History Historic Stock Car Photos

I love the bs that gets spread around Good psych out. Bill Spencer's '56 Plymouth Hobby Stock was #543 and he painted it Petty Blue and had Plymouth by Bill on the rear quarter panel, just like Richard had on his car at the time. I remember he and "Big" Ed Moss. Bill's performance in his first Sportsman car (a '63 Plymouth) got him a drive in Floyd Johnson's #67. Johnson owned cars for years and employed Jim Cook, Becker Jr., Spencer, etc. Really, Johnson's #67 and Sigman's Circle #6 were the cars to be in. They were the best cars/car owners in So Cal. Bill was a heck of a driver, very promising. His accident at Riverside in January 1975 was in the #52 Pomona Truck Electric sponsored car. Unfortunately, the owner's name escapes me at the moment - Kurt ?. He and Bill Osborne were a two car team, Osborne moving over from being Ivan Baldwin's teammate. They switched their racing in '74 to Cajon Speedway near San Diego as the purses were better. Both did well against some very tough competition. Spencer had the 1 lap track record at Cajon for some time. His was a great loss, felt throughout the Southern California stock car scene.

 

Several corrections here...

Foyt didn't literally walk away from the '65 Motor Trend 500 crash, he had a broken back, but I understand where you're coming from. He was fortunate it wasn't worse.

Bill Spencer crashed during the January '75 Permatex race, not practice, but it was at turn 6.

Sonny Easley crashed during practice for the '78 Grand Am race, and it happened at the dogleg at the end of the backstraight going into turn 9. Would have harmlessly slid off through mud from recent rains, except for overflow parking for tow rigs. He crashed into one of them, which also inflicted fatal injuries to a crew member of another team.

Jim Cook's accident was in the January 1970 "Motor Trend 500". Yes, it was Pearson who brushed Cook. Cook was driving a Ford Fairlane, though he had driven Cos Cancilla's Olds in prior seasons. And, "into and over" is sort of correct, sadly. Cook's car hit the end of the turn 9 wall and literally was bent into an 'A' shape. Sitting in the start/finish stands that day, it looked as if there were two cars, one with it's nose on the wall and one behind it. When it finally became clear it was one car, it was absolutely sickening. I remember the life flight helicopter. I was glad I missed the initial impact while watching the leaders pass by.

Jim Cook was one of the top stock car racers on the West Coast, especially on Southern California short tracks (often driving for Floyd Johnson in Floyd's #67) and raced at Daytona and Charlotte. Considering the severity of his injuries, it's a miracle he recovered to the extent he did, though what became of him is even more sad and tragic.

 

Looking forward to those as I'm running out of pictures to post. Thanks for filling in some of the information. No bs intended....just a fading memory of what happened 40 years ago....that's why I'm trying to post the newspaper writeups.

 

I am the proud owner of one , I love it!

 

Oh, not you...I mean the b.s. about the Spencer/Petty connection (and that's not aimed at the poster either). I just find that sort of track psych-out and the tall tales amusing.

Thanks for all your posts. I enjoyed them, brings back a lot of memories.

And thanks to everyone posting here. Great photos from all around the country. Oh, and a big thumbs up to Big John for starting it in the first place.

I only have 130 pages or so, left

 

Actually, Bill Spencer's '70 season Hobby car was a '55 Plymouth & it was numbered 643....He had the word "Slant" in small letters in front of the 6 (in 643) to signify the slant six powerplant that he had under the hood.

 

Amazingly, Spencer's old Plymouth not only still exists, it is still racing FORTY years later...A guy named Brad Pesheck, who's owned it for the last 32 years, has raced it twice this season in the Outlaw Figure 8 division at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, Ca. It's in pretty rough shape....If Bill was still with us today, I bet he would cringe at what it looks like 40 years after!!!

 

Pomona Truck Electric's owner's name was Kurt Guehr, altough we refered to him at the time as "Kurt the Queer"....Nope, he wasn't gay, just "eccentric". I think that Ivan Baldwin was responsible for hanging that moniker on ol' Kurt (although I can't swear to it......). Anyway, I lettered Pomona Truck's racecars from late '76 'til the Riverside G.A. race in '78.....He wasn't afraid to spend what it took to be competitive on his race cars.

 

DRH, thanks for all of this. Guehr, could not recall his last name, just remembered Kurt. And, it's amazing that Spencer's car is still around. I only saw stills of it, never saw it in person, so my recall isn't as good on it. Obviously, that was a good little car. The Hobbys usually had the #5 pre-fix, but could get up there number wise, like Elroy Minut or "Pug" Lynch

Someone ought to convince Brad to restore the car...that would be a great tribute to Bill.

 

There were several Historic Stock Cars at Laguna Seca for the Historic races next weekend.
This past weekend was the "Pre-Reunion".

 

Who are these mysterious drivers ? These shots are from an ARCA race at Dayton Speedway in 1967. These are NOT the usual # 0 and # 11 cars that always competed in the ARCA shows, and I'm curious as to who the drivers were. The cars look like they are out of the same stable - similar paint and decal placement.

Don't believe IndyBigJohn or BNorton knows either of these. ARCAguy ?
(BTW - That's Indy's brother standing by the #11 car....)

Enjoy the ARCA Photo of the Day....

Vegas Oldtimer

 

I'm surprised that the chassis parts survived 40 years of racing. Nothing like figure 8 racing to beat up a car. Engineeringwise, Bill was very sharp and innovative so not that surprising that something he built could still be competitive.

 

"Johnson's #67 and Sigman's Circle #6 were the cars to be in. They were the best cars/car owners in So Cal."

Ray Johnstone was driving that #6 when I was attending SoCal Sportsman races regularly and then Bill Butts took over. In the early 70s, Sigman built a Dodge Charger for Butts to drive in Winston West with the same #6 and blue/bronze paint scheme. Amazingly, Sigman ran this car competitively with a wedge motor vs the Hemis in virtually all the other Mopars and Sonny Easely's Ford. Norm Palmer built at least one of the wedge motors for that car. I don't recall if that car ever won a main event but it usually made the trophy dashes when the series raced at Ascot or other soCal tracks.

 

Post 3543, Steve. Just came to me. I believe the No. 11 is Willard Googe from the Louisville area. He had a Fairlane and ran that number for a while, and it's familiar. Of course, the track steward getting ready to send him out is familiar, too. It's my little brother, Bob. Probably waiting for me to say it's OK to send Willard out to qualify.

 

Thanks, John. I think you may be right. For whatever reason, the Louisville guys that may not have traveled to Toledo or Flat Rock to run always did seem to come to Dayton. I remember Willard - thanks ! Another name to add to my database.

Back in the day before radio was commonplace, I guess you and Bob probably had to have some kind of signaling back and forth so he would know when it was safe to send the next car out. Might be worth a column - Communication before Radio !

The Oldtimer...

 

BigJohn, Do you remember George Swope that ran at the Old Fairgrounds?
He always was the "Under Dog" but tried soooo hard every week.If so would you have any pictures of him ? All I remember is he drove a 59 Ford.I always "Rooted for the little guys" !!!!!!! LOL
Thanks so much.Tom ( Tired Old man)

 

page 57.....that foyt car is in a building in denver n.c. still with original paint!!!!!

 

Lawman, of course I remember George Swope. Ford No. 9, owned by George and Mike McMichaels, I believe. Haven't found any photos of him just yet. Have you made it to the Fairgrounds page Frank Scott started on Facebook? I've posted a lot of photos there, and more are coming in every day.

Also, George's wife, Roberta and Al Straub's wife, Anita, were the terrors of the Powder Puff races.

Answering Steve's note, I think the reason the Louisville area guys showed up at Dayton so often was because it was an easy tow. Even before the interstate to Cincinnati, it was quick to there and then up the four-lane to Dayton. When I lived in Salem it was even easier for me. Over to Madison, cross the river, then to Cincy.

And thanks for the reminder about communication before radios. Yeah, we had quite a system at the old Fairgrounds and on the ARCA circuit. Good idea for a column.

 

A few more NASCAR flips:

1949 Lee Petty flip @ Charlotte


1951 Lee Petty flip @ Detroit


1952 Jim Ingram flip at Darlington


1966 Darel Dieringer flip @ Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds



1970 Wendell Scott flip @ Trenton

 

Petty's big one at Darlington in 1970:

 

Yarborough's Daytona qualifying crash in 1983:

 

Ricky Rudd's famous flip at Daytona in 1984.

 

Thanks for all the work keeping this thread fresh to all who post on it. I've been lurking for some time here!The posts from Dr John and Vegas Oldtimer remind me so much of the cars my older brother ran at the local bullring in the seventies. We were so busy keeping the car on the track that we didn't take the photos that you guys are providing for my stroll down memory lane. Different cars on different tracks but more than a few similarities!

 

Thanks John for the "heads Up" on the Face Book pictures.Tom ( Tired Old man)

 

Gentlemen,

Regarding post #3380

That was:
Sunday Afternoon, May 2, 1965 at Griffith Park

(27) John Moquin, Wis. Rapids '56 Ford
(3) Ron Beyer, Stevens Point '55 Chevy
(5) Rich Somers, Stevens Point '58 Ford
(11) Morrie Piotrowski, St. Point '58 Ford
(61) Jim Back, Vesper ‘56 Mercury
(91) Everett Fox, Black River Falls '57 Chevy

Yes, that day Everett Fox of Black River Falls was driving the #91 car normally driven by Marv Marzofka.

jc

 

Great flip and damage photos, Stasis096. That Buick must be the one Richard talks about. He said his father talked a friend into letting them take it to the race. They drove it there, and then he flipped it. They had to hitchhike home.

And it's interesting that Lee picked up the Hodges Dodges sponsorship for the Detroit race. This would have been a couple of years before that sponsorship showed up on the Ramchargers' drag race cars. Wasn't that dealership in Ferndale, Mich.?

 

Indybigjohn:

Hodges Dodges was located in Ferndale, Michigan, and the dealership still exists in their original location, on the east side of Woodward Avenue between 8 and 9 Mile Roads. Although they are now a Subaru Dealer, they were a Dodge Dealer for many years. Because of their close proximity to the Chrysler World Headquarters, then in Highland Park, one can easily assume they (Like Bob Ford in Dearborn) had many friends inside the company.


Hodges Dodges had other connections to Racing besides Lee petty and the Ramchargers. In 1953 they either entered or sponsored an entry in the annual Detroit Fairgrounds Labor Day Stock Car Race, which coincided with the annual Michigan State Fair. Their entry was a 1953 Red Ram Dodge Hemi, which was accordingly red with a white top, and was driven by a local driver Bob Sampson. Bob was well known and successful driving everything from Sprint Cars to “Hardtops” at area tracks, including Motor City Speedway.

The Hodges Dodges Hemi Dodge was by far both the loudest (the unique sound of an un-muffled Chrysler Hemi with big, long tailpipes) and the fastest car in the race. He jumped out to an immediate lead, and by about 20 laps he was almost ½ lap ahead of the pack, already passing the back markers. However, Sampson, who was used to driving short heat races and 25 lap features, did not understand the necessity of pacing yourself and saving your equipment for the long haul, something which all successful stock cars drivers of the day understood well.

He literally ran the wheels off the Dodge, and pounded out the front suspension on Detroit’s very rough and rutted dirt surface. The suspension eventually got so out of shape he could not control the car and rolled it over, ending his day. It is unknown if this car was loaned by Chrysler, owned by Hodges, or was Sampson’s personal car. The car was repaired and later raced in some NASCAR races, but not with the success it would have had that day at Detroit if Bob would have paced himself and not tried to run off and hide from everybody.

Another local driver, Felix Brooks driving a ’53 Olds 88 was flagged the winner, but on a scoring recheck, Paul Goldsmith was declared the winner. Paul, a famous motorcycle racer from the Detroit Area, was driving in one of his first stock car races, driving a 1949 Ford owned by another local race car owner, Cliff Sommers, (father of Artie Sommers) The car was originally Cliff’s daily driver, and Cliff and Paul worked together to prepare it especially for the Detroit Race.

<ODave Lyall, Livonia, Michigan<O

 

Which, I believe, would make it a surviving Dean Jeffries paint job.