Art & Inspiration Quarter Midgets from the 50's & 60's

No nitro, unless he was cheating. Alky only in the Open A and AA class.

 

anybody heard of the name sleepy tripp was a big time qm guy from cali i think my brother and sister both raced qm in late 50s early 60,s i never got the the chance ... i think dad thought i was to HUSKEY... HE HE

 

Sleepy Tripp was/is a stud!

 

Ron "Sleepy" Tripp was one of the best. Yes, he got his start in 1/4 midgets, but long after I had outgrown them.

 

Anyone in Tulsa OK remember the track on the north side of highway 44 and the 75 split? Banked oval you could see from 44 down by the river. Last time I saw it was in the 80's, long closed down but I drove my car around it. Pics?

 

Okay, I'll admit it is a sickness. I picked up another 1958 Racecraft this weekend. white with black scallops, also in the toy room (waiting their place in the garage) Orange 1957 Racecraft and Blue 1956 Moss.
On the back patio, a 1957 Speedway quarter midget awaits restoration, and finally three pictures of the garage (sorry about the two that are sideways). I have a real weekness for cars in "as raced" original condition as you might notice.

 

Awesome collection. I'm envious that you have a "toy room". Very cool.

 

Dean, Did you ever race Dean Thompson, I think he started in 57. He went on to be one hell of a sprint car racer, and on the subject of Sleepy Tripp in USAC Midgets, he was 7 time Western States and 2 time National Champion. Thanks Dean for your historical input on this subject.

 

Yes, I did race Dean Thompson. The ultra light little car that Bruce Brommie built for him was tough to beat. Dean was a very small 5 year old when he started. Dean and his midget didn't weigh any more than my Kurtis without me in it! Dean's Dad, Bud, ran a barely warmed over engine because with the weight advantage, and Dean's natural ability, he didn't need a lot of horsepower. If he started in front of me, there was no way I could get around him. He had the ability to make that little car real wide! Likewise, if I happened to start ahead of him, he never passed me. When Dean "owned" Ascot in the 80's, I used to watch him clean house and think "I used to beat that little shit"! Too bad such a great driver had such a sad ending.

 

Dean, We had 2 kids here in the Portland area that raced at Las Vegas, Mike Gregg and a girl named Merit Meadows. Merit's dad owned the largest Pontiac dealership in Portland and sponsored both cars. Mike went on to race midgets and sprints, even won the Bellville Nationals one year! I was wondering if you remembered them.

 

No, I'm not familiar with those names. There were 100's of kids at the big national meets like Phoenix and Vegas. My brother and I pretty much hung with the kids from our local tracks who traveled with us. Names you probably know that we raced with were Jimmy and Danny Caruthers and their cousin Lonnie, Bobby Olivero and his cousin Mike, Rick Goudy, Dale Pulde, Buster Vernard, Johnny Balch Jr., and Danny McKnight. There are others, but those are the ones in my old brain this morning.

 

I picked this up last Friday night from a guy in Fresno. He said his dad bought it about 30 years ago, and they were going to restore it. I am hoping someone will recognise the name "Jim Nikolaus" as a California driver. It has a Continental motor with Solt pan, gearbox, distributor, intake and head, Amal carburetor. He must have ran either A or B class.
I would really appreciate any input. Thanks !!! Kenny.

 

Very nice, Kenny!

 

That is a beautiful Racecraft. The name isn't familiar to me. The letter following the number is a clue as to what association and area the car was at. In the 50's the areas in California were all assigned a letter. I don't think much attention was paid to the letters, except to score association points for local drivers. Our home track was Upland, letter B, but we never ran the letter because we raced all over So Cal, and it wasn't about points for us. We just wanted to race the best drivers on the best tracks. I'd love to see a pic of the engine. Tell me what jet size is in the Amal, and I'll tell you if the car ran clas A (gasoline) or AA (open Fuel).

 

Just got this Walhberg chassis home, it came out of Austin Texas. I had a race craft several years ago that I had big plans on painting,lettering and painting numbers on but I got side tracked after it hung from the rafters for years and I let someone else have it, now if I can find a body I plan on getting this one done, following this thread is motivational.

 

Hi Dean,
The motors are usually pretty crusty when I find them, but I try my best to clean everything. The first two pictures are of a restored motor (I had to use an orig. intake and carburetor on it because the previous owner "fixed" the hole in the tail cone that the Amal poked thru) and the other pics are pretty much how I find them (after I have cleaned them up). Check out the dual plug head in the last picture!

 

Cool motors. I've never seen a dual plug head for a Continental. Under my bench is the fuel engine I won the 1957 national championship with. Solt oil sump and sun gear, and Earl Evans head and ignition. Some day I'll drag it out and restore it. It's still got Castrol R bean oil in the sump from '57!

 

Haha, I know what you are talking about when you say "bean" oil, when I was a kid, I raced flattrack motorcycles and we used to run Blenzall bean oil mixed with Mobil high test and 1/2 Joe Boghosian racing fuel to get right up to the allowable octane level. The fuel was awesome and I would pour the leftover into our lawn mower every week, so when I mowed the lawn, the whole neighborhood smelled like the racetrack! What a flashback.

 

casper, I run Blenzall in my gas powered blender and lil indian minibike, funny how manny guys love that smell, Brings ya back,

 

Thats awesome u from fresno??

 

This is im told a 70s speedwat kart it was mine at four years old from a friend of my dads and after 28 years lol my five year old is learnin in it

 

my name is don mayfield, that pic is of my father roy, brother tommy and johnny parsons jr. i was hoping you could tell me where you found it?

 

Don, I have that picture in the issue of 1/4 midget news that it was printed in. That picture was taken at the long gone Upland dirt track, where the parking lot for the Upland Memorial Hospital now sits. Also present on that day were Duane Carter, his two sons, Pancho and Dana, my brother Jack and myself. My Dad had arranged for Duane to pick up a Kurtis 1/4 midget for Pancho and Dana so they could start driving. It was during mid week, and we had access to the track because Dad was president of the Upland QMRA, and had keys to the track. JP Jr. and I were the same age, 12 years old, at the time. Duane Carter was JP's step father.

 

i just picked up here on the hamb, a racecraft. casper has been helping me out on the i.d.its totally complete. it came out of the l.a. area. looking forward to getting her going soon. dam i wish i could fit in it! believe its a 57.

 

Racecraft's were good looking 1/4 midgets. Post some pics when you get it done.

 

what kind of midget is that in your photo? The Wahlberg #13.

 

If you are asking about this car, it is a WAHLBORG brand.

 

It's great reading about and seeing all of the 1/4 midgets. Here is the only picture I have left of me in my Moss in 1958. We raced on a track at the Catholic church in Lemon Grove Ca. My mom won the car for me in a recipe contest on Skipper Frank's Cartoon Carousel. We picked up the car at Ascot. When they pushed me to get it started for the first time the throttle stuck wide open. I ended up running over the flagman when he tried to get the thing shut down. I wish I had pictures of that.

 

Great picture, and a cool story! Yeah, too bad you don't have more pics.