RETrott Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I would love to see a list of all '60s era Modifieds racing in Houston, with construction information. I'll always believe those modified late '30s/early '40s Modified Stock Cars were about as unique as it gets. I mean, real stock cars, completely reconstructed while maintaining appearance integrity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 While you're at it, please let me know when this was taken - was Rush the owner or the sponsor here?? is this the same car larry or jerry took some hot laps at meyers and the upper hose came off and the car spun in turn 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwj78025 Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Not only was Charlie a great builder and mechanic,but he was one of the best drivers to race at Playland and Meyer Speedway.His sons,Larry and Jerry wasn't too far behind him.I got to know the Schild family when I raced quarter midgets with Larry in Pasadena and Gulf Gate Mall in the late 50's and going to Meyer Speedway from the 60's till it shut down.I think Charlie had a auto repair shop on Washington Ave. when I was growing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midget 85 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Charlie had a transmission shop on Washington and did a few transmission rebuilds for MJ Burton's car lot which was located on Washington also. Â Course he did other work as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I believe Charlie had a shop in Spring Branch on Long Point Rd. Pretty busy at that shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 The Long Point location was where he retired from. Previously had a couple different locations on Washington Ave, as Randy said. And, did a lot of A/T work for area Used Car lots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyo Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) OK guys, I'm still hoping someone can fill in those missing years for me - I still need to know who won the 1970 Super-Modified Championship, along with the 1972 and everything after. Also, still looking for the 1974 LMS champion and certainty that Joe Holly won the 1969 LMS title, along with the 1970. And any more titles from Playland too, if anyone remembers that far back! We need to get Charlie, MJ, George and Ronnie (to name a few) involved with this site!! OH yeah, and any additional LMS titles (or whatever maybe have replaced them) after 1974! Edited March 15, 2011 by tommyo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) Tommy, The '74 NASCAR Late Model Sportsman track championship was won by Larry Schild. Mostly drove the AJ Foyt Chevrolet #50 Chevelle, although a late season split required finishing the season in another car(s). Also, there should be a championship for the '60 season, Roadster Modifieds at Meyer Spdwy won by Billy Wade, if my memory is correct. In '76, the track Late Model Championship was won by Terry Labonte. The rest, I'm again out of memory. Edited March 15, 2011 by RETrott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 i rember phil cronin drove hb grand am at texas world speedway in a usac race and finish 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 hers a photo of phil cronin at meyers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyo Posted March 16, 2011 Report Share Posted March 16, 2011 OK guys, a couple more questions for you all - All I see on this site is talk about the Late Models (Broncos???) from the late 70's, but nothing about the NASCAR LMS cars, or for that matter, the super modifieds - what was the last year the supers and the LMS cars ran at Meyer? What happened to them and where did they go?? Â Also, Hugh Richards won 8 features in 1971 and yet he did not win the title - Munson Stodder took it - Did Hugh ever get a super title at Meyer?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightmoves 99 Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I remember the year Richards was unbeatable, I wasn't sure of the year.Didn't he beat several out of town hotshoes that came in to try and beat him and Clay Reeves? When the supers stopped running a lot of people lost interest in the races. If you have pics from any of the" liberty bells", they would really be enjoyed,also if there are any from the nascar lms races that were called the "permatex " ( I believe) ,those would be great also.Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byron Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Tommy, thanks I did find the photos on the HAMB, I've been a lurker on the Hamb for a while and I don't know how I missed that page. Â The late model sportsman champion in 1969 was Tony Barcelona in Ol Red and Joe Holley in 1970 in the #82 Chevelle. Joe Plowman won the modified points in 1969. Â As for the super modified champions I'm not sure how it was done from 1970 on because not all races for them were run at Meyer, more of a series champion unless Meyer named a champion just for the races that were run at Meyer. Â Also the color photo of the #11 Chevelle, I posted that it was Jack Ingram, after seeing the Ingram photo that you posted the color photo is not the same car. Color photo has sponsors on the sides the b&w photo has no sponsors on the sides, it must be local racer Leroy Friend (I remember his car as being orange), unless it is someone else. Â The Harold Harris #4, I don't remember it with that body work. The car was supposed to be a former Can-Am car and Harold first ran it without any body on it at all and it was powered by a Chrysler Hemi engine. Â The #24 rear engine car of Von Carpenter was later raced by Butch Harris and Caroll (sic) Cheek, it did have a Volkswagen engine. Cheek and Harris turbocharged it but I remember being told that they had trouble with the heads melting. I think they streched the frame and also ran larger tires. I'm not totally sure but Roy Tuley may have run this car with his injected 289 Ford engine for a season. Â thanks: Byron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyo Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 OK Byron, appreciate the input, as always - I just wish there were more of us responding to questions and topics on this site!! Â This may sound strange, but I don't recall any color photo of the #11 car - I did post another #11 car from 1970 in post #36, but that was Vaughn Brune, car owned by John Lewis - that photo has sponsor names posted on the side. But I went thru all my photos and I cannot find any color photo of that #11 car! I know my memory ain't what it used to be, but... please refresh my memory about my own photos (!!!) if you can give me a post #!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Tommyo, Are you referring to post #36 under "Meyer Speedway pics 2" topic? I believe the LMS #11 Car, as id'd, is the Bob Barnes car being driven by Vaughn Brune. The usual driver may have been Leroy Friend. Possibly Vaughn needed points due to a problem with his car, or he was test driving to help resolve a setup problem. I believe the John Lewis car, as id'd is the #58 LMS being driven by L J Honeycut. As for time frames, the HBRA "Bronco"/Sportsman StockCars competed from '62 thru '68. In '69, and thru '74, Meyer Spdwy was NASCAR sanctioned for LateModel Sportsman Stock Cars, and Limited Sportsman Stock Cars. In '75, the NASCAR sanction discontued and the independant NARL LateModels began racing. And, the NARL "Bronco"/Hobby Stock Cars were introduced in either '75 or '76. The older model Limited Sportsman Stock Cars, if they competed at all, saw limited action. As for the NASCAR LateModel Sportsman Cars, there was also a 1/2 mile, or maybe 9/16 mile, paved speedway near Baton Rouge, LA. And, I believe their events were held on Friday nights. For a while at least, I believe Freddy Fryar, Jay Gonzales, Ray Putnam, and Joe Holley, to name a few, were racing out of the Baton Rouge Spdwy near Prairieville, LA. The mentioned LMS Permatex 200s were NASCAR LateModel Sportsman National Championship points paying events. Those 200 Lap Races, with qualifying races, were held in '70, '71, '72, and '73. Although, I'm not sure they were all Permatex sponsored. Those events, as well as the Baton Rouge track, brought a lot of very fast car and driver combinations that the local racers had to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyo Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) Right RETrott, when I went back looking for that photo (post #36) of the #11 car, I'd mixed up the owners- I don't remember the name Leroy Friend or whether Vaughn Brune drove that car just that one time or more than that - as the other track info, I appreciate that update - Most of that transpired after I left Meyer, and as I'd said, I'm just trying to fill in those missing years - again, thanks much.. Still trying to figure out whether the supers ran after 1973 at Meyer - no-one seems to mention them on this site after that!! Edited April 10, 2011 by Midget 85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightmoves 99 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I believe the supers went to Mobile,Jackson,and Pensacola after they stopped running here. That is what I heard.Really a shame they died out like they did, I never met anyone that didn't really like watching them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyo Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Right - when I tired of being the track photographer at Meyer (EVERY Friday & Saturday night, several nights in the darkroom, etc - what a difference digital photographer would be in that respect! Anyway, I considered "traveling" with the supers on their circuit and had even talked to several of the owners and drivers about catching a ride with them to and from the other tracks - Mobile, Jackson and Pensacola - I almost did it, but the fact that I would still be tied up every weekend and several nights each week convinced me NOT to do that after all! Â I simply "walked away" from it all in mid 1973 (I WAS NOT the track photorgapher at the time) and never really looked back until a couple of years ago when I came across all my photo albums from back then - funny how time does that to you! Â I had been a NASCAR Winston Cup fan for my racing "fix," but after Dale died I quickly lost interest in that too - it was never the same without him and I just didn't (and still don't) like the way NASCAR took WC and turned it into the Sprint-Nextel-Whatever Cup with all the new rules, almost identical cars - especially all those STOCK cars that don't really exist in the real world - you know what I mean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightmoves 99 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 The cookie-cutter cars is why most people like the modifieds now days. Most of them are built chassis but that is as far as that goes, most are built by guys in small shops, without large back pockets( I said, most not all) they are built using experience and imagination. I wish you had a digital camera back then Tommy-o, maybe you wouldn't have gotten burned out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted April 10, 2011 Report Share Posted April 10, 2011 i met norman at meyers when i worked for phil cronin i work in a machine shop with his nefnew dale he said norman passed in 2004 from what phil said he was a good driver and one good wrench Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted April 15, 2011 Report Share Posted April 15, 2011 I recall an incident in the late '60s/early'70s time frame that occurred in turn 1/turn 2, involving a Sprint Car during a Supermodified event that resulted in the car getting upside down and the rollcage failed. As I remember, the driver was not seriously injured and very lucky. I'm thinking that driver was William Smith, who I believe was a long time crewmember for Jackie Woosley, and/or Billy Perran. I'm just curious if anyone recalls the crash, and/or details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardRay Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 First I was a driver at Meyer in the mid 1970's, Bronco class, drove #7, a 64 Chevy II named "Gunrunner". Phil Cronin was my next door neighbor, in fact his son was my son's best friend. (Both are departed now). I also raced under SCCA, an Austin Healy a midget and Lotus II. Â Here are some photos in my collection... Richard Byrd Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 (edited) HEY RICHARD RAY GOOD TO SEE THE PHOTOS OF THE CAR AT MEYERS IN THE PHOTOS YOU POSTED I SEE PHILS 2 CAR I WORKED ON I REMEMBER HIS SHOP ON CRAIGHEAD HE OWNED BOTH LOTS NEXT TO HIS SHOP WHEN I WORKED WITH HIM IN THE MID 70S I STARTED HELPING PHIL WHEN STARTED RUNNING AT BIG H MAYBE YOU STAYED IN THE HOUSE ON THE COUNER Edited April 19, 2011 by norman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norman Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 (edited) HEY MIDGET I REMBER WHIN I FIRST WHENT OUT TO MEYERS I WAS WORKING ON A BRONCO CAR FOR BILL MULLINS TO GET IN THE PITS YOU HAD TO HAVE A NASSAR LICENSE TO GET IN I REMBER GOING TO TUBY GONGLES SHOP TO SIGH UP YOU HAD TO BE 16 TO GET IN WE LIED ABOUT MY AGE TO GET IN THOSE WHERE SOME GOOD MEMORIES I HAD AT MEYERS DO YOU REMBER TUBY Edited April 19, 2011 by norman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I recall an incident in the late '60s/early'70s time frame that occurred in turn 1/turn 2, involving a Sprint Car during a Supermodified event that resulted in the car getting upside down and the rollcage failed. As I remember, the driver was not seriously injured and very lucky. I'm thinking that driver was William Smith, who I believe was a long time crewmember for Jackie Woosley, and/or Billy Perran. I'm just curious if anyone recalls the crash, and/or details. That sounds like the wreck that Bill White had. I don't remember his roll cage failing, 'course that's been awhile.................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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