chipmunk Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I have thought of putting a book together of old super modified racing from the Houston area. Say from 1967 to 1973 the super modified hey days. A lil history book of the drivers from the texas area and of the ones that came to texas to race on asphalt. If yall would think this is a good idea please let me know.I thought this would help the up and comming drivers from texas know a lil of our history. Open wheel was a mainstay in texas for along time..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Actually, the supers go back at least as far as 1959 at Playland and expanded to SA and Austin around '61. There were some great super drivers in that early 60's era too. Don't forget Billy Wade. AND that's just asphalt. Dirt supers were hugely popular in north and east texas during that whole time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 I think you would have to go back as far as 1961 to get a full picture of how the Supers evolved from the Modifieds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightmoves 99 Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 great idea, i'll buy a couple! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Buddy' I can use and would appreciate some help on this topic, but from what I remember, for a while in the mid/late '50s the Houston area Modifieds were Super Modified Stock Cars using early '30s coupes and an occasional sedan with, for the most part, late model small block V8 engines. But, at some point in that time frame, a restriction in carburetion was put in force that reduced from three to two 2 barrel carburetors. After the '60 season ended, a new sportsman type Modified Stock Car class with '37 or newer cars was began when the weekly Houston racing moved to Meyer Spdwy in '61. So, the old Modifieds no longer had a place to race in Houston. During the '60 season, Thursday night Roadster Modified races were held at Meyer Spdwy, but that class did not survive after one year. I think some of the Roadsters were topless Modifieds. Some of the Playland Spdwy/Houston Modifieds may have updated to the later model bodies, but not all. That, to me, coinsides with your mention of Super Modifieds in Austin and San Antonio beginning in about '61. A few of the Playland Modifieds had narrowed and shortened bodies, but most were just channeled. As for Billy Wade, he raced Modifieds at Playland Spdwy and Roadster Modifieds at Meyer Spdwy in '60, and Modifieds at Meyer Spdwy in '61 & '62, and I believe, one weekly event in '63. He was Roadster Champion in '60, and Modified Champion in '61. In the late '60s, the Houston Modified Stock Cars gave way to the winged Super Modifieds that also permitted winged Sprint Cars and rear-engined purpose built cars. In my opinion, as for the demise of Super Modifieds of the '70s, too much speed for one thing with big motors and big wings. And, of course, the wallet racing. Anyone you can outrun with your wallet, you don't have to outrun in the race. But, without restrictions and with today's horsepower, tires, and aerodynamic knowledge, can one imagine San Antionio Spdwy in 13 seconds? 12 seconds? The Meyer Spdwy record set in the '70s is 19:45 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 I would like to see what was called super modifieds back in the 70s at Devils Bowl run again, the offset cars are neat, but the supers they ran at the Bowl seem a lot more simpler. Back in the 60s you had everything from a 283 to 427 engines winning and running together on fairly narrow tires back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 97Car, Â Weren't a lot of those dirt supers Nance and "Nance type" cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Retrott, Â I'm not sure where to begin on this topic. The super-modifieds raced in Austin/San Antonio (and probably Houston) during that era evolved from a number of different sources. That was the beauty of it. Apparently, there was a short time when they were running Houstion on Thursday nights, Austin on Friday nights and San Antonio on Saturday nights. I think indeed some developed from the Houston roadsters. Some were formally modifieds (with '32 Ford coupe bodies), which were basically the same cars with the old "top heavy" coupe bodys removed and replaced with "T-Bodies", giving them a lower center of gravity. Others were simply dirt modifeds that would come run pavement. What they all seemed to have in common for the most part were multiple carburated small block motors (mostly chevys, but not all.) They would all run slicks on the pavement, of course. It seemed the small blocks were better suited to the quarter miles of Austin and San Antonio than the big blocks. Since I seldom made it to Meyer I'm not sure how the small blocks fared against any big blocks there. Â This is a great subject that is really ripe for some good basic research by somebody to cover it all. I just know that they seemed to always have a good car count for the quarter mile 15-17 cars most every week. They would put on one hell of a show! There seemed always to be a small group out of Houston, a larger group out of San Antonio, a few out of Austin, several regulars out of west Texas, and on occasion one or two out of the Waco area. Then of course there was nearly always Bill White out of Temple. Now, having said that, these cars would have actually been considered rather primitive compared to those run as "Pavement Supers" by the time the 1970's rolled around. Â One of those old cars has recently been found, and I'm told is being restored in Houston. That should be a real sight to see when that project is completed. I've seen pics of it in its original condition when it was being raced. Can't wait to see the restoration! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted July 24, 2008 Report Share Posted July 24, 2008 Bud, picture sharing is required!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Budman, I am sure some were Nance cars, but before Devils Bowl went to sprint cars in the late 60s most were home made. One of these days I will try and get this posting thing figured out, my computer and scanner do not cooperate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightmoves 99 Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 from the pictures i've seen it looks like the' supers' were lower and wider than the sprints that ran with them , the supers that ran at meyer ,mobile, jackson,and pensicola were mostly homemade jobs if i'm not mistaken when they started ,when guys started building rear engine or offset cars a lot of the guys couldn't keep up dollar wise or engineering wise , i think that may be one reason they died off, maybe if they had made a rule to keep the cars upright and center driveshaft they may have lasted longer ,ya think? just my opinion.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Back when the track in Salt Lake City was a flat 1/4 mile rougher then Longhorn was they ran supers, and sprints ran with them and did well, but of course that was on a short track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hath27 Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 check out the picture on the home page. Who says sprint cars cant run w/ the Supers? Â http://members.tripod.com/~erasupermodifieds/home.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 THESE ARE THE "ROOTS" OF THE SUPERS ............... Â Here is a very recent photo of one that goes back quite a ways! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Roadsters of the '50s .................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Mid 60's........................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4PROP Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Is this photo from turn 2 of a very early Playland Park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 The first pic was taken recently in Austin at some sort of swap meet. The second is playland I believe. The third is of the late Waldo Harper at Austin Speed-o-rama about '64 I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4PROP Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I would not have recognized that Playland picture had it not been for a recent YouTube posting by oldblue39ford. That particular video even preceeds the ones posted my M. Barnes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RETrott Posted August 1, 2008 Report Share Posted August 1, 2008 Buddy, While never being accused of being an engine mechanic, I will try to respond to your observance of the difference between the small block versus the big block Houston Modifieds on the Meyer Spdwy 1/2 mile paved oval. My first observence was in '64, when Charlie Schild built a new modified '38 Chevy Coupe body/frame Modified Stock Car with a big block Ford, I believe a 427 cid, that more than likely was not aquired at an auto salvage yard. The car was completed near mid season, and M J Burton drove the new Modified for about four weeks, winning all but one of the feature races. The one he didn't win was because of a freeze plug failure while leading entering turn three, spinning due to moisture and tapping the wall with minimal damage. His speed was on par with the non-winged small block Super Modifieds/Sprint Cars that had entered the Liberty Bell 300 in '63/'64. At some point, the small block Modified Stock Cars increased from two to three 2b carburetion to compete with big block one 4b carbureted cars. Near the end of '64, the Schild Modified #1 Car was painted red & white, and Charlie took over driving duties when M J Burton retired from driving. The car is pictured in various Meyer Spdwy/Houston and related TXSZ posts. There is also a white & red modified '38 Chevy Coupe body/frame Modified Stock Car #1 that raced in prior years and driven, at least some, by Charlie Schild, but it is a different car. But, like I say, just an observence from a race fan the way I remember it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GINGERBREADMAN Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 Larry your memory is pretty good as I recall the facts the same as you....You must have been taking your Ginkgo Biloba here lately...I ran into Kent Lewis last weekend and he told me he still has all of Bob Lavaras old pics, old programs and payout sheets for many years of racing at meyer...supposedly Bob kept multibles of programs for every race night in 60's and 70's. His daughter Carol has picked them up and has a room with nothing but race related stuff in it...He said that he would definately like to put everything on to cd so if something happened we could still have a copy of everything...contact him after race season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Hey Bud, That is my style of a Super. About the right era to....................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprintsrule Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 I believe this was a Nance Super Modified from the Pan Am days in the early 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakdad Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 That is a fine looking car. Any idea who is at the wheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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