20 years ago on the HAMB we discussed rules for a vintage HAMB era series much like the HA/GR. My only hardfast rule was NO BUMS IN THE PITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE must wear WHITES like in the 60s.
Oildale Ca. near Bakersfield has Vintage cars and puts on a show. They don’t beat and bang to much because of what they are. The look neat tho and fun to watch.
The place locally for less-than-pretty race cars was the old Freeport Stadium. Back into the early 1970's, you could race 3 nights a week on Long Island, possibly 4 with special shows. Purses came out of the pit gate proceeds, guys were making a living in 1965 by just racing. The ******** always had a back-up car in the wings, it could be race-ready in an afternoon, swapping parts over. The Bomber division always pulled 40 to 50 cars. When Freeport closed in 1983, all those Bombers came to race with us for the 1984 season at Islip. My cars were less than pretty, but we made an attempt to have them looking decent. The Bombers from Freeport were crude, but some were wicked fast. So there would be 60+ cars to qualify for 30 starting spots. 5 heat races plus the consi. I saw some guys that NEVER were able to get into the main. Good times.
I am not saying there wasn't any moving people out of the way, but this idea that you just hit someone full throttle and shoving them out or driving too deep into the corner knowing you couldn't make it with out hitting of the way was not tolerated. There was always a code of conduct or rules of engagement if you will even if it was unofficial. If you were going to move somebody you gave them a square shot in the bumper so they could save it. If you had a run on someone you had to be to their door before the corner or give you the line. Now everybody has this idea it was like the Hollywood movies To Please a Lady, The Big Wheel, Greased Lighting, Stroker Ace, or Days of Thunder were it was just a rolling demolition derby were guys just beat and banged on each other. If you watch the race there isn't any beating or banging to gain spots it's good clean racing and p***ing. Langhorne was a one mile clay oval almost a perfect circle and there was only one starter/flagger no radios if you were ahead of the crash when it happened you had no idea what was waiting for you on the exit of turn 4. Even today it is difficult to keep track of everything that goes on at the races. I crew on my cousins vintage car and when the club is short handed I do double duty as a crewmen and an official. Our last points race of 2021 I was doing double duty weighing the cars, I was so busy that night I had no idea until the next day on the last lap of the sportsman race on of our cars got upside down on the back straight. Langhorne PA
Sometimes pretty does win races. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/...0PHWXD0DEXACWPF/Turbo+Sticker.jpg?format=500w
Mr Palmer, that’s a fine explanation of what goes on in a circle car race. You are correct in that many people get their ideas from movies. Usually wrong ideas. I admit that I’ve only been to a few races at Ascot. But I had friends who were racing and I was in the infield. My preference is the drags and LSR. But compe***ion is the unifying thing. Gearheads have more in common than issues to disagree about.
Not entirely a myth. There was a lot of beating and banging on the California bull rings. I remember a guy at Santa Maria Speedway in California who fielded a team of 5 and sometimes 6 Studebakers. One ran like a scalded dog and the rest blocked or crashed anyone who was in contention for the #1 team member's spot. My '56 Ford ran pretty good and for awhile, it seemed I was getting pushed around by one of the Studebakers while the #1 guy could have the win. It got so bad that one night, the Studebakers owner was out on the track. After I inadvertently ( and quite by accident, of course ) put his #1 guy in the wall, the owner cut through the middle of the infield with the intention of T-boning me. Fortunately for me, he missed but unfortunately for him, he took out another of his own cars I had just p***ed. There were a lot of uncomplimentary words from the Studebaker bunch directed at me after the race but my sponsor told them all that if they couldn't drive, they ought to find another hobby.
Hershel was one of my heroes. I really wish he could have been able to solve the fuel problem at Le Mans.
Yeah, I heard all about the fuel at 24 HRs. Of Le Mans. His engine builder Orville Roupe (Precision Engines, Seattle) went along on that trip, when they took the Superbird. They were promised hi octane fuel, and what they got was closer to lighter fluid, and it was damaging to the 426 Hemi. Hershel is quite a guy, and to be in the Top 50 NASCAR Drivers in the first 50 years, is quite a feat, since he took 15 years off during that period. This is the results of one of the last races he ran, before early retirement. He would return in the later 60's racing with his 2 Sons, Doug and Hershel Jr. https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/1954_Wilkes_160/W/
I don't know if you're old enough or been around Atascadero long enough to remember the dirt track there. That track was supposed to be clay but from where I was sitting, it was mostly full of rocks. I took a pretty nice 57 Ford up there one weekend and qualified 4th. Finished 2nd in the trophy dash and got through the heats OK but then came the main. They used inverted starts with the fast guys in the back. I got through the traffic and was running all alone when one of the Atascadero locals I was about to lap spun in front of me and buckled my frame when he hit me head on. That was all for my night. Picture is from qualifying at Santa Maria the following weekend. New sheet metal and the front of the frame pushed down about 6 inches.
Most of the time,no matter what,if there are 30 or more race cars lined up,one of the top 5 best looking{pretty} will be the winner at the end*,sloppy looking fails more often by far. So as a header at top,I'm not with it,but do like the read,an that got me too read"100% worked"
@Ryan it's good to know some of your family history. Cuz I truly have wondered where in the heck all the hot rodding smoke and fumes came from that emanates from you. I couldn't imagine that it just came from nothing. So thanks for sharing that. Makes more sense now. Stock car racing is pretty neat. Racing for the everyday man. But I still like pretty paint, undented and upright. LOL Btw... my last name is Hudson. I owned a '47 coupe. My dad's best friend, Leo, liked Hudson's. He restored a 1948 Commodore coupe. Shiny black, pinstriped interior, twin H 308. Since our last name is Hudson, my family would joke... Leo liked us so much, that he built one.
I would argue that sometimes pretty does win races. Here the NHRA inspectors are checking cu. in. after we won cl*** at the '65 Winternationals.
In the '84 season at Islip with the Freeport cars added in, you were lucky to be able to get the car back on the trailer at the end of the night. Freeport was a slam-bang track, not all cars handled well, but some had power. Discipline was handed out when someone was out of hand, ran erratic lines and crashed out other good cars. The dirty work at Islip was done in the 3rd turn. It was out of view from the pit and corner stewards. All it took was one car on the inside to keep the offending car from turning left and one to push. It was known as taking someone for a ride.
I was exposed to that in my childhood, and I recall how bad I felt when the car came home bashed up. Hated it back then and it stuck as I grew older. I can show the old racer but not what I went in to (O/T). Perpetual body and paint seemed like such a waste. I went drag racing. I've shown it before, Dad in the back, Tony Altobell, my uncle, he drove.
Upper Midwest Sprinters always looked nice. Maybe because rubbin would get you killed?! Hank Albers #77 from Bismarck. My dad crewed for Hank for a few years when we lived up there. These cars are prior to the modern sprinters and World of Outlaws era
The banging and rubbing usually depended on how much steel you had around you and how much tire you had exposed. The more steel hanging out, the braver you felt. Rubbing with a Sprint usually ended with somebody on their head.
With all due respect @Ryan, does all this Stock Car/Oval Track stuff belong on main HAMB forum? They may look like hot rods...but they ARE NOT hot rods. As a matter of fact, the cars and their owners are basically the opposite of traditional hot rods and hot rodders. Back in the day, there were 2 sports/hobbies happening at the same time that went their separate ways, Hot Rodding and Oval Track Racing One group was making their cars nicer, faster and generally making improvements on them for the street, and for drag/lakes racing. Hot rodding was based on CARS and making a car better The "other" group was taking their cars and gutting, hacksawing and cold chiseling them into hollowed out hulks, then carelessly putting them in harms way. Stock Car racing was about WINNING and DRIVING...the cars were just a disposable tool. Those stock car guys wrecked, ruined and threw away an awful lot of early V8 Fords...the very cars that our hobby is based on. Unlike dry lakes/Bonneville/drag racing from which we trace our hot rodding roots, these stock car guys were more of a detriment to hot rodding than anything...I think your posted video supports that. Perhaps all this Stock Car stuff should be moved to the ANTIQUATED forum where HAMBers can post about their other interests that aren't Traditional Hot Rods and Customs
With all due respect @hotrodjack33, I disagree. Stock cars, drag racing, Bonneville, and street driven hot rods all go hand in hand during the timeframe the HAMB encomp***es. To say that stock cars have no home here because they weren’t driven on the street and were hacked up shells of cars infers that we should not talk about drag racers or Bonneville cars either. Those groups of cars also “destroyed” many good bodies by gutting for weight and chopping for aerodynamics. And once they were no longer compe***ive, they were discarded too. The same speed equipment was used on all four facets. Maybe we shouldn’t show any cars with Halibrand wheels or quick changes that were initially developed for dirt racers. Or ban track-T type roadsters to an off forum. No, a HAMB like that would not be near as fun or informative. If there are types of vehicles that don’t trip your trigger, just don’t open that thread. For the past 20 years that’s what I've done and it's worked for me.
I believe I'll take exception to those statements, @hotrodjack33. One thing the majority of the local circle track drivers are not is careless. When you're living paycheck to paycheck and trying to race, you don't act careless with your equipment. If you do act careless around a race track, another driver or the sanctioning body is going to educate you real quick about your actions. As for stock car racing being about winning and driving, you're absolutely right, but isn't that what the guys running at a dragstrip are doing? If they're not trying to win, they don't belong there. There are a lot of guys on this forum who race or have raced and I can guarantee they didn't go to the track just to show off their pretty cars. They came to WIN.
[QUOTE Back in the day, there were 2 sports/hobbies happening at the same time that went their separate ways, Hot Rodding and Oval Track Racing One group was making their cars nicer, faster and generally making improvements on them for the street, and for drag/lakes racing. Hot rodding was based on CARS and making a car better The "other" group was taking their cars and gutting, hacksawing and cold chiseling them into hollowed out hulks, then carelessly putting them in harms way. Stock Car racing was about WINNING and DRIVING...the cars were just a disposable tool.[/QUOTE] Actually, the real difference between them was that one group was sportin' large sets of br*** balls. The basic premise was still the same. Take a car and build it lighter, faster, and improve the handling.
Sorry @Corn Fed , I've got to disagree. With the exception of a few lakes racers competing in "Roadster Races" in the late 1940's, by the early '50s hot rodding and Oval track racing had become 2 separate factions...street driven hot rods, lakes racers and drag cars DID NOT compete on oval tracks...and likewise, circle track cars WERE NOT street driven, or competing in lakes or drag racing. Hot rodding went in one direction, the street, lakes/Bonneville and Drag Racing. Stock car racing went in anther direction, to the dirt, asphalt and NASCAR. Two COMPLETELY different sports/hobbies. There are any number of NASCAR and Vintage Racing sites/forums on the internet for this kind of thing...AND there's the "Antiquated" forum And, if you think stock car racing was good for the hot rodding hobby, just watch @Ryan 's video again...one minute and ten seconds of carnage (21:18-22:28) and about 30 cars demolished.
Are you saying that drag racers lack courage??? Quickest 1000 ft time recorded is 3.623 seconds. Fastest top speed recorded is 338.17 mph. And no balls at all required. Brittany Force currently holds both of these records in Top Fuel. Pretty does win races. You go girl.....
The Jalopy Journal
