Each week I'll select a favorite photograph from among those that continue to stream in to the plush Dayton Speedway Lives office (high atop the prestigious Dayton Speedway Lives Building in downtown Springboro, Ohio).  Each week's favorite will be posted here, and then moved to an appropriate place in the Galleries section.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.  By the way, don't be surprised if my "Pic of the Week" ends up being a "Pic of Slightly Longer than a Week."  I have been known to fall behind in maintaining the site!

      Your comments regarding my weekly selection can be directed to me here.  Mickey Thompson

Pic of the Week(s) for September 27 - October 5, 2009

             Life is sweet when you're young and have just won the 1967 Dayton 500.  Shown (left to right) are Jim Robinson, John Marcum, and John Sommerville.  The man at the far right is not identified.  Do you know who it is?  Contact me here.

    ---Photo provided by Jim Robinson, the son of the co-winner 

Pic of the Week(s) for August 31 - September 26, 2009

          Here's Troy, Ohio, native Jack Hewitt in 1976 at Dayton Speedway.  Jack's most memorable racing moments came on dirt tracks, like Eldora Speedway, but he raced with USAC on the pavement, too.  Jack was able to cap his long career with a start in the Indianapolis 500 in 1998, finishing 12th.  In September of that same year he stunned race fans by winning all four feature events at the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway.  Jack took first place honors in the midgets, sprints, Silver Crown, and UMP Modifieds.  A serious crash in 2002 ended Jack's racing career.

     ---Photo from the collection of Mickey Thompson

Pic of the Week(s) for August 3 - August 30, 2009

     Pappy Kuntz (left) and John "Shorty" Miller, Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame, Class of 2009, pose next to the Drewry's AAA trophy for either the AAA Class A race winner or season champion.  Unfortunately much of the trophy inscription is obscured so we can't tell for certain the significance of the award.  The photo was taken in 1955, AAA's last season as a sanctioning body.  To add to my confusion, both Kuntz and Miller are clearly wearing CSRA armbands.  While it's true that AAA and CSRA agreed to let their drivers compete in events sanctioned by either group for part of a single season in the early 40's, I'm unaware that they entered into a similar agreement in 1955, or co-sanctioned racing events.  More research is definitely needed.  If you can help with additional information, please contact me here.

     For now, the photo will stand as a rare photo of Shorty without his trademark tam.

---From the collection of Mickey Thompson

Pic of the Week(s) for July 12 - August 2, 2009

     Here's Walt Scherer behind the wheel of his #25 modified.  The photo was taken at Shady Bowl, but we believe that Walt also competed in this car at Dayton Speedway.  The car's body appears to be the remnants of a Model T and we're guessing that the engine is a straight-6 fed by what look like three Stromberg 97s.  The Scherer family has a long history of motorsports involvement.  Walt's brother Ray owned Shady Bowl Speedway and, in fact, lost his life there when a tractor rolled over on him while he was working.  Walt got out from behind the wheel of the race car to promote races at Shady Bowl for a time and his two sons, Wally and Dave both went on to become well-known flagmen.

---Photo from the collection of Jerry Wahl

Pic of the Week(s) for June 29 - July 12, 2009

     I would have loved to have been present when the Central States Racing Association (CSRA) officials convinced the CSRA drivers to pose wearing matching cardigan sweaters with the over-sized CSRA patch.  Have you ever seen a photo of more self-conscious wheelmen, all of whom raced at Dayton Speedway at one time or another?  Maybe it had something to do with the color(s) of the sweaters.  Anyone know who these drivers are?  The sweater colors?  Does someone still own one of these that hasn't been consumed by moths in the 50+ years since the photo was taken?  Please contact me here.

---Photo from the collection of Mickey Thompson

Pic of the Week(s) for June 15 - June 28, 2009

     Here are three of the best drivers to ever turn a wheel.  Shown (left to right) are Bill Chambers, Jim Cushman, and Dick Freeman.  All three were regular competitors at Dayton Speedway, but this photo was taken at Kil-Kare Speedway, and when Bill and I were discussing the photo he remembered that night's adventure like it was yesterday.  According to Bill, Cushman and Freeman had always been his heroes and on that particular night at Kil-Kare Chambers was running third behind the two.  Bill's car was running like never before and when he swung to the outside he was able to pass both Cushman and Freeman.  Bill said it was a feeling like none other he'd ever experienced in racing.  And that's when Bill's clutch began to slip!  Freeman got past, then Cushman.  When the checkered flag fell, Bill was third behind winner Dick Freeman and second-place Jim Cushman.

     ---Photo from the collection of Bill Chambers

Pic of the Week(s) for June 1 - June June 14, 2009

      It's not often that we find a color photo from auto racing's earliest days and when we do it certainly deserves to be the Pic of the Week(s).  We believe that this photo, which has been hand-colored, was taken at Dayton Speedway.  We can use some help identifying the driver and car.  If you can assist, please contact me here.

     The photo is posted here from the collection of Terry Barnett.

     Rich Gilberg (fgilberg@woh.rr.com) has studied this photo and he suggests that the white building in the distance could be one of the Landwehr farm buildings that were visible just beyond turns 3 and 4 at New Bremen Speedway.  He could be right.  What do you think?  Contact me here.

Pic of the Week(s) for May 10 - May 31, 2009

     Someone had to be first, and in the case of Dayton Speedway feature winners, this is the guy who was first, Ken Fowler, shown here at the wheel of the Ambler Special.  This photo was not taken at Dayton Speedway, and we're not sure of the date (it could be 1934 or 1935), but we are certain that's Ken at the keyboard, and that's the same Ambler Special he drove to that very first feature event at the then-brand new Dayton Speedway on June 3, 1934.

     Fowler ended his active racing career as the USAC sprint division flagman.

     The photo comes to us courtesy of the Larry Sullivan collection.

Pic of the Week(s) for April 26 - May 9, 2009

     Finally!  We've got plenty of photos of the Dayton Speedway quarter-mile track but this is the first one we have ever received that actually shows racing on that track.  WLW TV2 televised the stock car events on the quarter-mile to the local televison audience.  In this photo from 1952, Sonny Beck in the Jerry's Tavern #22 is running third on the 23rd lap of the event.

     The other drivers are not identified, but the style of numbering on the #83 leads me to believe it could be Chick Hale.  Can you help identify the other drivers in the photo?  If you can, please contact me here!

Pic of the Week for April 19 - April 25, 2009

     This week's Pic of the Week comes to us from the Dennis Shatto collection, courtesy of his son Kevin Shatto.  It's the Sportsman class cars trying to race four abreast on Dayton Speedway's banking (and that was almost never successful).  Shown here, top to bottom, are Gene Smith #11, Harold Smith #72, Buster Blackford #55, and either Sonny Pencil or Neal Sceva in #2.  It's a great photograph from a bygone time.

     NOTE:  DSL's Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) thinks that the #72 might actually be driven by Kenny Arnold.  What do you think?  Contact me here.

Pic of the Week for April 12 - April 18, 2009

          This week’s Pic of the Week is a great shot of Dayton Speedway competitor Les Adair.  Son of George and May Adair, Les was born sometime in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. He was a veteran racer, with a career that dated back to the early 1930s. He drove sprints and big cars, and was a popular competitor at Jungle Park Speedway in Indiana and Dayton Speedway. Les Adair used several aliases when racing, including "Les Mundy" and "Babe Brown", to avoid fines and suspensions by competing sanctioning organizations. U. S. Census records of 1930 show that Lester J. Adair was married to Eva K. Adair; they had an infant daughter less than a month old, Betty J. Adair, when the Census information was collected on April 8 1930.

          During a race on September 19, 1948 at the Franklin Speedway dirt oval, Les Adair's and Webb Reed's cars locked wheels together, and the vehicles crashed into a fence. Reed's car became airborne, flipped and landed on top of Adair. Although Reed received only minor injuries, Adair was fatally injured. He was employed as an automobile mechanic from age 21, and at the time of his death worked for Indianapolis Nash, Inc.  Adair is said to have been from Indianapolis, Indiana, but is unclear whether he was a native or merely a resident of that town.

          In a separate event at the same track, James B. ("Chic" or "Chick") Smith received injuries from which he died the next day. The Franklin Speedway was a ½-mile dirt oval located in the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Franklin, Indiana. The track ceased operation in the early 1950s.

     ----Information for this week's caption supplied from www.motorsportmemorial.org.

     ----Photo courtesy of the Terry Barnett collection

Pic of the Week(s) for March 29 - April 11, 2009

     This photo was provided by Don Anderson, owner of the Tom Cherry vintage sprint car.  It's not often that we get to see one of those Mutual roaring roadsters with the body shell removed, but that is exactly what we've posted as this week's Pic of the Week.  It's the #93 roadster driven at Dayton Speedway by Pete Allen.  Shown behind the car are (left to right) Don Whited, Ted Applegate, Don Martindale, and Bernie Hanley.  We're not sure where the photograph was taken, but it appears to be Dayton Speedway.

Pic of the week for March 22 - March 28, 2009

     A confident and relaxed looking Bob Sweikert poses with his Iddings Special during a race meet at Dayton Speedway in 1953.  The photo was provided from the collection of Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net)

Pic of the Week(s) for March 8 - March 21, 2009

     Dayton Speedway's sprint car record holder is alive and well.  This is the Dowker roadster that Steve Chassey used to establish the DS speedway record.  You can see Chassey's record certificates here.  The photos were taken a few years ago by Rand Thompson when the cars were on display at the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, MI.

Pic of the Week for March 1 - March 7, 2009

     This is the aftermath of the Jack Farris' crash and the George Henderson crash on June 22, 1958.  Jack Farris beautiful Mercury is shown on the back of the wrecker part way up the road out of the pits.  Henderson's car is the wad of yellowish metal just beyond the guardrail and just to the right of the light pole closest to the camera.

     There's more to see in this photo than just the results of Farris' and Henderson's misfortune.  In the foreground is the #5, a very racy looking Edsel.  In the middle of the three cars angled down on the banking near the scene of the accident is another race car that definitely didn't start it's life in Detroit.  It looks like a Jaguar, but then we are still struggling to identify the yellow sports car that appeared in the same event.

     You can read more about the misfortunes of Farris and Henderson here on the Over the Wall page, and more about the mystery of the yellow foreign car here on the Ongoing Research page.

     If you have more information about this racing event, accident, or foreign entries, please contact me here.

     ---Photo from the Surges/Richardson collection

Pic of the Week for February 22 - February 28, 2009

     Here's drivers Levi Dunaway (left) and Briar Johnson (right) as bookends to Richmond Speedway promoter Pete Sipe sometime in 1953.  Both Dunaway and Johnson were frequent competitors at Dayton Speedway.  From all appearances, on this particular night Johnson has spent a good deal of time working on his race car, and his varsity jacket looks positiviely flammable.  The promoter, Sipe, stares resolutely into the camera, perhaps unaware that Johnson is resting what might be the greasiest hand ever seen in a pit area on the shoulder of  his nice clean shirt.

     ---Photo from the collection of Gene Ingram

Pic of the Week for February 15 - February 21, 2009

     This photo from the camera of FODS Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net) shows once again that Dayton Speedway provided an unlimited number of racing lines for the street stock divisions.  The photo was taken 30 years ago when these cars were readily available and inexpensive.  Now, these same cars would be worth thousands, even in as-raced and as-bent condition.  Did you notice the Dodge Charger R/T in the back?

Pic of the Week for February 8 - February 14, 2009

     Here's a great photograph of a classic 1979 battle on Dayton Speedway's high-banks, Chevy versus Ford, Dick Dunlevy, Jr. in the #39 Granada battling Don Wilbur in the beautiful #27 Camaro.  The action was captured by FODS Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net).

Pic of the Week for February 1 - February 7, 2009 

     Bad things happen when the guys on the front row get out of shape coming down for the flag at the start of the Dayton Speedway feature.  Dick Dunlevy, Jr., (racin4theracers@aol.com) the driver of the #39 Ford Granada (shown just to the right of center in the photo), had a front row seat for the mayhem and provided this explanation:

     "The accident on the front stretch was 1979, about 1/2 way through the season.  At the start of the feature that Sunday afternoon Tom Mix was waving the green flag.  The lead 2 cars made contact before they got to the start-finish line.  What you see is the domino effect.  The car to my right front wheel is Joe Raymond (#73).  The car to his left front wheel ahead of me is Bill Chambers (#72) in Bob Korn's Falcon.  The car facing the wrong way is Bobby Davis (#0).  I was able to continue the race and win the track championship in 1979.  The reason I know this was 1979 is because that was the only year I drove this car at Dayton.  I raced at Dayton in 1968, 1975, 1976, 1979 & 1981. I won races there in ‘76, ‘79 & ‘81.

     Dick"

     ---Photo courtesy of Brian Norton

Pic of the Week for January 18 - January 24, 2009

     Roll bar technology hadn't come very far when the driver of #4 took his 1956 Ford convertible out onto Dayton Speedway's banking.  That single bar bracing the hoop at the windshield to the hoop behind driver's head seems frighteningly inadequate to us now, but as other photos posted here at DSL! show it was a huge improvement on what had been used before.

     We don't know the name of the flagman or driver.  If you can help, please contact me here.

-----Photo from the collection of Gene Ingram

     Our official flagman, John Potts (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com) suggests that the #4 Ford is being driven by Paul Parks, and Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) thinks that the flagman is Ralph Ormsby from Cincinnati.  Any other suggestions?  Contact me here.

Pic of the Week for January 18 - January 17, 2009

     In 1958, the Dayton Speedway promoters staged the "Dayton 99," a sprint car event run in three 33-lap segments.  This photo shows the start of the first 33-lap leg.  Included in the field are cars owned by Harold E. Beck, Sr. and his son, Harold E. "Sonny" Beck, Jr.  Sonny's car, with Daytonian Bud Tinglestad at the controls, won the second and third legs of the event.  For more on the Beck family's racing history, visit their page here.

     ---Photo from the collection of Diane (Beck) Lane

Pic(s) of the Week for January 11 - January 17, 2009

     These beautiful images (slides) were captured by a photographer named "Richardson" and provided to us by John Surges (vintagemodman@msn.com) who saved the slides from a final fatal trip to some landfill.  The photos were taken in the mid to late '50s, but beyond that we have very little information.  If you can help us properly caption these wonderful images, please contact me here.

Pic of the Week for January 4 - January 10, 2009

     Here's a very relaxed looking Bob Caldwell of Hamilton, Ohio at Dayton Speedway on what looks like a very relaxed kind of day.  This photo comes to us from Tim Caldwell (Bob's son), through Keith Wendel (Bob's pal) and DSL researcher Rick Patterson.  We know very little about the photo; we wish we knew more.  Here's what we know:  the photo was taken sometime after 1958 because the pedestrian bridge is gone and there is a double-strand of guardrail protecting the pits.  Someone suggested that the car might be a former Tom Cherry car based on the grill configuration, the brakes, and the axle.

     Bob ran locally at Lawrenceburg, Tri-County Speedway, the Cincinnati Race Bowl, Eldora and Dayton Speedway.  He drove for Paul Kollstedt and Vern Kunkle (or Kunkel) and others, and participated in the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway three times.

     That's all we know about the car and the driver.  We have no explanation for what seems to be a small crowd of spectators and little pit activity.  We could sure use some  help here, gellow FODS!  If you have more information please contact me here.     Mickey -- January 4, 2009

Pic of the Week(s) for December 14, 2008 - January 3, 2009

     Charlie Haerr (echaerr@aol.com) was sitting front and center when the Automobile Racing Club of America stock cars visited Dayton Speedway in 1960.  In fact, it would appear that Charlie was sitting close enough to the action he must have had to use duct tape to keep his hat on his head.  Given the weight of these stockers and the primitive brake and tire technology, Charlie might have wanted to move up a row or three in the grandstands!  Paul Goldsmith was the class of the field on this particular day.  The maroon Pontiac leading the field in the photos top and bottom is Goldsmith, who is also shown in the middle photo.

     ---Photos courtesy the personal collection of Charlie Haerr

Pic of the Week(s) for November 30 - December 13, 2008

     This week's Pic dating to around 1947 was provided by long-time FODS Gene Ingram.  Gene sent along this note:

     This car was from Dayton and raced at Dayton many times. Here it is at Mt Lawn Speedway near New Castle. The driver is listed as Jo Jo DeGrimes (?). The real reason for sending this photo is to try to get some info on the owners. The guy in the plaid jacket is Charlie Black from Dayton. His brother is to his right. Does anyone have any info on these two guys? I know this design theme was on at least three cars. I have other photos of this style ( the Mickey Mouse ) in other photos I have. They also had a "t" roadster with this scheme and updated "A" roadster later with Hank Naylor listed as the driver.

     If you have any information on Charles Black or his business, please contact Gene at harleygene@comcast.net and let us share it with the other FODS!

     Reliable Jerry Wahl has weighed in with a response, and a photograph of what we think was the last race car fielded by Charles Black: 

     As far as I know [all the Mickey Mouse cars] were all owned by Charles Black and if I am not mistaken their garage was on South Broadway street in Dayton. Russ Blevins told me recently that the Reubush (not sure of spelling) brothers bought the last one.  Jerry

     Al Meager prepares for battle at Dayton Speedway aboard the #11 fielded by Charles Black of Black's Garage.

    ---Photo from the collection of Jerry Wahl

Pic of the Week for November 23 - November 29, 2008

     Vern Schrock, shown above wearing the cowboy hat and sitting next to his son, Buddy, in the pits at Dayton Speedway was a well-known and well-respected race driver who was a threat to win wherever he chose to unload his car.  Vern is shown below celebrating with a victory cigar after winning the presigious American Speed Association (ASA) DriPower 400 at Winchester Speedway, September 30, 1973.  In the photo at the bottom, Schrock in the #12 passes under Don Roberts in the #9 Chevelle.

     Vern Schrock passed away in October, 2008, and we honor his memory here.  RIP, Vern.

     ----Photos from the collection of Jerry Wahl and other sources

Pic of the Week for November 16 - November 22, 2008:

     The late Rich Vogler, #55, waves as he leads a group of USAC sprint cars during a yellow flag at Dayton Speedway, July 1, 1979.  When this photo was taken, Vogler had just assumed the lead after Tom Bigelow, the earlier leader, had spun and crashed after contact with the slower cars of Daytonian Mack McClellan and Marvin Carman.  Following Vogler is Jeff Bloom in the Stenger's Ford sponsored roadster, Dana Carter #96, Jerry Weeks #35, Greg Leffler #43, and Pancho Carter #44.

-----Photo courtesy Skip Peterson

Pic of the Week for November 9 - November 15, 2008:

     Bill Kimmel, father of perpetual ARCA champion Frank Kimmel, bends his perfectly good Ford stock car against the Dayton Speedway guardrail in this photo from 1968-69.

Pic of the Week for November 2 - November 8, 2008

     Here's the incomparable Bob Sweiket ready for a sprint race at Dayton Speedway.  The 4th turn pedestrian bridge is clearly identifiable.  In 1955, Robert Charles Sweikert won the Indy 500, the AAA big car championship, and the midwest sprint car championship.  The #1 on his car here would indicate that this photo dates to the 1956 season, but when this photo was taken Sweikert had just a short time to live.  On June 17 Sweikert was killed at Salem Speedway when his car crashed over the guardrail and smashed in flames through a photographers' booth.  Sweikert was thrown from his Kuzma-Offenhauser and suffered fatal head injuries.  Two photographers, Don Shirley of Scottsburg, Indiana, and Dale Mueller of St. Louis, Missouri, were injured and treated at a local hospital.  Ironically, Mueller was killed 10 years later when scaffolding collapsed while he was covering a racing event at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

     Sweikert was survived by his wife Delores and and three children, Lynette, Stephen, and Johene.

---Photo from the collection of Gene Ingram

Pic of the Week for October 26 - November 1, 2008

     In this photo from the collection of Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com), legendary driver Dick Dunlevy, Sr. challenges the high-banked Dayton Speedway in a late model Oldsmobile.  This might be the car belonging to veteran owner/builder James "Hoot" Gibson.  If you can correct or confirm that, or have additional information about this car/owner combination,  please contact me here.

     Both Dick and Hoot have been nominated for the inaugural class of the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame.  You can get more information about voting for Dick or Hoot or any of the other nominees here.

---Photo from the collection of Jerry Wahl

     Jim Gibson, son of Hoot Gibson, checked in to confirm that the car did in fact belong to his dad.  But the story doesn't end there!

     "Yep, That's my dad's car. It's actually the camaro that Chick [Hale] drove on dirt with the olds body on it. The story on that car is I bought it back from the guy he sold it to in '84 or '85. When dad saw it sitting in the driveway he said " where'd that come from?"  Then took it in the shop, took the torch, and cut it up. That was my 3 days as a car owner....     

Pic(s) of the Week for October 19 - October 25, 2008

     Fred Lockie joins the Dayton Speedway "Over The Wall" club in this pair of photos circa 1941 provided by Gene Ingram.  Gene reports that the back of one of hte photos indicates that Fred Lockie was seriously injured but survived.  Beyond that, we have no information on what became of Fred.  If you have information that would help us find out what happened to Fred Lockie, please contact me here or contact Gene at harleygene@comcast.net.

      ---Photos from the collection of Gene Ingram

We have the answer!  Here's what Chris Moore (cr10hess@aol.com) wrote to Gene Ingram:

     Hi Gene, I saw your photos that you submitted to the Dayton Speedway website. It is of interest to me because my great-uncle drove track roadsters in the Ohio/ Indiana area in the 1940s. His name was Fred Loerke, but I was told that he raced under a pseudonym, unknown to me. Loerke (Larky) sounds alot like Lockie. The date you have listed is 1941 and it was my understanding that he didn't race until after the war. Is it a possible missprint? Of greatest interest to me is the distinct impression that the photograph was taken  at Winchester (note the double rail fence and woods in the background).

 
     The story is that Fred broke a steering knuckle at Winchester and left the track at the fourth turn, cleared the trees, and the car was found some distance away from the track. Fred and the engine were found another 50 feet away. He told me he still had his foot in it!! He was banged up with lots of broken bones, necessitating a full body cast. The worst part about this was the spot where he landed was a poison ivy patch!!