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

That's the truth Bob, when I was a kid my dad started taking me to the races in Tampa. My first WinterNationals was in '57. He told me to pay close attention when the cars went by because the knobby tires put a lot of dirt in the air. One year I wasn't paying attention and was almost knocked out when a dirt clod the size of a fist [Tampa was always well prepped] hit me in the face . I walked away with a black eye but I never took my eyes of the track after that! Anyhoo thanks for bringing back that memory

Blessings,
PK

 

Yeah, right.

It's called competitive spirit. Those guys are there to win, not to parade nostalgia on wheels.

 

Fact of the matter is, for a long time, there was nothing saying a FE couldn't race in the 500. Of course there was only one taker, God bless him, and we all know how that turned out.

 

I will be there (INDY) 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th not on race day though. Too many people, I will watch the race on TV. Hope to meet some more of you HAMB ers this year. Denny Z.

 

I think Tony George tried to do that with the IRL and the Olds and Infinity engines but the big money came in and screwed that up.

Indy Car needs names like Kinser, Swindle, Stewart and Schatz to draw more interest.

 

Indy cars "scholarship program" needs to be expanded. Look what Bryan Clauson is doing, I think the top two in points from each division, midget, sprint and silver crown should have a shot. This would get some familiar names back in the lineup. In my opinion they need to get rid of the street courses, maybe a few races on real road courses but mostly ovals. Also in my opinion if you want to crown a REAL champion at the year end there needs to be a few races on dirt like it use to be.
Also while I'm ranting....If these races are going to be televised (and they should be)
they need to pick a network and stick with it, don't be bouncing around several different networks.

Rant over....Denny Z.

 

Yeap! CORRECT.

The bottom line is.. The quest for speed. Rear engine cars are balanced better and LIGHTER. They are ALWAYS going to be faster.

I don't want them to simply "Go away". The TOP level of racing it the WORLD should be: ANYTHING GOES WHAT EVER IS FASTEST in the Quest for Ultimate SPEED.
This method of thinking, testing, and DOING is why our street cars are so safe with things like Anti-Lock Brakes, Impact panels, and inner crash braces.
BADD ASS rear engine, High tech ROCKETS are fine with me in there own realm.. (F-1 ?)

But, the traditionalist in me wants INDY (and maybe ONLY the 500) to be more traditional.. But it's just not going to happen.

Yes, I think more Americans should be in the race, and I agree with the TOP USAC points guys should be guaranteed a ride.. But, we can all dream.

Untill then, the only thing we can hope for is that guys like Clauson can get lucky, and get in there and PERFORM. (Which he is doing!!!!)

GOOD LUCK BRYAN.. This will be the first time since Kinser and Vogler were trying, that I have a "hero" to root for at INDY.

Thank you!!!


J Shaw

 

Couldn't have said it Better.

 

That's not really what I said... I'm ONLY talking about pushrod small blocks. Nothing fancier than what runs in the WOO or NASCAR these days. I'd like to see 40-50 cars trying to qualify, so anything that gets the cost down would be great and not much re-engineering would be needed. The cars would be the same as they are now, just with SB engines.

Further along in time and in a more traditional vein, how about GMs ECOTEC I-4 and a turbo? They make crazy HP and are very strong. Or other MFGs production based I-4s all huffed up?

As an aside, I wouldn't advocate a tube frame roadster at high speed anymore, for pure safety's sake, but anything else that can bring down the cost and at the same time be welcome. Even a front engined, carbon fiber'd tub based roadster design with a cage would be fine with me. Fat chance, though. Gary

 

Engine costs are just a part of big league racing nowdays. Maintainance, testing, development, travel, support etc. is what's going to give you "sticker" shock. For example: call up your nearest wind tunnel and get a quote on how much a hour of time is going to set you back. Then multiply that by how many hours you think it's going to take to tweak out your car even close to a Penske car (many) Then figure on the wages of a aero engineer to interpet the data and how to apply it to your application and then...... well you get the point. In the end, what you had to shell out for a motor might turn out to be a little more insignificant than it first appeared.

 

Rootie, if you do away with the wings, then none of the aero drives the racing. They could also go to the old days of one day racing. Unload, warm up, qualify then race.

None of that will happen however because penske and Gnassi are going to spend whatever it takes to feed their egos.

JMO

 

Exactly. It's all relevent, they could change the rules to where only Rupp go karts, with 5 h.p. Briggs motors would race. Yet, Penske, Ganassi, et-al would figure out a way to turn a $200 Briggs into a $20,000 Briggs. It's the way it's always been, just the number of $000 change.

 

Bingo !!

 

Back when Nascar talked USAC in to wrecking their Silver Crown series with those pavement mutations, I thought a better way might be to leave the dirt series alone, and simply expand the Silver Crown paved side as an opening act. The 10 car field they ended up with didnt gain open wheel racing any popularity, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that thought it was boring. For a second...I thought we might have shot at crossing over fans from Nascar to Silver Crown, maybe introduce new drivers like a Larsen before they get bought. Enough specialty (pre winged mutant)pavement cars existed to fill a field, seemed cheap and easy. It might even have given pavement racing a boost if those with open wheel roots helped with a little promotion.

 

I bet if guys from USAC or CRA, among others had the chance they would be glad to jump in an Indy car and race on ovals only. The state of Indy car racing is a discrace. Let take the 3 or 4 year old cars out there and go racing.

 

There was some discussion on here a while back how people used to think the cars had personalities and how a particular race car was good or bad to a driver. I thought I would share a little story with everyone, about how that still holds true today. Maybe this is somewhat off topic, but it might make you laugh. My dad taught me to understand that a race car does indeed act that way. And over my years of racing, I have had some good ones that treated me well and some that didn’t.

So last night I was working on my new motocross bike, swapping the shock out. Well, she caught me with a left hook and I came to work today with a cut and black eye.

The funny part, the first thing I said was, Why’d ya do that?! This is not a good way to start a relationship! Yes I was talking to it

So, yes there are things from yester-year still hold true today. Lets just hope this one doesn’t throw me on the ground too many times…

Its the weekend! Happy Racing!

 

Hello All, I know I'm a little OT but I am trying to ID my mid-seventies offset roadster,(supermodified). It is supposed to be a Lloyd Shores, does anybody know about how many of these Lloyd may have built and might there be anyone who knows any leads on tracing one of these, (serial numbers, records, family, people that worked on or around these cars, or teams that ran one of these, etc). I can post pictures of my car but don't know if I should do so here or by PM.
Thanks for any help
Glenn

 

Hell yeah, post em' up. I'm always ready to look at a old roadster of any era. I remember Shores built some real hot rod dirt cars back in the 70s, but I don't know much about any roadsters he built. I imagine others will though.

 

Please post them...... I Love Roadsters!!!

 

I would like to see some pictures of your car. Do you have any history on the car?

 

Glenn,
There's some feedback to your Q over at Indiana OW, including someone who has a # for Scott Shores.
Carl

 

Well guys love it or hate it I am doing my annual migration north to the fabled grounds of brick (well atleast the start finish line). It is a habit that my father passed on to me in the early 70's, I have seen the highs and the low's, and well to me its still somthing that I cherish. Do I care who is running, not really, the fact that my pops took the time to teach me the history and take me from a small snot nose brat to a beer swilling jackass, and throwing me to the wolves in the "SNAKEPIT" in the mid 80's I LOVE IT! I have not missed a year of qualifying since 86. So I continue the sickness and have been taking my kids since 2000, one is 13 and the other 15 so they have it bred into them. Do they love it YES! Do they appreciate it YES! Are they going to the the VINTAGE DAYS NEXT THURSDAY HELL YES! So anyway sorry for the pointless post other than the fact that the youth of America is still safe under my watch here in the SCHMIDT HOUSE!, well as least as long as I am still they're DAD......

 

^^^^ You go! Have a great time! Teach the kids there is more to life than what their peers think is important.

 

On roadsters, look what I brought home Wed. The Grant King Pink Lady and by the way I picked up the Vel's Thunderbird powered, Allen Heath driven CRA sprinter also!!! And I get to go to Indy next week!!!

 

Wow, good looking cars Steve. How many years since the Roadster Ran?

 

I have no idea when the roadster last ran. I talked to Kenny Hamilton and he said they stopped running it when the upright, that he has now, was built in 1968. From that point I don't know. Then, some years ago may be 10 years it was found in a junk yard by former CRA driver Jay East in Riverside Ca. The cage and wing were found with the car. (first two photos) Jay redid the car not knowing the history, and the last photo is Jay and the roadster right before loading it up on Wed. I hope with all your help the history can be found.

 

Sorry about going a little O/T:

Posted a thread asking these questions a few weeks ago and couldn't get any insight, so I was hoping you guys could help out.
_________________________________________________

I have a couple of questions regarding the pre-1979 Halibrand Engineering involving the wheels:

1. Were the wheels sand cast or die cast magnesium?
2. What was the name of the slotted "kidney bean" wheels before Ted sold the company?

I've read many of the threads on here involving Halibrand, and it doesn't seem like any of this information was addressed.

Any other info or input you have is greatly appreciated,

- Craig

 

Will do leaving soon. They respect the history more than the flash.

 

OT but, J. Helberg went 12.66 at Winchester yesterday. That's fast.

 

A. J. Watson shows off his newfangled suspenders to Ray Brock.