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!!
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4613/40073822912_e65d6b14ef_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/244bPpf)scan0007 (https://flic.kr/p/244bPpf) by Rett Rundell (https://www.flickr.com/photos/153037413@N04/), 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
Quote from: David Bogard on February 05, 2018, 05:16:55 PM
"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
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
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
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!
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
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.
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
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.
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.
David, you and I are sick puppies! I thought it was hilarious too!!!!
Rett
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.
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.
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.
Giggily, giggily, laughing so hard!!!! This if fun!
Rett
I remember my first check. I started a heat with 7 cars and I was on the tail. The track was heavy and wet and I had tires just a touch harder than concrete. The green drops and the six cars in front of me swarmed in all directions like roaches when you turn on a light. When I got to turn one I was the leader and no caution! A lap or two later a mustang pulled along side and like all dumb rookies I looked at it and that is where my car went. We banged a couple of times and he fell back. He pulled on the high side of me a lap later and once again I looked at him and we banged again. One lap to go and going into turn three I could hear him so I am really standing on it. With my slow steering I am doing the lazy fish-tail down the front straight trying to gather it up but I am about two turns late on the wheel each time. The guy in the mustang simply took the apron and went by while I bobbled around and stuck the nose in the fence under the flag stand and came to rest facing the wrong way. First thing I see is a car aimed at me with a driver wearing a full face helmet. Even though it has been 45 years ago I can still remember seeing two HUGE eyes looking at me through that helmet slit. At any rate, the guy missed me and I got a second place backwards. My winnings were $38 and some change and I thought I had won Daytona. I don't remember but I am sure I spent ten times that just to get to the track but I got paid! Yep, crazy how a dumb kid thinks.
I look back today and wonder what the heck was I thinking? I wasn't thinking, that was the problem. I had other things happen, Lost the battery, entire rear end came out of the car, spit out a drive shaft, lost wheels, broke axles and spun out a lot. I spun one night and a guy hit me and knocked me into the infield. When I stopped I looked up and could see one of the track lights bright as day. I looked to my left and my entire car body was on its top off the chassis. I am sure in my rushing around I didn't have it bolted down very well. I have no doubt the guys at the track had a good laugh watching me. I am sure they were glad when I parked the car before the season was over too.
The next few years I watched, listened, took notes, asked questions and in the early 80's built another car, very much un-like I did the first time and HIRED a driver. At season end we were in the top 5. Things got better and I was able to learn from some pretty sharp guys. By 90 or so I burned out and sold everything. Rules changed, cars changed and it wasn't fun anymore. The home grown 350 was history, the home grown chassis was history. The 15K race motor and 10K chassis didn't appeal to me and thats what it took to run up front with the local boys.
Having watched Dale Earnhardt (not Jr) coming up on the Carolina dirt tracks I always appreciated how good he was at car control.
Even though this story is a NASCAR/IROC one, I always laughed.
As told by Jeff Gordon:
This occurred in one of Gordon's first IROC races at Daytona. The then-budding superstar vividly recalled being caught between Kenny Schrader and Dale Earnhardt practicing as he came off Turn 2.
Let's let Gordon pick it up here.
"I was running second and Dale gave me a pretty good push," Gordon recalled. "I got underneath Schrader and was like, 'Cool, I'm going to go right by him.' And then before I could even look in my mirror Dale was inside of me three-wide down the back straightaway.
"It just seemed like the longest back straightaway I'd ever experienced. Like in all my laps around Daytona, it just seemed like that back straightaway went on for like five minutes because the moment stood in time, and I was just there, like, taking it all in."
You have to remember at the time the seats didn't have headrests, so drivers had clear visibility into the cars around them. This made the moment even more surreal, first as Gordon turned to his right to look at Schrader, who focused on what was ahead, and then Gordon got a glimpse of Earnhardt.
"Dale is over here like ... he's kicked back, he's got one hand over here [at the window] and one on the steering wheel. He's looking at me with this big grin on his face."
As Gordon approached Turn 3, he learned what it was like to be between a rock and a hard place.
"I was like, 'Now, which one of us is going to lift? I'm not going to lift,'" he remembered. "As we got closer to Turn 3 and I look over at Dale, I realized I was going to have to be the bigger person in this moment and lift. And thank God I did, because I lifted and Dale went in there sliding all the way up three lanes [and] got in front of Schrader. It would have been a heck of a wreck.
"But I'll never forget that look on his face and just how relaxed he was in that race car at that moment when I was freaking out because we're three-wide."
Typical "Intimidator"........
Quote from: David Bogard on February 08, 2018, 09:17:08 PM
;D ;D ;D ;D You ought to be a writer Lefturns75! I was laughing loudly enough that my wife wondered in to see what in the world I was doing! Great stuff!
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Man OH MAN....I think you gave me a side cramp GEORGE! MY face muscles are killing me here. Great stuff bud. And I think Davids 100% right...you need to write a book on your racing career....
If I did, the title would have to be "How NOT to go racing". If you are laughing that hard at my recount of my stupidity, think what it would have been like to see it back then. I still see guys today that horse-laff me about my first car and my feeble attempt at racing and its been 43 or 45 years ago. I am really surprised I didn't kill myself or someone else back then. Heck, when I was there, even the fans were in danger. Trust me, I saw more black flags and blue flags than anything else. I didn't see many checker flags in features, by the time I got to the flag stand, the flagman had usually gone home. I am not sure, but I really think I crossed the finish line on the hook more than under my own power.
My father-in-law Floyd,and I, worked as night time security at the local fairgrounds during our county fair, to earn a little extra money. The fair is held over the Labor Day weekend. The local short track is located in the fairgrounds complex. It's a quarter mile high bank, with long corners, and short straights. The infield is used for rodeo events during the day, and overflow parking for stock haulers, after closing.
Floyd and I had been doing this for several years, and used our little Baja Bugs as patrol cars. One night after closing, I was leaving the livestock area, when I heard Floyd's bug winding up pretty good, and went to investigate. I soon realized he was out on the track, and had entered from the pit area. I was entering through an emergency entrance on the front straight. He couldn't see me when he came out of turn four onto the front straight, so I took off after him. My bug was much faster than his, and to be honest he wasn't really pushing it. I was probably about twenty three at that time and really wanted to give him a scare. I passed him on the outside just short of turn one, and dove down low and pretty much stayed on the throttle. Everything was going fine until my big old ten inch wide worn out Indy's got on some marbles, kicked up by the stock trucks. The rearend started coming around, and at about that time things started moving like molasses in January. I remembered to turn into the skid, and stay off the brakes, as the fairgrounds seemed to rotate around me. Just short of a complete 360 the tires had scrubbed off enough speed that I was able to straighten out the wheels, and give it a little gas, and it straightened right out. When I came around onto the front straight Floyd was right where I'd passed him. When I pulled up he rolled down his window and said that if my pants weren't wet, I was definitely crazy.
Olderndirt
For Modified fans in the Northeast from the 50's through the 70's, The Race of Champions at the Langhorne Speedway, was the biggest deal of all. Local tracks up and down the East Coast would have qualifying events that earned the winner a "Guaranteed" starting spot in the event.
Well after the 1971 race, Kmart decided to build another store, and poof, Langhorne was no more.
So the race moved to the nearby Trenton Speedway. Trenton started out as a 1/2 mile dirt fairground
type of track, then was expanded to a one mile paperclip track. In 1968, they chopped off turns 3 and 4,
then put a dogleg RIGHT hand turn at the end of the backstretch, leading into a big, sweeping banked
turn, which led into the new frontstretch, which was Twice as long as the original straight. By 1972,
the cars were packing a lot of horsepower, which meant that the speeds at the start / finish line were
horrendous.
The race format was simple: Everybody time trialed. If the 30 "guaranteed" starters were within 110% of the pole speed, they got one of the first 30 starting positions. The next 30 fastest qualifiers, got positions 31 - 60. So that took care of 60 of the 180 entries. To give everyone a last chance to make the race, they had two 20 mile consies, 60 cars in each, with the winner of each race getting one of the last two starting positions. No pressure at all.
So here comes a field of 60 cars, two by two, off the 4th turn, and the pole sitter decides to take a chance, and jumps the start. Everyone else took off after him, but by the time he got all the way down to the start/finish line, he had a 3 car length lead. Unfortunately, just as he arrived at the start / finish
line, he blew up, dumped all of his oil in the track, and locked up his rear end, turning him sideways
in front of 59 other cars, all of which were running wide open, and at max speed. With the track being quite narrow at that point, things got a bit exciting. To make a long story short, when all of the cars stopped, and the dust cleared, the whole field was in the wreck, and at least the first 30 cars were piled
up on top of each other, 3 deep! Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but needless to say, it took quite a while to clean up that mess. IIRC, there were maybe 25 cars that could continue, and the restart was a lot more "orderly" !
The Good Old Days...
vsrn
OK, since it is so slow here I will throw out another racing story from my past. As I mentioned before, I had helped on stockers in some way since the 6th grade. It was Feb. and I was finishing up my Jr. year in high school. I had not yet gotten to the point of my Chevelle Disaster a few years later but I had that racing bug super bad. One of the local drivers told me that if I wanted to race so bad, I should get an old car and enter in the new Amateur Class this year. The car had to be completely stock, less glass and interior, have an approved seat and belts, and roll bar. Yes, roll bar behind the driver, no cage. It was cheap and heck, might win some $$.
I talked a school chum into helping me as I thought he sorta knew his way around a shop. Wrong. I purchased a car-------and guys, don't shoot me for this-----from a local salvage yard for $50. It was a 1964 Mercury Marauder with a 390 and a 4 speed. The Transmission was in the trunk and it needed a clutch but ran. I got it home and started work----as soon as I smoothed things over with my Mother. I got the new clutch installed, stripped the interior, purchased a seat and had a local guy weld in the roll bar. I was also out the bucks for two tires since I had two that wouldn't hold air. Then the first obstacle hit me. I wasn't 18, I couldn't drive it. There was NO WAY Mom was gonna sign the papers to let me drive so I needed a driver. I rounded up a guy that had driven a few junkers in the area and he agreed to do it if I paid his entry and pit pass.
Now my school chum I had as a helper was the second obstacle. Early on while working on this mess I asked him to grab a 5/8 wrench from the tool box. He dug around and fooled around and I told him to get with it, I need the wrench. He said he couldn't find it so I go look in the drawer, pick it out and ask him if he was blind or something. Now I am not making this up. He looked at it and said "Oh, I get it, I thought that was #5 of 8". I knew then that I was in deep, deep trouble. The poor guy didn't know a screw driver from a rose bush.
So, somehow I get this thing to the track and we get entered for the night. The Amateur Class only ran one race during the evening and it was a 25 lap feature. Everyone drew for starting position and we were somewhere in the back of a 27 car field. Before the start I was trying to talk to the driver and all I was getting was "Yeah", "Sure", "Whatever". He knew, I was too dumb to know. The green drops and it looked like rush hour in Chicago. There was dust, smoke, flat tires, parts flying and pileups like at Daytona. I saw my Merc take a shot in the rear and bow up like a Banana. A couple laps later I saw it get stuffed under the rear of a big Chrysler New Yorker or something and half the pack pile into it. It was over. I got it home only to take flak from my Mom because it was leaking oil and coolant all over her driveway. The guy at the Salvage yard where I got it said he would give me $50 for it, which is what I paid him. He took out $10 for a wrecker fee because he came and picked it up. I'm not sure what I spent but I no doubt went in the hole. Thanks to me a very straight and rust free Merc got destroyed, I blew my savings and I should have learned my lesson but when you have "the bug" nothing will beat sense into you. A year or so later, I attempted to do it again and have told you about it. Yes, things got better years later after I got the "Dumb Kid" out of me. If I could do it all over again would I? You durn Skippy!
I've missed some of these stories, so I got caught up tonight. Loved everyone of them! Have to come up with a couple more of my favorite ones one of these days.
Rett
That sounds like a "Regular" Saturday Night at Riverside Speedway in Kansas City. Oh the mud, blood and 16oz Bud!! Family Entertainment at its finest!!!!!!
Quote from: Lefturns75 on May 10, 2018, 06:39:40 PM
That sounds like a "Regular" Saturday Night at Riverside Speedway in Kansas City. Oh the mud, blood and 16oz Bud!! Family Entertainment at its finest!!!!!!
And with that I'll take my que........
Spent many a Saturday night at Riverside...early 80's thru the final season in 1988. Not sure of the size, but I can tell you it was under a 1/4 mi., you could always tell a Riverside car by its battered appearance.... pretty much a circle.
One of the contributing factors to the atmosphere was that the race track shared a parking lot with Red X Plaza with the Red X liquor store less than a minute walk away from the front gate.....don't know about the Bud, but there was plenty of Red, White & Blue and Schmidts quaffed by the crew that I rolled with at the time....I think I remember a case of either one being around $5.00 That liquor store would be packed during intermission.
I can remember on alternating weeks there would be either a figure 8 race or a roll over contest after the regular races.
The race track sat in the Missouri River flood plane...after the great flood of 1993, any evidence of the former racetrack was washed away. The Corp of Engineers built a flood protection dike in the mid 90's where the pits would have been.
My son in law lives just a few minutes North of Riverside, Mo. and once while visiting last year he up's and decides that he wants to go to Red X Plaza, now just a glorified flea market,to buy something. The parking lot hasn't changed and the liquor store is still there.....but,you would never know that on the South side of the parking lot was Riverside Stadium.
My time at Riverside was around 1966 to 1971. I was not there every saturday night but at least 3 or 4 times a summer. I do not remember much outside the track----like the Red X but there were guys vending cold brew walking through the stands all night----16oz bud. Usually by feature time one or two would be sitting somewhere in the stands and would yell "Cold Beer" every few minutes as he was unable to walk up and down the stands. This was the only place I ever attended where it was common to see a kid take a slug of dads tall boy. It was more like a party than a race. The track was small, the cars ugly but everyone seemed to have a good time even during the fights. I can remember only two names from that time----Everett Reed and Claude Loomis. I am sure they were gone by the time you started attending. I got to attend Olympic Stadium a couple of times but can't remember much about it. I do remember Greg Weld was there. After 71 I never got back to Riverside. I spent time at Ozark Speedway, 71 Speedway, Springfield Fairgrounds, I-70 and a number of other places. Good memories. I still believe I got to see some of the greatest short track racing there has ever been during those times. Sure wish I could see all of it again.
Misc. pictures from Riverside.....
(https://images51.fotki.com/v767/photos/0/3714830/13988633/JOHNOSWALTRIVERSIDE-vi.jpg) (https://public.fotki.com/outlaw-ford/my-first-album/john-oswalt-riverside.html)
John Oswalt in the White #62...early 70's I think that's you sitting just to the Right of the flag stand about 3 rows up along the isle.
(https://images47.fotki.com/v1660/photos/0/3714830/13988633/RIVERSIDE3-vi.jpg) (https://public.fotki.com/outlaw-ford/my-first-album/riverside3.html)
Typical Street Stock action in turn 4
(https://images14.fotki.com/v1665/photos/0/3714830/13988633/Riverside-vi.jpg) (https://public.fotki.com/outlaw-ford/my-first-album/riverside.html)
(https://images53.fotki.com/v1459/photos/0/3714830/13988633/3wide-vi.jpg) (https://public.fotki.com/outlaw-ford/my-first-album/3wide.html)
Some Late Model action...early 80's
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Randy Bramhill in the 96...Red X plaza would be in the upper Left portion of the picture just beyond the people standing on the truck.
LMAO!!!!!! Those first two pics are like what I remember. I think you are seeing my stunt double. I would have been to the left of the flag stand near the top row. I remember the Street Stockers looking like the big one at Daytona every lap. The Supers were the big show when I went back then. It was always hard to tell who was leading with the stockers. It was usually bumper to bumper during a feature and pile up after pile up. that had to drive the score keepers insane.
THE FIRST TIME I SNUCK INTO THE PITS...hey, I was given a lawful order to do it!
So I am 14 years old and going to the races by myself at the fairgrounds track here in the middle of Topeka, Ks. Grew up about 6 blocks from the track. I had been going to the track for a couple of years already and had met up with a guy named Paul....Paul was in his late 20's I guess. Paul knew who drove what and in what class, so I learned a lot those first few season.
For what ever reason we where walking around the outside of the track, outside of the wall some where in turn 1 and 2. We heard a loud crash from the back shute, figured it must be bad. Stan Crooks had punched a rather large hole thru the cinder block wall, just past the pit gate....all there was between the wall and the racing surface was a single guard rail and about 5 or 6 feet of dirt between the guard rail and the brick wall....needless to say a car could get launched.
By the time we had made it to the area of the back gate ( this was a BIG 1/2 mile) quite a few people, who where in the pits, had made it thru the gaping hole in the wall to check out all the carnage....Stan wasn't hurt and the car wasn't in that bad of shape, all things considered.
The Shawnee County Sheriffs dept. was in charge of security since the fairgrounds was county property. A sheriffs deputy showed up and yelled at ALL of us to get back into the pits.....which of course we all did ;D
The crash must have occurred during an early heat race. As I recall ,we spent a long time in the pits wandering around trying to conceal the fact that we didn't have pit passes or that I was an under aged minor in the pits with out parental consent.
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Shawnee County Fairgrounds track circa 1955. By the time this story had taken place, the trees along the back shute and turns 3 and 4 had been removed....more than likely due to cars flying out of the track and hitting them. The area just past the pit gate, where the crash happened, sat directly across from the center of the grandstand as pictured.
Well, since a drag strip is 1/4 mile, maybe I can sneak this story in here.........
Back "in the day" (early '70s) fresh outta high school I experienced working for a funny car racer named Don Schumacher........ maybe you've heard of him.
Well, after one evening of qualifying, we had some engine issues. Back then, you loaded up after each day's racing and went to the motel. Didn't leave the rigs parked at the track like today.
Well, it's about 2:30 - 3:00 AM, we'd gotten the motor back together and fired it up. Obviously, woke up some people but some enjoyed it.
So, I'm draining the water and oil out of the engine and this Karmann Ghia, pulls up. I looked around and "Shoe" is talking to the driver. I head over to see and it's Richard Tharp, driver of the Blue Max Mustang funny car. (A well know "character") Sitting in the passenger seat is Miss IHRA, the event beauty queen.
After a couple minutes of chit chat, a couple guys and I walked to the rear of Tharp's car. Those Karmann Ghia's had a kinda nerf bar that ran on top and the length of the bumper. "Us guys" thought it would be funny to pick up the rear of their car. It was FUNNY........ until Tharp put it in reverse and matted the gas. So three of us are standing there holding up this car with it screaming knowing we can't set it down. Tharp's hanging out the driver's window laughing and saying "I got all night boys." Yes, we cried "Uncle........"
Man, those were fun days (and nights).....
Quote from: Lefturns75 on May 10, 2018, 10:02:06 PM
...................... I got to attend Olympic Stadium a couple of times but can't remember much about it. I do remember Greg Weld was there...... Sure wish I could see all of it again.
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Perhaps this will jog your memory.......Olympic Stadium located just north of present day I-70 and 435 in K.C,MO. now days its the site of a U-Pick and Pull auto salvage.
The first trip I made there I was pretty young and about all I knew is that if it was loud and had numbers on it it was a race car. I don't remember who won or what I watched but none of the cars had a roll cage. I thought all those guys must be made of steel and fearless to do that. The later trip I made is when I saw Greg Weld. I knew who he was from seeing some photos and a couple articles about him and that roadster looking car he drove. I figure it was around 67 or 68 as it was after that bad year in USAC when we lost all those drivers. Come to think of it, it was probably 67 because A.J. Foyt had won Indy about a month before. Thats how my old brain keeps track of things, events. If I can't remember exactly when, I can remember an event during the time and it gives me the year. Sucks to be old.
After I retired for the second time I got a call from a friend who worked at the local bull ring. He said the guy could use some help from someone with my skills. So the next week I'm driving the water truck 3 days a week. My partner in crime, Randle and I would water the track all day Wednesday and Thursday then race on Friday. While I was filling the truck racin randle would ride around the top to dry a place for me and the water truck. One cloudy overcast Friday I was filling the truck and I heard a heavy crash, since I couldn't see the track from the water truck I stepped up over turn 4 to see Randel crossways of the track and the left front corner of the ol LTD pushed in. I watched for a while and finally he ran out of talent and blam hit the wall again. He straightens out and drives over to the turn where I'm standing and says its still really slick and he doesn't know what to do. I just looked at him and said whatever you do don't slow down.
Yeah, old Hales Corners Speedway used to get some serious ruts in the corners. When my son was young he laid down in one one night (after the races) and you could put a board over it and not touched him. Plus it had it's share of rocks around the track too!!! We ran windshields sometimes and you could hear the the stones and big rocks cracking off it all night!
Rett
Have a couple or so from the fan/grandstand side of things.
Wa-a-a-a-a-a-ay back in 1971 when I was going to the Fairmont, MN on a somewhat regular basis, most times on my own for the first time. In 1971 the track dropped the modifieds in favor of late models. Well, so happens there is a team from nearby town to mine, making them a favorite as that was as close to a hometown team as I could get back then. The original driver more or less quit part way into the season, as the huge half mile track was a bit unnerving to him (later years he became a track champion, more than once IIRC). The team put a veteran driver in the car, who had been the track champion in modifieds just a couple of years before, so I knew who he was. Plus he had been one of many favorites of mine as well. He got the lead early in the 20 lap main event and was holding off the dominant driver that season for all 20 laps. Needless to say i was really cheering him on, yelling "encouragement all the way. In the row in front of me was a gal and I think one or two of her kids. Yes, my driver/team won... The next week I sat in the same area. In looking around I see this gal and kids now sitting two rows behind me and further down. LOL
Then a couple of years ago, I was at an event at the Kossuth County Ag and Motorsports Museum in Algona, IA. This driver was there, though not sure as one of the guest speakers or just there because the Museum was talking about their 1975 racing season, the last IIRC that had sprints as the main draw. I walked up to him and told him about that race so many years before. Think he was surprised that someone mentioned that race to him and the way I cheered. Could see the pleased look on his face as he simply thanked me. Also told him that I have never cheered like that for any driver or team since then.
The other for now, was opening night in April 1996 of the Perris Auto Speedway, several miles south of Riverside, CA. The SCRA sprint cars were the featured draw and only thing running. This was the first time Since Ascot closed at the end of 1990, that sprints cars had a track in the LA Metro area, though close to 60 miles east of the Ascot location. Good thing we got there when we did. By the time qualifying had begun, the announcement was made that there was SRO at the track already, and CHP and CalTrans had to put of signs on the freeway several miles west of the track, telling those still wanting to come, that the track had no more room for fans....