Midget 85

GALENA PARK, TEXAS DRIVER: FREDDY TAYLOR As we have mentioned up and down this thread, it is our goal to find the history related to the 1/4 midget drivers at the beginning of this new craze during the 50's and early 60's. I knew most of the drivers and became friends with many such as Coggie Pearce, Denny Burton, Chubby Chapman, Doug McBride, and another long time friend.. Freddy Taylor. Freddy and I were chums around the track and also at each others home when visiting one another. The photo below is Fred capturing a victory at Gulf Gate Race track in his "Tiger Shark" Grand Prix midget #13. Notice the "Shark" painted on the body.. It appears to be a summertime shot in 1959. I wanted to thank Fred for forwarding some of the photos so I could add to this threaded history.. Fred (Freddy in those days) and I had many fun days growing up as young boys and racers. We were both fortunate to have participated in this new sport called Quarter Midget racing in it's prime days! #85

I know one of the 56 Chevy's was painted brown and was a 2 door hardtop not a post and was #32. The inverted starts in the feature races always put him on the front row but quickly he didn't stay there long after the green flag dropped. I think this was 1968 when fellow friend Bubba Nolan was driving the #77 Bronco. I have a picture of Bubba somewhere in my archieves as I went into the pits and talked to him after the race. Gotta find those photos somewhere, hopefully I haven't forgotten where I put those either! Bubba and I of course went back to the 1/4 midget days also.. As to the mystery driver, I am sure his name is in a program somewhere in 1967-68. I don't recall him ever winning anything or becoming a serious contender on the other hand and lost contact with him after 1968. Maybe he took Shaw's place?? I think the Bronco division was good for him to get him off the streets in those days. He really had a lead foot but, car and talent never seemed to catch up with him or perhaps bad luck. I do know for a fact, that he had landed a ride in one of the car owners Broncos in 1968 (possibly one mentioned above this thread). Quite possibly lost the ride as fast as he gained it.. On the other hand, what I recall, the whole darn infield was always full of Bronco drivers and cars reaching to make a name at Meyer Speedway. Here's another brain twister! The 55 Chevy # 92 painted blue and orange with blue wheels and a 3/4 Ton front spindle on the right front. Does that car ring a bell? I know the car was built at a two bay Muffler or fab shop located on Airline Drive near I-45 North near Northline Shopping center area. Any history on that car or driver(s)? #85

Well, The Bronco driver lived in High Meadow subdivision on the north side of Houston off of Aldine Mail Route Rd. back then, which was close to MacArthur High School. He had a couple of 56 Chevy's and a strange last name that started with a "K" if I recall and maybe first name was Ray. In 1968 he hitched a ride in a purple 55 Chevy ( Maybe Pancho's) not sure and I think it was # 22 or possibly #27. He was sorta tall, thin, and wore a flat top hair cut sandy hair type of guy. I used to stop by and visit him when he was working on his Bronco since he lived down the street from the chick I was dating back then. Occasionally he stopped by my house after I had bought my project 55 Bronco that never got off the ground. He worked for Sunbeam Bread company if I haven't totally lost my memory. Drove a 67 or 68 Chevy truck like a bat out of a furnace everywhere he went. I think his name was Hillenzager?? or Kilindagger maybe? It will hit me one of these days and maybe I will snap. I was about 17 years old then and he was in his early 20's maybe. He was by nature kind of high strung fella. Hope this rings a bell. I will see if I can find his name somewhere. I used to know all these names and numbers and darn if it ain't frustrating when you can't remember like you used to! -Randy

Quarter Midgets did not have clutches and were direct drive for safety reasons. If you spun one in any hard fashion, the force would kill the engine so a novice driver wouldn't be headed in the wrong direction or maybe go head on with another midget. A push start to get the car moving and a flip of the ignition switch woke the engine to a familiar Continental throaty sound unlike any other engine. Most midgets were equipped with a magneto firing device to light up the spark plug. To kill the engine meant a flip of the safety switch. To coast down, we would flip the switch back and forth until we reached the pit area and a final off position would eliminate the spark where the midget would finally stall and the right rear wheel would lock up. The hand brake was just like the big midgets! Seemed sorta complicated but, it didn't take long to get the pattern down and park the midget on a dime.. #85

QUARTER MIDGET TRACK - 1/10 MILE To relate to the different track sizes for the 1/4's you might look at it as the 1/20 equaled at 1/4 mile to big racers, the 10th mile was like a 1/2 mile in quarter midget terms. The bigger the tracks the more gear and speed was accomplished.. Here's a 1/10 mile Quarter midget track unknown to us but, possibly Albany NY.

A couple of more add shots of 1/4 midgets.. Note the one photo that resembles the "Edmund" style modified body for the youngsters! The other photo is promoting the "Grand Prix" 1/4 midget

The 1/4 Midget photos below were captured we think in California with the driver's name known to us as only "Hagemann" Note the beauty of the carefully thoughtout designs reflecting the bigger brother midgets. The photo is dated 1960 #85

A couple of more shots of restored 1/4 midgets are pictured below.. The pink and black 1/4 is a "Racecraft" manufactured racer, while the red and white midget is a "King Size" Wahlborg for the bigger kids. It looks like the midgets were recently restored or well kept over the years. Both midgets were manufactured in the 50's.. Special note the small roll bars on the early midgets.. Just enough to keep the weight of the car off the drivers head if they got upside down. "Monkey Cages" were not an option, or even heard of in the early days of any open cock pit racing where the drivers could visably be seen. Drivers were taught to grab the lower portion of the steering wheel with both hands and "Duck" your helment down and toward the steering wheel in the event the car wanted to get upside down.. Not only did you have to think fast, you had to be brave. Leather motorcycle jackets were recomended when possible. Hand restraints, padded steering wheel centers, full protected face helments, neck braces, fire suits, had not been introduced to the racing world at that time. Bravery and a lotta guts, were highly recomended in the early days without the available safety standards in todays racing. #85

Thanks everyone! The 1/4 Midget is now being taken apart to see what steps are needed to save the 50 year old midget. The engine draws a lot of concern as it is locked up and will carefully be taken apart to see what severity we have with the piston and or other component parts that will be a challenge to find since Continental engines are no longer manufactured. Not knowing the history of it's exposure to floods and other conditions will determine the nature of restoration. It's sorta like the 57 Plymouth that was buried in Oklahoma for 50 years in a time capsule and recently recovered this past year. While careful planning to disassemble the car further and tag all the parts for resto or reproduction will be underway, we will continue to find and research this thread with interesting facts of the early quarter midget days of the mid century. To get an idea of the popularity of this new sport we found this 1958 Hot Rod Magazine front page article that made the front sizzle with the new craze of 1/4 midget racing!

MORE.. The following photos show a little more detail as I found more of the pieces of the lost Wahlborg. My heart is racing as I find more pieces scattered around the area that appeared to have been abandoned some time ago. Perhaps some kids had it to joy ride in, or it was left behind. The seat belt still attached to the frame, the rear nerf bars are missing, and the fiberglass panels have been patched many times and slightly modified. It appears an attempt to add Golf Cart Wheels were in the making and the Roll Bar was broken from it's mounts. The Brake Handle knob is missing along with the interior and gas tank. Attempts to find the front and rear bumpers are exhausted. No matter what, it has found a safe home with me and attempts to bring it back to dignity will go forward from here on. Finding this Quarter Midget is like being a champion again in 1958! Wish me luck!

50's QUARTER MIDGET FOUND! Over the past few years I have been searching for a long lost 1/4 Midget to restore. At first, my quest was to find an old Meyer Speedway Modified as a project. After exhausted research and efforts, I turned to find anything to restore relating to those early days of racing. I recently got word of what someone thought was a Go Kart that was seen in a junk heap but wasn't sure. It wasn't until this person mentioned that it had a body of some sort that probably was part of the Kart. What the heck, thought I would check it out and see for myself. After getting directions, I located the site and paid a visit which was in the Downtown Heights area of Houston. After asking to see this "Go-Kart" that was supposedly there, the older gentleman led me to the site in a field behind his house and there it was.. Immediately, I grabbed the camera and started taking shots of what was a 1957-58 Wahlborg 1/4 Midget. I simply couldn't believe what I was viewing. Without hesitation, I asked to purchase this "Go Kart" known as a 1/4 Quarter Midget! The gentleman said the car had been there for some time and was dropped off at his place to be junked! I tried to identify the car as one I raced against in my earlier days but, the car had gone through several patch up and butchered attempts during it's life time. NOTE: There is one giveaway about the frame I noticed right away. Attempts to lighten the the chassis was obvious by the slots that had been torched out (slotted) out of the main frame rails. It was a cheap way to lighten the weight. This tells me that this car was owned by a serious competitor to find every trick to win! Most of the car was in rough shape from sitting in the weather and some pieces were missing. Quickly I looked at the engine and determined it had a "B" Modified engine mounted to it's frame. Could it have been one I drove many years ago?? Upon further searching, I found the fiberglass body pieces in the grown up grass near by and quickly grabbed up and began putting the pieces back together to see what was a classic 1/4 midget known as a Wahlborg! Apparently, someone was interested in the midget at one time and gave up on finding parts or other reasons unknown to us. It's hard to believe it was abandoned for JUNK! We will never really know the full story of this little midget and it's history, who drove it, who it belonged to. It most likely was a Houston 1/4 Midget and surely raced at Gulfgate or somewhere in the 50's. PHOTOS 1 - 3 These photos reflect what I saw at first glance and immediately noticed the familiar steering wheel and throttle pedal with the ever so "W" embossed in the casting. It looked like a naked and degraded midget at first sight left abandoned for ruin.. The engine is a definite "Continental" silently sleeping over the years of neglect and.. locked up. The Amal Carburetor is still attached to the little engine as a reminder of it's performance in days of old. A spindle is missing on the right front but, the chain is still in tact to the gear box and drive axle.. A big lump in my throat as I glared at the little midget as if it were saying "Save Me".. Below are some of the photos I took on sight..

The following paper clipping is an article in one of the speedway newspapers at Big H Speedway dated 1983. This article reflects back on some of the history of Denny Burton both in his Quarter Midget and Sprint Car days of the past. Denny would return to the racing scene after his debut in Quarter Midgets. I tried to scan this and make it readable for the website forum for all to read. DENNY BURTON ( article below )

More to follow after editing..stay tuned

MORE.. We have focused on my days of Quarter Midget racing and trying to include more from others.. I drove to Denny Burton's shop yesterday evening to see if we could find additional archives of our early Quarter Midget days. It was a brief visit, for Denny was busy in the shop but we did find a few old newspaper clippings. Here is one of Denny Burton and Larry Schild taken from an old newspaper clipping that we will start with. This was in the early years for both Denny and Larry around 1959. Denny in #9 and Larry in #99... both being sponsored by MJ Burton of Burton Motors and both Wahlborg Midgets. Many of our readers on this forum will remember Denny and Larry moving on up to the bigger tracks to carry on the family tradition of racing. We all know the legends of MJ and Don Burton along with Charlie Schild that raced on the big tracks while Denny and Larry observed. They would soon follow their foot steps.. It was fun racing with these guys in our youthful beginnings. #85

The car pictured (Schild) was that possibly the car that Jerry Schild drove that was once maroon with #7 painted on it? I can only recall Larry driving the orange #2 Chevelle built by Charlie and Jerry driving the #7 before Larry moved up to the AJ Foyt #50 Chevelle built by Banjo. I am sure you guys remember more than I on that subject. I remember Charlie telling us once that Jerry didn't become interested in driving until later in life after Larry had been driving for awhile at Meyer Speedway. I may be off on the year that Jerry Schild started driving but, I thought is was around 1971. Maybe someone can help me out here and correct me..

1/4 MIDGET ADDS Here's an example of some of the ads from various magazines from the 50's with Quarter Midget adds found in Car Craft and other automobile publications. Factory made midgets began springing up everywhere. Engine parts and performance aftermarket add ons were also parr for the racing scene as Quarter Midgets popularity in the 50's began to soar! Dig the performance parts, cranks, and special gear box set ups..

IN THE BEGINNING of QUARTER MIDGETS Here's a few shots of a Quarter Midget that was built in the 50's by a local automotive repair shop unknown. As you can see, the fun of building these minature racers was becoming popular everywhere. It wasn't long before a few started their very own manufacturing companies and began building the little midget racers in mass quantities available for order. Most companies were from California or the Northeast section of the country where open cockpit racing was ever so popular. Anything around the shop and a little imagination was all it took to begin a new fad of little league racing. Engines varied from Briggs and Stratton to any lawn mower engine that could be adapted for the little midgets. You might look at it as a challenge to build a functional "Toy" racer that bacame ever so popular.. #85

Larry, Thanks for updating us on Linda Schild pictured above in the Christmas card photo. We were little kids back then and were friends in many ways around the race tracks. I do appreciate the help for we want to include and recognize everyone in these photos from so long ago. It's amazing how brain cells seem to slip away and names become a challenge to remember. We were saddened to hear of Willie Mae's departing. She was very involved in the racing scene from Quarter Midgets to Modifieds.. I remember her sitting next to me in the granstands at Meyer Speedway the night Charlie Ray went over the turn three wall in the modified 100 lap race. She remained calm during the alarming episode, even when Tatar Pete requested her to report to the main pit gate after the accident. That was 1961 or 62 the best I remember. Many thanks for the visit and input. #85

QUARTER MIDGET FUN FOR WHOLE FAMILY! 1958 MOTHERS DAY RACE Quarter Midget Racing was the envy of all. Parents were no different to want to participate in the sport. Mothers Day Race in 1958 gave all "Moms" a chance to participate in the Quarter Midget Sport and a special Powder Puff Race was arranged in honor of this special day to recognize the Moms! This photo reflects my Mom at age 27 here to see what she could do with other Moms on the track. Driving a 1957 Wahlborg Midget with a strictly stock engine..sponsored by Foley Newsom..go Mom Go! She did manage to finish second on this special day. Getting her in the little midget was a challenge but getting her her out was even a greater one for she wanted to keep driving and besides she had long legs which was interesting to maneuver. Quarter Midget Racing was fun for the whole family.. #85

CHRITMAS GREETINGS 1959 Competitors but friends were reflected by the Christmas Greeting cards sent to us by fellow racers at Christmas Time. It's amazing I still have these cards after all these years and the two below were from the Schilds and Pearces that I raced against long ago. In the Schilds Christmas wish is pictured from left to right Jerry Schild, sister (forgot name) and Larry Schild. The Pearce family is pictured from left to right Debbie and Coggie Pearce, both in Pacemaker Midgets. #85

Below is another photograph of Midget 85 between turns 1 and 2 at the Gulfgate race track in 1958. Low to the inside and drifting to the fence line to check out the gear ratio in warm ups. The challenge was to enter the turns as smooth as possible and gain the RPMS coming out of the turns and on the straight away without breaking or bogging the engine. My trick was to make a square out of the track and never let off or either ease off slightly to keep the momentum and maintain the RPMS. The bottom photo close up shows the left front wheel coming off the pavement ever so slightly which was not uncommon for handling purposes. The grip on the steering wheel was not uncommon either! Midget 85 certainly was a smooth and well engineered race car for it's time as the suspension did it's work when setting up for the tracks. My favorite starting point was always the outside row and with a higher gear ratio to sorta "lasso" the heard inward. While others were letting off to enter the turns, I had it flat out and driving wide and passing most on the outside groove. It didn't always work out that well but, 85 cruised best running wide open and kissing the fence. Yeah, the track was longer that way but the speed was faster also.. I guess you could say I made a big track out of a smaller one.. When starting on the inside pole position, I always led the pace lap "High and Wide" at a clippity pace to give me a slight advantage to gain speed and then dived to the inside of the turns sorta straight across and thus keeping the competition close to the outer edge of the track once the Green flag dropped. By the end of the straight away I was full throttled and aiming for a straight shot across the curves eliminating any gradual turns. Anyway, I enjoyed the speed and loved to watch the suspension on the right front wheel doing the movements as the horizontal shocks were working out the bite on the track. Little racer tips I adopted during my racing days.. Probably wouldn't work for everyone else but the saying goes that everyone finds their own GROOVE.. #85

SAN ANTOINIO 1960 One of the winners below is taking the honors with a trophy presented by the trophy queen! I need help with this photo since the driver was from San Antonio so, maybe Doug McBride will recognize this driver or anyone else that sees this shot. He is driving a Pacemaker 1/4 midget, (a California manufactured car).. If I'm not mistaken, the lil' Trophy Queen doing the honors was Doug McBride's sister here.

The photo below is actually a newspaper clipping from 1959-60 era representing drivers from Lollypop Speedway in Pasadena,Texas. We will come back with names of the one's we recognize soon. But first, we need to do a little research to accurately name the drivers.

The photo below is driver Ralph Middleton. Ralph drove the metallic brown "Moss Midget" #1 at the Gulf Freeway Track in Houston and is caught in this photo after winning a race in 1958

Josh, Thanks for visiting the site forum! The quarter midget you are referring to was a "B" Modified engine in this perticular race. The engine was a Continental with a finned aftermarket aluminum head but the midget was classified as a B' Modified. The aluminum finned heads were allowed to keep the engines running cooler and disapate heat. I raced against this car many times in the B' modified class. Don't recall Larry ever racing this car in any other classification while I was in the circuit. Go Karts were taking over as the new fad in those days and Quarters were losing their punch in Houston. Never figured that one out.. Thanks for your question and interest! #85