A few old photos.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Action shots are from short lived Huntsville Raceway, 67 & 68.

Driver group photo. is Cleveland Speedway 1967. ----- way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

The forward lean of the roll cages is a photo. distortion, not sure how that happened

[byron]

Thanks for posting these photos, they are the first I have ever seen of Huntsville. During one off season my dad took me and my brother and our best friends on a little tour of Cleveland Speedway and then to to the Huntsville track. All I remember about Huntsville was there were two abandoned stock cars left in the pits, one we would latter recognize as Will Goodrow's yellow #58. Wasn't there a wooden wall around the fourth and first turns and down the front strecth the same way East San Jacinto was set up.

 

Thanks much, Byron

More photos if youv'e got'em.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

If I'm remembering correctly, the wooden wall at Huntsville only covered the front strait. The wooden wall was rough cut 2x8 - 10 and was just nailed to post with a dirt bank behind. It absolutely scares me to death looking at the photos. now. That none of those ever went through a car was an absolute miracle. Huntsville was a low budget deal that they tried to fit in between other tracks and run on Friday nights . The purses were low and the track always super rough. I ran there three years because it was home, the owner was a friend and I would have raced in a cow pasture at the time, but I eventually left because I was breaking equipment and missing the money tracks on Sat.

 

A note on the Cleveland driver photo: Among several recognizable faces in that bunch, the two tall dudes in the black jackets were Hooks Texas own Wright bros. Grady, on the right, was especially a top hand and I'm pretty sure the pop of Gary Wright of ASCS fame. Several of those guys showed up from N/E Tx., La. & Ark. with their thousand lb. six cylinder buz bombs and we all sure grinned with our big v/8 hot rods. We were grinning when they left too, but because they were gone.

 

I was never a stock car guy, but Will Goodrow was a good friend of mine. When he left this world at seventy three he was still trying to do seat time. As far as racing photos. I have enough to bore you to death for the rest of your life , but I don't want to flood the forum so we will go a little slow on that.

[byron]

Corcoran, thanks for the new info and pic. More at your convenience, I promise you I will not be bored. Now I will test you, one Friday afternoon I saw two cars heading north on I 45 (we lived a block off the freeway just inside the loop 610, Houston) both were steel bodied early 30's coupes, both the same shade of yellow or very close. I don't remember the numbers but I do remember that one car had what looked like a motorcycle windshield in front of the steering wheel. Any pics or do you remember any thing like that. I know from the pictures I've seen on here that there were a lot of different cars running during your times.

 

thanks much; Byron

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Corcoran, thanks for the new info and pic. More at your convenience, I promise you I will not be bored. Now I will test you, one Friday afternoon I saw two cars heading north on I 45 (we lived a block off the freeway just inside the loop 610, Houston) both were steel bodied early 30's coupes, both the same shade of yellow or very close. I don't remember the numbers but I do remember that one car had what looked like a motorcycle windshield in front of the steering wheel. Any pics or do you remember any thing like that. I know from the pictures I've seen on here that there were a lot of different cars running during your times.

 

thanks much; Byron

Sorry Byron, I'm afraid I can't help you with that one. By Huntsville's time most of all the old modifieds were gone. Most had gone to supers by then. There were a few left, but I don't remember any yellow ones at all. Griswald's # 9 & T. Medina's # 88 may have been around in 67, but I know Billy had gone to a super in 68. Neither were ever yellow. I will dig & see what photos I can find with Mods. involved with Huntsville tomorrow -- Thanks

[CorcoranSuperMod]

OK, here goes, but don' say I didn't warn you. Most all of my beginning photos were in black & white and no longer in great cond. For me the coolest racecars ever were the old modifieds. ( think Meyers --- early to late sixties ) But my time began in that transition period from Mod. to supermod, so most of my early photos reflect that. I'm going to throw in the photos of the mix that I can find. Most of the Supers were the result of evolution ( rule stretching ) and not by design. Loose weight, go faster. I must warn you that the early ones were mostly home made, junkyard hybrids, that were so ugly you had to close one eye to look at them.

 

It is a fact that no one ever accused me of being a techie, so bear with me.

 

 

 

The beautiful old two car is somewhat of a mystery. I can't identify the owner. If any one has any corrections or additions feel free to jump in. The ugly duckling was supposed to turn into a swan. I'm afraid they got it backwards this time as witnessed in these " before and after " photos. It's obviously a pavement car both times, tho not on pavement at the time.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

A match race about to breakout at Cleveland Speedway in 1966. Pretty much the dying breath of the old steel body modifieds . By 67 aluminum & fiberglass bodies and tube frames appeared in number and the few old modifieds left were relegated to the back of the pack.

 

Rear car: Billy Griswold's GMC powered # 9 --- middle : Frank Fawbush's chevy powered # 7 --- The 18 car, a junkyard hybrid, was built on a pickup frame and was scheduled for a body, but was unfinished by race time, so some sheet metal was hung on and it was allowed to run temporarily and nothing was said for the rest of the year.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

[CorcoranSuperMod]

The #30 car in this 67 Huntsville Raceway photo was about the last I remember there. I'm thinking (Wilson) or maybe Merle Gallion before his lazy 81 ride.

I'm trying to decide if the #3 & # 2 In the next two photos are the same car. One was taken in 66 and one in 67. Both were Buick powered . There were several with Buick power around at the time, but the only one I can Identify was Jimmy Willis's. White # 10, I think ? The name Dean Ongman appears in one of my old programs -- Anybody ?

 

As witnessed by the photo drivers wore many hats during " THE DAY " ---- Track worker and especially " LAW ENFORCEMENT ". Common sense rules called for every 150 lb. driver to have at least one 240 lb. ex WBA contender for a tire changer.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

The 75 car, previously posted as a mystery car, has popped up on my radar as Sonny Vigeon of Beaumont.

The little 10 car is six cylinder Ford powered. A few of these were very competitive on the short tracks.

The far left car is probably Kenneth Clary, later of Moody/Clary Speedway.

A different kind of mod: A 68 "run what you brung " at Moody/Clary. The skinny cars were a type of modified that ran at HOT and Thunderbird during the time. They were pretty outclassed at this venue, but most promoters were reluctant to turn away any car that would fill a few seats. If fifty showed up, fifty ran . The safety aspect of the thousand pound weight difference never occurred to me until about twenty years later.

[byron]

More great photos and I'm not the least bit bored.

I wish the black #2 coupe would have stayed at Meyer, thats where we spent most of our saturdays at the races. It certainly was a nice looking modified, in it's dirt supermodified confirguration not so much. However that is pretty much how most of the Meyer cars that ran in the July 4 Liberty Bell 300 looked. Remove the coupe bodies, cover the gas tank and engine and sides to put the car number on and you had an instant supermodified. The number 30 coupe in the next picture sure has the look of a Meyer modified. The number 3 Buick powered super I do remember from the 1966 Liberty Bell 300 at Meyer, at this race Leroy Farmer was listed as the driver. The car was unique, the frame rails are outside the body, the front of the body is cut off and the roll cage mounted outside of the body, at the rear, a one of a kind. I'm sure that the 2 car is the same car as the 3. I do remember seeing at least one race at Moody & Clary with a couple of skinny cars in the field. The number 62 spun out backwards looks to have a six cylinder engine with three 2 barrels.

 

Thanks very much and looking forward to more.

Byron

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Thanks for your interest and observations Byron. I will admit your eye for detail is much better than mine. I had to go back and study to see the details you pointed out. My remembrance of Leroy was on asphalt. Did he crossover some ? Who ever was in the 2/3 car was ahead of most of us, he owned a driver suit. One of my biggest regrets was not taking more personal photos at the tracks. My on track tenure was a short five and one half years, ( cut short by injuries ) , but as I go back and look at photos and programs I realize how many " players " I have been on the tracks with, most of the time they were just competitors to me. My heroes were the early/ mid sixties Meyer gang and eventually I competed against many of them when they would crossover. --- Bill White, Gordon Wooley, Buddy Rackley, Paul Jett, Ronnie Chumley, Jimmy Willis and Billy Griswold and a bunch of the old Devil's Bowl gang. Wish I had kept a camera in my pocket at all times.

 

The 62 car is as you noted six cylinder powered. My only remembrance of it is from that photo. It doesn't fit the profile of the N/E Tx. / La. / Ark. cars like the #10 does. Possibly Ok. Will go through my photos of some other tracks when I get time and see if I can come up with something different

[CorcoranSuperMod]

These shots are all from parade/ early practice/ qualifying 0n opening weekend 1969.

 

For you stock car guys: J.W. Will Goodrow # 58 -- Charlie Goodnight # 62 -- see who can identify the # 300 ? The sharp little Ford # 312 I can't put a name with at the moment.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

I just know I will get some history on the Ford something Modified ---- The # 4 car was Vic Early. It did a little time at Meyers ,but with a full wing . I don't remember under what number. It was sold and raced later out of Louisiana.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Going to give the # 1 sprint another try.

Billy Baker, long before NASCAR ever thought of race trucks.

[CorcoranSuperMod]

A West Texas gunslinger ( originally )

And a Mississippi gambler.

[matthewsracing683]

is the 300 car from moody clair speedway. If so i belive i know who it was

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Yes. That photo. was taken during the parade on opening weekend of M/C in 69. But that kat has been way around. Give it a shot.

[byron]

Time to play catch up and even more great photos.

You mentioned Dean Ongman, I only remember him at Meyer Speedway in his figure 8 car. It was a red or orange 1948 Ford coupe, a real beauty. When it was decided to put in a figure 8 track through the infield at Meyer they would talk about it during intermission and Dean would drive around the oval to give the fans some idea of what was to come. The #10 six cylinder mod is that Wayne Bittick. The red #13 mod Paul Schiflett. I remember Victor Early's car at Meyer just that way at least once. The #66 beside Armond Holley is Ralph Parkinson, Wayne Niedeken in the 99, Walter Ballard in the 5 car. I also know who is in the 300 car, it could be Moody and Clary or any other quarter mile dirt track around southeast Texas, The Baytown Bull of the Woods. Go ahead matthewsracing this one is all yours and thanks for joining in.

 

The #312 Ford I'm not sure but one possibility would be Charles Mungle, he raced around Beaumont and Louisiana before Moody and Clary opened. His cars were allways red in the early days but when I first saw him he was numbered 24. The red Falcon bodied car looks like a car driven by Mike Cronin at Meyer in 1969?

 

thanks Byron

[matthewsracing683]

300 was it Roy Cody?

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Not Cody, but good guess. Keep trying. Will give you a Cody photo later.

 

Byron: The Dean Ongman name came to me out of a program from 66. I don't remember him. The 13 car photo. was before Paul purchased it. Don someone built that car and raced it for a short while. Paul was a really big guy. If I remember correctly, the Bittick #10 and James Starkey # 14 both came from up in the ARKLATEX area, where they were very popular. Starkey I think, actually had two of them.

 

The Baytown Bull of the woods is correct. One of the toughest guys I ever knew and the only one I knew who would put a car on it's top for fun. -- you furnish the car. I was trying to get the Falcon fender mod/super in that one photo, but the quality is just too bad. These have gone from slides to VHS to DVD's to here, losing a little each time. Glad you are enjoying.

[matthewsracing683]

one more guess the 300 was it jimmy mckinney?

[CorcoranSuperMod]

Jimmy it is. I haven't found the Roy Cody shot for you yet, but I do have a Cody story for you. Back in early 1970 , some of us were asked to do a media - TV track promo. Five of us in one automobile. Kenneth Clary driver and Will Goodrow up front with him. I sat in the back seat between Billy Griswold and Roy Cody. Will was a pretty quiet, laid back guy, stoic Billy was a " just the facts man " and me being twenty years their junior, had no stories to tell at all. But now, Roy Cody could entertain you for hours with a story about opening a ketchup bottle.

 

As a long road trip is better than a keg of Bud at loosening guys up, this young green country boy got a real education that day and very little of it had anything to do with the track. The most interesting ones involved several well known Houston area racers and one particularly famous one. I wish to this day that I would have had a recorder with me, I just know I could have written a best seller. Very little of it could have been on this family friendly forum though.

 

I guess I'm a little sad and happy to report that I am the only survivor of that long a go road trip. Going to throw another one at you soon.

[matthewsracing683]

i was just a little squirt back then. my dad ended up with the 300 car in about 71 or 72 and it was changed to the number 800. i believe jimmy started driving the number7 car. But i always remember Roy Cody always coming in the stands before the races and just cuttin up with the lady folks and kids. You know back then you had to be 16 or 17 years old to get in the pits. so the stands were always full with women watching kids.