History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

Here is ARDC lineup for 1940 I believe.

 

Denny.. It sure beats the alternative !
Doug

 

I found this shot while uploading negatives and I KNOW it has a WING but its an oldie from Middletown with Brett Hearn trying his hand at racin a midget.....Rich

 

Hey Doug, Your right I'd rather be looking down at the grass instead of having to look up at it. First I needed glasses now I have a hearing aide what's next? Denny Z

 

Denny ...

A few former race drivers have told me that the felt their hearing aids were due to the sound of the exhaust of the cars they drove and the ones they competed against as well.

All said that it was worth it.

 

Another GRRRREAT picture. THANKS MIKE554!!!

 

A few quick notes on the above picture.

Len Duncan's mustache looks a lot fuller than the thin line mustache I knew.

I didn't recognize Ted Tappett (Phil Walters) at all, even though I had dinner with him, quite a few times, at the home of former promoter, the late Tom Galan and his late lovely wife Josephine. .... But that was some 40 years plus, after this picture was taken.

Even in the 1980's Tappett would drive the wheels off any car, if you gave him a chance.

Thinking back on dinner at the Galan's .. does anyone have any pictures of another midget driver of that era .. Len Fannelli?

 

I bet'cha he enjoyed that ride.

 

If you go back to my previous postings regarding the three GRRRREAT pictures that Doug posted, you'll see that I blew them up.
(A posting by Jim Nise gave me that idea.)

The unknown ?could be? Chuck Stain and it could also be the same person that I had guessed at, as being Jimmy Maguire in the first photo (I think it was).

All he had to do was walk down the line a bit.

 

Wow! great photos of the ARDC guys. I remembe my Dad telling me the "real" names of many midget drivers of that period.. Has anyone ever sat down and made a list of all the drivers who used different names , as a race driver, from their real names? It seems that it was especially more common for the midget drivers. Very common around the immediate pre-WWII and post WWII racing circles.

 

Think Georgie Rice was George Viola, or something close to that. And so was John Rice. Lots more out there too.

 

It was indeed Viola

 

Ernie McCoy was Ernie Musser
Johnny Mann was Johnny Flathmann
Sonny Sanders was Anthony Madonia

 

John Zeke was John Zukowski as Ken mentioned earlier.

 

Any idea why so many of them ran under changed names???


I know some had parents who disapproved of racing Mario and Aldo to name a couple although they didn`t change their names I don`t think.They played the Aldo was Mario and Mario was Aldo to try to get out of trouble with the old man,though.
I know my uncle Jerry`s father did not want him near a race car either. Mr Karl went on a boys night out to Freeport and who did he find racing? Jerry Karl-LOL

Then there is the Alias to avoid trouble with competing sanctioning bodies.
I know some stories about that sort of thing-LOL

 

I think it had to do with life insurance.

 

Denny Zimmerman was Denny Zimmerman. My parents were happy to see me doing something that took up about 98% of my time. That prevented me from doing some of the stupid things teenagers sometimes do. I got a lot of direction from my parents AND Eddie Flemke on how to be a good role model for the Sport of Auto Racing.

Not sure I lived up to their expectation but for a not too bright kid I did my best.

Denny Z

 

Some guys changed their names because of their jobs,and their health benefits. I know two that were policeman,another one was a commercial airline pilot....Rich

 

Johnny Coy was John Barbaro .... the same with his sons John, Jr., Joey & Billy.

CORRECTION ... This I didn't know before .. Johhny Coy's actual name was Darrin Barbaro

As mentioned above Ted Tappett was Phil Walters
Johnny Action is John Karklin .. (SMRC the Ciski Falcon)
When USAC frowned on that kind of thing (competing with other sanctioning bodies) and he held a USAC license .. Wally Dallenbach, Sr. was Bill Dunham, when he ran for Ken Brenn in the ARDC & URC

BTW .. Johnny Zeke (Zukowski) was the sometimes promoter of the Deer Park (NY) Speedway.

There were nick names too ..

Carl Edward "Dutch" Schaefer
"Lover Boy" Ernie McCoy
"Bashful" Bobby Albert
Andy "The Pepsodent Kid" Furci

I'm sure you can come up with others!!!

 

Denny ..

I think you not only met their expectations, but you surpassed them.

 

Re: I'm sure you can come up with others!!!

Russ Klar / Don Taylor

 

Denny, your comment about the stupid things teenagers sometimes do is just what I told my wife when she objected to my taking my son to the tracks with me when he was nine. It never hurt me any at that age, and I also told her he had about 80 or 90 "uncles" in those pits who weren't going to let him get in any trouble.

 

A heaping helping of Len Duncan

 

The photo of Duncan in the black Caruso # 3. From what I can recall - might have been Open Wheel or Speed Age mags, Caruso ran that car just one time. A fan offered him some $ for it and he sold it to him.

 

Freddy O'hara was from Easton Ct. He was a machinist by trade and my uncle hung around with him. Around 1958 my uncle built a little dirt track so my cousins and I could race go karts on Sunday afternoons. Some of my favorite memories are the times when Ormy would have his half midget and "fill out the field". I think it was a Moss and had Torsion bar suspension. The track was kind of rough and the bellypan would scrape so we had a bit of an advantage in the go karts. We used to beat the "little" Checkerboard midget on a regular basis. Ormy used to drive a 34 Chev. 3 window coupe at Danbury in the 60's, also painted in a checkerboard pattern. This photo and the one just before were taken in Freddy's driveway.

 

Milton Smith, who lived a few miles from me, just outside Port Jervis, NY passed away a few years ago. It was always nice to talk to him about racing.

 

Mike 554,

Thanks for sharing the Len Duncan photos!

Len was amazing,started racing in the 1930s and was still racing in the 1980s in the TQs.

The last time I saw him race was at Dorney Park around 1983. He was still doing the driving with one hand on the wheel thing.

 

OOPS!!!!

This I never knew, it seems Johhny Coy's actual name was .... Darrin Barbaro

 

Len Duncan was my Dad's cousin. My Dad and uncles were very proud of his accomplishments behind the wheel of a race car. It was always nice to see him when he came to the area.

First shot is Len with my Grandpa Joe. His Uncle.
Then my uncles, Willy and Len Fucello with cousin Len.

 

I heard that Ormy's car had been in the area with the original paint. Not sure if that's still the case.