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

RABs32, what year was the picture of Toby in the number 7 taken? I'm going from memory, which is not always good, but isn't this the car he climbed the fence in the Hershey stadium with in the late 60's? He broke his arm and trashed the car, but had it back together and WON the next weekend with his arm in a cast.

 

It's from Oct. 87 Circle Track mag.

 

noob,
I thought Toby was in more of a Super mod type car at Hershey. I was there that day,but that was 40+ yrs ago. 1969?

Unfortunately my uncle Jerry knocked Toby out of the groove and into the fence that day.
The only time I ever saw Jerry do that.

 

I`d say that is pretty good stuff Rootie.

 

So was I! You could be correct, think I remember it being more of a roadster, but it was number 7 I'm sure. I wish I still had my programs. I would have been about 16 at the time, could hear the roar from home. My Dad would say we weren't going tonight, had to mow the lawn or something important, UNTIL the first car fired up. Then we'd make a bee line to the races. Loved the sound of the Offy midgets in the stadium!!

 

Same here,

I loved the Midget races at Hershey!

I had my If you wanna race Hershey is the Place stickers. It could still be a great place to watch races today,but they chopped the turn 3-4 part off. Sad.

We ran a TQ there back in the early 80s-that may have been the last race they had there.

 

And unfortunately the only referance to racing in Hershey in the new Hershey Story museum is ONE sign about 6x18. It is an original from when they raced in the 30's. There's nothing that I know of in AACA museum either. Have to go to Latimore for anything related.

 

Yes, Mario did make his open cockpit debut at Lebanon that day. He referred to his ride as "an antique". Ed Gallione won that day in my dads car. I still have the trophy.

 

After doing a little reading, it seems the maroon and white car was known as "Baby". Which was the former Haskell Miller. This car is the car that Hinnershitz, Schindler, and Andretti eventually piloted. The car Horn was killed in at DuQuoin in '48 was a white and blue car named "Beauty". This is according to the rumbledrome site Buildy posted.

 

It was my understanding, and I admit I may be totally wrong about it, that NONE of the pieces in that "pile" went into the restoration/recreation! Reading the "Circle Track" article now, I may have to reconsider. Anyway, lest anyone think differently, I am totally in favour of having the car in the McConnell collection today! I was just trying to point out that things may not be what they appear to be, and some people (not me, I hasten to add) chose to take a dim view of recreations. I say, re-create away, but be clear about what is what!

 

To be more specific :

 

Not to throw any gasoline on the fire, here's some more info from OWs Terry Reed:

 

The "unrestored" building is far more fascinating than the restored cars. You could spend days taking all that in.

 

Well just returned from two glorious days of vintage racing at Lake Havasu 95 Speedway in the beautifull Colorado River basin area of NW Arizona. We, the WRA (Western Racing Association) were invited by Billy Shuman and Ray Alcaraz and their SW Chapter of West Coast Vintage Racers.

While we were definitely outgunned by the 50s and 60s monster sprinters I'm happy to say that our 1927 Miller tribute car garnered the lions share of attention from fans and fellow competitors and there are a few thousand more people who now can add "miller" to their racing dictionary, which is after all the main purpose of bringing the car to run before the crowd and letting the kids come and climb all over it after the races.

fwiw: The fan favorite in the midget ranks remains Jan Shaffer's two stroke stacatto smoker 1936 Bob's Big Boy Elto.

 

In one of Bob's barns waiting to be rescued is a Jeep built by Curtis to use during a bond drive in WWII. If I recall correctly, for some reason the Army would not give up a Jeep for the drive so someone went to Curtis and had him build one. It has a tube frame and all the markings of a true Army Jeep. It was painted OD Green and had the white stars, etc added.

I don't remember if it had an engoine or not so it may have been used for static shots only.

At one time it was in the building Josh posted shots of but it may have been moved as Bob has several buildings filled with treasures ready to be worked on. When I first saw the collection, I was like a fat kid with a danish - I wanted it all. One other thing, Bob has a vast collection of street cars going back to the 1920's - all restored.

 

Gotta love IMCA color pics, Thanks!

 

Correct.. and, if any of you ever get to Penn. to the Eastern Sprint Car Racing Museum, you can see on display the Blue tail that is all that is left of "Beauty" that Ted was killed in.

 

It was there. I just didn't get a pic of it.

 

Josh:

You know of all the great things Bob has, that Jeep sticks in my mind the most. Don't know if it was because of Curtis or what. I would love to see that one restored and put on display. Better yet, I would love to have it parked in my garage!

 

Eastern Museum of Motor Racing at the Latimore Valley fairgrounds. It's a fantastic place!

 

Heres some USAC action from Penn National.....Rich

 

Some more....

 

The "race car junkyard in Ixonia, WI" is not a good description of the farm that Jim Ash lived on and stored the collection of old race cars and parts he was able to buy very reasonably in a period of time where they were very available and had little value.

Don't know what year McConnell did the car but when Ash sold all his stuff in maybe mid 1990's, a pair of those Simonek carburettors were in the sale. They were very similar to the Riley. I couldn't afford them but bought a pair of the smaller Riley midget carbs that day along with Simonek's line boring set-up for cutting babbitted mains. We still use that to this day. Also his boring plates for Model T, A, and V8's.

Amongst all this were other treasures like the Willison 6 cyl DOHC, the Brisko 5 main bearing Offy looking midget that had valves operated from a hydraulic pump and no camshafts, about half a dozen Riley 2 cylinder horizontally opposed midget engine blocks cranks and heads.

I also came away with 16 raw connecting forgings for the Ambler DOHC midget engine and one of the main patterns dor the Ambler QC rear.

If I had a scanner, and any aptitude, I could post photos from that -27 degree day.

There was a midget that got left there out behind the barn after the sale and Ash was long gone, moved to Virginia I believe. A neighbor showed it to me when I came with my trailer to pick up my stuff. Wasn't much of value there and I identified the "unknown" engine as a Volvo. If it hadn't been for the fact there was a 3" tree about 15 feet high growing through the middle of the frame it would have come to Minnesota too.

Wonderful memories.

 

It doesn't need restored, it's in very good shape. Yes, I like it too!

 

Hey RacerBilly C, heres a few for you....Rich

 

Heres one for Wynns1...Rich

 

Hi Rich,
That is Kramer Williamson in my 4 coil Trostle at Middletown. The car never lived up to expectations. I promised Kramer a 4 bar car if he finished the season. We remained together for 5 years.
For racerbillyc, My brother in law has Scats car that he built for your dad pictured on the right.

 

Penn National = Jan Opperman!

 

How about some Hot Wings for a Sunday nite dinner show

 

Another helping....