ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 These photos from Pan American Speedway were taken by a wonderful man and a great racing friend, Colonel Ted Hood. I'm looking for others I might have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 And this shot I had filed as "Last Night". Not sure if it was Pan Am's last night, or the mini's last night, or my last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 great pic.s tory ...the 7 and 25 have a look ive seen before ....i use to race a pinto with that number .with a paint skeem sorta like that ..jessie race number 7 ...also that 31 pinto has yates ford as a sponsor ..they sponsored and raced many years ..i beleve slick raced thier cars for many years ................ the car on fire .was shown awhile back on speedzone ..if you look real hard the fire at the top of the car .tell me what you see .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 That #31 Pinto was John Yates of Yates Ford. Last time I heard anything of hin, he had bought a mustang from Slick Yoemans when Slick went to run for Cheathem. The upside down #96 was Waldo Harper's car, and Jimmy Finger punched through the turn 1 wall this night. I am thinking that was a very young Wayne Deckard in the #17 that is outside the fence. The #55 being pulled off the wall is Bubba Storbeck in a Harold Oatman camaro, and I think this may have been the season closer of 1976 when John Foster came to town and took the money. Oatey can expound on this. Storbeck was the track champion that year. #33 is Danny Rittiman, and there are other pics of this car after he tried to take down the wall with the right front. The upside down car on fire is Gary Banks of Austin in the car that was called "humdinger. It was a rotary engine Mazda sedan, bad fast. He had hit the fence off turn two, and the fencing had taken such a pounding, it looked like a ramp back there. Ware later put up a concrete section to keep this from happening. You can't see it, but i am about 50 feet to the left of this happening. Banks got out alright. I think (not positive) Danny Reininger is in the upside down #99 is; it is a hobby stock car. But if you look very closely in the background above the back bumper, you can see yours truly in a blue shirt, and I know that was a goodyear hat I wore for years out there. Great stuff, Tory, keep it coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 great pic.s tory ...the 7 and 25 have a look ive seen before ....i use to race a pinto with that number .with a paint skeem sorta like that ..jessie race number 7 ...also that 31 pinto has yates ford as a sponsor ..they sponsored and raced many years ..i beleve slick raced thier cars for many years ................ the car on fire .was shown awhile back on speedzone ..if you look real hard the fire at the top of the car .tell me what you see .. Guess what? That's a young Mike Knotts in the #7 Pinto. Look real close and you'll recognize him! Gary Banks is on fire in the Mazda. Pete Wright was doing a gnarly roll-over at the same time and was already down around turn 3 when this shot was taken. Pete had a photo at THR last race that was taken just before the fire shot. It shows Gary going over on his roof as Pete is launched... and I do mean LAUNCHED on the wall. And YES... I do what you you are referring to. Colonel Ted showed me a big blow-up of this shot that Gary's wife had ordered. Pretty creepy!!! And the Yates Ford mini... I think the guy's name might have been John. Really nice young man. I may be wrong on his name, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Pete Wright was doing a gnarly roll-over at the same time and was already down around turn 3 when this shot was taken. Yean, Everyone was so focused on Gary's fire, we all kinda bypassed Pete. Thankfully, he was alright, and both cars lived to race another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 And that blue Ghia in the fourth pic down belonged to Jerry Pelton, who is standing on the right. I think Darrell Bass drove it in 1977, but Bobby Pelton drove it the year before as I recall. It was sponsored by the Big V Center that was co-owned by Jerry. Really a fast car. Now.. if you look over Jerry Pelton's left shoulder you will see a young man with dark hair and a mustache. That's me standing next to Johnny Ivy. We were campaigning a Chevy Vega in the Mini Stock class. Johnny drove it that year and Bruce Mabrito drove it in 1978, the last year that Pan Am was open... Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Tory, Correct me if I am wrong, But ain't that you in the 25 this night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Tom - Thanks for putting names to some of these shots. You have an amazing memory. The #21 Carmen Ghia was the first race car I ever "owned". Got it as a roller. Hutchinson [?], I think, was the name of the driver I got it from. Never got it to the track myself, and was still too young to drive. I turned it over to Mike Knotts and it became the white #76. Later, when I was about 15, Mike put me in his back-up car - that was the #25 Fiat. I think the guy in the 61 was named Jim. He used to let me hang out and watch him work on the car in his driveway when I was a kid. I don't recall names for the 12 & 63 Hobby Stocks, but check out those vintage jet fighter helmets, huh! I'm still looking for more photos. After Pan American closed, I went over to Colonel Ted's house and we looked through hundreds of photos. I wonder what ever became of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 And that blue Ghia in the fourth pic down belonged to Jerry Pelton, who is standing on the right. I think Darrell Bass drove it in 1977, but Bobby Pelton drove it the year before as I recall. It was sponsored by the Big V Center that was co-owned by Jerry. Really a fast car. Now.. if you look over Jerry Pelton's left shoulder you will see a young man with dark hair and a mustache. That's me standing next to Johnny Ivy. We were campaigning a Chevy Vega in the Mini Stock class. Johnny drove it that year and Bruce Mabrito drove it in 1978, the last year that Pan Am was open... Nick Yup! That's the year Darrell drove the Ghia. Darrell is fourth from left next to Jerry. Man, we gotta enhance that pic to see you better!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 After Pan American closed, I went over to Colonel Ted's house and we looked through hundreds of photos. I wonder what ever became of those. They are in a shop in Marion, and a tight lid is kept on them. After Col Hoods' passing, his widow gave them all to the Ware family. They are now in the possession of Harry Kinsey, and I wish I could pin him down as to what he is going to do with them. But is boxes and boxes of stuff. You may remember Kinsey working with Hubert Bean at Pan Am. kinsey lives just off Hwy 78 on the East side of Marion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Tory, Correct me if I am wrong, But ain't that you in the 25 this night? Haha!!! Yup. That would be me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 They are in a shop in Marion, and a tight lid is kept on them. Hmm. I wonder why the Ware's didn't hang on to them? Would be interesting to see those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Found this pic from a previous poasting by Craig Schmidt. It is Wright and Banks on the backstretch wall. Wright in the blue Karman Ghia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 That the one!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Tory, Correct me if I am wrong, But ain't that you in the 25 this night? Haha!!! Yup. That would be me. BOY YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO A FORD .LOL .AND I WAS THINKING THAT WAS MIKE .BUT I DIDNT WANT TO BE WRONG .. HEY NICE NUMBER .25 .WE BOTH THINK ALIKE ..DONT WE ...OMG I DIDNT JUST SAY THAT .. I RAN THAT NUMBER ON LISA.S CAR LAST YEAR AT KYLE ..AND ILL RUN IT AGAIN WHEN GET A CHANCE TO ..WON MORE RACES WITH THAT NUMBER THAN I DID WITH 00 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Tory, click this link to do quotes correctly. Quotes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 And that blue Ghia in the fourth pic down belonged to Jerry Pelton, who is standing on the right. I think Darrell Bass drove it in 1977, but Bobby Pelton drove it the year before as I recall. It was sponsored by the Big V Center that was co-owned by Jerry. Really a fast car. Now.. if you look over Jerry Pelton's left shoulder you will see a young man with dark hair and a mustache. That's me standing next to Johnny Ivy. We were campaigning a Chevy Vega in the Mini Stock class. Johnny drove it that year and Bruce Mabrito drove it in 1978, the last year that Pan Am was open... Nick Chevy Vega???? Nick - this one's for you! Does the car look familiar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 ...Now.. if you look over Jerry Pelton's left shoulder you will see a young man with dark hair and a mustache. That's me standing next to Johnny Ivy. We were campaigning a Chevy Vega in the Mini Stock class. Johnny drove it that year and Bruce Mabrito drove it in 1978, the last year that Pan Am was open... Nick Chevy Vega???? Nick - this one's for you! Does the car look familiar? That would be the car... That pic must have been taken out front of Ivy's house in Kirby... Who is that standing there? Is that you Tory? Did we meet back in the 70's? Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToryC Posted October 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 That would be the car... That pic must have been taken out front of Ivy's house in Kirby... Who is that standing there? Is that you Tory? Did we meet back in the 70's? Nick That's me. And the pic is in front of my house in Universal City. I can't even remember why the Vega was there. Maybe Bruce stopped by or maybe I was transporting it and stopped at home. I have no idea. I'm afraid my wild days in Hollywood in the 1980's served as a bit of a mind eraser. Thank God I lived through them and learned from them. I'm a much different person today, I'm happy to say. And, fortunately, we have Tom with his sharp memory banks! I was "Mark Doyle" back then. Not long after that shot was taken, I graduated high school and went off to Hollywood and went on the air as "Tory Christopher" [a fictitious radio name]. The name stuck and I had it legally changed about a year later. That was nearly 30 years ago! I ran some mini stock races at Pan Am, mostly in Mike's old Fiat. Then I built a Figure-8 car with some guidance from Dub Hamilton. I was kind of a loner in the back of the pits. I think the only one who came to the track with me every week was my high school girlfriend Jeannette. She had really long hair down to her butt - if that rings any bells. haha But she was always in the stands and I was usually alone in the pits except for a few times when a buddy or two would come along. This was my Figure-8 car: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonesome Ford Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Those are some great pics! My uncle, Pat Kelly is in the #15 Ford in the first few of them. He's the reason all us Kellys have gotten behind the wheel at one time or another.... it's all his fault! LOL Again, great pics, keep 'em comin! -Jr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 A little something from April, 1978. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 tom is the #17 Wayne Deckard or my grandpa woodall? I have a picture of him in a 17 from the front with the same type of damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Tory... here's the crew from the 20 Vega. Driver Bruce Mabrito on the left then me and Johnny Ivy. In the background you can see Paul Czekanski's red Ford Pinto and behind that is Ricci Ware Jr's rig. Where do the years go? Seems like just yesterday... Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 #17 Wayne Deckard or my grandpa woodall It could be Buddy, I don't remember specifically. Ihought by that time Buddy was in the little Falcon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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