Racin' Stuff:

By Tom Avenengo

First things, first:

Any idea as to what I’m getting at with this:

Nazareth, Pa., New Albany, Ohio, Roscoe, Il., Boca Raton, Fl., and Indianapolis, In.

Well, those are the five places in the U.S. where only 5 of the 22 starters in last weeks Indycar race call their hometown. Nazareth, is for Marco Andretti, New Albany is Graham Rahal, Roscoe is Danica Patrick, Boca Raton is Ryan Hunter-Reay and Indianapolis is Ed Carpenter.

Back “In the day” if there were 22 cars in a race, there would have been almost 22 drivers with U.S. hometowns. Might this be a big cause for the low popularity for Indycar racing? Any idea as to how many of the 43 drivers in the Cup race from Bristol last Saturday night have hometowns in the U.S.?

Some of my thoughts:

Well, since Indycar has morphed into “Cart II”, I see they now race like “Cart I” – especially on road courses, on the first lap. At leas this past Sunday they got to the second turn before crashing.

While watching the Cup race last Saturday night, there was a debris caution with 8 laps to go. Would you believe – they actually showed the debris? Even showed cars running over it. Unless there was more to the eye than what they showed, I’m wondering, why did it take at least five laps for someone to pick up that one piece – thus ensuring a green/white/checkered finish?

I must say that in most cases, tracks that have websites, and show “green” for yes, we’re racing and “red” for that they are not racing, are usually pretty good in getting the “red” up when weather is questionable. Well, last Saturday, it was put out on a message board that a certain track rained out. I went to their website, and the “green” was still on. I went to another message board/forum, and someone was on there saying they were leaving for that track, then added that they had received a phone call that the races were canceled. Ok, fine. Then on Facebook, a little later on, one of the drivers from the track in question had posted that the races were canceled – and it said that was posted two hours ago. Back to the tracks website. Green still on. Another post at 6:30 PM says the indicator was still green. Heck, they should have been racing by the. Ah, between 6:30 and 7:30, the indicator went from green to red. Now, I’m wondering – what if someone went by the green indicator on the tracks website, and made a trip to that track? OK, I’ll admit, the track might not have 100% control on their website, but still why such a delay in getting that green indicator changed over to red? Damn, but I guess I’m just a fussy old SOB, huh?

That reminds me of someone I know had ventured out to one of the most famous tracks in the country, one out in Pennsylvania, and was sitting in the parking lot. It either was raining or just starting, so he called the track and asked them how it was and if they’d be racing. He was told it was sunny and yes, they are racing! He then told them that it was raining where he was. He was asked where he was. He told them, in your parking lot. They hung up. Gotta love it!

The Health Care Reform – my take: Get EVERY politician has to use what they want us to use, for a period of two years, with nothing else as far as any other kind of health care, or benefits, then see if they still want to ram it down our throats.

This came out on Yahoo! News on Tuesday:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090824/sc_livescience/majorityofamericansbelievehealthcarereformmyths

Going back, in time:

On August 27^th, in:

1910

Midget racing great Johnny Ritter was born – in Austria.

1949

Tommy Hinnershitz won the AAA Sprint Car race at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds,St. Paul, MN.

1950

Walt Faulkner won the AAA sanctioned Milwaukee 200 race at The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin. Henry Banks was second followed by Andy Linden, Duke Dinsmore and Paul Russo.

Tommy Hinnershitz won the AAA Sprint Car race at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds,St. Paul, MN.

1951

Troy Ruttman won the AAA Sprint Car race over Tommy Hinnershitz at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds,St. Paul, MN.

1955

George Fonder won the ARDC Midget race at the Hatfield Speedway, Hatfield,PA.

Bobby Grim won the 100 lap IMCA Sprint Car race at the Missouri State Fairgrounds (1.0d) ,Sedalia, MO.

1957

Rex Easton won the USAC Midget race at the Sportsdrome Speedway, Jeffersonville,IN.

Buzz Barton won the IMCA Sprint Car race at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, St. Paul, MN.

1960

Allen Heath won the CRA Sprint Car race over Don Davis at the Ascot Park Speedway, Gardena,CA.

Ray Brown won the ARDC Midget race at the Danbury Fairgrounds, Danbury,CT.

Tony Bettenhausen won the 100 lap USAC Midget race at the Milwaukee Mile (1.0p) , West Allis, WI.

1961

Jim Hurtubise won both of the Twin 50's USAC Sprint Car races at the Langhorne Speedway (1.0d) , Langhorne, PA.

1964

Rene Charland won the 100 lap NASCAR Modified race at the Fort Dix Speedway, New Egypt,NJ.

1966

Mario Andretti won the USAC sanctioned Tony Bettenhausen 200 race at The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin. Gordon Johncock was second followed by Joe Leonard, Jim McElreath and Bill Foster.

Note: Looking at those 1949, 50 & 51 results, above, Tommy Hinnershitz, who lived in Oley, Pa. sure got around, didn’t he? And with no Interstate highway system, either!

How about Bettenhausen winning a 100 mile midget race in 1960. When was the last 100 miler for midgets?

Hurtubise winning both 50-mile races at Langhorne in 1961 – with no need to stop for fuel, either. Today, we’re lucky to see 50 laps on a half mile track go without a fuel stop.

Racing on TV:

Check out what’s on TV, racing wise – this weekend, below, and also go here: http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm

Friday:

8:00AM-9:30AM

SPEED

FIA Formula One PRACTICE, ING Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, L

5:30PM-6:30PM

SPEED

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series QUALIFYING, Chicagoland 250, Chicagoland, Joliet, IL, HD, L

6:00P-7:00

IRL IndyCar Series QUALIFYING, Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL, HD, SDD

6:30P-8:30

SPEED

ARCA RE/MAX Series Chicagoland ARCA 200, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL, L

9:00P-11:30

SPEED

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chicagoland 250, Chicagoland, Joliet, IL, HD, L (expect green at 9:19P)

Saturday:

8:00A-9:30

SPEED

FIA Formula One QUALIFYING, ING Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, L

2:00P-4:30

SPEED

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal, QC, HD, L

5:00P-6:00

SPEED

IHRA Nitro Jam Drag Racing Mopar Canadian Nationals, Grand Bend, ON, July 19/09, HD, N

7:00P-8:00

SPEED

FIM MotoGP World Championship QUALIFYING, Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IN, SDD, N

8:00P-9:00

SPEED

AMA Pro Motocross 250, Budds Creek MX Park, Mechanicsville, MD, Aug 22/09, N

9:00P-11:00

espn2

NASCAR Nationwide Series QUALIFYING, NAPA Auto Parts 200, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, QC, HD, SDD

9:00P-10:00

SPEED

AMA Pro Motocross 450, Motocross 338, Southwick, MA, SDD, N

9:00P-12:00m

IRL IndyCar Series Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, IL, HD, L

Sunday:

6:00A-7:30

SPEED

GP2 Championship Series at the Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Aug 29-30/09, N

7:30A-10:00

SPEED

FIA Formula One ING Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, L (may be blacked out in Canada)

2:00P-2:30

espn2

NASCAR Nationwide Series COUNTDOWN, NAPA Auto Parts 200, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, QC, HD, L

2:30P-6:00

espn2

NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, QC, HD, L (expect green at 2:48P)

3:00P-6:00

SPEED

American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport, Mosport, ON, HD, L

3:00P-4:00

FOX

FIM MotoGP World Championship Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IN, HD, L

6:00P-7:00

SPEED

FIM 250 World Championship Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IN, HD, SDD

Other forums/message boards and websites:

From the Track Forum - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/

For the Indy car race fans, there’s an interesting thread about “What’s your favorite all time Indy car race”, which is up to three pages as of Tuesday. Check it out, here: http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127693

From Jayski - http://www.jayski.com/

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2009 Sharpie 500: For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, or wonder how often your driver was focused on, here is the breakdown for Saturday's race. ESPN was the broadcast team for this event.
Total number of commercials: 76
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 61
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 47
Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 4 min. 5 sec.
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 7:32 pm
End time to record race/commercial periods: 11:09 pm
Total minutes: 217
Minutes of race broadcast: 166
Minutes of commercials: 51
Number of missed restarts: 0 three close calls
Number of AT&T commercials abruptly cut into to come back to a restart: 1 Thanks, ESPN
Number of mystery cautions (no debris shown): 0
Total race brdcst time 166 Total comm. brdcst time 51
See full report, driver focus and more on 2009 TV Commercials page.(8-24-2009)

Note: I dunno, but it sure seemed like there was an over abundance of commercials on Saturday night.

Dale Jr. looking for Brad K's replacement: JR Motorsports President Kelley Earnhardt confirmed that Kelly Bires is on the list of possible replacements for Brad Keselowski should the company and the driver part ways. Many in the garage have called Bires, who turns 25 Tuesday, the front-runner for the #88 Nationwide Series ride.(FoxSports)(8-24-2009)

Note: Hard to believe that JR Motorsports isn’t moving Keselowski up to Cup next year. What was the main problem – sponsorship? Sponsorship with NASCAR’s most popular driver? Say what?

Fuel Injection coming to NASCAR? UPDATEs: When NASCAR Sprint Cup director John Darby, a few weeks ago, raised the issue of 'fuel injected' racing engines in NASCAR, it raised eyebrows. NASCAR Cup engines are some of the most technically advanced engines in racing, except for the antique carburetors. Every other major form of racing, even ASA, uses fuel injected engines. NASCAR has long shied away from things electronically complicated like electronic fuel injection, for fear, with goodly reason, that the mechanical wizards on these racing teams might figure out a way to put some tricks in that electronic box. However NASCAR officials are raising the issue to team owners of fuel injected engines, possibly in the Truck series as soon as next season, according to one scenario and asking how owners think NASCAR ought to police it. "We think fuel injection is just the right way to go in NASCAR," Pat Suhy, Chevrolet's NASCAR field director, says. "And it wouldn't be that difficult. Every other top racing series uses fuel injection. We could put something together in about a week depending on how simple or complex you wanted to do it and then test it for two months or so, and be ready to go."(MikeMulhern.net) (8-16-2009)
UPDATE: NASCAR is researching the possibility of moving from engines with carburetors to fuel injection. Officials met with top engine builders from organizations earlier this month to discuss the move of that technology and others that would make cars more fuel efficient and more like cars on the manufacturer showroom floor. Manufacturers switched fully from carburetors to fuel injection in the 1980s. No timetable has been set for when fuel injection could be used, but Toyotas Lee White said his company could be ready to go by the 2010 opener at Daytona if NASCAR gave the go-ahead. "I would vote for it," White said on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. "No question, because everyone right now is spending an absolute fortune on [carburetor technology] that has absolute zero application in real life." White said all manufacturers need to be more conscious about the environment to survive, and he believes NASCAR needs to move more in that direction. "Sit in the grandstands and watch these cars go into Turns 1 and Turns 3 and watch all the fuel belching out the tailpipe," he said. "Thats wasted fuel thats going right into the grandstands in terms of lead poison." White said the transition could be made easily and without great expense. "Its something that could be implemented along with a few other things that could be discussed that could potentially reduce costs and increase the potential audience for the sport," he said.(ESPN)(8-21-2009)

UPDATE 2: Speaking on condition of anonymity, a NASCAR official told SPEEDtv.com Friday that researchers for the sanctioning body met recently with team owners, engine builders and other constituents, but that discussions are purely in the research phase for the moment. Asked if one or more of NASCAR's top divisions might convert to fuel injection as early as next year, the NASCAR official said, "I don't see it happening."(SPEEDtv)(8-22-2009)
AND - Ford: Brian Wolfe, director, Ford North American Motorsports, was recently on The Race Reporters show. Wolfe said he's in favor of fuel injection for NASCAR engines, that Ford will debut its new Cup engine before this season is finished, and that technical assistance is available to teams which might want to change manufacturers for the 2010 season.(SpinDoctor500blog)(8-22-2009)
UPDATE 3: Sources have told FOXSports.com that Hendrick Motorsports is working on the fuel injection project for NASCAR. If NASCAR opts for fuel injection engines in the near future, it will likely increase production costs by $15,000 to $20,000. One engineer also quipped, "It will be more fuel efficient, but also provide teams with an easier platform to cheat."(FoxSports)(8-23-2009)

Note: OK, fine! But what about the tracks that require restrictor plates?

Sources: Keselowski to Penske in 2010 UPDATE 2: Brad Keselowski will drive for Penske Racing in 2010, sources told ESPN.com on Friday. Keselowski would not discuss his future plans. "I'm really not prepared to address any of the rumors about next year," he said. "I'm here to race the Nationwide car and win with it tonight and I am not going to let anything get in the way." Keselowski turned down an offer from Roger Penske last year to drive the #12 Dodge, and the ride instead went to David Stremme. Keselowski's current team, JR Motorsports, does not drive in the Sprint Cup Series and co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has no plans to move that team up to NASCAR's top level. Keselowski had hoped to replace Mark Martin next year in the #5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, but Martin decided to keep the seat in 2010. Rick Hendrick on Friday declined to comment on Keselowski's future, and Earnhardt canceled an afternoon media availability.(ESPN.com)(8-21-2009)

UPDATE 2: NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick does not plan to let Brad Keselowski stray far from his organization. Keselowski is believed to be headed to Penske Racing next season, in part because Hendrick Motorsports has no room in the lineup to promote him to the Sprint Cup Series. But the team owner says wherever Keselowski ends up, "he'll always be close enough for me to bring him back." Keselowski is the hottest prospect right now in NASCAR, but wants to move up from the Nationwide Series to the premier Cup level. He wanted to stay with a team affiliated with Hendrick, but there is no scenario for 2010 that would work. Keselowski turned down the #12 for Penske last season. David Stremme got the ride.(Associated Press)(8-23-2009)

Note: Hmm, yes, there are rumors out there about a possible move, on Penske’s part, to a different manufacturer. Saturn? With Hendrick engines? Hey, you never know!

2010 Schedule? close to the same? UPDATE: The 2010 schedule situation appears to be pretty much status quo with Dover's Sprint Cup date shifting back to mid-May [May 16th], more a result on the way next year's calendar falls with Easter [April 4th] and Memorial Day [May 31st]. There won't be any big changes on the Nationwide and Truck Series slates with Milwaukee's future still very much up in the air. The trucks will return to Darlington in the Spring and there's a report Pocono will also be added to its schedule.(RacingOne), have a very rough 2010 Schedule posted, see my 2010 Sprint Cup Series Schedule page. Very little has been announced by any race tracks for 2010 yet.(8-11-2009)
UPDATE - Kentucky to get Cup race in 2011?: Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith was hoping to get Kentucky on the schedule, likely taking a date away from Atlanta, but the former owners of the speedway refuse to drop their lawsuit against NASCAR. Until that happens, NASCAR won't consider Kentucky for a date. But otherwise, expect next year's schedule will be like this year's schedule -- except for two exceptions. If you were paying attention to Sunday's press conference in which Michigan International Speedway officials announced a reduction in ticket prices, you may have noticed a change in date for the track's first 2010 race. The date was June 13, a week earlier than normal. And there's another shift: The Dover race will move from the weekend after Memorial Day weekend to early May. These changes come because there is an extra weekend in between the Mother's Day race date at Darlington and the Memorial Day race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, and one less weekend between then and the Fourth of July weekend. (ESPN Insider)(8-22-2009)

Note: If Kentucky does get a Cup race, might it be at what tracks expense? Which track might lose a race?

HANS Finds Counterfit parts - offers free replacements: UPDATE: HANS Performance Products has found counterfeit Post Anchor parts on a helmet purchased from Impact Racing Products. Preliminary investigations suggest that counterfeit parts may have been supplied with other helmets provided by Impact. "We are seeking the source of the counterfeit anchors and to establish how widely they may have been distributed," said HANS CEO Mark Stiles. He continued, "It is extremely possible that counterfeits may have been installed on other helmets, either factory-fitted by a helmet manufacturer or by racers installing replacement parts during equipment changes." For more info see hansdevice.com.(8-25-2009)
UPDATE: HANS Performance Products has been trackside the past few days investigating the counterfeit HANS Post Anchor problem reported earlier. COO Gary Milgrom has been focused on circle track racing. "I must have seen about 150 helmets and exchanged over 50 sets of counterfeit anchors," said Milgrom. He continued, "On the whole, I've not had to touch any Simpson, Bell, Arai or Stand21 helmets they've already been fitted with genuine HANS Post Anchors." Simpson, Bell, Arai and Stand21 have had substantial long-standing relationships with HANS Performance Products. They are among the 200 authorized dealers throughout North America that receive direct factory support.(HANS)(8-26-2009)

Note: Quite interesting. What I’m wondering about, and it isn’t mentioned here is – do/did the counterfeit pieces work? And where did Impact get their parts from?

Yeley injured in Saturday night race: Former NASCAR driver J.J. Yeley reportedly suffered three broken vertebrae during a crash at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. on Saturday night. Yeley was competing in a race in the Sprint Bandits Series at the half-mile dirt Lakeside track when he was involved in a wreck early in the feature event. Yeley's car flipped in Turn 1, said Lakeside owner Marc Olson. The flip did not look severe but Yeley complained about neck pain. Yeley was transported to a local hospital late Saturday night. From there, he was transported back to North Carolina.(Racin'Today)(8-25-2009)

Note: I’ve always liked J.J. I was sad to see he couldn’t cut it in Cup racing. Get well quick, Christopher Beltram Hernandez Yeley!!

NASCAR.com: http://www.nascar.com/

News on Hendrick/Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose, Fuel Injection and Toyota, can be found, here:

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/08/23/post.race.notebook.bristol.ap/index.html

Dirt Track Digest’s forum: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php

Free tickets? Well, yes, if you’re a Pure Stock driver at Lebanon Valley, and you’re going to attend the race tonight – Thursday.

Check this out: http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=31382

http://newenglandtractor.com/racereport/

On this website you’ll find race reports for OVRP’s Dirt Oval, photos from Ralph Corwin, and this column, too. In the future, I’m planning on a few articles with photos – from “Back in the day”.

Tracks:

OCFS - http://www.orangecountyfairspeedway.net/

Specials for this coming weekend are a Modified Elimination race, 4 Cylinder and an officials race. No 358’s. I’m willing to bet that there will be no 4 cylinder race, figuring the last time they were scheduled, only one car showed up. I see that there will be a special $1,000.00 for the highest finishing OCFS modified at Lebanon Valley on Thursday night – as long as that is less than what the car wins, purse wise. The winner of the race gets a guaranteed starting spot in the Eastern States 200.

Bethel Motor Speedway: http://www.bethelmotorspeedway.com/BethelMotorSpeedway/HomePage.html

The AllStar Race Track Series (ARTS) Trucks will be paying a visit to Bethel this coming Saturday. For five bucks admission, Bethel, along with their sister track, Afton, those are some pretty good deals.

Hamlin Speedway: http://www.hamlinspeedway.com/

Hamlin is closed this weekend.

Accord - http://www.accordspeedway.com/

This coming Friday at the “Big A”, there is a PennCan Speedway “King of the Can” qualifier. For the tenth time this year, Accord was rained out last Friday. As for this coming Friday and the forecast, here it is for Accord:
Friday: Considerable cloudiness. Highs in the upper 60s and lows in the upper 50s.

Let’s hope and pray that the Considerable cloudiness is the worst of it!

OVRP’s Dirt Oval - http://www.ovrpdirtoval.com/

Like most tracks last Saturday, the Dirt Oval had to cancel due to weather. From what I can see on their website, they have a regular point show this Saturday.

OVRP’s road course: http://www.ovrp.com/ovrp/pages/home.asp

From their website: It looks like some big bike races are on tap for this weekend.

Former OVRP Dirt Oval runners:

Not much to report on this week, what with “Mother Nature” winning most everything last weekend.

Back on August 19^th, Roger Coss was 5^th with his Legends racecar at Waterford.

Michael Storms was 31^st at the SDS race at Can-Am.

At Woodhull, in the 600 Modified feature, Brad Szulewski was 3^rd.

At Airborne, with the Tobias SpeedSTR cars, Billy VanInwegen was 1^st, Jeff Gallup 11^th and Nick Pecko 19^th. With Airborne being so close to Canada, there were quite a few Canadians entered and there was a 20-car field for this show. I think that’s the most that they’ve ever had for a SpeedSTR event.

In the Slingshot Tour (Atlantic) race at Wyalusing, Emily VanInwegen was 9^th in the feature.

Family members in racing:

Nothing really to report on this week. My son, Eric, and grandson, Brett, are giving serious thoughts of getting rid of the 600 Micro Sprint in favor of a 305 Sprint Car. Something might transpire over this weekend.

Other racin’ stuff:

Is it me, or what, but it sure seems that most races today are won by someone starting on the front row – even if some of the lineups are re-drawn from fastest times. Why is this? Is it because most tracks are now single lane? Might tires have something to do with it?

More racin’ stuff:

I think this is the first time I’ve done this – going back to the very first thing that I ever wrote on the Internet. So, for all you folks that like a little history on the sport – midget racing here in the Northeast – from when I first started going to watch them, back in 1946, sit back, relax, and check it out – this from November, 2001:

Ah yes, I remember it well!

By: Tom Avenengo

Remember the first time you went to an auto race? Or maybe the first year? I do. Seems like it was just yesterday. It happened, for me, back in 1946. Went to watch the ARDC midgets with my father and brother. On occasion, an uncle or cousins would go with us. Living in Bergen County, New Jersey, the logical place to see the midgets was at Hinchliff stadium, in Paterson, NJ. I was all of nine years old in '46. What a fascinating experience for a little kid! The speed of the cars! The yelling of the fans! And, the AROMA! Castor! It is something that you never forget. Other speedway/race tracks that we went to were: Victory Speedway, in Middletown, NY, Danbury, Ct, and Cherry Park in Avon, Ct. That was during the summer months. During the winter, we would go to Kingsbridge Armory in New York City.

Being rather small in stature, my favorite driver was Johnny Ritter. All 5'3" of him! Yep, and his little yellow outboard midget. Would watch him "dirt track" it on the pavement - while leaning out and adjusting the carburetor! Bill Schindler. Another favorite of mine! I wondered how he could drive with just one leg? My dad needed two to drive our car! And he was not racing! We know so little, when we are young, don't we? Outboards, "Offies", Ford and Cycle powered cars! Wow! And the crowds! Spins, crashes, broken water hoses! Ah yes, I remember it well. Do you?

Drivers: The above named, Ritter & Schindler. The Rice brothers. Christopher, Duncan, Tappett, Schaefer. Nazaruk, Baker, Bonadies & Klar. The Disbrow brothers, Romit, McGrath, & Brooks. Toran, Land, Fusco & Fair. Cross, Keller, Breslin, Fonder & Nestor. Renard, McAndrew, Gibbons, Barzda & Ringger. Bicklehaupt, Chase, Zeke, Colkitt, Peterson & Fornoro. DiMarco, Sheeler, Morris & Miller.

My dad referred to some of the older Ford powered cars as "Poison Ivy". Some drivers too. Those that were not to skilled. Or, just learning the "trade". Yes, I remember the "driving schools"! Guess they are not needed today! I remember going to the "Gasoline Bowl" at Hinchcliff on New Years Day. Remember, but when was it? 1950? Sadly, the midgets dropped in their popularity. More sadly, was being informed, by my father, of the death of Ritter. Believe it or not, he actually told me while I was at recess at school! October. 1948. While changing a tire, in a race he was leading! Sadly, we lost a lot of men back then.

I can still visualize the cars. The colors. Shining chrome. Tee shirts. Fancy shirts. The big exhaust pipes of the outboards. The crackle of the cycles. And the sound of the "offy" engines. Ah yes, I remember it well. Ted Webbe, Nat Kleinfield - to me they were someone special. Racing programs. Color photos on the covers. Writing down the line-ups and the finishes. Gee, how I wish I had those programs today! Would probably be valuable. Can remember certain accidents. And yes, a few were not accidents. Finding out a week later that so-and-so will not be racing any more because he died in the accident last week. Hey, there were more "good times" than "bad times" back then! Ah yes, I remember it well! Did the above bring back any memories for you? Maybe a name? Place?

There are a few films out there, showing the cars and stars of yesteryear. Records of the racing? As far as I know, most are gone. Sadly, memories are what is left. And, sadly, they are going away too. So, if you have "memories" of when you were small, pass them on to your "little ones". Believe me, they like to listen to the stories us "old folks" tell.

The History of the Sport:

At times, we’ve lost drivers while they were competing on the speedways. Here, below, is just a small, partial list of those that have perished while doing what they loved to do – alphabetically, with last names starting with the letter “Q” and “R”, this week. I imagine that you might recognize some of the names listed. Later on, in future columns, I’ll continue my way through the alphabet.

Jimmy Quick, Joe Quinn, Del Quinn, Manuel Quintana, Leslie Rabik, Ian Raby, Paul Rademacher, Rudy Ramos,