Lucky161 Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Lucky161, When you talk to your father in regards to Arlington, ask him if he knew of this one. Had to do some research to come up with this much information on it. Epsom Downs was an upscale horse racing facility. It was open just three years from 1933 to 1937 and was considered one of the top two race tracks in the state (along with Arlington Downs). Those dates coincide with when the state legislature approved betting on horse racing, and then when the legislature outlawed horse betting. The first race at Epsom was Thanksgiving Day, 1933. Its last race was March 27, 1937. It was the largest of the Texas tracks, with seating for 10,000, though 25,000 people showed up for the first race. Epsom Downs was located in an area near Jensen Drive and what is now Hwy.59. Epsom Downs was named after a race track that the British royal family still visits in Epsom, England. Yes my dad knew Ben Musick. In the mid 60s he was the crew chief on J.R. Gilreath's #39. Probably the winningest combination in modifieds in the DFW back then. As a kid, I used to run around with Ben's son Jimmy. Jimmy has a auto repair on the east side of Fort Worth a few blocks from my folk's house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Budman, Ben Musick was one of 6 brothers from the south side of Dallas. Five went on to become race car drivers. Three were pretty much legends in the midgets throuhtout the southwest. Ben Musick, Rabbit Musick and Cotton Musick. The other man is my Grandfather. Bobby, The cars were often called jobs because that's what they were. In this time period a guy could make in one night driving a race car what and average man would make in a month working a job. They raced 6 or 7 times a week between Texas, Oklahoma and Kanas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Posted July 14, 2007 Report Share Posted July 14, 2007 Tex - I thought it might be a shortening of a term I've read was used in reference to early hot rods (stripped Model T's and Model A's), which was "Gow-Jobs". Googling returns this - http://www.hotrod.com/thehistoryof/hot_rod_history/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 These things are even purdy when they're nekked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Budman, They didn't have quite as pretty of rearends in 1940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoom Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Man, those helmets look like nothing more than a cold weather hard hat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted August 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Believe it or not, those early "Jockey" helmets were made of pressed paper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Tbird Posted August 9, 2007 Report Share Posted August 9, 2007 Here's an old program.... Front and back side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex44 Posted August 10, 2007 Report Share Posted August 10, 2007 The Lavely brothers promoted midget racing in Texas, oklahoma and Kanas from the 1930's to the late 1940's. They would award a driver with one of these special Cromwell Helmets if he swept the card, fast time, heat race and the feature. The newspapers couldn't wait to run these pictures. The Cromwell helmets were from the U.K. where they were used in motorcycle racing, and was the most common helmet used here in the states for auto racing. Marcel St.Cricq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted September 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 Here's a pic of a pic of what looks like a roadster from around 1966. Anybody recognize this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted September 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2007 This excellent photo was recently sent to me by my good friend, and fellow TXSZ member Dano36. This is the midget restored by Mr. Jones, discussed earlier in this thread. What a beautiful restoration. Look at all the detailing that went into it. Simply beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 The former Indianapolis Raceway Park, now known as O'Reilly Raceway Park, is just a few miles northwest of Indianapolis and a nice facility. The oval track is at least 5/8 mile, and the high groove possibly 2/3 mile. Although a long way from Houston, as of this writing, that is where I attended my last racing event, back in '03. USAC Midget Cars, and they go very fast there. Way too fast for the weight in my opinion. I love watching those Midget Cars, but maybe they should stay on the 1/4 to 3/8 mile ovals. Now I know there are crashes and flips on the smaller tracks as well, but I would hope the flips would be fewer and slower, and the crashes not quite as devastating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted November 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2007 VINTAGE MIDGET RESTORATION: Here are some pics of another vintage midget restoration. I think the photos were taken in San Antonio. One of our TXSZ members sent me these pics some time ago. Beautiful car. I bet someone out there knows something interesting about the car. Please let us hear from you. [resized by Nick Holt, 11/4/07] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadsquad Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 That number 51 is another Bill Jones restoration. It's a Kurtis Offy with some significant history to it, but right now I can't remember who drove it. It was a AAA/USAC car in the late 40's and into the '50's. Bill had one more car, in partnership with his son....an Edmonds, which was just sold to a retired doctor up in Iowa. After a while, I guess you've just got to make room for the next project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Last time my dad visited with Jones, he was heading over to Houston to look at and possibly buy an old Indy car. Besides that, he is helping Johnny Rutherford with a midget restoration, and Bob McCall here in San Antonio with another midget. I think there two vintage midget restorations going on here in S.A. at the moment. Anyone else notice the Smith-Jiggler V8-60 on the engine stand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted November 6, 2007 Report Share Posted November 6, 2007 Deleted by poster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kscollier93 Posted November 9, 2007 Report Share Posted November 9, 2007 Its hard to put an exact date on this transition of the midgets, but it was proably late eighties to I saw that race that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quadsquad Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Here's a trio of legends from the old days of midget racing.....O.D. and Ray Lavely with driver Buddy Rackley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Here's an old program.... Front and back side. Was the Speed Bowl the dirt track on Cullen across from Buff Stadium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 I understand that to be correct Jim. I was kind of wondering how that area looked before the Gulf Freeway was built. I would suppose Calhoun Road may have passed the area and then turned more southerly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 My Dad took me there when I was a little guy. Guess after a few years I decided Doc Cossey was my hero. What a driver. 99.9% of my racecars had # 8 on them because of Doc. as I got older I became aquainted with Johnny Reiff and Billy Griswold. By the time I built a Bronco I aske Ed if the number 9 was available. But it was taken by someone Johnny said I could even put a yellow lightning bolt through it. Oh well, the guys with the 9 car did the number justice and I will always consider them friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Tbird Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I had hoped that the Houston Speed Bowl would show up on this cropped version of an old 1941 map of Houston, but all that shows in the area is Buff Stadium where I show the yellow arrow. Sorry I couldn't make it any bigger, but it gets blurred if I try to enlarge it. I found some other info that shows the Houston Speedbowl existed 1937-1942. The Houston Speed Bowl doesn't show near the "Ball Park" (Buff Stadium) in this 1935 map either. While looking for the Houston Speed Bowl, I came across this website that mentions a Bellaire Speedway in Houston that existed from 1924-1929. Does anyone know where the Bellaire Speedway was? This is a neat website that has a lot of track and driver/fan fatality information. Take a look at it. Click on the options at the start for fatalities by Circuit, Name, Year, etc. Here is a fatality listed for the Houston Speed Bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted November 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 T-Bird, Bellaire Speedway was a 1/2 mile dirt oval. It ran from about 1924 to 1935. Location was Stella Link Road, between Holcomb Blvd. and Braes Bayou. It was situated inside of a 1 1/2 mile dirt oval which I can only imagine was possibly a horse racing track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Tbird Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I wonder if the track shown in some of the pictures on this website is the Bellaire Speedway? It says it's in the1920's and located south of town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I would guess it is Bellaire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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