Hey: I saw Bob Sennecer start an Austriallian Pursuit race LAST at Toledo and pass everyone in 2 laps and just drive around til they told him to pull in.LOL
Start of the NASCAR Convertible Division race at Soldier Field in 1956. King George Photo from the collection of Stan Kalwasinski.
I absolutely loved looking at those stock car pictures. I'm going to have to scan som eof mine and post them. My first stock car was a 66 Pontiac Tempest with the high compression 326. Thing never wanted start when it was hot.
this shot is really throwing me off... they are calling it a 64 chev, but from what I can tell it is a 63 with a 62 sedan roof?
They didn't replace the 58 until 1964, and I'm sure this is a 1964 Biscayne. Too bad we can't see all the way to the front and back. I can see where the right front was pinched so it looks a little like a 63. I'll try to scour my files for another photo that shows the whole car. Thanks for the comment.
Bill Lutz at O'Hare Stadium in Chicago in 1963. A Bob Brown photo from the collection of Stan Kalwasinski...
Dave Whitcomb won the championship at Rensselaer in 1963, and went on to a successful career in the USAC Stock Car series. He passed away in November of 2004. This is a John Lutzo photo from the collection of Stan Kalwasinski...
More Chicago area stuff. Larry Cope at Rensselaer Raceway in 1964. A Wayne Bryant photo from the Tedd Knorr collection. Got a great story about Larry going over the fence at Salem in an ASA race. I think it'll be part of my "Driven to the Past" column on Frontstretch.com this coming Friday...
Another one from the Louisville Fairgrounds. Buddy Webb. Still involved in racing, I understand with his kids (and possibly grandkids).
indy' ....Really enjoying the great photos from you and others,,but especially the ones you have from the Louisville Fairgrounds. A truely tremendous collection!!!Thanks again and keep it going.. Mike
jonzcustomshop, you were at least partially right. I went back through my records and found that they went to a 62 Biscayne with a 409 in 1962, then to a 64. They just may have used the roof from the 62.
Yeah , when I got to looking to the 63 vs 64 side profile, without the trim they are real similar looking at it from the side. now, how about that conv you pictured... it has a 59-60 winshield/roof!! they must have been doing some recycling.
I think I'll try my hand at posting a few shots of the convertible late models from O'Hare Stadium, Chicago, in the early sixties. The promoter thought it would be cool to whack the tops off so the fans could watch the drivers "work the wheel"! Roy Martinelli Bob Dotter Dave Hirschfield Eddie Jast Will post more soon!
Lurked for awhile, looks like a good place to start posting. My dad (Gerry Harrison) and my grandfather (Bill Harrison) raced throughout the Central United States for many years, from the 30s through the 70s. I myself have run street stocks and late models. In the spirit of this thread... This was dad's sprint car that he ran in 1969. I think this is at the Fairgrounds. He doesn't remember winning much more than a couple of heat races in this car. As a side note, my very first road trip (at five months of age) was with my parents to go buy this car in El Paso, Tx. Quite possibly the ugliest Supermodified in history. :d This car was owned by Dalbert Burkhart (father of T-Hill Mod racer Ronnie Burkhart), and won a bunch of features at Topeka Raceway along with a few at Junction City, Wichita, Hutchinson, and elsewhere. RIP Dalbert - a great guy who helped Dad for many years and helped me on my cars too. This '57 Chevy was owned by Gary Jensen. Dad drove it to wins at the Topeka Fairgrounds and Topeka Raceway. At the time, Topeka Raceway ran Late Models, A Jalopies (Supermodifieds), and B Jalopies. More than once, Dad swept the evening. This would have been around 1968 or so. Now we're into my lifetime. This Torino was bought before the 1971 season. It was a Holman/Moody car that had been part of David Pearson's 1969 NASCAR Championship stable. Dad bought it from the Howard's Photo Lab USAC team, who was selling it because they felt the Hemi Dodges were faster. In '71 at Knoxville, Dad ran this car and outqualified and outfinished Dave Whitcomb in the Howard's Hemi Dodge. This pic was taken at I-70 Speedway, I'm guessing for a weekly show. That's Roy McClellan's Mopar in the background, and the 6-cylinders are on the track. This car carried Dad to 2nd in 1972 IMCA National points. It was then sold to Ron Esau, who won a bunch of NASCAR Sportsman races on the West Coast with it, including at Riverside and Ontario. It's been restored to the Pearson paint scheme and is in a museum out west. This Cougar was another Holman/Moody car, and was (like the Torino) powered by Tunnelport 427's. It had started out as a '68 Mustang and was reskinned as a Cougar before the 1972 season. As a Mustang, the car won the 1971 Topeka Fairgrounds track championship. Like the Torino, it was sold after the '72 season and I've never been able to find out what happened to it. This was probably Dad's favorite car. He says if he had it all to do over again, he'd have reskinned it as a Camaro and run big block Chevys in it. NOTE: Posted this on a local racing forum and found out what happened to the car. It was sold to a local from Kansas City who destroyed it in a crash at Lakeside Speedway. This Monte Carlo replaced the Torino and Cougar for '73. This is a win at Topeka Raceway (I have over 20 different win pics of this car at Topeka Raceway). This was a Bobby Allison built car. Dad had Larry Phillips put a quick change in it, and then shortened it into a Camaro after the '75 season. It was his last race car before he retired after 1976. Again, I have no idea whatever happened to it. This car won on the mile and half-mile at Sedalia, on the pavement at Minnesota and Shreveport, at Lakeside, at Des Moines, Lincoln, Wausau, and God knows how many other tracks.
This was my dad's first Jalopy. It was a 1933 Plymouth, the year was 1953, and he couldn't even drive to the track legally. Dad stuck with Plymouths through the mid-50s. This was one of several 1936 coupes that won a lot of races around the Topeka area. In the mid-60s, Dad ran several "Vicious Vicky" Model A Jalopies with Ford inline 6 cylinders. Restorers got quite pissed at him, not knowing that the "Victoria" bodies were actually cut down 4-door sedans. After a couple of those conversions, he got tired of the work and just ran the sedans as-is. Dad won several track titles at Topeka Raceway and Savannah with these cars. This 1960 Ford Galaxie was Dad's IMCA mount from 1960 through 1962. By about 1966, Dad was running his own Vickys in B-Jalopy, and the #72 coupe in A-Jalopy. This car was owned by Dalbert Burkhart.
This is from Memorial Day weekend, 1965. Iowa Chevrolet driver George Barton fell sick on race day, and Dad was drafted to drive his Chevelle. Midrace, Ed Negre spun and Dad got into him, but recovered to finish fifth. It was the only top five finish for a Chevrolet in IMCA in 1965. George liked the result so much that he had Dad repeat the ride and the finish in 1966. Negre left Missouri to run NASCAR in 1968, and ran there for nearly 15 years. This is probably my favorite action shot of Dad racing (in the 98). This was from the '72 season, when he finished second to Irv Janey (42) in national IMCA points. He and Irv spent a lot of time just like this in '72. Irv left for USAC in '73, and if memory serves, he suffered injuries in a crash at Michigan that pretty much put an end to his career. John Moss, his teammate, was a formidable local racer in Iowa. Still at Sedalia, 1972. Dean Roper is in the 21, and this is on the half-mile. Still more Sedalia. The '72 yearbook has a bunch of action shots from there; they might have been the best stuff IMCA could get that year. This is after Dad won the night show. Sedalia was one of Dad's very favorite tracks, particularly the mile. In these days, they'd do 100 miles in the afternoon, and then a short program of heats and a 25 lapper on the half mile the same night. Then they would haul ass to St. Paul to get there for the 100 lapper on the asphalt two days later. Going back a year - this is the parade lap for the 1971 IMCA 100 miler at Sedalia. Terry Bivins is on the pole, Dave Goldsberry outside. Irv Janey is inside second row, Dad outside in the Mustang. Mike Derr is inside third row with Ernie Derr outside. At the time, IMCA inverted the top six for this race, so Ernie won the pole. This one is unique. On May 31, 1974, Dad and Jim Dreasher finished in the only dead heat in the history of the Topeka Fairgrounds. Jim's Fairlane is visible on the left, the rear fender of Dad's Chevelle on the right. I have a feeling that both lasted a hell of a lot longer than the Pinto pace car! Dad's Chevelle was still racing as a late model into the 80s, eventually wearing a Corvette body and winning. In the early 90s, it was reskinned as a Chevelle and went back to winning in Street Stocks with J.C. Spiker as the owner/driver.
Took this one at Daytona in 1970, I believe. Must have been getting ready for the 500, because Benny's number has been changed from 98 to 88. Nice photo of the Torino Talladega nose.
I know that these aren't stock cars, but I grew up around hydros all my life. So I thought I'd shoot a couple in. I gotta say, this is probably one of the best threads on here. All those cool pictures of big name and local racers from back in the day! Excellent! Makes me wish my dad was on here. He'd just love it!
Another one from the Louisville Fairgrounds. Roy Wathen in the Newman family's No. 1 Chevy and Andy Hampton in Harry Hyde's No. 16 Pontiac. I believe that's Jack Purcell in the Mopar on the outside of the Chevy.
The Jalopy Journal
