THE STORIES...
Most race fans and competitors of a certain age in the Midwest have at least one Dayton Speedway tale to tell. This is the page where we'll share them. And if some of the stories have over time been embossed and polished a bit and with each retelling begun to resemble myth more than fact, well, that's just fine with us. We'll leave it to someone else to ferret out the absolute facts.
Here are some of the memories site visitors have shared with us...
JENKINS
Your website is awesome! Having grown up in Liberty, Indiana (just across the state line from Oxford), I attended the Dayton Speedway many times. My fondest auto racing memory of all time was attending the "Championship" race on August 12, 1956. I was 8 years old, but there are so many things I remember about that day. I was a Pat O'Connor fan, and on the way home by mom said "his pit crew must have gone to sleep and didn't show him how close Elisian was getting". I actually believed that Pat's pit crew put their feet up and went to sleep during the feature. I was also there the day Hurtubise went over the third turn wall.
When I was doing "SpeedWeek" on ESPN, I came to Dayton to find the track in much the same condition as shown in one of your pictures. I just stood and flashed back to the many races and memories I have of the place.
Anyway, I've spent hours looking at the pictures and reading the stories on your website. Keep up the good work, and never let the memory of the Dayton Speedway die.
Unfortunately I can't come to your re-union, but please tell everyone how much the track will always mean to me.
Bob Jenkins
(now of Versus)
DUNLEVY
OK, here's a BIG [Dayton Speedway memory]. I even raced Powder Puff there in ‘79. Don Florey had a '66 Buick Skylark, minus most of the floorboard. Dick [my husband] and Don threw down a bet in an adult establishment one night, and unbeknownst to me, Don won. That meant I had to drive his car at Dayton in the powder puff division.
The car had no battery, because it shared the only one with the tow truck. We always ran last, so they'd run over and get MY battery so I could race. That meant the race was stopped, battery retrieved from the tow truck, then back in my car. The crowd loved me for stopping the show!
The exhaust fumes about killed me. I wore Dick's much-too-large helmet, and could only see Tom Mix, the flagman, if I raised the helmet. I was so scared, that didn't happen much. Dick stood on the trailer on the front stretch giving me hand signals to go higher on the track. After 5 or 6 laps, I gave him hand signals, and it wasn't pretty. My instructions ceased after that!
I ended up 3rd in points that year, and had to give up my illustrious racing career due to pregnancy! This is an ailment male drivers do not have to endure. So, I sat in the stands from there on out with my future race car driver, Ryan.
Melanie Dunlevy
(racin4theracers@aol.com)
February 21, 2009
WAHL
I sure do remember ole Joe. He lived in a very small trailer that used to sit in the parking lot not far from the pit sign-in shack. He lived there all by himself even when the track was dormant until he died. If anyone stopped by the track to snoop
around you can bet your shoes ole Joe was making tracks to find out who you were and what you was up to...
Everybody in those days knew Joe as he was everywhere around the grounds. Ole Joe liked to tip the bottle quite a bit and if you wanted to keep on his good side you took him some brown bottles and he was happy as a lark. One evening when Lefty McFadden was manager of the track, McFadden had a drivers' meeting in the grandstands before the season opened and of course ole Joe was there.
Seems Lefty had connections with a beer distributor and the beer flowed freely and ole Joe consumed more than his share. All at once during the meeting there was a strange sound at the top of the grandstand and there was ole Joe dispersing what he had consumed all over the top row. Didn't slow him down though as he headed right back to the beer supply.
I never did know his last name as it was always "Uncle Joe" and he was the sheriff of Dayton Speedway.
Jerry Wahl
JOY FAIR [as told by Rand Thompson]
I have had the pleasure of being friends and a lunch companion with one all the all time greats of Michigan racing, Joy Fair, for the last several years. Joy's long illustrious career lasted an amazing 50 years from 1949 until he finally hung up the goggles in 1999 with nearly 800 feature wins in cars he designed and built.
He owns a garage business in Pontiac, Mi. and spent most of his career close to home around the Detroit area dominating while winning multiple track championships at Flat Rock, Mt. Clemens, Sandusky and Toledo Speedways in his school bus yellow #1. He also journeyed to many other big races in other parts of the country including Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ontario,NY, and Ohio racing modified stock cars and Supermodifieds until the early 60's and then switching to Late Models for the remainder of his career. He said when Supermodified racing was at its zenith that they could race 8 times a week which was pretty grueling considering he built and maintained his own equipment and also ran the garage business during the day.
The last time we met for lunch I asked him if he had any recollections of racing at Dayton that I could add to the website.
Joy mentioned how much fun it was racing at Dayton on the high banks, and that you could run wide open in turns 1 & 2 pretty easily, but in 3 & 4 running wide open was a challenge trying to keep your foot down without the car getting away from you. One time they took his # 719 1956 Dodge that they had earlier run in a few NASCAR races including the Beach and made the trip to Dayton. Unfortunately during the race another car had spun around facing traffic and Fair ran into it at full speed bending his steering wheel to resemble one of those giant pretzels.
He remembered a race at Dayton where another competitor lost control of a Plymouth launching the car over the wall and getting it stuck up in a tree. The driver managed to escape, but Joy and his crew stayed around for awhile after the race to see how they were going to get the car down from there. They watched a couple wreckers go up on the banks and attach cable winches to the car in an attempt to get it down, but considering their hectic schedule and the long drive back to Michigan, they decided to call it a day and left for home before the job was completed.
The last story is a little gruesome as he remembered how the pit area was very close to the track, and that in one race there was a big crash on the track that continued into the pit area. Another driver had his leg severed in the incident causing a trail of blood to go under the wall into their pit area. That would definitely be something you would not forget very easily. Rick Patterson thinks this was probably the driver that ended up suing the speedway in 1964.
I have talked to many of the well known drivers that have raced with him including Joe Ruttman, Bobby Allison, Gordon Johncock, and Mark Martin and they all told me he was one of the toughest drivers they ever raced against. Larry Moore told me once that Joy was one of the smartest car builders he ever met and a genius with racing transmissions.
Rand Thompson
January 6, 2009
DUNLEVY
Hi Mike,
Hope you're enjoying the holidays. We really enjoy the site.
We recently received a CD from Les Miller that was originally an 8mm film of the races at Dayton Speedway May 6, 1979.
Buster, known as a dominator throughout the '60's at Dayton Speedway, and myself battled side by side for 25 of the 30 laps. Buster was running the inside groove which puts stress and strain on the right front tire.
We were on
Mickey Thompson streettires, abusing them to the max. Buster got by me in traffic in turn 1 & 2. As he got back to turn 1 & 2, with me running 2nd, he blew a tire and got on top of the guard rail. I inherited the lead, again. This time with a few laps to go on the restart there was another seasoned veteran with many laps and wins at Dayton on my back bumper. Don Wilbur was running second at this point. I won that day, with the satisfaction of beating two of the best. I won the trophy dash earlier that day, beating my Dad, Buster and Don Wilbur. The CD is the only recording of any of my races at Dayton Speedway. It makes for great memories of a great time in racing.
Sincerely,
Dick Dunlevy, Jr.
(racin4theracers@aol.com)
P.S. " Pat" Maxwell, owner of the 39 late model I drove at Dayton - WAS A WOMAN!!!! (Patricia Maxwell)
STEVENS
Mickey,
First of all, I have to commend you on the absolute class act of a website. I decided to conduct a search of Dayton Speedway which took me to Wikipedia. There, I moved to your website and wow! What a walk down memory lane. My history is limited to the 1970s until track closing. Some of my fondest memories were of watching the "big" races during this period. I was also lucky enough to be unofficially hired (as a 13 year old) to fetch items for Don Thompson while he watched the races. My association to Mr. Thompson was through "Crazy" Bob McCray. I would assist whenever and where ever I could. Bob and I would pick up cars or equipment in Spring Valley and drive them to the track prior to opening. We also assisted the “World's Heaviest Motorcycle Jumper" Ed Beckley and his wife, Linda, during their stay leading up to his stunt show at the track.
I will check back occasionally to see if any new pictures are posted. I enjoy reading of the memories and history of the track.
I moved away from Ohio back in 1987 when I joined the Army and have had the occasion to drive past the area where legends were made. I now live in El Paso and attend a small, modest dirt track from time to time. Nothing compares to Dayton Speedway...especially after reading about its vibrant, wild past.
Thank you for hosting this awesome website.
Sincerely,
Matthew Stevens
matthew.john.stevens@us.army.mil
PATTERSON:
Hey Foggy!
[Earlier] Steve Chassey wrote:
In a previous race that we ran (I think ‘77 or ‘78) I remember the track breaking up and the 3rd and 4th turns had a "cushion" like a dirt track of asphalt marbles; man.....you did not want to get close to that. Those that did get too close ended up in the fence.
Attached please find my record certs. [You can see them here.--Mickey]
Regards,
Steve Chassey
I was at the race Chassey mentions. We were in the infield in turn four. It was about 150 Degrees and the asphalt was starting to come apart.
NOTE- I had a neighbor that was a PROUD West Carrollton Fireman. The WC fire department was at the track with their firetruck, just in case. He made a point to wave at us and blow the horn so we were sure to see him and everyone around us knew it.
(As I recall) they stopped the race (or between races) the track officials (including Jerry Wahl?) were trying to decide what to do about the track. They were discussing how the heat was causing the track to break apart over the PA. Our neighbor (bless his heart) decided to take matters into his own hands and pulled the firetruck onto the track and began hosing down the areas that were coming apart to cool them off. I don't recall exactly what was said over the PA, but then somebody went out and stopped him.
That was the only time I had to sit through a rain delay at Dayton Speedway, on a sunny day.
A friend of my father, Donny Neeley, had talked about going out to the track while Don Thompson was still getting it ready. He said the banking was so steep that using the typical paving equipment would not work. So in order to pack in the patches in the asphalt on the banking they were driving lap after lap in a custom VW Bug with wide tires on it.
I always thought he was joking until I saw your photo and read your story about taking laps in the "Bug". [The famous "bug" is shown at right with racers Harry McCray (front) and Bob McCray (rear) preparing to take it for a spin. --Mickey]
Thanks for the website!!
Rick Patterson
(elvis334@att.net)
December 12, 2008
HAYSLIP
Around 1958, my brother Mike and I were riding our bikes down Soldiers Home-West Carrollton Road and came upon the Dayton Speedway. We rode into the parking lot area and talked to a heavyset man wearing bibbed overalls and named Old Joe. My brother and I instantly became friends with Old Joe. Joe would let us go into the speedway after hours. We would scavenge beneath the bleachers, where we would find nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and even silver dollars. We would also find unopened bottles of beer. We would take all of this to Old Joe, and he would chill the beer for himself and give us a Barqs creme soda and popcorn.
Around 1959 our grandfather, Harlen Mineer, made us a miniature car powered by a 10-horsepower Wisconsin hayboiler engine. Whe we drove it down to show Old Joe, he opened the speedway and we drove it around the track until we ran out of gas.
We enjoyed may races at the Dayton Speedway in the '50s. I especially remember Buster Blackford in his 1940 Ford. He was our favorite.
Keith Hayslip
POTTS
[John Potts offered this story from his time in the '60s as an ARCA flagman at Dayton Speedway.]
My brother, Bob, who served as something of a track steward at times with ARCA, was standing just inside that high infield guard rail when a driveshaft came off and rolled to a stop just in front of him. While we were on yellow, I motioned for him to go pick it up, and he shook his head, violently, from side to side.
The crowd laughed, and he decided to try. He got back a few feet and took a running start at the rail and tried to hurdle it. Didn't make it. Caught a toe on the top rail and landed ker-splat on his face. Again the crowd laughed, louder this time.
He got up and brushed himself off, gave me a dirty look, then picked up the driveshaft. Then he got REALLY mad. It was covered with grease.
Needless to say, he survived.
It was almost as funny as the night at Campbellsville, Ky., when our wives were sitting at the top of the grandstands and before the feature he went up there to get his cigarettes from his wife. This was a steep grandstand, and when he turned around to come down, he slipped.
I heard the crowd laughing and turned around to see him sliding down the steps on his backside, with his rump hitting every step.
John
WAHL
I wonder how many people remember the greased pig event at the track where drivers entertained the fans by trying to hand capture the running greased rascal. Or perhaps the ostrich race when they attached a sulky to a bunch of ostrich and then had race car drivers race against each other. It was wild as sometimes the birds had other ideas than circling the oval. Oh yes, the donkey race with the stubborn animals. Of course I was in pampers then, ha. Man those were the days when the grandstands were packed for these crazy events much like the school bus and trailer events at the local tracks do today.
And then there was the Wednesday night Pepsi-Cola promotion night where fans got in for fifty cents and six bottle caps. For a bonus on the way out fans received a six bottle pack of Pepsi.
I ran my car there that night and have a special memory of that night. Pepsi trucks full of Pepsi were parked in the parking lot and that is when we had to wait until almost all fans had left before we got paid. Chick Hale's chief mechanic Joe Tomlinson had parked Chick's tow truck with race car on the blind side of the Pepsi truck in the dark and we should have known ole Joe was up to something. We were talking to Joe by the tow rig while Chick was in the big house getting his earnings when Joe says "You guys go around and keep talking to the driver of the Pepsi truck for a little while."
So being the law-obeying citizens me and my crew did. When we walked back around to Chick's truck ole' Joe had a tarp spread over the bed of the pick-up truck bed. Sheepishly he eased the tarp up and ole' Joe sure had been busy while we were taking to the Pepsi guy as he had loaded the bed of Chick's truck with a year's supply of Pepsi.
Boy the memory's of Dayton Speedway. Just wish we could close our eyes and the track would be re-born.
Jerry
ZECHMAN
"Thanks for your wonderful web site. It certainly brings back some wonderful memories. A gentleman by the
name of Mr. Thoma owned a junk yard in Miamisburg, Ohio. I was 13 or 14 years old at the time and would
often go up to his place to see his son Neal. One day Mr. Thoma said Steve, I'm going to take my boys Sunday
to see car races at the Dayton speedway. He mentioned that it was going to be the first race after the end of
WW2. Naturally I wanted to go and accepted the invitation. I've been hooked from that day on. The race was
for open wheel roadsters and they really put on a show.
A maroon car sponsored by Dayton Buick won the event that Sunday. Most of the cars were coupes that were chopped and channeled. Few if any had roll bars for safety and the helmets were not very good. They of course wore goggles and had seat belts.
This racing class soon made improvements to their equipment and started running on Saturday nights on the 1/4 mile track inside the high banked 1/2 mile. Their racing shows were entertaining to say the least. The lead drivers
of that time were Dick Frazer and Tom Cherry both of Muncie, Indiana. There was a fellow who went by the name of Smokey Stover who could clean their clock with Hudson power. I wish I had my digital camera back then!!!
I would really like to see you get some pictures of these open wheel roadster drivers and their cars. As I remember their cars were works of art. My buddy Neal Thoma & I would perch ourselves on the pedistrian bridge on the infield location. We could look down on the cars and witness all the action.
Your web site mentions the Dayton Pleasure Car Club. They didn't have a track they could run on so Dayton
Speedway decided to let them run a ten lap race at the conclusion of the Saturday night's roadster program.
Only problem was they had to run their race on the 1/2 mile banked oval and there were no lights out there.
It did not matter to these guys; they just turned on headlights and ran. As far as I know you run what you brung.
This was wild and there were many spin outs and roll overs. The head lights were not always pointed in the correct direction. Ed Benedict of Miamisburg is the only driver name I can remember participating in the madness.
This bunch of fellows finally got a track they could call their own. An old 1/5 mile track (asphalt & flat) on the
northside of Dayton, Forest Park. Shorty which you feature on your site was the flagman. Harold Smith was
the dominator at this track.
The late Harold Smith, Dayton resident, was a winner at most area tracks. He won 40 feature events in one season while driving for Bobby Korn of Miamisburg. I dont know what his accomplishments might have been at Dayton Speedway but it might be worth looking into.
Regards,
Steve Zechman (zechman@hotmail.com)
PS: I believe your office was stated to be in Springboro. I was raised on a farm on Lytle Rd just about 3
mile down Rt 741 north. I now live in Georgia.
PATTERSON
"My father ran a stock car around 1960. His best finish at Dayton was second. Chick Hale drove for him once. I have a picture of the car somewhere. Dad won a Demo Derby at Dayton in 1971 (or 1972 or 1973). He won 17 of 19 which ever year it was. Dad passed away in 2004 but my mother has info somewhere.
I work with Tim Jenkins. His dad won a lot of Figure 8 races and his mom won a lot of Powder Puff events. She has a certificate stating she is the world's fastest woman on a half mile track."
GRAYBEAL
"I was there the Day Sonny Ates set the new world record and they gave him 1000 silver dollars in a wheel barrow. He won 2 [the only 2 he drove in] of the features ran that day!"
MCILWAIN
"My first and only visit to the Dayton Speedway was in the early fall of 1979. The event was the "Dayton 500". I was 24 years old back then and now I'm 53. I'd heard about Dayton Speedway from several truck drivers I'd met while working the receiving docks for the J.C.Penney Co. These truck drivers were racers themselves, like Wally Mcdonald and midget racer Pete Burnett, Burgess White and George Glick and a few others. Myself and a buddy from work decided we'd go. I believe the race was held on a Sunday afternoon. At that time I was living in the Canal Winchester area so it was a pretty good trip to Dayton. I really had no business going as my little '73 AMC Gremlin was in bad need of front brake pads. So much so it was beginning to grind against the rotors. Back then, just five years out of high school, married with one child and another on the way I had my priorities straight. So,I headed to Dayton for one of my best auto racing memories at the famous Dayton Speedway!
"Hell, I didn't know how to get to the track, I just got off I-70 went by Wright Patterson A.F.B. and started asking for directions. Soon we were there and one of the first things I noticed was the elevation of the track, it was quite a view of the Dayton area. I could see there was a lot of work that had been going on as there were several pieces of earth moving equipment setting here and there. The grandstand seating consisted of what looked to be several hundred wooden slant back chairs. The pit area was full, there was hardly a cloud in the early fall sky and my heart was pounding with anticipation of the action to come.
"I had just started my journey in automobile racing photography and was not content to sit in the stands so we bought an infield pass and much to our surprise were able to drive the ol' Gremlin right into the infield! The old lady was rough looking and try as they must have to make her look presentable she was a bit ratty and rough around the edges. I recall the infield fence in places being covered in dead vines and there were weeds growing between the fence and the racing surface. The view of the grandstand area was great from the infield but the ground on either side was scared by the work of the dozers and graders. The double strand railing around the track was wavy and dented from years of containing unruly racing machines. It was painted in what looked to be ten foot sections of red, white and blue and it made the cars look to be running faster than the breakneck speed they were already going.
"There is a lot I don't remember about the race itself, like how many cars took the green flag and I didn't know hardly any of the drivers outside of Dick Dunlevy Sr. and Jr. as they were regular competitors at my home track, Columbus Motor Speedway on Sunday nights. Dad Dunlevy and son shared the ride in the Stengers Ford sponsored #39. I remember seeing the black #94 of the Big Bird, Robby Dean,(also a regular at C.M.S.) sitting on a trailer just outside the pit area not on the track with the others.
"There were several spins during the race and I remember somebody losing a wheel. There were no big crashes or hardly any little ones that I recall.
"I took shots from both ends of the track and along the back stretch and when the checkers flew my buddy and I were standing on the roof of the Gremlin for even a better view of the action. Glen Ohlman won the event with Dick Sr. and his son finishing 2nd sharing the driving over the 500 lap grind. We didn't hang around after the race. We headed back home in my little Gremlin with the brakes grindin' like hell and dents on the roof. Now, if you ask me, would I do it again? I'd tell you like I did earlier in this piece, my priorities were and still are straight, HELL YES, I GO IN A MINUTE!
"Footnote: For some reason, some 29 years now I have believed that the Dunlevy's won that race and for the life of me I can't tell you why! It wasn't until I wrote to ol' Foggy Goggles with my story that I was set straight thanks to Jerry Wahl and to Dick Dunlevy Jr. who I contacted personally to get the story straight. Dick shed a bunch of light on the race for me even giving me the winning driver's name.
[You can see Scott's photos of the 1979 Dayton 500 here.]
GILBERG (Part III)
"Just when I started wondering if that image, frozen in my mind since 1953 --- Mari Hulman, Jerry Hoyt, and the unpainted HOW --- was maybe just a kid's imagination or dream, my brother Richard, in Piqua, send me this photograph!
"However, the pit walls have me a little hesitate over this. I remember them very definitely at Wuinchester, but that scene in my mind has always been from Dayton. There is one photo on your website showing a sprinter parked next to what looks like nearly an identical pit wall, but it is the only such photo I can find. Can anyone straighten this out: did Dayton have pit walls similar to Winchester's?
"Anyway, enjoy the photo, courtesy of either my mother (Delight) or my Dad (Fred), both long deceased, and my brother Richard, who found it.
San Diego, CA
Here's Bob's dream girl, Mari Hulman, exactly as Bob described her in his earlier story (see below). Now mind you, Bob didn't see this photo until AFTER he shared his memory with us. To have remembered Mari in such detail after more than 50 years gives some idea of the impact this lady had on young Bob! Mickey
GILBERG (Part IIII)
"Foggy, just two more items to (finally) end my teenage fantasy story:
"Attached is a scan of the cover of the program for a Dayton race that I believe was the Hulman/Hoyt/unpainted sprinter debut race in 1953. The program is undated, but inside is a full page photo of Blair Ratliff presenting the trophy for the 1952 "Dayton Big 100" race to Iron Mike Nazurak. So I assume the photo of the previous year's 100 winner was inlcuded in the programs for the 1953 races.
"The other interesting fact (to me anyway) is that the 12th place finisher in the feature race on whatever date this was in 1953, was Jerry Hoyt in a car which my mother (our family official scorer) listed with 'NN' (no number?) for its number. I believe this is probably the new, unpainted Hulman sprinter. The featuere finising order is the second scan attached. According to our scorer's qualifying records, Hoyt had 2nd fast time that day, 20.779 with only Pat O'Connor faster at 20.390.
"You'll also notice our scorer's spelling of Hoyt's name is consistently wrong on both the Hulman/Hoyt photo sent previously (see photo above) and in the programs feature finishing order: undoubtedly the photo was taken on the same day as the race results in this program.
San Diego CA
Here's the cover that Bob's referring to, along with the page with the feature finishing order. I've cropped and blown up the handwritten portion for legibility. Mickey
BROWN
"I missed going to the speedway from September 1951 - 1955 because I was in the Air Force. But I returned to the track when I got back. I don't remember the dates, but some of the highlights I do remember included the Dayton 100 for the big cars and a 50 lap midget race on the 1/4 mile track in the infield. Pat O'Connor won the big car race and "Shorty" Templeman won the midget race. Another highlight for me was Mutt Anderson's black #7 midget winning the 100 lapper on the half mile track. Eddie Sachs was his driver.
"I also went to the midget races on Wednesday nights when they still had the 1/4 mile. After the 1/4 mile was taken out, I believe they put a dirt track just inside the 1/2 mile paved track. I helped my buddies from Washington Court House with their stock car. They ran a few races there.
"As time went on I was working on Bill Baldwin's srpint car crew out of Cedarville, Ohio. It was probably one of the last USAC sprint car races held at Dayton. Sonny Ates was the driver. Sonny holds the track record at Dayton, but not in the car I was working on.
"So that about wraps it up for me as a long-time racing fan at the Dayton Speedway, from start to finish, and I'm 77 years old now!"
Karl Brown ---May, 2008
GILBERG
"I'm surprised I forgot to include this one in my previous post of best Dayton Speedway memories. [Scroll down to see Bob Gilberg's earlier posting, April 2008, below.--Mickey]
Imagine this: Mari Hulman, young, beautiful, black capri's and black top, blonde, standing alongside her brand spanking new, unpainted sprint car with driver Jerry Hoyt, smoking a cigarette, and holding a can of beer in the pits after the team's inaugural feature race at Dayton in 1953.
Talk about "hooked!" I've never been the same......
San Diego, CA
( "...and only one half-mile track in all of So Cal!)
FOTHERGILL
"The track was a shrine to we kids of the '40s and '50s. Our neighbor, Jimmy Steffan, ran at the track, but with little success. He drove his car to and from the speedway. I think it was a 1941 Ford or Plymouth. And he invited me along. It was my first taste of what racing was all about.
"Later the track was kind enough to allow the Western Ohio Region of the SCCA to have events there in the '60s. Running my TR3 wasn't the same as an Offy powered sprint car, but it was certainly a fine memory. I look forward to seeing more on the site. Thanks!"
Joe Fothergill ---April 2008
PUTERBAUGH
"I saw the article in the Dayton Daily News about the Dayton Speedway website. I visted the site and it brought back many memories, not only from Dayton, but Greenville, Winchester, and Richmond, plus a few others not so well known.
"My dad, who was an open-wheel junkie, started taking me to most races in the area inclduing Indy. We saw some great evnts and some serious and fatal accidents through the years, including the one at Dayton in April, 1952. We arrived later than usual that day and had to stand in the infield small track on the North curve. The wreck happened almost in front of us and we thought a lot more people were injured, but the car hit the 55 gallon paint drums and they absorbed some of the impact. To this day, I can still remember that sight, which was not a pretty one."
Ron Puterbaugh ---April 2008
GILBERG
"Along with the great shots you have on the Mosely crash, the Hurtubise over-the-north-wall around the same time (1960) is one you should include, if you can find any photos. Herc walked away from his, Rigsby didn't. I watched the Mosely and Hurtubise crashes from the infield on both days, and still remember them vividly. I also saw the Rigsby crash on live TV, sitting in the front room of my parents' house in New Bremen. Having never been to a sprint car race in person before, when my Dad finally took me to my first AAA sprint car race at Dayton a year or two later, all I could think of was the Rigsby crash. I just knew one of those things was gloing to jump the front stretch wall and kill me in my seat. (I had heard of the Reid crash, too.) None did of course, but I sat there petrified...and fascinated...the entire day.
"My brother in Piqua recommended your site to me and today is the first time I have visited. I loved the walk back through time, remembering some of the best times I had during my early years in Ohio. My friends, my family, and I lived for the sprint car races at Dayton, Winchester, New Bremen, Salem, Eldora, Cincinnati and anywhere else they were running.
"The supermodified shots were great to see, too. A lot of those cars ran up at New Bremen and I saw many of them routinely. Harold (the Bear) Smith's T-Bird powered Korn car was a favorite of mine. There are quite a few websites and other media available to see the sprint cars of that era, but few places to see those great old Ohio supers...!
"Thanks for the memories, and keep this wonderful website going!
Bob Gilberg, San Diego CA ---April 2008
"P.S. Some other memories...
---Parnelli Jones, mad as hell about some gravel in the high groove entering the 3rd turn, stopping his Fike up there in the middle of his qualifying run and demanding someone come out and sweep the track.
---Sonny Ates nervously putting his false teeth back in quickly before the track announcer caught up with him after Ates set fast time (new track record?) in the Iddings car.
---One of Charlie Engles' stooges bowing down on all fours and faking prayer in front of the red Engle Offy (Pat O'Connor up?) on the pole prior to the start of an AAA feature in the mid-'50s.
---Nazurak peeling about 100 feet of sheet metal off the back stretch fence with the McNamara car in an AAA race.
-----Don Branson in the Estes Offy nipping and worrying Parnelli Jones for nearly the entire 30 lap sprint feature, just inches behind, but never having enough juice to make the pass.
---Hurtubise's shaking hands lighting a cigarette after a hair-raising qualifying performance.
I could probably go on, but you know what I am talking about..."
BROSE
"A few memories and comments.
Congratulations on setting up this great website. You will not believe how much of your time is going to be consumed with this. Thanks so much in advance for your efforts.
George Brose ---April 2008
3305 Braddock St.
Kettering, OH 45420
1. The accident on the backstretch with the MacNamara #73 took place on a race date other than Rigsby’s fatal accident. I vaguely recall that Gene Force drove the #73 on one occasion at Dayton and was one of, if not the top qualifier, but lost it in the feature race and hit the backstretch guard rail. Might have been a lost opportunity for him to make it ‘big’ in that very good car. Mike Nazurak may have already been deceased when Gene got that ride.
2. My Dad, Jack Brose, used to take me to Dayton Speedway , for sprints only, as soon as I got home from Sunday school. It was an adventure as we went out Stewart Street over the bridge , then down River Road and past what is now Sunwatch Village, then past the Vance Club, and up Stoney Hollow Road.
3. My great Aunt was once married to Bill Mackey’s father, so I was technically related to a driver. He, like several drivers, raced under assumed names so as not to scare their families.
4. Another highlight of my childhood was when the Malloy car, driven by Duane Carter, was parked several times in a garage on Margaret Street in East Dayton, not far from Ester Price’s Candies. The owner of the house was friends with someone on the crew or the owner. They kept it there during the week, and I could go there and talk to the mechanics. The car was unpainted , aluminum, in those days. When Troy Ruttman drove it, it was black. No head rest behind the driver. The driver’s shoulders were well above the top of the car. Must have been quite a breeze.
5. [Click here for George's memories of the day that Gordon Reid died at Dayton Speedway.]
6. Skip Peterson’s father’s tremendous photo’s of the heat races and the north end of the track also shows the top of the old Dayton Workhouse Tower. An inmate, trustee, supposedly got Rigsby out of the car when it landed outside the track. It did a complete end over end flip after it went over the wall, and you could see Rigsby trying to pull on the hand brake on the left side of the car. The whole thing seemed to go in slow motion from the time it started until the car disappeared. I was about 9 years old in ’53 when it happened.
7. My Dad, was from New Bremen , OH and got his taste for short tracks up there. When in high school , he worked for the man who built the New Bremen Speedway and as a sophomore , having had plane geometry that year, Dad designed the shape of the track to get a half mile oval to fit into the field.
If I come up with a few more memories I’ll send them forward. Thanks again."
George Brose
"P.S. One other tidbit.
The year before he died, Gordon Reid drove a MacNamara car near the end of the season (a lesser one); it was red and gold as opposed to the maroon and gold like Mike Nazurak and Gene Force drove later. But Reid was very impressive that last race at Dayton. That must have gotten him the ride in Charley Engle’s car. Just before he died, Reid was featured in a pre-race article in the News or Journal Herald, much like the Sports Illustrated jinx. A lot of this comes to me from an old scrapbook we kept along with numerous Bud Williams professional photos you could buy at the various Speedways. I sold the lot after my Dad passed away, and I regret it. A guy from Beavercreek or Xenia bought them. I’ve since acquired another great collection from Dad’s cousin, Ralph in New Bremen, and I won’t part with those. Ralph and Dad used to camp out at Indy the whole month of May. To get funds, they drove a route in the New Bremen area picking up eggs from chicken farms, but also picked up bootleg whiskey and sold it in town, that’s where they made the money. They were in their mid teens then. Both turned out OK."
HILL
"George Hill was my dad. I've enjoyed the website very much and I'm planning on writing a longer letter later to give you some more information on a race between my dad and Harold Smith at Dayton Speedway. I also have a few pictures I will send along of some of the cars that my dad crove. He owned his own car car before driving for Bolinger's Garage. He also drove a car for Tex Roberts, a retired Air Force Colonel. After that he drove for Marion Brooks of Urbana. We lost most of our pictures of dad and his race cars in a fire but we have salvaged a few over the years. I look forward to writing more soon. Thanks for the website!
Chris Hill ---April 2008
chill916@woh.rr.com
I remember your father very well. I remember when he first started driving in the area in the H-1 car. I pass the old Bolinger's Garage every day on my way to work. Of course it is Wells' Electric now, but I till have the memory of the race cars in the building. As I recall, your father worked for an elevator company. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures!
Jerry Wahl