Billy Griswold

[geezer]

Does anyone have pics of Billy's old 9 car? Hopefully someone can post several pics. We would also like to see his Meyer Speedway car. I think it was a 38 Chevy coupe. Not sure.

Thanks,

Jim

Jackdad. You said in another post that you didn't think that Johnny or Billy had the money to replace the Fisher GMC in the 9 car. I posted in an another post also that Johnny bought George Nash's old Playland car the metallic blue #57. Johnny & I went to Georges house to get the car brought it back to Johnny's shop "Refershed" the v8 put in the 9 car & went to Meyer. Pretty fast car too.

[geezer]

geez, i am little harris that ran around that ole greasy trans. shop on parker rd., dad is in a nursing home in groveton, he don't remember much any more, he's 84 years old now and has had parkins disease for more than 20+ years now. he comes and goes with memory.

 

i can remember mom and i taking a tranny down to johnny's garage or drop one off by billy's for the race car, i can't count the times we would build different ratio's and gear setups for the cars to run at playland and then a different one for meyer, meyer was so much bigger that we started building close ratio tranny's and trying other rearend ratio's until we found the right gear for meyer. i built so many 4 bolt side plate short 3 speeds, that i could build one with my eye's shut. we ground the gears with a hand grinder to keep them from jumping out of gear. i setup more rearends than most dealerships ever seen, for circle track, drag cars like buddy warrens, and street rods. i can remember when ronnie chumley was a high school kid and dad built his tranny's for about every racecar he ever owned. chuck gentry had the ole a c auto parts on north shepherd and we stocked rebuilt trannny's there for them to sale, chuck owned the 51 and 15 mod's, charlie ritter drove one of them for chuck.

 

i think if i remember right, you were just a little older than me about the same age as my oldest brother ricky, him and jimmy was about the same age, rick passed away in 2001 with cancer. i also remember that old black chevy truck that johnny owned, i always wanted that old truck, never knew what happen to it? i mis those ole day's and will never see them again, but i believe, if you were born in the 40's, 50's, or early 60's, growing up around the houston area track's, it was the best years of your life.

 

that old number 9 car after george mahl got thru with it, there wasn't anything left, i kept the old rearend for years and a guy came to me with a water well drilling rig that had broken the ring and pinion, i sold him that ole rearend to get him going again, lawrence marshall had sent him to me, the last time i seen that rearend, it was drilling for water out off of hwy. 6 west of hempstead.

 

i know enough about those old modifieds to build one and here in the near future, i would like to do that, i'll just have to try and find me another banjo rearend, ha!ha!ha!

 

jakdad, and retrott, i mis hearing from you guy's and i promise that i will try to comunicate more often, i did run across old marvin ottmer that ran years ago and he gave me pic's to copy, i did post some of them on here somewhere, i am looking for others like, roy cody, norman pierce, blackie lofenger, charlie ritter, george nash, bill blumrick, jackie woosley, walter ballard, and some of the ole bronco drivers, GOD, i mis this stuff.

 

my name is del harris, everyone only knew me as little harris, ronnie tells me to this day about me running around that ole greasy trans. shop with no shoes on, grease from my head to my feet, mom always made me take an ole varsol rag and wipe off before i could get into he tub for a bath, boy, that was the good ole days, no doubt!!!

 

you guy's can call me anytime at 281-808-5475, i live on ih-45n. 16 miles north of hwy. 30 in huntsville, i got enough property and frontage on 45 feeder to build another meyer speedway, the only catch is, my wife would kill me!!!

she's asking me if i will get off of this thing and come to bed, i guess i will before she tells me to get off the computor, ya'll have a good evening and give me a call sometime, we done lost a lot of our mentors, so we better get together while we can, thanks, del harris

Del Are you sure about Ronnie & being a school kid? The reason I'm asking is Ronnie's about 74 years old.

[Del Harris]

you get a chance to talk to ronnie and ask him how old he was when he brought his first tranny to dads ole shop, if he was out of high school, it would'na been by much, cause if i remember right, he was driving at playland right out of school, i was born in 1955 and can remember him for as long as i been born, that makes him anchant don't it? i also remember tony barsalona, tony madina, and lester ellisor, when i was 3 years old, lester would hook up to dad's ole racecar, put me in that big ole wrecker that he drove and with dad, head out to playland, mom would meet us later with the rest of our gang, i only had 2 brothers and 4 sisters at that time, after the races, mom and dad always took us over to ride the bumper cars. after blackie went over the fence at playland, mom wouldn't go back, so dad waited until meyer opened to go back racing, by that time there was 3 boy's and 6 girl's, dad was known by F.L. Harris, thats what was on his ole bronco, tater pete knew dad pretty good and changed dad's name. tater pete said because F.L. had so many kids, that the F.L. stood for famous lover harris, him and dad talked on the phone all the time. dad's old phone number at the shop was OX-5-9185, you might see that on some of his old pic's, there was so many of us kids that we could not afford matching racecar shirts, so mom went to globe shopping center on n. shepherd and bought all of us our own shirts and used some of that oil paint that came in those little tubes and designed our racing shirts with a picture of dad ole 29 bronco on the back, she did a fine job, i was so mad the first time i got grease on it. boy, i tell you, that was the good ole day's and i sure mis them. at one time dad couldn't drive the racecar, so he let chris dutto drive in his place, before chris passed away, he showed me some of the old pic's, i will have to get a hold of pete, chris's boy and see if i can make some copies. anyway, my boss is calling me to the bed room, i guess i better go, not for what you think at our age now, just a good night's sleep ( and maybe a kiss ), oh well, hope to see you guy.s soon. thanks, del harris

 

p.s. i run at hmp in the pro-stock class sometimes, i won the championship in 2007, now i'm just having fun out there, on june 13th, i'll be running at kyle in the thunder-stock class, my sister janette and james huff will be there, they own the thunder stock i drive out there, ya'll have a good night, see ya soon!!!

[geezer]

Del Man you sure know how to make me nostalgic, with the old Globe store, Chris Douto,& your family. I never called your dad F.L. though he was always Finis to me. I haven't been to HMP for a long time the last time was me J.R.& Sally Hand & Sally's dad Tom Dewitt went to see the Ronco cars run.I'lk try to be there on the 13th, if the boss doesn't have something else planned for us that I don't know about.I havent been a car for about 10 years I was driving a 360 sprint for a friend in Arkansas, 'till he decided to quit after his partner died.Man I have arthritis so bad I probably couldn't wrestle one aroubd the track anymore, I hate being old!Just talked to Don Anderson last night we're still on for lunch next week with Ronnie Chumley, & A.J. & maybe Charles Ray.Man that outta be some lunch.

[Del Harris]

hey geez, when ya'll get your stuff together and figure out the date, time and location, let me know at lest a day or two ahead of time, and i'll meet ya'll to have lunch. i would love to be there. dad's full name is Fines Lee Harris, thats where the F.L. come from, tater pete had a good time talking about all dad's kids. i sold programs at meyer when i was 8 years old, that would have been in 1963, i made 5 cents a copy, that was good money back then, but i had to quit when dad caught me underneth the grandstands smoking a cigar that i traded a program for, i got by with it for a few weeks and didn't expect dad to be in the stands, i was under the seats where they usally sat, dad had come over to the grandstands and was sitting with mom, he looked down to spit between the bleachers, you know he alway's had that big ole chew of tobaco in that jaw, i was busted, got my butt busted and lost a few nights of racing. if you get a chance, call me, 281-808-5475, thanks, del

[4PROP]

but i had to quit when dad caught me underneth the grandstands smoking a cigar that i traded a program for

Reminds me of a time at Playland when a fire started in the south stands after someone tossed a lit cigarette below. It caught on one of the wooden cross braces about half way down and ignited a peanut bag. It blazed up pretty good and smoke came billowing up through the middle of the wood stands. The firetruck came around from the infield and put it out while we all just stood aound looking below watching through the openings. Not once did anyone realize it would take a while to get several hundred spectators off those big old wooden stands. A guess danger was just not in the vocabulary of Playland spectators. (Until Blackie took his shortcut to the parking lot.)

[geezer]

Del: Don Anderson's out of town right now in Arkansas, he's the one that's putting all this together, soon as he get's back I'll know when & where we're supposed to meet, I'll call you as soon as he tells me.

[geezer]

Del: Saw Chumley today I ask about the first time he came to your dad's shop, was he fresh out of school.I had forgot that he was raised in & went through school in Oklahoma, so yeah he had been out of school for quite awhile,remember he's only about 10 years younger than your dad.We didn't talk much about racing believe it or not,mostly about the people involved in it. He & Don talked most of the racing,& most of that was about Bill White.We talked mostly about the Cates Brothers, Tony Medina, Norman, Johnny ,& Billy.He said he had seen you about a year ago, I told him about your dad he said he was sorry to hear it.He looks good, not at all like a 74 year old cancer survivor,still act's like the same old Ronnie.

[jakdad]

In the early '60s I think Billy ran a metallic blue #77 super modified, with interior painted white, at Speed-O-Rama on Friday nights.

Hey Bud, That blue 77 might have been Mac's car. He had a used car lot and shop in Killeen. I don't remember his last name. The car used to be a high boy coupe until they took a torch to it. Mac ran a 312 Ford with 3 dueces when he started. Don't know about later.

[Budman]

Could be, Jim. I never did know who actually owned it. Heck, I was just a kid back in those days.

 

I sure wish we could get some more pics of those type cars from that era on here.

[geezer]

I sure wish we could get some more pics of those type cars from that era on here.

Budman Yes it was a 38 chev coupe shortned by Bob Stegal, it was owned by Johnny Reiff, originally went to Meyer with the Fisher GMC we ran at Playland. Johnny subsequently bought George Nash's # 57 Playland car freshened up the chev v8 & put it in the 9 car.Fast yes but not as fast as Billy Wade's #53,but few were.

[mfbarnes]

 

I found these two. I think they were sent by Mark.

Thanks,

Anymore?

 

Both of these pictures were from the old Cleveland Speedway. And yes that is Martha sitting behind the wheel on a night the were promoting a powderpuff race. That was a paper clipping of the promo. That was the same care Billy ran out at Playland I am pretty sure. Don't know whatever became of that old coupe. Sitting out behind somebodies shop somewhere. Kinda like a pile of my old sprinter stuff sitting out at Monty's place. I'd hand stuff down to someone and it would get sold again to someone else, and then wind up at Monty's place. One man's junk is another man's treasure............

[geezer]

Could be, Jim. I never did know who actually owned it. Heck, I was just a kid back in those days.

 

I sure wish we could get some more pics of those type cars from that era on here.

Bud man Johnny Reiff owned both the Playland & Meyer car that Griswold drove.

[jakdad]

I think that Bud is talking about the blue 77 that Billy drove in Austin.

[Del Harris]

i did'nt know if jimmy has seen any of this post, so i'm bring it to the top for him to gander at, have fun reading jimmy, thanks, del

[JohnnyMac]

Since this is about Billy Griswold and he is responsible for my interest in racing, thought I'd throw this in:

 

Hi,

I'll be 74 this coming 9/11 and grew up going to races in and around Houston and later raced on a few of them. I'm Bill Breshears brother in law. He built and raced Super Modified cars at Playland Park, North Houston (old horse track) Arrowhead and Meyers Speedway. His cars were driven by George Nash, Charles Ray Shiles, Billy Wade, Phil Cronon and Larry Shilds to name a few. He later ran Sprint Cars at Moody Clary and Big H after Meyers closed driven by Larry Shilds, Bill White, Me and I can't remember his name but the track photographer's son. Billy Wade and family spent Christmas with Bill and Elouise (who lived next door to me) just before going to Daytona for the tire test that killed him. I started out in racing by pit crewing for Billy Griswold at Playland Park when I was in my teens. I build my first Super Modified in Bill Breshears shop when I was 30 years old. I always wanted to race but got married shortly after a hitch in the Coast Guard so didn't have the funds till I was 30. Phil was driving for Bill at the time and his Brother Mike had been driving Broncos and Mike had a friend that would put an L88 427 Chevy engine in my near completed Super if I would let him drive it at Meyers which I did for a while. I decided to race myself so bought a 283 engine from Charles Ray that he had build up for Larry's Bronco and took the car to Moody Clary Speedway in Navasoda. I ran off and on (limited funds) over the next 14 years at Moody Clary then Big H dirt track in North Houston. My last ride in a Modified was the Limited Modified #55 at Big H. I was competive but not one of the top (limited funds again). I had a brief run in the Midgets at Big H when Honest Al Burnes (Honest Al's Auto Parts) hired me to drive the #53 Kurtis Offy Midget at Big H. The first night we drew for starting positions and old lucky me drew the last starting position. I won my heat and finished 2nd in the feature from the last row. The next week I was 2nd in points so started in the back row again, running 2nd again. This went on for 7 weeks with me running either 2nd or 3rd and only being beat by cars starting on the front row. Just didn't have enough time to run em down. I had twice as many championship points as the 2nd place runner but Al fired me because I hadn't won a feature (he had a lot of pressure from Elton Porter to let him drive it). Another owner that had a low dollar home built midget with a Chevy II boat engine in it picked me up and I out ran the offy with Elton in it the next week, LOL. I'll have to say that's the hardest I ever drove. I was out to outrun that offy as all cost, LOL. BUT my biggest thrill was passing and beating Bill White one night at Moody Clary. Bill was my idol when I was coming up. I've only been to 2 homecoming races since retiring from racing cause I knew I'd be tempted to get in one again and because I was getting up in years knew I had no business in one. I've been racing On-Line on the computer with the Christian Racing League ( www.christingracing.com ) for the last 15 years (keeps my mind sharp). We have members in 4 countries and race NASCAR among other type cars 6 nights a week. I'm still pretty compative at it especially on the Super Speedways. I'm in the top 5 in lap time at a number of the tracks we run on (Not bad for a 73 year old running against the young guys). Not so good on the road cources. Never got the hang of turning right, LOL. OH, by the way I'm John McClellan and raced under the name of Johnny "Mac" McClellan (not to be comfused with the famous "Mac" McClellan that almost lost his life in a midget on a "Saturday Night Thunder" race at Indy Raceway Park.

P.S.

Charles Ray nicknamed me "Slide Rule" because I always carried a tape measure and was always measuring things on race cars that I thought had a good Idea and later incorporated them into my cars that I built (3 over time). LOL. I almost forgot, the last Super I built I ended up selling it to Poncho Lockland and I went with him to the Super Modified Nationals in Fa to help him set it up. Can't remember the driver, just remember he was a preacher. They ran 4th against some of the best Supers from across the nation. The guy with the 4 wheel drive rear engine car won it but they were in the same lap not too far behind.

 

You can see my On-Line Racing Cockpit (with me in it) at http://www.christianracing.com/forum3/phpB...?f=3&t=1589

Click on each picture to expand.

[RETrott]

I remember Sliderule. Did you rebuild the car Jackie Woosley crashed at Meyer? Or was it rebuildable?

[Del Harris]

talk with jimmy a few weeks ago, he told me that he thought that my dad and bill naquin bought the old 9 car that ran meyer, bill took the old body off the car and they built a car to run moody and clary speedway, i talk with bill naquin about 2 months ago and he said about the same thing, but did say that after a few seasons of running, someone stole the car out of his moms garage on 25th street, they did torch the old body, i have no clue as to where the frame and drive train went, i do remember it had a 302 ci chevy motor, 3 speed tranny that i built, and an old banjo housing rearend with i think a 617 gear. rhats been so long ago, but i think all is correct, thanks del

 

 

if anyone knows of the one that stole it, tell'em i hope they had fun and at least they could pay me for the tranny, ha! ha! dad ran this car at moody and clary using the number 6, later i think he changed to number 2 at big h.

[JohnnyMac]

I remember Sliderule. Did you rebuild the car Jackie Woosley crashed at Meyer? Or was it rebuildable?

 

Yes Bill Breshears rebuilt it and converted it to a dirt car. I drove it for a while at Moody Clary and Big H. Then Bill White got in it and filpped it again at Moody Clary. It was rebuilt again and later sold and Jimmy McKensey drove it for the new owner. After it was sold Bill Breshears bought a CAE sprinter from Tom DeWeit which I drove for a while.

[RETrott]

I remember Sliderule. Did you rebuild the car Jackie Woosley crashed at Meyer? Or was it rebuildable?

 

Yes Bill Breshears rebuilt it and converted it to a dirt car. I drove it for a while at Moody Clary and Big H. Then Bill White got in it and filpped it again at Moody Clary. It was rebuilt again and later sold and Jimmy McKensey drove it for the new owner. After it was sold Bill Breshears bought a CAE sprinter from Tom DeWeit which I drove for a while.

 

Sorry about that Johnny, after posting that I later saw your post regarding that question.