw Henry Banks crowned the 1951 National Driving Champion. The morning following the race, it was announced that drivers Mack Hellings and Bob Barker, together with photographer Lee Harvey, had perished in a plane crash along with the pilot, near Bakersfield on a charter flight bound for the Bay Meadows event. The AAA Championship cars never were to return to Bay Meadows after 1951, perhaps due to the poor attendance at this event, reportedly only 8,858 fans were in the stands.
Beginning in 1954, NASCAR presented three late model stock car races at Bay Meadows. Bay Area promoter Bob ‘Barky’ Barkhimer, former midget driver for Howard Keck, and BCRA champion, had combined his California Stock Car Racing Association with NASCAR, creating the NASCAR Pacific Division. In addition to Bay Meadows, the NASCAR Pacific Division circuit visited the Oakland Speedway, Balboa Stadium, Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, Stockton 99 Speedway, and Carrell Speedway.
The August 22, 1954 inaugural NASCAR Bay Meadows 250–lap event featured such period stock car stars as Lee Petty, Marvin Panch, Buck Baker and AAA star Sam Hanks. The race was won by Herschel McGriff in a 1954 Oldsmobile over 40 other competitors. The reported attendance was 14,000, suggesting a standing room only crowd.
The July 31, 1955 NASCAR event was won by Tim Flock driving a Chrysler 300 owned by industrialist Carl Kiekhafer; the car and team which dominated NASCAR in 1955, winning the season championship. This race was marred by not one but two scoring controversies; first, the checkered flag was not given to the field until 252 laps of a 250 lap scheduled distance had been completed, and John Kieper announced as the winner; Flock was not declared the winner until hours after the event. This race was significant in that it marked the first time an African-American started a NASCAR race. Elias Bowie, a Bay Area taxi cab company owner, finished 28th out of 34 entries in a 1953 Cadillac. The reported attendance was reported as 13,927.
The final NASCAR event at Bay Meadows was held August 9, 1956, included California short track legend Al Pombo, and a young Rufus ‘Parnelli' Jones,’ who drove his Vel Miletich 1956 Ford to second place behind winner Eddie Ragan’s similar machine. The race was marred by a tragedy; on the leader’s 241st lap, a serious crash occurred entering turn one involving a back marker. As the crowd surged onto the track towards the scene, Steve Clark a reserve police officer working security attempted to cross the track to control the crowd. Clark was struck first by the car of Scotty Cain, then following cars, and was killed instantly. The race was stopped and declared complete at 241 laps. Subsequent investigations revealed that most drivers could not see through the dust and dirt caked on their windshields. The 1956 Bay Meadows event marked the final NASCAR Grand National race contested on a one-mile dirt track.
Bay Meadows also regularly staged AMA dirt track national events from 1950 through 1956, featuring such legendary riders as Kenny Eggers, Larry Headrick, and 1971 and 1972 USAC National Champion Joe Leonard. All three were from nearby San Jose and all rode Harley-Davidsons provided by legendary tuner Tom Sifton of San Jose.
The 1956 passing of Bill Kyne, whose drive and ambition dominated Bay Meadows, caused a change in the management, and the subsequent cessation of motorsports at Bay Meadows. The track has passed through several owners through the years, most recently it was purchased in 2000 by the Swiss investment bank USB, which announced its intention to close the track in 2002 and develop the grounds into a housing/shopping complex. Demolition of the Bay Meadows facility may begin as soon as September 2008, thus adding another track to ever-growing list of lost race tracks.
Do you want to see some good vintage NON Caged and NO Wings Midget pictures and stories go here to a new page on the H.A.M.B. site
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337192
Or go to these pages Sprint cars NO Wings!
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?s=ba0a0446d64848597ab69d21b7c734cd&t=236178
PS only do this if you have plenty of time because if you are interested You will be there for a while!
Nov 5
Taking You Back
By Kevin Triplett
California
Contributing OWR3 Staff
California’s Black Sunday
The 1970 Open Competition Super-Modified & Caged Sprint Car Championship
Many articles have been written throughout the years about the events of ‘Black Sunday,’ July 29, 1951, a day when three talented and brave race drivers lost their lives. Less well known in the racing history community are the tragic events of October 25, 1970,
The 1970 Open Competition Super-Modified and Caged Sprint Car Championship, held at the old California State Fairgrounds on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, California, was to be J.C. Agaganian’s last promotion at the famed oval, as the old Fairgrounds had been replaced by the new ‘CalExpo’ facility as the site of the State Fair; this was to be the final event at the track.
A reported crowd of 5,433 filled the old Fairgrounds grandstand on Sunday October 25, 1971 to watch a program culminating with a 100-lap feature race with an entry list of over 50 sprint cars and super modifieds from
Time trials to set the first 13 rows for the feature had been held on Saturday, with Joe Saldana claiming the pole position, as the only driver to record a sub- 37-second lap time. Starting alongside Saldana would be Bob Evans of
Two 10-lap semi-main races were next on the program, with the top three finishers in each to bring up the rear of the scheduled 33-car feature field. Drivers found the track to be rutted as a result of intermittent rains during the week, and trouble began early. The first semi-main was halted after nine laps after Opperman’s car flipped after he spun into the infield. The young “Opp” was transported to the
The crowd was just settling back into their seats after the start of the second semi-main, when the #82 supermodified owned by Jack McCabe and driven by Ernie Purssell, swerved into the outside fence as he slowed entering turn one and set off the terrifying series of events. Purssell, from
As the accident was unfolding, the flagman displayed the yellow flag to the field. However, the sanctioning body, California Racing Association, rules at that time allowed racing back to the flag stand, a policy which many blamed for what happened next. Many people had rushed from the pits on to the track to assist Thomas and Purssell, while others headed on to the track to warn following drivers to slow down. Walter Reiff, a former
Next door at the
With heavy hearts, the competitors started the 33-car 100 mile feature race. Joe Saldana led the opening lap, but was soon passed by Jerry Blundy and Bob Evans. Local hero, Jimmy Gordon, known to his fans as ’The Capitol Comet,’ driving the beautiful #96 Don Edmunds Autoresearch Special caged sprint car owned by Hayden Harris with Leonard Faas, Sr. as the chief mechanic, was forced to stop early with a flat front tire, much to the disappointment of the crowd. In an article published the day before in the Sacramento Union newspaper, Gordon had revealed that he had been signed by J.C. Agaganian to drive sprint cars and midgets for the Agaganian-Faas team in 1971. In the article, Gordon had stated that it was his dream to one day drive in the
After replacing the flat tire and receiving new goggles, Gordon returned to the track a lap down, driving with a vengeance, and was clearly the fastest car on the track, passing numerous cars in his quest to return to the front. On the 35th lap, as Gordon was exiting turn two and moved to the inside of Bud Gilbert’s car to pass, and ran out of racing room between Gilbert and the inside earthen berm. Gordon’s car rode over the wheels of Gilbert’s sprint car, flipping end over end at least three times before coming to rest ¾ of the way down the back straightaway, near the center of the track. Before the yellow could be displayed, the horrified crowd watched as Ron Rea’s car smashed into the Gordon wreckage, tearing off the fuel tank. Both cars exploded into flames; Rea was able to climb from the wreckage of his car and jump over the low outside fence to safety. Jimmy Gordon was not as fortunate; he was trapped in his car and could not escape. Despite heroic efforts by the track safety crew to put out the fire and extricate him, Jimmy Gordon, age 25, whom many considered a future star, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the
J.C. Agaganian faced with the knowledge that three lives had been lost, and after hearing the shouted pleas of the wives of some of the drivers, had no choice but to halt the race. Photos from that day clearly show a shocked “Aggie” as he addressed the crowd. Jerry Blundy was declared the winner; in his interview he heavily criticized the CRA policy of racing back to the flag stand under the yellow flag, but stopped short of placing blame for the deaths.
Not long after that tragic day, the old fairgrounds track and grandstands were demolished. The water tank located near turn four still remains, but most of the site is now occupied by the UC Davis Medical Center complex; the area off turn two was the site of the infamous Greenfair housing development complex. Although the Old Fairgrounds track is gone, nothing can erase the events of that tragic day,
Nov 3
Bob Bogan Race Cars
I remember in the mid sixties seeing a Bob Bogan offy powered midget at most USAC west coast midget
races. It was a superbly built car and usualy stood out from all the others
Bob another not heard much from constructor from back then.
Click picture below of Bob to read about Him and what He built.
Mike McGreevy USAC National Midget Champ in 1965 recieving Trophy Dash hardware from JC Agajanian.
I dont usualy get autographs but on this occasion I did. This was at Vallejo spdwy and the guy who autographed the program won that night for his first USAC National midget win, Driving the Harry stryker Offy.
aXe
March 1986 Open Wheel Magazine ran this article by Jim Chini.
It was for this new midget, One of a kind by George Benson. Built for Ollie johnson, they took 10 years to get it done.
Chini wrote in the intro, Only in California would someone build a brand new midget just for an old Offy?
We will have to wait for the "Benson" book coming out soon to find out more about it and just what happened to it?
OCT 28 2009
This was taken in 1958 at San Jose spdwy Uncle Dudly (Bob Hewitt) Driver
Roy (Curly ) Gardner and Chet Taylor one of the owners in pic also.
note right rear mag wheel with the hunks out of it!! and He drove that car at allmost 100mph on that big paved high banked track
#95 Dave Imrie 1958 Oakland indoor B race Championship driver and car
#2 is Johnny Baldwin in the Stan Brooks ford Stan in back on left Moe Goff I think it is.
1959 Okland Ca Exposition bldg indoor midget races, Below First Roadster midget in BCRA driven Clark Shorty Templeman. Clark was the winner of all those races in one night at the night before the 500 at sixteenth st spdwy in 1956 driving for Ashley Wright. He is right up there with Mel Kenyon, Jimmy Davies, Rich Vogler and Sleepy Tripp as the best of the best midget drivers.
Aug 2 2009
The 2009 Manifolds on Main car show was a huge success.
Star of the Vintage race cars 1927 Blown Miller Straight eight above, Kirk Estes picture See more on the list below.
There are two reasons that come to mind. First I had about 30 people helping me with the "behind the scenes" tasks and second, the great varity of cars that participated in the show.
We had muscle cars, hot rods, original cars and race car. The Irving Main Street Event, which is the street fesitval that the car show is part of was very well attended and is already in the planning stages for 2010.
Thanks to all those who came out to support us.
Here are link to photos that have been sent to me. There are hundreds so pace yourself.
D.J. Adams' photos
Paul Valentine's photos
Kirk Estes' photos
Steve Hansen's photos
John Plummer's photos
The Kids Coloring Book story.
The trading card story.
Mark your calendar and I hope to see everyone the last weekend in September next year.
Bart
CENTENNIAL ERA CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE MOVING TO 2011 AT IMS
INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 –
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Centennial Era Concours d’Elegance,
featuring some of the world’s finest classic and antique automobiles and motorcycles, is moving to June 17-19, 2011.
The event, originally scheduled for June 18-20, 2010, is shifting to the new date due to the challenging state of the world economy. This decision, based on the recommendation of industry leaders, will provide the best opportunity for a successful event as the economy continues to recover in 2010.
IMS officials anticipate strong participation from concours and industry enthusiasts based on the tremendous initial response since the Centennial Era Concours d’Elegance was announced in March 2009.
The Concours d’Elegance will be a featured event during the Speedway’s Centennial Era, honoring the 100th anniversaries of the opening of the fabled facility in 1909 and the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. The event will celebrate the significance of vehicular transportation and competition to Indianapolis.
Vehicles at concours d’elegance competitions are judged on their appearance in an elegant setting, with awards presented in a variety of classes.
Interesting flim footage, showing a Dirt car and Midget and also a new midget.
Youtube has some great Vintage footage on it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrNf91hV8ps&feature=related
Sept 18 2009
Ever hear of one Bob Higman?
Here is an article that should enlighten you on him.
aXe
http://www.earhs.org/article.asp?aid=43&articlename=Newsletter2007Vol4
VINTAGE GRAND PRIX ENTRY LIST INCLUDES ALMOST 400 CARS MORE EXPECTED
Fans Can Find Most Up-to-Date Entry List and Schedule on TheGlen.com
Watkins Glen, NY (September 9, 2009) – Fans that attend this weekend’s U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at historic Watkins Glen International will not be disappointed with the wide variety of vintage racecars that will be in attendance. This weekend the track expects at least 400 entrants to hit the track - making it one of the largest vintage racing events in the country. This highly-anticipated weekend combines the best in vintage racing on the 3.4-mile road course at The Soul of American Road Racing with a special tribute to the racing career of Lyn St. James, the Antique Auto Show presented by Chemung Canal Trust Co., the State Line Vintage Auto Auction, and the featured marquee, Morgan.
“The fact that we are yet again one the largest vintage racing events in the country, is a testament to the drawing power our historic road course,” said Michael Printup, president of Watkins Glen International. “There is no better place to celebrate the history of racing and the career of Lyn St. James than in this great town of Watkins Glen , and no better time of year than to honor these cars than in the fall in Upstate New York.”
Don’t miss the Chemung Canal Trust Co. Antique Auto Show on Saturday, where fans can display their antique cars in friendly competition and take a parade lap around the historic track on Saturday afternoon. Tickets for the auto show are $70 and include one three-day general admission ticket, vehicle entry into the show, a parade lap, and a special gift. Participating cars must be at least 25 years old and the show is limited to the first 400 entries.
New in 2009: The State Line Vintage Auto Auction at The Glen will also be held on Saturday, September 12th during the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix weekend. The auction starts at 1:00 PM in the HGP Paddock area, just north of The Pyramid. The auto auction at The Glen is limited to only 160 vehicles, so consignors are encouraged to register their cars as soon as possible. More information can be accessed by logging on to www.vintagebidness.com.
The weekend will also include the Grand Prix Festival presented by the Chemung Canal Trust Co. in the village of Watkins Glen on Friday, September 11th where Lyn St. James will also be inducted into the “Walk of Fame” by the Village of Watkins Glen and serve as the Grand Marshal for the reenactment. Weekend tickets are still available and adult tickets are only $45. Kids ages 12 and under are FREE. Sunday admission is only $30 for adults. Al l tickets provide access into the grandstands, garage and paddock areas. Tickets include all access and participation in autograph sessions, fan forums and Q&A sessions with Lyn St. James. For tickets or more information call 866-461-RACE, or visit our official website at www.TheGlen.com.
Vintage Race cars at Manifolds on Main car show
the Manifolds on Main car show on Saturday September 26th in Irving TX to
see a fine selection of vintage race cars.
Last year we had about 180 cars in the show with a dozen of them being
vintage open wheel cars and it looks like we will have about 24 vintage open
wheel cars this year. Much more varitiy that last year. So fa16
cars committed.
Here is a partial list of some of the types of cars expected.
Edmonds-midget
Elto-midget
Henry-sprint car
Kurtis-sports car
Kurtis-midget
CAE-sprint car
Miller-big car
Wetteroth-big car
Nance-super modified
Maserati-birdcage
Hillegass-midget
Wetteroth-midget
More detials at www.ManifoldsOnMain
Bart Stevens
Irving, TX
Sept 2 2009
“TRIBUTE TO DON SMITH” DRAWS “AMERICAN HEROES”
American racing heroes were in abundance on Thursday, August 27, when the inaugural “Tribute to Don Smith” was held in Terre Haute, Ind. Honoring the motorsports contributions of the Terre Haute businessman, the day included a luncheon at the Holiday Inn, followed by tours of Smith’s collection of race cars and memorabilia.
Enough drivers to fill a feature field at the Terre Haute Action Track paid homage to Smith, who has served in numerous capacities during his long motorsports career, including race organizer, car owner, sponsor, etc.
The Terre Haute First Financial Bank president was surprised at the turnout of drivers who posed for a group photo before touring his extensive collection.
Drivers in attendance included some of the most prolific Sprint and Midget racers of all time. Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, Ken Schrader, Gary Bettenhausen, Larry Dickson, Pancho Carter, Tom Bigelow, Jack Hewitt, Bill Vukovich, Bruce Walkup, Charlie Masters, Johnny Parsons, Bill Engelhart, Steve Chassey, Ralph Liguori, Mel Kenyon, Steve Stapp, Rich Leavell, Joe Saldana, Steve Lotshaw, Gary Irvin, Jim Mills, Brad Marvel and event organizer Duke Cook were all there, sharing stories from the past.
Racing notables also in attendance included Robin Miller, Dave Argabright, Bob Higman, Bill Marvel and “Speedy Bill” Smith, who came from Lincoln, Neb. to show his support.
Photos courtesy of Joe DeFabis
Story courtesy of Dick Jordan
Front row (l-r): Jack Hewitt, Bill Vukovich, Gary Bettenhausen, Johnny Parsons, Mel Kenyon, Bill Engelhart, Bill Smith, Ralph Liguori, Pancho Carter.
Center row (l-r): Bruce Walkup, Larry Dickson, Charlie Masters, Steve Lotshaw, Tom Bigelow, Ken Schrader, Johnny Rutherford, Brad Marvel.
Back row (l-r): Duke Cook, Steve Chassey, Jim Mills, Rich Leavell, Joe Saldana, Gary Irvin, Steve Stapp.
Above just one of the Don Smith buildings insides
Our Tour of the Don Smith collection
Back in May of this year I had the pleasure of meeting Don Smith in Gasoline ally, The one with all the vintage car builders there. I was in Pete Gephardt & the Van Craft shops. Don was there checking on the Kurtis OFFY Midget roadster Pete &Van were finishing up recreating for Him.
Don was very kind enough to extend an invitation To Me aXe, My son Lee and Grandson Tyler to go out to view His Collection. We got there a little early and found out we were going to be given a private personly guided tour by Don. I cant say enough abouy how gracious a Man He was to us. We throughly enjoyed our tour, Not enough time to see it all but We sure tried to! A few pictures I took are below.
Don and his latest acquisition the day it arrived.
My Son Lee, Grandson Tyler and Don
aXe, Tyler and Don
Probably the first VW powered midget. I first saw it driven at San Jose by Bobby Olivero back in the late sixties.
The Jet Rod driven to a few wins by Steve Chassey.
This is but a very small sample of what Don has collected through out the years. I sure hope to receive another invite to go back and check out what we missed on the first visit.
aXe
