History Historic Stock Car Photos

Andy Vertrees & Larry Foster-2008. These are the last of the pix from Larry Foster Jr. Thx Larry, I hope everyone enjoyed them as much as I did.

 

they may be old-er but they still dont need no rocking chair ha ha

 

Here's a couple of my father's photographs taken @ Riverside International Raceway:


Starting Grid @ the 4th Annual Motor Trend Riverside 500 (January 23, 1966)


Richard Petty's Superbird @ the 8th Annual Motor Trend Riverside 500 (January 18, 1970)

 

Everybody keep 'em comin'. Twisted, hang on to those clippings. They may prove useful.

 

Another clipping from an old Louisville newspaper. This was at Salem. DW got a little out of shape and I thought I was going to get some company in the flagstand. That's Bill Kimmel in the 69. This happened while Jim Blount, whose car is right behind Kimmel, was pressuring Waltrip for the lead. This incident allowed him to take it, but Darrell got the lead back when Blount had an engine problem.

 

John Rosati; at the now defunct Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass. Can't remember what year.

 

One of the biggest thrills was flagging Figure 8s at Louisville in the 60s and 70s (and then Charlestown in the early 80s) from the track. I believe I was one of the last flagman allowed to do so. The insurance man showed up at Charlestown one night and almost had a heart attack. The promoter, Andy Vertrees, told him I'd been doing it for more than 20 years, and he said, "When he retires, nobody does that anymore." My son, who took over for me at Charlestown, was VERY unhappy about that.
In both photos, taken at the Fairgrounds, it's Andy in the car...

 

The above sequence of events was taken at the 1969 Sportsman Permatex 300 at Daytona. They were not taken by me, but it appears to be shots of Don Mac Tavishs crash on lap 9.
This was his debut at Daytona, driving the #5 '66 Merc Comet. He tangled with a car driven by Bob James and then hit the outside crash wall at a point where a metal guard rail covered an opening in the wall. The impact with the butt end of the concrete sheared off the whole front of the car, up to the firewall; its engine was thrown over 100 feet from the wreck. The Mercury then spun around and wound up facing oncoming cars in the middle of the track surface, with MacTavish completely exposed in the drivers seat. It was then struck by Sam Sommers. At the speed the cars were traveling, it was impossible for Sommers to avoid contact. This second impact severed MacTavish's legs completely off and sent his car bouncing into the grass on the inside of the track. MacTavish pronounced dead at the spot of the accident.

 

From Wayne Doebling...Smokey Bishop crosses the intersection at the old Fairgrounds Motor Speedway...

 

Smokey Bishop-Sportsdrome Speedway 1976

 

Another from Wayne. Andy Vertrees, now the top man at Iowa Speedway and a former Promoter of the Year. Back in the days when he could have served as a double for Burt Reynolds...

 

One of the worst crashes ever. Here is a link to a youtube video of that crash. WARNING, very graphic!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtWUfFiXIkM

 

Wayne Doebling's work again. Keith Gardner in a Fairlane built by his brother, Kevin, at the Fairgrounds...