more meyer spdwy super mod photos

[jakdad]

How come the # 121 didn't have a body on it? Seems like that would blow a lot of wind up your britches leg.....................................

[Bobby]

Early seventies might have been a little early. I know that somewhere in the 71-73 period Chet was a teenager just starting out behind the wheel of Marvin's 55 Chevy stock car. I can't imagine him being in a Super quite yet.

[txtom]

Here is Chet Fillip in his Hite Super in 1979. Car # is 24, and the red writing on the rear wing is "Circle Bar Truck Corral", Tom Mitchell's place in Ozona that is currently sponsoring Rick Crawford in Craftsman Truck.

Chet ran a couple years in Nascar, and a couple more in Indy cars for Mitchell in the 80's.

Edited July 10, 2008 by txtom

[RETrott]

Thanks Bobby,

I am at a loss as to when the Supermodified Racing events were discontinued at Meyer Spdwy/Houston. Maybe David or Jim have that information. I just remember Chet Fillip driving a somewhat radical Supermodified, but I don't know if it was a Liberty Bell 300 race or not. At some point, late '60s/early '70s, the old Houston "Mighty Modifieds" that were somewhat similiar to a modified Sportsman type Modified were discontinued and replaced by Supermodifieds, as I recall. I'm thinking that the Supermodified events were discontinued at some point before the speedway closing in '79, but I don't recall the exact time frame.

[RETrott]

Thanks Tom,

I may be confusing the mid-engine car with the rear-engine car, but I just remember Chet Fillip, walking on crutches with his leg in a cast, driving a Supermodified at Meyer Spdwy/Houston that he had to basically lay down in. But, a long while ago!

[txtom]

RE,

 

I remember Chet bringing that rear engine car to longhorn in Austin about 79 or so to shake it down, and they let him run it during intermission. I don't think anyone was at the beer of food booths, as they were all watching that car fly around that little 1/4. He let it hang out, too.

 

A lot of folks may not remember this, but in the late 70/early 80 timeframe, they had about 6 of the Houston Supers come over to Hwy 16 to put on an exhibition. I don't remember who participated.

I think I remember one with a big red Canadian-style Maple flag on the top wing, if that joggles a memory.

The fans loved them; a big part of that was the fact most of them saw a super for the first time.

Unofficial stop watch times were in the low 17.0 range.

I can think of a couple other times a super came to an Antonio for testing.

[xzgqh6]

IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN OUR LAST SUPER MOD RACE AT METER WAS THE SUMMER OF 77. THAT IS THE LAST TIME DAD RACED HIS SUPER AT MEYER AND JUST SHORTLY AFTER THAT MEYER SHUT DOWN. WE RACED THE CAR AT JACKSON OR MOBILE ONE MORE TIME BUT THE ASSOCIATION FOLDED IN 77. ALL THE REST OF THE DRIVERS (PAGE REYNOLDS, JIM MC CLARREN, BUTCH HARRIS, RICKY AND RONNIE OTTS AND LEROY HALFIN) STARTED RACING THERE SUPERS AT OSWEGO AND OTHER TRACKS UP EAST AND ALOT OF THE SOUTHERN DRIVERS (IKKY JEROME, BILL RONYON, HUGH RICHARDS, IVAL COOPER AND WAYNE NYDECKEN) ALL WENT BACK TO TRACKS IN MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA AND FLORIDA ON BOTH DIRT AND ASPHAULT. I BELIEVE THE ONLY DRIVERS STILL ALIVE THAT WENT DOWN SOUTH RACING ARE HUGH RICHARDS AND IKKY JEROME. IVAL DIED IN A SPRINT CAR RACE AT MOBILE WHEN HE WENT OFF THE BACK STAIGHT AWAY AND LANDED IN THE PINE TREES AND I READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT BILL RONYON AND WAYNE NIEDEKEN SR. JUST PASSING AWAY NOT LONG AGO. WAYNE SR HAS A SON WAYNE NIEDEKEN JR WHO IS A HOT SHOE AT MOBILE AND PENSICOLA THAT RACES JUST ABOUT ANYTHING AND WINS. AS FOR THE DRIVERS FROM TEXAS THAT WENT TO THE EAST COAST, I BELIVE THEY ARE ALL STILL ALIVE AND WELL.

Edited July 13, 2008 by Midget 85

[Carol]

Wow this brings back lots of great memories. The #7 and #45 my dad, Fred Furlow. THE BEST!

[Bobby]

Butch Harris co-owned and owned (depending on the year) Motorama Speedway in Beaumont until this past winter.

[Carol]

To our father Fred Furlow who owned the #11, #7 and #45 whose legacy will be perserved forever happy 80th birthday from you kids Kenny, our late brother Ronnie and Carol.

[Carol]

Here of more pics from Fred Furlow's cars. You may be getting duplicates. My sister is posting pictures also.

 

To our father Fred Furlow who owned the #11, #7 and #45 whose legacy will be perserved forever

From your kids Kenny, later brother Ronnie, Chrissie and Carol

 

[resized and re-formated by Nick Holt, 7/21/08]

 

 

 

 

[PAPA]

txtom

Here I am again asking a dumb question....Was the rear motor cars better than the front motor cars? Why did they "Go Away"? They are SUPER looking cars. I know we have way to many classes of cars now days but I'd really like to see a full field of those cars on the track. Was it a $ thing or a handling thing? Thanks for all your info you give us.

 

ALSO....Where the hell is the radiator at on the #24 car?

[Budman]

Papa,

 

That's a damn good question I don't know the answer to to this very day. All I really know about is what happened at Speed-o-rama. Along about '65 or so, they quit the supers and started running the supposedly "more popular" stock cars of the day. The result? They instantly cut their full house crowds down by about 40%. Then over the years crowds dwindled even further along with dwindling stock car counts. I asked the question any number of times but never got a straight answer. It just never made sense to me.

[jakdad]

Papa, as near as I could see, the rear engine cars priced themselves out of business. They didn't mix well with the conventional cars. It was much easier to get 35 or 40 of the regular cars on the track than the more expensive rear engine cars. I must agree that the rear engine jobs were some beautiful feats of engineering. That's just my take on it. Don't mean it's right...........................

[xzgqh6]

JIM, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONFIRM WITH DAD, BUT FROM WHAT I REMEMBER IT WAS A LACK OF TRACKS IN THE SOUTH AND THE ASSOCIATION COULD NOT COME UP WITH A FAIR SET OF RULES. AS I REMEMBER IT THE CARS LIKE DADS WERE THE CONVENTIONAL UPRIGHT STADDLE THE DRIVESHAFT TYPE CARS AND THEN YOU HAD THE ENGINE OFFSET ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT (OSWEGO SUPERS) AND THEN YOU HAD THE REAR ENGINE CARS. I DO REMEMBER DAD AND THE OTHER OWNERS MAKING SIGNIFICANT RULE CHANGES TO TRY AND EQUALIZE THE PLAYING FIELD BUT ABOUT THE TIME THEY GOT THAT PART SORTED OUT, MEYER SHUT DOWN AND THE OTHER TRACKS (MOBILE, JACKSON AND PENSICOLA) QUIT RUNNING THE SUPERS AND ALL THE REAR ENGINE AND (OSWEGO) TYPE CARS STARTED RACING IN THE NORTHEAST. THE DALLAS OUTLAW SPRINT CARS CAME AND RACED WITH US THERE AT THE END BUT THEY WERE NOT THAT COMPETITIVE AND ALL WENT BACK TO THE DEVILS BOWL. AGAIN YOU CAN GET MORE DETAILS FROM DAD.

[Carol]

[resized and re-formated by Nick Holt, 7/22/08]

 

 

Ival Cooper and Fred Furlow

[PAPA]

Let me ask this question then....What would cost less(today) to build and operate? The rear engine car as in above picture, TSRS cars, Super Late Models, Sprints(Winged and unwinged) ? I know Im dreaming but wouldnt it be great....never mind. The roadsters arent coming back either.

[myersjr80]

I ENJOY LOOKING AT THE PICTURES OF THE #7 WHALE OF A DEAL.

[xzgqh6]

IF THE CORRECT SET OF RULES WERE INFORCED LIKE IN THE NORTHEAST (ISMA) THAT RUN AT LEE AND OSWEGO SPEEDWAYS (SMALL BLOCK CRATE ENGINE) IT WOULD BE CHEAPER THAN ANY LATE MODEL OR FOR THAT MATTER THE MODIFIED I RACE NOW. IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE MORE FUN TO BUILD AND RACE AGAINST OTHER CREATIONS THAT ALL OF US ARE CAPABLE OF BUILDING. IF YOU LOOK IN THE RACING JUNK.COM CLASSIFIEDS UNDER ASPHAULT MODIFIEDS YOU CAN BUY A COMPLETE SUPER FOR UNDER 20K. I PERSONALLY WOULD LOVE TO FIND A GROUP WILLING TO START BUILDING AND RACING SUPERS AGAIN IN THE SOUTH. IM IN WHO ELSE WANTS TO PLAY? DON'T BE SCARED NOW........

[QuickVic]

Look closely. The 121 car in the is not a rear engine car. It was built by Bill Hite and was certainly one of the most advanced front engined supers ever. The driver was almost on top of the rear axle and it was very low. With not much body work it looked like a go cart. It was only around a short time before Hite started building rear engine cars. The Fillips owned two Hite cars, one of the early generation cars and the one Chet is driving in this thread was one of the last generation cars. It could be run 2-wheel drive, or 4-wheel drive. Chet spent a season running at Oswego, NY with this car. At this point, almost every super modified sanctioning body banned the 4 wheel drive cars, and eventually rear engines as well. I don't know what happened to Bill Hite, but he was probably one of the most talented designers of short track cars in his time.

Edited August 20, 2008 by Midget 85

[QuickVic]

Took some time during the Holidays to dig through some of my long forgotten crap. The second picture is the first Hite rear engine car the Fillips owned. It was #21 when they bought it and it stayed that number as long as they raced it. It was raced first by Marvin and then later by Chet. It is the car they raced at Meyers. In '77 Chet wrecked the old M1, '32 Ford roadster bodied super at Arena Park Raceway in Lubbock and broke his leg on the steering box. Later that year he drove the #21 rear engine car with his leg still in a cast. I know he ran at Meyers and I think he ran with us at Englewood Speedway in Colorado, that way. In '78 or '79 the Fillips purchased what I think was the last generation of Hite car. It could be run 2-wheel drive, or a front differential could be added and run 4- wheel drive. The big block Chevy was so far left that an Olds Toronado drive chain was used to transfer crank output back inside the rear tire to the quick change input shaft. This is the car that Chet spent a season with racing at Oswego Speedway. The 4-wheel drive version was never very successful. Fred Graves raced the Hite house car and it was a bullet, but they could never get the 4 wheel stagger correct and always went out with a broken half shaft on one corner or another, due to drive line bind. The good news is they were usually leading when the parts broke.

 

I raced sporadically as a member of the Southwest Supermodified Racing Association in '75 and '76. During the holidays I found all of the SSRA newsletters for '76 and '77. It is a very sad history of first Gary O'Brian and later David Wolfe, trying to breathe life in to a dying class of race car. They scheduled races at all the Gulf Coast tracks and at places like Fort Smith, AK with ever decreasing support. Finally, the car count got so poor, I guess the class just died. If someone has any interest in these newsletters, I would be happy to provide copies.

Edited December 27, 2008 by QuickVic

[rocketdog15]

This brings back memories! I remember a Super Modified exibition race at Highway 16

back in the early 80s. There were several supers from different eras, including the rear

engine #24 of Chet Fillip. I am sure it was between 80 and 84, because that was the

timeframe at which I pitcrewed for my good friend Mike Evetts in the Limited Late Model class.

He was friends with Chet, and he took me to meet him aand look over the car. As we looked

aat Chet,s car Mike told me that all of these old super modifieds, were faster than anything

that I had ever seen on a local track in SAN Antonio. Then he told me that Chet,s car would

the fastest I would ever see on a local racetrack. If I remember right, 10 laps in he had

lapped the whole field. I,m noot saying that the other cars were slow, they were so fast, I

ccould not comprehend how they stayed on the track. But Chet,s car, I could not

comprehend how it didn't complete lift-off and fly! Just as Chet lapped the field foor the third

time, the engine exploded into flames at the end of the front stretch, and skiddedto a stop

short of the wall between one and two. The one thing that really blew my mind, and this being

the only rear engined Super that I have ever seen, so i'm not sure if this was common or not,

but the big block engine was mounted laying on it's side. The injector tubes,( or whatever

those tubes were on ttop of the intake are) stuck out in front of the left rear tire. They were

All a wicked sight that night, and some thing that I will never will forget. And no Budman,

althuogh I got to look the whole car over, I haave no idea where the radiator was on that

ENGINEERING MARVEL.

[Budman]

Nor do I Rocketdog!

 

But, what a fun thread this is! Cool stuff.

[PAPA]

Radiator is laying flat in the nose section.

[QuickVic]

Radiator is laying flat in the nose section.

Yep. The radiator in the later car was about 10" high and 30" wide. Water was routed through aluminum tubing to the back of chassis. Never any cooling problems.