History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

Hey, Denny! You looked good in Vintage Oval Racing magazine this month.

 

I had to smile when I read that comment about 1968. That's the year I was born. That would be neat if you remembered my grandfather. We were very close. He talked a lot about Joe Csiki. I remember him saying how Joe liked to paint things flat black. To this day I always keep a couple cans of flat black around. I can only guess what year he started woking for the Bennetts. I guess somewhere around '58. I need to call Ronnie, it has been a few years. I heard lots of stories about Dutch, Len Duncan and Bill Randall.

Anyway, Here's another picture. I believe the 20 car is a Bennett car but I don't know who is driving. I wonder if Mario is in the ? car. The guy in the 98 was probably wishing he had a roll cage about then.

 

indybigjohn, Thanks. Was it the reunion in Manassas VA or Whip City Speedway?

 

That's not Csiki in the 20, he never wore a visor on his helmet. Denny Z

 

[QUOTE=Surfref32;5699188]I had to smile when I read that comment about 1968. That's the year I was born. That would be neat if you remembered my grandfather. We were very close. He talked a lot about Joe Csiki. I remember him saying how Joe liked to paint things flat black. To this day I always keep a couple cans of flat black around. I can only guess what year he started woking for the Bennetts. I guess somewhere around '58. I need to call Ronnie, it has been a few years. I heard lots of stories about Dutch, Len Duncan and Bill Randall.

Anyway, Here's another picture. I believe the 20 car is a Bennett car but I don't know who is driving. I wonder if Mario is in the ? car. The guy in the 98 was probably wishing he had a roll cage about then.[/QUOTE]

As Jim Nise pointed out on here awhile back and as Ken Brenn recently confirmed to me, that was the former Ken Brenn owned pink #20 .. 4 bar Kurtis Offy that the Bennett's bought from him .. that Dutch later drove so successfully and even later owned & drove himslelf.
(Brenn had his birds egg blue #24 similar/same car up for sale at the same time too.)

With the #20 still on it, I'd be willing to bet that it was one of the first (if not MAYBE the very first year) the Bennett's owned it.
Now was Tommy Elliott one of their first drivers?????

Stan Lobitz told me something interesting, not too long ago.
He has an old sprint car (or parts of it) that shows the Bennett Bros. as owners and a Ron Bennettt as the driver. I now wonder if that was them???? (Stan wasn't positive.) "IF" it was, I'd love to know MORE about that!!!

Bill Randall .. I believe that he was the only one who could REALLY get Brenn's blue rear engine Offy midget .. "The Pusher" around well. Although some years later Mark Donahue did once or twice too. I know where the engine from "The Pusher" is .. but no one seems to know what became of the body & chassis.

 

Surfer, that is Bill Randall in the Bennette 20. you can read bennette on the hood. I suspect he is running over the Jerry Willetts Offy #98, probably Ray Brown. Looks like either freeport or Danbury. The cars are running recaps, they stuck better on those bull rings.

 

Randall and the Bennette 20 @ Williams Grove

http://www.thevintageracer.com/wg/mgrove59_3.htm

 

Denny, I can't remember. Best of luck with your current ride. Glad you're still diggin'.

 

WOW Jim!! Those pictures are awesome. They capture the moment so well I feel like I'm there....and in color! I'd love to see them full size.

Here's another of my grandfather and a cageless midget. I see the "B" in the front bumper so I'm guessing it's a Bennett car. That's all I know about it.

...after looking closer, it appears that I've posted 3 pictures of the same car albeit with three different numbers.

 

I'm sure I asked Ron if he ever got behind the wheel of a race car. I don't remember the exact answer but I'm willing to bet that he never drove a sprint car in a race. But hey, I've been wrong before. If he ever calls me back I'll be sure to ask him.

 

Absolutely no problem posting 3 pictures of that Bennett Bros. car, as it was a very successful car (here in the East) for a long time. My personal favorite in that car was Ed "Dutch" Schaefer.

As I've mentioned on here before, I'd love to know where that car is now.

What's interesting is the narrow width of the tires they ran back then.

 

Ken they ran a 400 left front, 450 rt front, 500 left rear, 550 rt rear.

not much surface contact, drivers had to squeeze the power on!

 

An action shot from some Utah racers:



My grandfather in a friend's midget at the Hippodrome in SLC, Utah, circa 1948:




Finally, a link to a feature article about my grandpa's midget:

http://jalopnik.com/5654492/the-midget-in-the-crawlspace

 

GRRRRREAT story there on jalopnik.com!!!

I hope that you restore that car as a tribute to your Grandpa & great times he had.

If you do, PLEASE post pictures of your progress here.

 

I enjoyed the story and pictures as well. Denny Z

 

As it happens the Deseret News microfilm archives are online. Usually I'm looking at the 1960s supermodified stuff but this story intrigued me.

The month of August in 1948 seems to have been the bad month for the midgets at the Hippodrome. Spectator Ralph C. Nelson was the spectator that was the fatal. Later in the month driver Pat Testori lost his life in a race accident.

Some clippings I pulled from that month.

 

That is SO cool! I'm going to spend some time and read up on the deseret news site looking for familiar names (like my grandfather's).

 

This is the write up on the man who passed away.

 

I never knew how many pictures I had of the same car but since you like Dutch, here's another. Left to right are Ron Bennett, unknown, Ed "Dutch" Schaefer, Ed Bennett, Steve Cardinale, Nick Fornoro. Anyone know who the guy in the hat is?

 

Now I can say that I knew your Grand Dad. He was always there, ALWAYS working HARD on that car.

If you blow that picture up, you'll see that the rear tire was worn down to the cords in at least one spot.

 

Another bennett bros pic, this time with Chuck Arnold up.

http://www.thevintageracer.com/nisepgs/old_bridge3.htm

 

Jim,
Great photos!!! Was your fathers car a Hillegas? What car was it before and who ended up with it/ Again, GREAT PHOTOS...............

 

That sure was a nice thing to say. It brought a tear to my eye. He's been gone a little over 10 years. It sucks there's no one left around me that understands or even has a clue what racing is about.

This next picture is interesting. I have three from Bloomsburg 1970. That's my great grandfather standing by the track. I believe my father drove the Bennett #22 in that race. The odd thing is when I zoom in on that picture the cars on the track are cageless and look vintage for the time. I wonder if they were? I wish I had a better version of that picture. I also love the crowd in the stands!! They looked completely packed.

 

WOW!! Your Great Grandfather must have been a real gentleman .. a shirt & tie at the Bloomsburg Fair.

I think the Csiki built Bennett #22 Falcon was owned by Joel Merksamer (spelling?) of Birchwood Towing here on Long Island in 1970.

If in fact that picture is from 1970, then yes, they were cageless / vintage cars on the track when it was taken. Possibly some kind of special display, show &/or demonstration? The yellow & red #30 is possibly the very first race car that Ken Brenn had owned.

Tickets were always COMPLETELY SOLD OUT for the midget races at the Bloomsburg (PA) Fair.

 

Ken, In the pic below(sorry for the cages), I think the 1970 Bennett #22 is an Edmunds Offy. It looks like my dad is adjusting the RR torsion bar. I'm pretty sure Jim Kirk is the other man in the drivers uniform. I'm guessing he drove the #21 in that race. It looks like my great grand dad took his tie off.

 

Stan, my father bought the hilligas midget from a guy in north N NJ in January 1960. His name was Raymer. The car had run the old NASCAR midget circuit. Had a Gold Leaf number 7. Raymer was concentrating on a modified stock car for daytona at the time. I think it got wadded up in the big crash there that year.

I have seen pictures of the car previous to Raymer as the Bettencort Ford. Number 7 with Lou Johnson driving.

We ran it 3 years in ARDC with drivers Bob Hillis, Sonny Sanders, Johnny Mann, and lastly Bob Shaeffer. In 1962, Bob and my dad merged assets and we put a Falcon in it. It would run really fast for short periods, had some kind of alignment problem with the cam to magneto gear that would eat the gear. After the 1962 season, we sold out to Bob. He campaigned it for several years as number 44. Bob moved to michigan I believe and I have no idea as to where the car ended up. BTW Bob was good friends with Doug Craig who stooged off and on. We had to watch what he worked on, his family business was heavy equipment, and he would strip about any bolt he tightened.

When we merged with Bob, he sold his hilligas to Don Kreitz Sr. This was the second midget he sold to Don.

 

I forgot the Bennetts had an Edmunds. .... THANKS!!!

The #21 looks to be an Olds or a Buick V-8 powered car & by the grill, nose, hood, cowl, etc. probably neither a Kurtis nor an Edmunds. Did the Bennetts ever own one of those?

I know that Carl Miller did (an Olds) and that he campaigned it for a number of years with both the ARDC and the SMRC. Carl Miller also used the #21 at different times, if I remember correctly.

 

Ken,
That 21 in the pic might be Randy Maustellars. That 21 is not an Edmunds or a kurtis. It looks very much like the homemade car I bought from Randy. One of the few cars I have ever sold. It is still down around Bloomsburg today.

 

Ken, I don't know if the Bennetts owned the #21. It doesn't seem likely and I don't remember hearing anything about that. I do have a picture of Jim Kirk in that same red #22 at Pocono in 1969. According to the 1970 ARDC yearbook, the race at Bloomsburg was on October 10 and the top three finishers were McAndrew, Duncan, Kirk. Kirk won in the Brenn #1 the week before at Williams Grove.

 

Ron Bennett purchased an Edmunds Offy chassis#59 form Ken Hickey which was delivered in December 1968. I believe the car was only run until 1970 before being replaced by a later Edmunds with a Ford Sesco. The car was sold via Ed Darrell (who never raced it) to Dick Meally (anyone have any pics/records of Meally in a '68 Edmunds??). In the early 80's Stan Lobitz found the car (in excellent condition) for Vic Yerradi. Vic removed the bolt on cage and install a brand new 120 offy and restored it as #4, before selling it to a private museum in Texas. After the death of the owner it was sold to my father in Australia mid 2009.
It remains as restored by Vic and is brought out once a year for a serious run (the 120 offy packs a serious punch!!).
I have been scavenging bits of the cars history since its purchase and after dad traveled to the USA earlier this year Ron Bennett, and Stan Lobitz (dad says G'day) were able to confirm the cars history. I can only assume the reason Vic didn't restore it as the Bennett 22 was that it was always a caged car and he wanted a non caged car.
Surfref32 thanks for posting that picture, I would really appreciate any postings of pictures results etc for this car or if you want email me (admin@gojovideo.com).
By the way thanks everyone for a terrific thread.


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