History Speed and a Midwest family

Scotty T, I've heard the same. It's almost as if EVERY town had a race track back then. Sadly there isn't a ton of info on the web about these tracks. I know this family was located near Evansville at one time and in the album is a picture of an old horse racing track, which Evansville has but since the pics are from the mid 30s a lot has changed. However there was also a lot of race tracks around that area in that time also. I'd love to see the pics from that junk store and notice a similar car. You start to wonder where everyone ended up and wonder why no one tells the old stories.

Silent Rick, these could be jungle park also because I've noticed a lot of Terra Haute pics. Just check out the sign on top of the garage in the last pic. I mean that car HAD to see some action not even an hour away!

 

White Brothers: Thanks for posting these great photos! Here are a few IDs for you.

Photos #14 and 15 are Louis Schneider,winner of the 1931 Indianapolis 500. Not sure of the Location,could be Indy,although he ran at Detroit,Syracuse and Altoona in 1931 too.

Photo 19 appears to be a two man Indianapolis car. The #15 All Oil Spl was driven by Shorty Cantlon at Detroit to 12th place. The car DNQ at Indy in1931.

Photos 20-21 are Ralph De Palma,at Indy. Ralph did not qualify in 1931 at Indy. Ralph is standing in the center of photo #21.

The next to the last photo which is double exposed may be Rick Decker #29 at Indy in 1929.

I forgot to add that the photos in group #10 are of the 1939 Indy fatal crash of 1938 Indy winner Floyd Roberts.
The car that stayed on the track and caught fire was the #25 of Ralph Hepburn. Roberts can be seen going outside the track after contact with Hepburn.

I used champcarstats.com to aid in these IDs

 

Wonderful! Your Mom did good, very good! Go Mom!

Do you know, or would the auction company know if they came from an estate or someone's collection? (sorry if this has already been asked?)

 

I just made sure this got an "excellent" Vote! This sort of visual history is breathtakingly exquisite! Again, thank you for sharing these pearls with the rest of us.

 

KILLER stuff! Has any of this been submitted to any of the nostalgia racing sites?

Anyway - thanks much for sharing with the HAMB - and yeah, your mom is cool! Thank her too.

 

CoalTown, I would imagine they did come from an estate, but this is the type of auction house that waits till everything has been gone over and gets the leftovers. They lo-ball on everything consigned and run up the bid if they see you're willing to pay. I don't sleep well when I wonder if there was anything else that could've come from this family.

stan292, fellow HAMBer slowforty has directed me to RacingHistory.org but I'm still awaiting entry. The HAMB was their debut.

Oh yea, my mom gets a kick out of everybody thanking her. She keeps telling me, "...and you didn't want to go with me anymore...". Thanks guys. Now she has some real dirt to hold over me.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to post these photos, somehow I missed it back in December. Kudos to your mom for her good thinking as well!

Isn't it fun to look back over albums like this and create the cast of characters in your head?! It really makes you wonder who the people were, what they did and their exciting adventures getting to and from these tracks and everywhere in between. If only we had a time machine!

 

BTT,... 'cause this is a great thread!

 

These are the kinds of pictures that need to be catalogued and reproduced in either book, or CD form to preserve them forever.

 

WB, thanks for posting these fantastic photos. Man, what a find. Your mom is, apparently, very definitely in touch with what any car guy would find most interesting. That photo album is such a treasure. Again, thanks for sharing...

 

What he said.

 

Wow . . . what a wonderful bunch of historic photos! Imagine having that family album - and the stories to go with it. THANKS for posting the photos, now if you can only find the family and the negatives!

Dale

 

It sounds like the area of Jungle Park Speedway. Closed about 1960
HG

 

Great pics. Thanks

 

Most pictures are from Fort Wayne (IN), and this one is from Winchester (IN). Both were banked half-mile dirt tracks at the time. The last few pictures are from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jungle Park had very distinctive grandstands, if you've seen one picture of them you'll always recognize'm. I don't think any of the pictures here are from Jungle Park.

 

This is Henry Kohlert's Miller '122' at Indy in 1928, it was driven by about a half dozen drivers during the month of May that year. One of them was a very young Kelly Petillo, many years before his first Indy start, and he made himself no friends by crashing the car in practice. I wonder if this is a very rare do***ent of a future Indy 500 winner learning his ropes???

 

The "Mace Goodyear Special" #36 that is in several pictures was Ira Hall's very successful Fronty-Ford with a DOHC head on a Model T block. Hall was a former pugilist, who got out of racing in the early thirties to go into politics - go figure! I believe he was Sheriff or Mayor for a few years, and when he retired from office he got back into racing, and drove a few 500s.

Btw, I believe the grinning bloke at the rear of the car is Mauri Rose, future three-time Indy 500 winner.

 

This is a pretty amazing sequence of pictures from the fiery 1939 Indy crash, you can clearly see Roberts's car remaining upright after going over the wall! The driver's slumped over the wheel, and may already be dead - I believe he died from a basal skull fracture, and if you've seen excerpts of the film from the accident you may notice how his head jolts around from the approx. five-foot drop to the ground.

Bob Swanson, who was driving relief for Ralph Hepburn in the car that caught fire, was luckily ejected from it and is lying on the track in the two lower pictures. Amazingly, he was almost unhurt, but the car burned to the ground.

 

Tell your MOM thanks for the pics. I grow up about 2 miles from the Indianapolis 500. My familey was not into cars so we never went.

 

Thank your Mom for saving a piece of racing history. I am not into racing, but the historical significance of these pictures is priceless. Just Wow. Pat.

 

Absolutely wonderful pictures Brian. Thankyou so much. Lippy

 

Wow...first of all I never expected this to come back to the top after soo long. Second, I didn't expect this much info...but this IS the HAMB. Thanks to Harley Gene for bring it back.

Michael Ferner,
Fort Wayne & Winchester? That takes it farther than I had guessed. But, I guess if you had the money and desire back then you would just follow the circuit. Thanks for the info on the other shots as well. Not but last month I was watching a do***entary on Indy when they were building the new pagoda and resurfacing the track and they showed footage of THAT crash!!! My jaw hit the floor. I had that goosebumpy type feeling when you're absolutly certain that you've seen a ghost! Great stuff indeed.

B.M.

 

i can't believe that they caught so much action with those old cameras back in 31 and 32. Great find by your ma!

 

The photo's are really Kool ! thanks for posting them.

 

Gotta dig Frosty with the cigar in his mouth and wearing a necktie.

 

I agree with the poster that said Jungle Park was not a**** the photos. However I disagree with that post identification of Winchester. I think that photo is from Greenville, Ohio because of the lattice work on the fence in front of the grandstand. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway photos are obvious and the grandstand in the background of several 'pit' shots plus the photo of the fourth turn are definately Ft. Wayne. Very nice selection of vintage photos and thank you for sharing them.

 

May I echo the "wows"? This is great. One of the best threads I've seen here - right up there behind the junior stockers, super stockers and AWB cars. these photos are priceless. Thank your mom again. And would you consider putting some more up? Like the ones you mentioned about church, vacation, regular family stuff? Would really help our collective imaginations.
Thanx again. And if I sent Mom some money, you reckon she'd go to estate sales for me?!?

 

Made my day!

 

Really like pic number one. Anybody here want a piece of them guys! Man not me!

 

Once upon a time........... Thanks for sharing, love em all......