Racing Stories Here, Let's Hear 'Em!

[David Bogard]

So it’s a brutally hot Sunday afternoon in August of 1976 and I’m at the Springfield Mile for the Annual Race of Champions. All of these guys are hotdogs; the “best of the best” and the starting field reads like a “Who’s Who” of Midwestern Dirt Track Racing. It hadn’t rained for quite a while and the weather had been ridiculously hot and although the Mighty Mile was smooth as glass, it was clear to the promotors that the track was going to be dusty and traction was going to be nonexistent. So they had a great idea, one that had been tried on smaller tracks around the Midwest in extreme times and it usually worked well.

They dumped tons and tons of calcium chloride onto the track and used big tractors to disc it all in. Calcium Chloride is basically “Ice Melt” and if any of you have ever been around that stuff, it somehow pulls moisture from everywhere (right out of the atmosphere if it has to!) and if you store some bags suddenly everything around them is wet. Also, everything around them is greasy.

Well, race day came and the track was really fast and there was hardly any dust at all. The cars were getting great bite and it just seemed like a genius move on the promoter’s part! Except. . .

Located right on the front stretch was a gigantic old set of grandstands complete with the huge wooden overhanging roof. The neat thing about those deals was how amplified the noise was when the cars went by and it sure felt nice to be in the shade when the sun was bearing down. However, this day, THAT was going to be the problem!

The stands didn’t cast a shadow onto the track for the early part of the show and all of the preliminary races but by the time Feature started, about halfway across the front straight was in the shadows of the Grandstand.  It was 100-lapper so the race was long and had a lot of strategy to it. It also meant that the Grandstand shadow completely engulfed a portion of the front stretch about a quarter of the way through the race. By lap 60 or so, cars would be flying down the front stretch and you’d hear their engines soar as they buzzed their tires over the wet, clammy, dewy, greasy section of the straightaway! That section of dirt started looking much darker than the rest of the track that was in the sunshine and it started to have a wet “sheen” look to it.

It finally happened and on about lap 75 or 80, somebody got sideways and then the car behind him got all out of shape and then it was like someone had thrown a couple of dump truck loads of ball bearings onto the track!! Probably the next 10 cars all went sliding into the fray or shooting off into the infield spinning like a top!

They stopped the race and cleared off the damage and while that was going on, they dumped all of the oil dry type stuff they had in the groove on the shadowed area of the front stretch and after a handful of dusty warm up laps to kind of “pack it in, back to racing we went!!

Charlie Hughes from Dalton Georgia walked the dog on everybody that day but what I remember most was the slimy front stretch and seeing all of those cars just go whirling around like they were on ice!!

[Dirtman]

scan0007 by Rett Rundell, on Flickr
This is not as entertaining maybe but its one of my racing stories. This is me up over the first turn wall at Hales Corners Speedway. I was running second in a heat race, the leader blew a freeze plug all over the front straight. I hit it did a 360 and into the wall. All the rest of the field except one car came piling into me and the corner! It was the last lap, I was leading and they red flagged the mess......Ta Dah.... I won!!!!! The best part was, the car that didn't get involved was a friend who was battling for 3rd in the points race so I was able to pick up a couple on him......He was not all that pleased. I was able to repair the car somewhat and finished 11th in the 50 lapper. I was 22 laps down 'cause I kept having to pull into the pits and fill up a leaky radiator.  The things we did to have fun!!!!!
Rett

[Dirtman]

"Enjoy Tombstone" indeed!! You were lucky on that one 'cuz that Hales Corner's wall doesn't look very forgiving!!

It wasn't and I hit it more than once, lol. Just a lot harder this time. That's supposed to say Pizza behind the Enjoy a Tombstone. We got the fender damage beat out, touched up, but not any time left for lettering....lol

[Dirtman]

I did a replica of my '64 from the 1972 season. Working on a '62 from 1970. This was the same '62 at the end of '72 after the '64 was wrecked pretty bad. It was my back up at the time.

Rett

[jlhboys1969]

Well mine was at New Smyrna speedway early 90"s I was in the pits with my boss who was Bruce Lawrence who was a late model driver  and a co worker Walt who ran street stock. I had this 84 Nissan truck 2wd with 31" super swampers on the rear needless too say not the most asphalt friendly set up. Well Walt kept bugging me to enter the spectators race. I had never driven on a banked oval before so after a while I said ok . The biggest issue was the rear tires perfect for a mud hole not a great choice for a track. Well I had to qualify at that time qualifying was a dead start at the line the green flag dropped I popped the clutch a puff of white smoke and I was gone. I tell you what there is no way for me to describe the feeling I had when I approached turn one not sure of the banking degree there but to me it looked like a mountain that's for sure !! At this point I think I was in third gear and I felt gravity pull the rear up I heard the skipping sound of the rear( whooo whooo) tires out of turn 2 came out high and the rear was still speaking in protest dragged the edge of the pipe bumper along the wall after a few sparks I was heading to 3 & 4 and the swampers where humming right along entered 3 low whooo whooo again out of 4 straight to the stripe next lap counted and guess what I got the pole !!!!!!!!! To everyone's including me a big surprise . I do not remember how many spectator cars that I raced that night but I finished my one and only paved track race 2 was beaten by a turbo charged T-Bird.   TRUE STORY   
   

[Dirtman]

Yes, having raced a full on race car on high banks a couple of times, I'd say large Kahonies! Way to go JH!

Rett....great story!

[jlhboys1969]

Thanks guys. I do remember Bruce telling me that if I wrecked I better show up Monday morning. I had toyed with the idea of running of running and almost bought a pinto and run the 4 cylinder class I just couldn't find the money too do that. As far as kahonies or being young and dumb I would lean towards the latter. Nevertheless it was a once and a lifetime thing for me

[Lefturns75]

OK, Racing story, kinda.  The year was 1984.  My driver and myself had rented a large barn that was located at our local track and that is where we kept and built our toys.  We helped the track owner with a few things and sometimes we ran the two water trucks during track prep and after the saturday night show was over.  We would dump a couple loads of water on the track and drive around on it to break it up since it always turned black and dry slick.  Well, one night I spun the water truck.  Yep, I have not lived it down to this day.  Right in the middle of turn one and two the rear broke loose or I ran out of water truck talent, not sure which.  Around I go and end up half way up a mound of dirt around a light pole.  All I could do is fire it back up, get back on the track and finish my task while everyone still around was laughing till their sides hurt.  Man, I felt like Joe Klutz.  I am still known as the only guy to spin a water truck at the track.  Gotta love that super slow steering.

[Dirtman]

Great stories. Glad you brought this up David. I'm sure there are more stories out there, just waiting for the other guys to join in.

Rett

[Lefturns75]

I shouldn't tell this one but I will.  At the same track where I spun the water truck during the same time period,  there was some down time in the middle of the show.  Trophies and awards were presented and then some knot head would turn over a car or a clown would do some sort of gag and then a short period of hot laps.  You know the drill, I am sure you have seen it done.  The track had an old Oldsmobile Ambulance that really wasn't used, we had the real deal EMS guys on hand so I guess the owner just had it around in case of a real big mess for back up.  My driver and myself had seen a gag at another track and thought we would try it here so we worked it out with the owner, flagman and a couple of street stock drivers.  After the trophies were given out a few street stock drivers were allowed on the track for some laps.  Two of them were to bang on each other a little and spin to the infield in front of the stands.  That part went fine.  One driver gets out, looks in the other car and starts waving and jumping around which signaled the flagman to throw a red.  We then drive on the track with the old Oldsmobile Ambulance as if one of the drivers is hurt.  Now this is where the crowd should have picked up on this gag, we NEVER used the Olds Ambulance.  We hauled the (unhurt) driver out of the car and put him on the gurney and loaded him up.  Once inside, he rolled off in the floor and we rolled a dummy in a racing suit back on.  We rigged the rear door to close but not latch so when the driver turned on the track and stomped the gas the rear door opens.  Two of us with a good shove with feet kick the gurney out and it crashes onto the track with the dummy.  We stop, run back to the dummy and find NOBODY is laughing.  All we heard was screaming and yelling and chaos.  The track announcer let everyone know it was a gag.  Not only did the crowd not care for our stunt, the fake hurt driver neglected to tell his wife about all this.  If she could have got hold of something lethal, she would have killed us all.  That ended our half time antics from then on.  The track where we had seen this the crowd loved it.  Not here.  It was fun for us anyway.  As for the guys in the pits, they thought it was great.

[Lefturns75]

I think where I saw this gag was somewhere around Kansas City.  Maybe the old Riverside Speedway or some other track around.  Now if there are any of you that have had a chance to witness a Kansas City Crowd, you know they loved it.  A KC crowd could love you, hate you, horse laff you,  boo you or any number of things while consuming thousands of gallons of suds.  The crowd alone was usually worth the price of admission.  I should have known that the Podunkville crowd was a total opposite of a KC crowd.  It was nothing to see a few youngsters taking a swig of dads tall boy bud in KC but in Podunkville it was ice tea and RC Cola.  If we could have done that gag at say, I-70, we would have ended up on Johnny Carson.  Here I thought we were going to jail.

[Dirtman]

David, you and I are sick puppies! I thought it was hilarious too!!!!

Rett

[Lefturns75]

OK guys, cut me a little slack, I "SPUN" a water truck, I didn't flop it.   Geeeezzzzz, I aint never gonna live that one down.

[Lefturns75]

By the time I was a Senior in High School, I had helped build, crewed and done hammer mechanic duty on local circle trackers stuff since the sixth grade.  I had the racing bug BAD and I WAS going to build a car.  In my mind I thought I knew enough to be a NASCAR Crew Chief but in truth, I didn't know squat.  That summer I bought a car that was the victim of the wall.  It had an engine that only had three races on it and a nice cage.  Someone gave me a Chevelle frame and another sold me a very straight 66 Chevelle body.  To get to the point, I bought parts I didn't need and traded away parts I did need.  In other words, I did EVERYTHING you SHOULD'NT do.  I did build a car--Chevelle------with drum brakes, crappy welding, S-L-O-W steering and rock hard tires.  How I got it through inspection I don't know.  Maybe the guys just wanted to see me bust my A--. 

First night!  As I backed the car off the trailer the front was just about to touch the ramps and the trailer ball broke on the tow truck.  The neck shot straight up and the car hit the ground and when the neck came back down the rear of the trailer wiped out the bottom of the radiator.  One of the guys I used to help loaned me a radiator.  I went out on the track to roll it in with all the other cars.  I learned real quick this car would go every way but straight.  I thought the roll in was over and pulled in, put on a helmet, cinched up my surplus belts and hit the track.  I thought I was burning up the track.  The car wanted to go everywhere, It steered heavy and my arms were starting to feel like hamburger meat.  I was so proud of myself for putting on such a show and then I heard something to my right.  It was the track champ in his Camaro with the big L-88 427 thumping in my ear.  I was huffing and puffing and my arms were killing me but I thought I won't let him get by, I'll blow his doors off.  Thats when I saw it-------------He was on the top lip, shoulder harness dangling out the window, no helmet, left arm rested on the door and his other hand draped over the steering wheel like he was driving to town to buy a box of snuff.  And he was PASSING me!  He was still rolling the track in.  I wanted to sink into the floor boards.  I drove straight to the pits, climbed out, grabbed a wrench  and got UNDER the car.  Talk about feeling like your an inch tall.  Thats pretty much how my first night went ALL night.  The only thing I didn't hit that night was the wrecker but it did bring me back to the pits------twice.  It was a good education but boy was the tuition high.     

[Lefturns75]

Well, I am glad it made you giggle and laugh.  It sure did the opposite for me when it was all taking place.  This all happened 10 years and one wife before the water truck fiasco.  If I could write down all the things I saw and happened to me here in Podunkville the last 40 or so years, it would make Green Acres look like a Drama.  I really, really hate to admit it but that happened to me.  I really don't see how I kept from killing myself back then with some of the stupid things I did.  Nothing, I mean Nothing beats Dumb Luck.

I went through a lot of radiators.  At that time, all the tow trucks and trailers were parked side by side and when you came to your pit, you pulled in or backed in to the rear of your trailer.  I returned from a heat where I took a hard shot in the left rear.  As I got to my pit I pushed in on the clutch and brake but BOTH pedals went to the floor and stayed there.  I had time to say "OH DARN" ( and you all know that's what I really said) and WHAM!  I piled into the rear corner of the car pitted next to me.  The bumpers didn't match up very well his bumper took out----you guessed it, the radiator.  I think I tore up most of my stuff in the pits, loading or un-loading.  I couldn't stay on the track long enough to do much racing.  I kept thinking I should never have given up Go Karts.