Great Oregon Racers

Ralph Hunt sent me these pics, from the NW Old Timers Picnic on July 28th, sorry it took me so long to post. The picnic also included a memorial for our friend and racer Al Reamer, #1 is Al, #2 is Bob Coutts (red hat) talking to Mark Adams, who used to drive a Midget for Bob.#3, Randy Francis and his co-pilot Rolla Vollstedt, showed up in this slick '40 PU.#4 L to R, Bob Mcgrotty ( who still wheels his dirt Stock Car at Banks,on Sat. nights at 83 years old!) Jay Koch, Jack Corley,Gordy Rivenberg, Kuzie, Rolla, and Randy Francis.

 

Washington Racers Art Waller and Dave Craver brought Art's GMC powered Track Roadster.#1 Art built this great replica of a car that was prominent in the early 50's.#2 Art talks to Rolla about "the old days".#3 Art, back in the 50's,#4, nice example of a well built car for that time.

 

#1 Palmer Crowell and Joanie Reamer (Al's Wife) after she received the "Flag" the the Military Ceremony, #2 stellar, "Stock Car Racer", Dick Bown (blue shirt),#3, Gordy Rivenberg, Ernie Martin, Rolla, and myself.#4, Mark Brislawn brought this "Champ Car", it was raced by Don Shervey, and Dave Craver on the Vintage Circuit.

 

Ralph also sent me a bonus, some shots from the past, #1 is Al Reamer's Roadster after a crash at Portland in '47.#2 is Howard Osborne form '49. #3 is Norm Zaayer's A-V8, Norm and Jack Gillis were the only two members present from the original "Oregon Roadster Racing Club", from '46.#4 is Chuck Lontz in a Midget. Thanks again to Ralph Hunt for furnishing these great pictures!

 

I've got a favorite pic of Jack and Lenny Frost I'll try to post. Digging through boxes I came across a shot of Ed "the ace" and his dad Dale leaning on the quarter panel of my dad's, Bill Anderson, last drag car. Also have a pic of Frank Wusz standing next to his final mopar powered Triumph in his garage. Wishing I had a shot of my dad running "Adios 1" after Bill Ireland switched to his '62 lightweight. Dad also ran a blue GTO while service manager at Century Pontiac I don't have pics of but was left his tool boxes he used. I did manage to find shots of 2 out of 3 '56 Ford trucks down the strip as well as push truck duty at Portland Speedway. The drag truck was red and powered by a supercharged 312, the push truck was black with a white hood with a 427 under the hood. Came across a trophy from the N.W.P.C.A. the old man earned in a push truck race in 1965. He claims he had to beat that guy from Speed's Towing to get it. Pic's to follow...

 

Still going through boxes but did manage to find the pic of the Frost boys I took at Woodburn. Think they gave me a T-Shirt for helping load up. Gotta love the look on Lenny's face and Jack's side ways hat. Found the pics of dad's 312 powered '56 Ford as well as the 427 push truck. Somebody may remember them

 

Great stuff Larry !!!!!!!

 

I raced the altered of Jack Frost at Woodburn with my Willys, got beat, badly!! Chris

 

Gotta love the Frost boys for staying true to the small block chev spirit. Thinking they were running mismatched heads, one Brownsfield and one Brodix? I remember this because at the time I had as still do have a 355 with Brownsfield heads. Bill "mouse" Jwayd, Jim Svela, Monty Rowland, Jim Miller, Bob Tindle, Larry Etzel, and dad's mentor Bill Ireland were common household names I also had the pleasure of hanging out with. I'll keep digging through boxes. I've also got early trophy's including NHRA Wally's before they were Wally's I can post shots of. Keep the post going, there's plenty of good stuff up here in the northwest.

 

Marty, it was great meeting you this past weekend at the Lindsay Brothers Shedd event. Talking about racing in the old days brought back lots of memories. I want to thank you for all that you do for this site. You keep it fun and interesting. Hope to see you again soon. Bob

 

Bob,
Great time at Lindsay's, and getting to meet you and some other HAMBERS as well. It seems like yesterday, I was a 15 year old kid , Cordy and you were among my Hero's. I borrowed this shot from another thread, Jenson and McCabe / "Bev's Steak House". Could you ask Cordy if he has any pics from the 60's, I would love to see them!

 

I'd love to see those pics! I'm glad this thread is still alive, mostly due to you Marty!

 

Gary,
Thanks again for starting this thread, we have topped 100,000 views! Plenty more to come.

 

I love the photos in here! I've seen a couple posts of my grandfather's car!!

If anyone knew Cecil Hunt, I'd love for you to send me a message! I never knew him and don't know much about him at all.... If you have photos, racing stats, knew him or heard rumors... I'd love to know. I'd like for him to be more "human" than a name in my family history sheets. So thanks for the chance to see a shot of him driving and see what one of his cars looked like.

 

I also applaud Gary for starting this thread, and Marty for his many contributions to NW area racers! I've been able to meet some of these legends since the thread started, and it's been a joy to just sit and listen to them talk to each other about the old days of their youth when I was a spectator and they were my heros!

 

Stumbled across a Twig Zeigler documentary on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXbc8d6EtkM

 

Anybody know the local story on the 1967 Maroon L/88 Corvette Convertible going through the Mecum Auto Auction this weekend in Dallas, TX? They just showed Polaroids and time slips from Woodburn taken in 1969 on the Velocity channel. Auction estimates it'll go through in the $3 million range, good grief. Looks like it was running Cragar 5 spokes in the front and black steel wheels in the rear back in the day.

 

Well....here's what the auction site says, or at least the "back in the day" history.
"Purchased new at Lyman Slack Chevrolet by Jim Elmer of Portland, OR, this 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 convertible is one of twenty L88 Corvettes produced in 1967. Elmer bought the car to race; he made his first pass with the new car fresh out of the box at Puyallup Dragway in Puyallup, WA, running a scorching 11.47 with the sole additions of exhaust headers and 7-inch slicks. That set the tone for the car’s extensive drag racing career, which first made headlines when it captured the A/Sports class win at the 1967 Indy Nationals. Elmer ultimately ran a best of 11.12 at 127.45 MPH, but soon after his Indy win he damaged both the transmission and the rear end, only to have his warranty claim rejected when he showed up at the dealership with the car in full competition trim, including sponsorship decals and elapsed time stickers on the windows! Unwilling to pay the costs of repair, Elmer sold the car to his friend and fellow racer Rob Robinson in February of 1968 for the princely sum of $5,000. In partnership with local GM parts man Clayton Cotardi, Robinson campaigned the car in NHRA A/Sports through 1968 and 1969, running all the popular West Coast venues - Irwindale, Half Moon Bay, Woodburn, Seattle, Puyallup and sometimes in Boise, ID. Described by Robinson as “totally impressive for its era” and “in a class of its own”, the car consistently ran between 11.1- and 11.3-second times at 125-130 MPH and placed among the top 4 or 5 in NHRA national points standings. In 1970 Robinson returned the L88 to street trim. It was later purchased by well-known Corvette restorer Tim Thorpe of O’Fallen, IL, who began restoring the car before selling it to Buddy and Nova Herin in 1998."

 

Thank you sir, fun story and great piece of local history. Got my dealership start at Lyman Slack, last time I drove by the building I'm thinking it was a carpet store.

Silly me I was smart enough to clean the shoe polish off the windows and scrape the rubber out of the wheel houses on my SVT Mustang after killing the transmission at Woodburn. Less than 300 miles on the odometer and still had a temp in the back window. Damerow replaced it under warranty.

Dad was a Chevrolet Zone rep when the boys would have tried the warranty stunt with the L/88 car. He may have let it slide...I've still got his "Warranty" rubber stamp he used on repair orders.

 

Marty, I have several pictures that I can send you. Please call me with your address and I will mail them to you. Bob

 

Good to talk to you Bob, I can hardly wait to receive those pics to share with our fellow HAMBers!

 

Northwind before paint? Kinda looks like McCulloch in the seat...what say you?

 

I say "Cool Pic",definitely a Fuller Car. Maybe Bob McCabe will chime in, he was racing with Cordy Jenson, at that time . Thanks Rick!

 

I'm not a forensic science expert but it kinda looks like Ed. Hairline is close but the chin looks a bit too narrow. Got my first autograph from "The Ace" when I was 4 years old and was fortunate to spend time with his dad when he was in Forest Grove, OR. Cool family line indeed. Dale, Ed and Jason.

 

Has anybody posted the story of Ed t-boning the poor old fart in a station wagon in downtown Portland after the F.E.D. took off on startup outside a certain shop? I know the basics but not the details.

 

I received this picture of John Mitchell's Jr Fuel car from Dave Wedlake, it shows it with the 1st engine a SBC. The second shot is how it looked with the Chrysler, when Mike Guyot and I bought it from Marlo Treit. Mike and I had a ball, racing in the Nostalgia Drags with a blower on alcohol.

 

Marty, the more I see you posting nostalgia drag shot's, the more I think it's going to suck you back in. Be careful my hero, it's addictive and your car stays clean.

 

I will be attending Rolla Vollstedt's 95th Birthday party tonight, maybe I can get some pics. We celebrate his Birthday every 5 years, hopefully Herschel McGriff and Janet Guthrie will make it, as in years past.