History Pretty Don't Win Races

When men were men.

 

Wow, talk about a couple guys that have lived life! I had to find out a little more about Peet, so I did a quick search.
Here's a plane crash article that adds perfectly to the Jalopy Journal story -
‘He’s lived about 29 lives’: Wyoming pilot walks away from second plane crash in five years (sltrib.com)

 

These same stories played out all over the Upper Midwest and even the whole country in those years. MN, Wisco, Iowa and Eastern Sodak still have dozens of circle tracks. Some of them just a few miles apart. The now defunct Mn State Fair Speedway even hosted the big names from Indy and USAC. Very cool story!

 

What a great time to be alive and adventurous.

 

This is a hint to my past as my Dad and I attended about every small track in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. It was interesting when the Hudsons started to overtake the jalopies for all the wins. I also have a great memory of a 50 Olds showing up and having very fast time trials, the Hudon boys were nervous, but Mr. Cocky driving the Olds backed it up very fast and then whipped it to turn around, went over the burm, and rolled the car, taking him out of the competition. Great days with my Dad and seeing some cool old race cars.

 

Some Des Moines racing history: The only pic I've ever seen of my Grandpa Don Hay and Uncle Jim Hay's 36 Ford Coupe they ran. I had to take a picture of a negative I found against a window, then used an app to invert it...



Also, good friend Bob Dyer's racecar also from DSM. The little boy is my good friend Don Dyer.

 

Those Hudsons are/were no slouches. A group called the Hudson Boys still hold more than one XO class record at Bonneville that they set in the last 15 years or so.....

 

And drove wooden ships. Lippy

 

You talk about when the Olds hit the scene... I wish I could find it, but I read an article in Circle Track years ago about the first Southern 500 in 1950 I think. The Olds dominated but the tires couldn't handle the speed or the HP and kept blowing out and putting guys in the wall. Spectators in the infield started offering tires to the teams.. Meanwhile a slow Plymouth putted around the track and had such a lead he got out and had a Coke on his last pitstop, won the race by a lot. Tortoise and Hare situation.

 

My grandpa bought a new Hudson in 46 and 49. He always talked about how fast they were.

 

Those early jalopies were certainly "stock" cars.....full fenders, grilles, bumpers and even windshields.

Here's some pics from Tunis Speedway in Waterloo Iowa. Both cars were owned by the same guy "Don". After the flathead '32 started falling behind he switched over to the faster Olds. My bro has the remains of the '32 now and maybe one day we will do a post on it.

 

Well, the circle track guys were banging into each other. But pretty sure counted with the drag racers at Lion’s and OCIR.

 

Ride a Harley across the Amazon. Race cars across Asia and Africa. Raise a bear cub.

Sounds about right.

 

I am very tired of the oval track racers just beat and banged myth and I suggest you take a look at my thread to get a good look of the full history not just the made for the movies version.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ly-built-junk-you-better-think-again.1258689/

 

Holy moly that was crazy!

 

Not sure what your point is, sir. Do you believe that I* think stock cars are poorly built? Nope. I know that any competitive racer must be well constructed. Drag cars, where I’m from, were painted by the same guys who painted the gorgeous Bellflower cruisers. Guys like Watson, Cerney and Steve’s Paintin’ Place shot some beautiful paint jobs. There were many CRA sprint cars that were chromed up and finished in shiny paint, but the dirt and stones at places like Ascot sort of made it futile to have a very expensive candy apple paint job. There was pressure on racers to run a pretty car. Sponsors dig that stuff.

 

And now an afternoon and a new wrap and the cars look like new

 

Hi-Absolutely do something with it-fix it,it's cool!!!!

 

Hi-This is the kind of stuff I could read all day-As far as tracks out there,I can name 11 dirt tracks operating within 2 hrs. of my home in western Minn.Iowa is DIRT TRACK RACING!!!!!!!!!I'm happy I got in on the last few years of the coupes and coaches as I call them aka jalopies

 

For several years, I have thought about organizing a vintage dirt circle race. Something like a a cross between the HAMB drags and TROG.

 

I know a dirt track in bama that would do it

 

I think it would be cool to tie it in with the HAMB Drags. There are a couple of dirt tracks within about 45 minutes from Joplin. @Ryan might remember I suggested it several years ago.

 

Sounds like the cars that still race where I live.
Beaters that pass tech and nice “show” race cars on the same track.
Every now and then a race will break out during a fight.
Guys that run backwards on the track to settle a score. (Then banned of course for a while)
A fiend of mine has a 3/4 breaker bar and no sockets to fit it in his race tool box. Weapons ain’t allowed at the track.
I haven’t ever drove a plane but I have driven a ride built by high school kids over 30k miles and I have wrestled a bear.

 

The story I read about the race, told about how the Olds entries dominated, but ran the tires off. The crews slipped into the spectator area, and borrowed the tires, without the owners knowledge. After the race, they found their cars on blocks. While they were doing all the shuffling, Johnny Mantz in a Plymouth with 6 ply tires, won the race. Our local racer Hershel McGriff was in the field, with the same stick shift 50 Olds 2-dr that he had just won the La Carrera Pan America.

 

The Filthy Forty

 

Gonna need pictures of the bear Anthony…

 

I wished. I was a Jr in high school. Wrestled the bear in the gym with a packed house.
I didn’t win. But a couple feet taller and 3 times my weight, that bear should be ashamed of himself