History Pretty Don't Win Races

I remember Bill Jenkins being ask why his race cars were white . His answer It takes less work getting the car to look good. Why do you think Ford used to have White sales they built a dark colored car and the body was wavey so they repainted the car white .

 

I think you mean 1000 ft, NHRA hasn't run TF or FC 1/4 mile for a long time.

 

You are correct. 1000 ft since 2008. Sorry for the mistake. Old habits die hard.....
Thanks for pointing it out. I have edited my post.

 

I understand the part about how circle track racing destroyed 30's era Fords. On the other hand, at the time those cars were generally worn out, and dated. There wasn't a large enough contingent of Hot Rodders, and restorers to use the supply of 30's era Fords available, and most would have been s****ped anyway. The boys in the hobby didn't have the money, garage space, and equipment that we have had since the 70's. I for one, was bitten by the Hot Rod/Race Car bug, by watching at our local dirt track, that was formerly a 5 Furlongs/ 5/8 mi Horse Racing Track. The track closed at the end of 1959, I have the sign on my wall, the 1956 Championship Trophy, and lots of memories, from that time.

 

We painted our cars with Rustoleum enamel (quart cans) and throwaway rollers. Touch ups were done with spray cans. Give the cars a rub down with ATF before the race and they looked like a million bucks under the lights. We lettered our own cars, unless we got a sponsor to spring for a pro job.

 

Surely you can't be serious. Ok, I'll stop calling you Shirley, but damn. That old heap in the pic I posted had an experimental 427 in it. Just over the ol man's right shoulder out of the pic frame sat a Jeep CJ with a 327 ****ged from a wrecked Vette (imagine that, a REAL Vette motor!). Dad drove a Ford pickup with a Cadillac under the hood. But to do what they really wanted that ol 61 made it happen. Some time in that summer was a 65 Mu"cough-cough"stang drag racer in the shop I couldn't keep my eyes and hands off of. Later was an El Camino, a 59. 283 4bbl with 3 on the tree and slathered in pinstripes. Next was a 59/60 Ford short box (dunno, I was just a little ****) with a warmed up V8 and home made wide wheels. Dad made his own. I still have his hand-fabbed fixture hanging in my garage. But you're right, those ****ers making left turns, they're not got rodders. Sorry Shirley (oops I said I wouldn't), if that isn't the absolute soul of the HAMB gospel then we're just a buncha hipster wannabes. Glad to have you aboard tho...

 

It's neat you posted the 1951 Langhorne race.

The man interviewed at the 5:30 is Steve Danish from Cropseyville NY (near Troy) he is still very well respected in this area.

Steve Danish was a Machinist (He also owned and operated Pleasant Valley Garage) and it showed in his workmanship. In the early days he ran Non Pressure 235s he drilled the cranks and converted to them to full oil pressure.

He was a cl*** act he and his crew wore uniforms in the 50s, and was a**** the first to use a trailer which was such a novelty he was asked to unload on the front straight in front of the grandstands at Langhorn PA!

Steve Danish's accomplishments

1953 Fonda Speedway Track Champions (Fonda's first full season)
32 Fonda Speedway Victories 1953-1963

1953 Metowee Track Champion

1953 State Line Track Champion

1953 NY State NASCAR Sportsman Champ





On the Beach in Daytona 1952


Note Eight NASCAR win stickers above the rear window


Note scoop in rear quarter window


Steve Danish with Frank Trinkaus #62 and Miss America 1958, Marilyn Van Derbur at Fonda


Danish switched to 261 Chevy truck engines wand was still winning against Small Block Chevys! He did briefly switch to V8 in the mid 50s with Nailhead Buick but never had any success and went back to his tried and true Chevy sixes and returned to his winning ways!
He did switch to small block Chevys in the early 60s and retired in the mid to late 60s
sighting the high cost of racing.


The watch Steve was presented for winning the NY State Sportsman Championship

 

Was this post an April fools joke? Circle track racing is at the core of hot rodding. Most guys were into racing before they built a rod for the street. Not so much separate factions as you suggested.

 

track champion Thunder Bowl speedway, Carpinteria,Ca. 1956

 

C'mon @Ryan, (oval track) Race cars never get a chance to grow up to be hot rods

 

The funniest part is, those Stock Car guys didn't even like or respect us Hot Rodders
From a previous thread by @Robert J. Palmer , probably the HAMB's best authority/historian on vintage Northeast oval track racing.

 

^^^ This ^^^ You can't have it both ways just to suit the occasion.

It's fairly obvious in my mind...... NHRA...... National 'Hot Rod' ***ociation...... and from way back in 1951...

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying stock cars aren't cool in their own way. I just don't equate them with the term 'hot rod', but hey, that's just me.....

 

I get where you are coming from, and it has always happened that way. The innovations and adaptations from the racing world filter down to the street scene, and if that makes us 'wanna be posers', then so be it.

And by the way, you are definitely not the first to cast aspersions as to the state of my mind.
I'm used to it, and wear it like a badge of honour...........

 

Well said. We see it EVERY year on the Salt. Real race cars vs. posers. I will let you in on a secret, I have never gone to the "car show" at the Nugget. After a day of racing give me a couple beers, some good food and a shower

 

I don't know where the Rex Speedway or Twin City Speedway were, but judging by the banked track in this picture I suspect it was taken at the State Fairgrounds racetrack. edit: based on additional information I added below, this picture may have been taken at the Rex Speedway.


If you go way back, before WWI there was a large speedway track located where the international airport is today; it was called the Twin City Motor Speedway, but that track was only in existence for a few years.

Here's another photo I found on the Minnesota History Center website, circa 1955.


edited to add: I found information on the Rex Speedway, it was in Inver Grove Heights, which is a southeast suburb. It was around from 1949 to 1954. There's an interesting history of the place on the county website:

Rex Speedway (1949) - Starting in 1949, Inver Grove was home to one of Minnesota's most popular racetracks.

The Rex was a high-banked, 1/2-mile dirt track that held stock car and hot rod races,
along with an occasional "wreck race," a/k/a a demolition derby. Unfortunately, fatal crashes three years in a row prompted the Dakota County Sheriff to shut down the speedway in 1954.

Historian John Wycoff notes that the Rex Speedway holds the distinction of being the only track in America where a fan got killed while sitting on a toilet. This occurred when a stock car careened into the infield, striking a restroom.

Despite the closure of the track, some drivers continued to go down and race illegally until one night a driver hit a refrigerator that was left abandoned on the track. This caused the track's permanent closure.

Occasionally found a**** the thousands of fans at Inver Grove's Rex Speedway were notorious gangsters hiding out in St. Paul. Aerial photos still allow one to see where Rex Speedway once stood near 105th and Barnes Avenues.

Also, Twin City Speedway was located adjacent to North Star Drag Strip, in New Brighton on the north side of the Twin Cities.

 

Well ****. Before a lot of us were even a tingle in our daddy's balls there was a gaggle of, wait for it...HOT RODDERS who did all they could to HOT ROD their cars. Then they ran the living **** out of em on back roads and trails makin shine runs. The RACE was against a clock, or a revenuer, or both. Some time later it gave birth to, wait for it...STOCK CAR RACING. I thought for sure somebody woulda made that connection by now. Even before that racing was a "thing" and took place WWAAAY before circle tracks and stock cars. By, again, HOT RODDERS. Now for you types who have to label things find a label for a stripped out roadster some time before and after WW II. Call it something you like. Me? They were as much a HOT RODDER as was Fred and August Duesenberg, Miller, even Henry Fkn Ford for **** sake. Haven't even broken the crust on the Euro **** bucket where Ferrari, Brown, Maserati, Chapman, I could go on and on and on about who these HOT RODDERS were that inspired, and still inspire, legions of creative thinkers and designers. No @Ryan its not ALL performance and speed either. Style too. The greatest names in coachbuilders gave rise to legends of lead and lacquer. I mean really is this a thing? If I have to submit to a DNA test to see what I am then the last thing this whole gig would see of me is my hairy *** as it gets kissed good bye. Don't bet on that, I feel like a pretty authentic, ok once more...HOT RODDER.

Next...

 

I got a Show Ignored Content message seeing I was quoted out of context; I have held my tongue for about as long as I can with his individual!

The quote comes from my thread about how the early stockcars were build, and this very same debate over stockcars racers ruining perfectly good cars, who just beat and banged and not being hot rods on belonging on H.A.M.B. occurred. (This makes the third time with him and this issue. With much bashing of stockcars and stock car racing, and him even going so far as to refer to dumb-*** stock car guys.)

The Full Quote-

 

This has all been a fun read. One question: when did Stock Car become one word? Ron

 

I wonder why speed shops had checkered flags for logos?

 

So, both of you, along with many others, have a differing point of view. Welcome to the real world. Has it ever occurred to anyone that hot rodding has it's roots in the racing scene in general? Is it too much of a leap to realize that ALL forms of racing have played a part in shaping the hobby? As I have said in my previous posts here, my soft-spot is drag racing. But I get that others align with varying sectors of the racing world. It's all good. It has all influenced where we are today, this wide and diverse array of personal vehicle modification. One version is not 'more right ' than any other. We choose based on where our preferences lie, but that shouldn't mean that we discount the view of others.

And, when did hitting the ignore ****on simply because someone's opinion is different to ours become a reasonable action. As well as just trying to shout louder. "I'm right, you're wrong....... can't hear you, can't hear you...". Really guys???

To be truthful, I don't really care where it all began. I am just grateful that it did. Hot rods are the duck's nuts, and that's enough for me.......

 

I know of nobody that ever called Ak Miller pretty, and he sure won lots of races with critters that were not long on cute. Case in point, the El Caballo de Hiero.

 

Perfect…I couldn’t have said it better. Someday some generation will ask where all the 70’s Camaros and Novas went. A garrentee it’s where the Monte Carlos are for sure along with any GM front clip.

 

I have no issue with peolpe having a different point of veiw and I can respected anyones veiw points and I understand not everyone likes oval track racing that's fine.

I am not a big drag racing fan I watch it but if given the choice I would rather watch or participate in an oval track race.

With that being said I have a great deal of respect for the histroy of drag racing, hot rodding, and oval track.

For me period correctness all consuming, but I have a great respect for Chip Foose's skill. I would never want one his cars but he is an incrediblely talented builder.

I have said there was some god awful stuff on some of the oval tracks in the early days, as there was on the drag strips and in some of the hot rods and on the dry lakes.

What I take exception to is people who do not like something take a misguided veiw of the subject, ignore histroy, argue and refuse to listen and learn the histroy of a subject.

My family has an 85 year history in auto racing. Several others here long histroys in oval track racing have been stonewalled and argued with on it's histroy.

I am always want to learn about new subjects, I don't like or know anything opera music, but if someone with a long family histroy with opera was talking to me on the subject I would sit and listen. I wouldn't argue, be rude or disrespectful.

 

In my case, I fooled with hotrods as 'time fillers' between race seasons. Adapted a lot of 'race car' tech into my hotrods. But when the Sprint season started, the hotrod got shoved in the corner. When my bell got rung big time, and I decided the hemet should be hung up for good, the ol' hotrod got pulled out of the corner, and the shelves of 'race parts' became 'hotrod parts'.

 

Geezus Robert. Yes, we have very different views/opinions about Stock Cars and Hot Rods. And, you have the right to "block" me because you don't like my views...BUT how the hell do you get RUDE and DISRESPECTFUL from this...

 

Dude, just be glad you joined here in 2019, if it were 2003 you probably would have gotten a steamer mailed to you in a box.

 

...and that's just an overview...not a personal or family slur.
When a restorer finds an old chopped and/or channeled hot rod, he's going to think "another car ruined by those dumb-*** hot rodders"
When a hot rodder finds an old gutted dented up stock car, he's going to think "another car ruined by those..."
It's human nature

 

No ignore ****on is gonna work with that.........