NickHolt Posted April 27, 2007 Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 He has an incredible memory for this stuff. Like father, like son. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted April 27, 2007 Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 Thanks txtom, glad he was happy to see the picture. The more I looked at the picture last night the more it looked like possibly the numbers were Gold-Leaf which from any distance at all would make them appear bronze. Good luck on that project you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted April 27, 2007 Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 Don't know if this was the Houston paper or San Antonio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tps48 Posted April 27, 2007 Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 Tom , youre right. That is the coolest picture. Got me a new screen saver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted April 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 Here's a couple more photos I recently acquired. They're from "new" Pan American Spwy in 1966. Recognize them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted April 30, 2007 Report Share Posted April 30, 2007 The first Picture is Sonny McDaniel in the 91 Offy of Adolf Rommel, the second is the 21 car of Ace Haas looks like a Ford 60, but no idea of who's driving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 Tex, You did so good identifying the old midget photos from my last post, here's a couple more I need help with. Any idea about these? They too are from 1966. Also, would love to see some photos on here of the current group of Texas midget racers. Got any of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 1, 2007 Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 Budman, The 18 car I can't help with. This was a USAC race at Pan American in 1966 so I don't know if the 18 car was an out of town car or a local car that I can't place. The 61 car though is no problem, thats Mel Kenyon, multiple time national USAC Champion driving the Kenyon Bros. Offy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 Wow Tex, you mean I had a pic of the legendary Mel Kenyon and didn't even know it? Cool! Even cooler, now we all have it. That's the real value of sharing photos on here. One more little piece of Texas racing history that we didn't loose forever! Thanks Tex! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 1, 2007 Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 You're so right about losing little bits of history through not sharing these old photos. Alot of the photos that I'm starting to go through now no one bothered to mark on the back of them in pencil names,dates and places. Having been put away for 50 years or longer, no one is around now to identify them. A classic example is this pre-war lineup. Only one I can identify is Marcel in the 11 car, but don't know the exact date or the track. But check out that fence...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 There's something really funny about this photo. Look there in the stands at the guy dressed in white on the second row, just off of turn 4. I bet he didn't stay there long once they started racing ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 1, 2007 Report Share Posted May 1, 2007 Budman, A little more on your classic Mel Kenyon photo. The following is Mel Kenyon crashes "Herbie" at Columbus,Ohio 1966 So not only do you have a picture of the 7 time National USAC Champ, you got Herbie too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 A couple more from 1966 ............ Tex44, any help with these? ............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 6, 2007 Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 Budman, The 43 car is possibly a Johnny Doyle car, I say this cause he showed up a few years later with a kurtis that had a different motor in it and was numbered 43. That is one clean pure Kurtis with an Offy in it, a 3000.00 dollar racecar at that time period. It would fetch roughly 35,000.00 today if found. The 12 car is a local car that I've seen before but I can't think of who owned it. It is a rail frame Ford 60 from the forties era. No idea of who either driver was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2007 Tex, the late, great Johnny Doyle was the first one I thought of in the 43, but the more I looked at the pic, the less sure I am about it. That just doesn't look like Johnny in the pic to me. On the other hand, pics taken at night with a single light source flash can often be deceiving to the eye. So, maybe it is Johnny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Tex, a couple more from Pan Am '66 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Several of the cars in this thread have a characteristic that has always bewildered me - a roll bar that is substantially below the top of the drivers head. Are there any old-timers that can comment on why this was? I have been wondering about that for at least forty years..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Budman, I think the 19 car is proably Walter Allards car out of Dallas, no idea who the driver might be. The 8 car doesn't look like a local car I have ever seen, being an Offy I would bet on it being an out of town car since this was a USAC show. Bobby- As far as the roll bars go, here's my guess on that. They first appeared in the mid fifties and had no set height. Some just went over the head rest of the tail and others were higher but like you said not as high as the drivers head. 1.This was before shoulder harnesses so the driver could bend forward and be below the roll bar 2.These tails that went over the fuel tanks were made from aluminum at that time and as you can see the head rest was formed into them making them an expensive piece to replace and always the first thing to get bent on a flip. So really I'm not sure it was ever intended as driver safety as much as saving equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckLicata Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 You're so right about losing little bits of history through not sharing these old photos. Alot of the photos that I'm starting to go through now no one bothered to mark on the back of them in pencil names,dates and places. Having been put away for 50 years or longer, no one is around now to identify them. A classic example is this pre-war lineup. Only one I can identify is Marcel in the 11 car, but don't know the exact date or the track. But check out that fence...LOL Hey, After looking closer..the name on the sign off Turn 4 says, "Welcome home, Roland Hills".. Name of the track, or an advertisement for a community housing development?? BTW, this is GREAT stuff, keep up the great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Chuck, Tex, Bobby and others .................. You may ask "Why have I bothered starting this thread?" Well, I'm gonna tell you. In doing so I sure I'm going to make some people upset with me, but it sure wouldn't be the first time ..... Asphalt racing is my first love, of course. But I continue to see a steady decline in it's popularity. Just look up in the stands. Way too many of us "Old Fans" up there and not nearly enough young people there. Us oldies ain't gonna be around all that much longer. What is desperately needed is for the young people to discover for themselves what us old guys have known for decades. We need something that will turn their heads away from the drag strips and say to themselves "Hey, that midget racing is way cool. Let's go check it out!" You need to draw that 20 something crowd over to the ovals. I think midget racing has the potential to do it. It is the most action packed, thrill a minute racing there is. I've always loved it, there's just not much of it around here though. Within the year gas is going to go to $5.00 per gallon. The big V-8 sedan currently raced at local asphalt short tracks is going to go from being "Old Car" racing to absolute ancient antique car racing that todays young folks just aren't interested in watching. Think about midget racing though. Those little light, short wheelbase cars are capable of turning times faster than a super-late! That ought to be something they can get excited about! If not then there's no hope at all. I think it's time for midget racing to be "rediscovered" in Texas! First it needs to build a larger following on the dirts tracks, with larger car counts. Then hopefully they can someday move to running asphalt tracks also, if there are any left around here by then. But, this process needs to start NOW! That's what I'm up to. No hidden agendas, no ulterior motives, I just want to see the midgets reemerge into a viable and desireable form of racing around here. I'd also like to see a support class of TQ midgets or mini-sprints become popular as a developmental class. Thanks for your indulgence. Budman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Posted May 9, 2007 Report Share Posted May 9, 2007 Budman - A few comments: There is absolutely no need to justify your posting, especially when it is old, cool stuff! Two, asphalt was my first love too, but that was because I was exposed to it first. I stayed away from dirt for several years after hearing about it, just because somehow I identified it with mud bogging and tractor pulls. I now find dirt racing to be the most interesting by far. Third - I basically agree with your thoughts about the future. With the overall cost of living going in the direction it is going, it doesn't make sense to me that we individually drive 4000 lb. vehicles over great distances to watch racers run 2500-3500 lb. cars that cost tens of thousands of dollars on 3/8 mile and larger tracks. Between the cost of the racers and the track, which gets passed to the fans, the total cost of that is just getting to be prohibitive. To me, close competition is the primary driver of my enjoyment, not the type or size of car (although I am very partial to sprinters and midgets). I have generally gotten as much or more enjoyment from watching dwarf cars, midgets and go carts on quarter mile tracks as I have from watching bigger cars on bigger tracks. I think we have reached the economic feasibility limit of big cars on big tracks. Notice that plans to replace SAS are all about a bigger facility, further away from town, to escape noise and development restriction. They will need lots of classes to make it work, which means later shows, which means less attendance. Oklahoma's Chili Bowl runs midgets, is held indoors and is one of the hottest attractions in all of motorsports. While I haven't spend much effort thinking about the specifics of their facility, it seems to me that there are more or less readily available, pre-existing venues of a similar nature that could be utilized as racetracks. In my opinion, smaller cars, smaller tracks, and closer to town is the way of the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 You're right Bobby about the ChiliBowl being one of the hottest attractions going. This year saw a record of 279 midgets and 5 nights of racing. Its estimated that the ChiliBowl pumps 10 million into the local economy, making it the biggest event Tulsa has all year. The facility, what can you say, a dirt track and a pit area including haulers all under one roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Those pics remind me of the midget events held in the Astrodome back in 1969 and 1970 wasn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Budman, 69,70 and the fiasco of 72 when every car was running through the infield. The Astrodome track wasn't as large as the ChiliBowl and the Astrodome wasn't really suited for building a track in cause the floor of the dome is round so you had very little if any distinguishable straightaway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted May 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Tex, my favorite photo from the Astrodome event is the one of the "Fearsome Texas Foursome" of USAC of that era of Foyt, McElreath, Ruby and Rutherford all standing together. I know you also have that photo. Wish I could post it, but of course it's copyrighted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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