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ARCHIVE 4
UPDATE:
Welcome to the “Daytona 500” edition of the DSL! Update!
If there was any justice in the world, either A.J. Almendinger or Jeremy Mayfield would win the “500.” They are the only guys who actually raced their way into this year’s Daytona field, with everyone else being locked in for one reason or another. But there’s no justice in the world, and precious little in the way NASCAR is run these days, so look for one of the big money powerhouse superteams to take the win. Ah, if only we could return once again to those “good old days”… and as a matter of fact, we can, at least for a few minutes right here at DSL!
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There’s a new Pic of the Week here, provided by FODS Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net). It proves, as other photos have proven, that for some classes Dayton Speedway provided an infinite number of racing lines.
Thanks Scott for another great photo.
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I’m pretty sure that Melanie Dunlevy and her hubby Dick (racin4theracers@aol.com) don’t live with me, but how then do you explain Melanie’s ability to send in answers to our mystery photos within minutes after I push the “publish” button and post the photos on the DSL! website? Either she and Dick are living somewhere here in my home, or she has amazing telepathic powers and can sense when a new mystery photo is about to be posted.
That being said, you’ve probably guessed by now that Melanie, with help from a “friend,” sent in the answers to the Mystery Number Eleven photo posted here. I’m going to wait another Update or two before I give you the answers so that other FODS can play along.
My congratulations to Melanie on once again being first to the finish line with the mystery photo answers! (And thanks also to our flagman John Potts (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com) who was able to name two of the five drivers.)
And now I’m going upstairs to see if the Dunlevys are living in one of those bedrooms…
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Long-time FODS Wayne Blevins (mwblevins@alltel.net) is one of many FODS still studying that mystery engine photo that I posted here as the Pic of the Week for June 29 – July 5, 2008. You can see a smaller version of the photo to the right. Here’s what Wayne wrote:
Foggy!
Just wanted to put in my two cents worth on the June 29th Pic of the Week engine photo. I have talked it over with dad but can’t convince him that this is a Falcon 200 cid with the intake cut off. When this is done, it puts the injector straight down into the port. It is a Falcon. It was like dad’s Ranger (good cheap horsepower for the racer on a shoestring).
Thanks for the site! Come see dad when we run the Ranger at Zephyrhills in February.
Thanks
Wayne Blevins
Thanks, Wayne, for trying to help us identify that engine. Your thoughts make sense to me, but I don’t have enough experience with Falcons (or most other sixes) to confirm or deny your ideas.
When I first posted the engine photo, I thought that the builder had installed six Stromberg 97 carbs. I was quickly corrected by a loyal FODS who saw that it was a fuel injection system sitting on top of the engine. That same FODS pointed out that the engine was actually canted over to the left, for reasons unknown.
I need those FODS who are old school mechanics to take another look at the photo and see if you can come up some new ideas or clues.
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I still don’t have any after-the-accident pix of some of our Over the Wall club members to post on the Over the Wall page here, but I did finally identify Butch Harris among the 1976 Ohio 500 supermodified race photos in my own collection. Butch is the supermod driver who punched a hole in the Dayton Speedway fencing during qualifying for that 1976 event and managed to escape without serious injury. I’ve posted one of his photos so that at least you will have a “before” image.
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Speaking of our Over the Wall gang, I finally went ahead and added Jim Hurtubise who joined the OTW club on July 17, 1960. I was hoping that someone would be able to provide a photo of the accident, but so far the only photos I’ve seen are in the Buzz Rose book Kings of the Hills and I’ve never gotten permission to use them. I decided to add “Hercules” now, even without the accident photo, because I recently had the pleasure of talking with Diane (Beck) Lane (rockyl159@comcast.net) at some length and she had a great story related to Herk’s OTW adventure.
It seems that on that July day in 1960, Herk happened to pit next to the Beck sprinter owned and operated by Diane’s dad, Harold Sr., and her brother Harold Jr. (“Sonny”) in the Dayton Speedway pits. Herk had never been to Dayton; he’d just arrived fresh from the West Coast. Sonny Beck volunteered to take Herk out in the tow truck and show him around the track, the racing line, braking points, and so on. And some point during the ride, Herk looked out over the guardrail, then turned to Sonny and said something like, “What the hell kind of bushes are those that grow that big?”
Sonny looked Herk in the eye and replied, “Why those aren’t bushes; those are the tops of trees.”
Needless to say, shortly after, Herk got a first hand look at those trees when he slipped his number 56 Sterling Plumbing Special over the guardrail and into auto racing folklore during qualifying.
You can see photos of the Beck’s racing efforts here, and look for more wonderful racing stories from Diane soon. Thanks Diane!
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He was as much a part of Dayton Speedway as the grandstand, pit road, and the high banks. Almost every visitor to Dayton Speedway saw him, but few knew very much about him. And now, almost 30 years after his death at the track, he still enjoys a certain anonymity.
He was known simply as “Uncle Joe” or “Ole Joe” and he lived in a blue trailer parked near the pit gate. He was not quite the track caretaker, and not really the watchman, though he was often referred to as the “Sheriff of Dayton Speedway.” Some say that he was there when the track was being built in the ‘30s, but there’s no way to know for sure.
What we do know is that Uncle Joe lived at the track year round and was there as early as the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. He stayed on even during the years when the track was silent. And he eventually died right there in his trailer at the speedway sometime in 1980.
The photo here was provided by Bob McCray (sprintracer2001@aol.com) who found the photo in Uncle Joe’s trailer when he and Don Thompson were cleaning it out after Uncle Joe’s death.
Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) provided some memories of Uncle Joe that I’ve posted here on the Stories page.
Thanks to Bob and Jerry for helping ensure that Uncle Joe isn’t forgotten.
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We have an official Book Master here at DSL! Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net), an unrepentant motorsports bibliophile whose library includes more than 400 books on the subject of auto racing, has agreed to assume responsibility for our Bookshelf. He’ll be providing a book review more or less with each Update, and he will start with books that have information related to Dayton Speedway that FODS will find interesting. For this Update, Rand has provided reviews of two books, Eddie Sachs, The Clown Prince of Racing, and the ARCA anniversary volume, ARCA; 50 Years of Racing. You can read both reviews here on the Bookshelf.
Rand has also provided some general information that FODS will find useful as they try to locate a particular racing book and build their motorsports library. I’ve posted this piece at the top of the Bookshelf page. Take a minute to read through it here.
In addition to the general help in locating racing-related books, Rand will provide what he considers the single best source for each book that he reviews.
If you have a question about a book that you’ve read or would like to locate to read, please get in touch with Rand and he’ll try to provide the answers.
My thanks to Rand for stepping up and volunteering to take on the Bookshelf responsibilities as our Book Master!
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Remember that nifty looking ’57 Chevy race car that I posted here on a previous Update? I said at the time that it never raced at Dayton Speedway and there was no other connection to the Dayton track, but it was such a great looking hotrod that it deserved to be shared with the rest of the FODS Nation.
Well, once again, I was wrong. There most certainly is a Dayton Speedway connection. Here’s the e-mail note I received from the owner and driver of the car, Mike Barr:
Dear Mickey,
I am 61 years old and started racing just two seasons ago at Eldora. I was nominated Rookie of the Year and finished 30th in points. This year (2008) I finished 13th in points and was nominated Most Improved Driver. I also went and received Best Appearing Car and Crew of the Year award.
I’m the only one running a car like this, against mostly newer Monte Carlos and Camaros.
I’m living out my dreams, doing what I always wanted to do ever since I stepped foot at my first race at Dayton Speedway in 1955. My heroes were Harold Smith, Dick Freeman, Dick Dunlevy Sr, and all the early mod drivers. Chick Hale was my favorite.
I was there to see Mike Mosley crash in 1967. I even came back for the opening for Don Thompson. We brought our Hot Rod club, and they let us take a few laps around the track. Boy was that a banked track! I thought I was going to slide down the hill. I could ramble on all day about that track.
Well, we are rebuilding the ‘57 and getting ready for the 2009 season. I got a lot of new parts and ideas for this year. I want to thank Dick Dunlevy Jr. and Dick Ater for their help, even though they run on payment. Ha.Ha. If you’re ever up at Eldora, look us up.
Thank you so much for your kind words and again it was such a great honor to be in such a great web site. Mike Barr #22 A.K.A. RICKETY BOBBY
Mike owns Metal Brite, a chrome plating shop (you can reach them at 278-9739), and they are apparently up to their eyeballs doing plating for restoration shops. They just finished a Johnny Thompson lay down roadster for Classic Craft in Springfield and they are working on an old Miller car over at Gasoline Alley.
Mike joins a long list of FODS who prove every day that you are never too old to get involved in racing. Any FODS who find themselves in the pits at Eldora are now expected to walk right up to Mike, stick out their hand and proudly announce “I saw you mentioned at DSL! and I’m a FODS, too!” And Mike’s note gives me an excuse to post the photo of his 1957 Chevy again.
And thanks for the kind words about DSL! Mike. Good luck in 2009!
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One of the questions most often asked here at DSL! concerns those stripes and other markings that are on the quarter-mile track in various photos posted on this site. I’ve gotten many suggestions from FODS as to why those marks were painted on the track, but the idea that seems to come closest to being the right answer comes from Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net) and has to do with television. I’ll let Rand tell it:
There was a mystery on the DSL site concerning the photos showing the series of white lines going across the track and a checkerboard pattern. They are on the smaller inner track and I am pretty sure that those were added to enhance the speed effect for the TV cameras. I asked Rick [Patterson], and he confirmed that Blair 
Ratliff had televised some of the races for several years right about that time frame. I had seen those used before at other tracks for just that very reason.
Rand
Thanks, Rand!
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Briar Johnson’s name appears frequently at DSL! He was a strong competitor at Dayton Speedway and any number of other tracks where he unloaded his stock car. Both Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) and Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) have dug up some photos of the legendary Johnson to share with the rest of the FODS Nation. Here’s what Jerry said when he forwarded one of the photos:
Hi Mike;
Briar Johnson who hailed from Richmond is mentioned at times on the DS site and I just ran across this one which was shot by the late Stan Jeffery and it appears to me to be at Mt. Lawn. Briar was a strong competitor at DS for a number of years. I was looking for an older shot of him which I am sure I will eventually find. as I am doing a little blurb elsewhere when the loose wheel skimmed the top of his head when he stepped out of the outhouse in the pits at Kil-Kare.
Jerry
I’ve posted Briar Johnson’s photos here in the 1950s – 1960s Gallery. My thanks to both Jerry and Geno for their contributions.
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That wraps up the Daytona 500 version of the Update here at DSL! My thanks to each and every one of you for your continued support of the site, and here’s hoping that you all have a safe and enjoyable race season!
Our next update will be in about one week.
Mickey
February 15, 2009
UPDATE:
Hi FODS! I’m back at my keyboard and it’s time for another Update. This is going to be a smaller Update than normal since my travels have left me with less than a week to prepare...
Nothing makes me long for racing’s simpler times more than getting to watch the start of the NASCAR season on Fox. Just when I think that I can’t wait a day longer for the season to get started, I watch a little NASCAR and decide yeah, I can wait a little longer for some real racing to get underway on the local tracks.
The relentless worship of the NASCAR brass by Waltrip, McReynolds, et al has started to make me a bit nauseous. While the best and most experienced stock car drivers in the world were jitterbugging all over the speedway in the Bud Shootout, bouncing off each other and the walls every half dozen laps in the Car of Tomorrow/Today, Darrell was telling us how much he loved the car, or “this package” as he referred to it. Accidents are a part of our sport and always have been, but they shouldn’t be built into the event by the sanctioning body. Real race fans aren’t crazy about crashes; they get in the way of the racing. Maybe Waltrip loves the “package” because he’s compiling a crash tape...
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In this Update, we note the passing of Robert James “Jim” McWithey, who left us recently at the age of 81. Jim McWithey was a race car driver. He drove in several Indianapolis 500s and other championship events and was a noted sprint and midget driver. And, as if you needed further proof that our sport is indeed a small community, consider this: Jim drove champ cars for Daytonian George Walther and spent some time behind the wheel of the Engle-Stanko sprinter owned by Dayton’s Charley Engle who we’ve talked about in such detail in recent Updates. (You can read Charley’s story here, and see more details regarding the death of Jim McWithey at the top of my home page here.)
My thanks to loyal FODS Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) who alerted me to Jim’s passing, and to www.vintagemotorsport.com where I found the photo and obituary that appears on the home page here.
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The Over the Wall club (visit that page here) grows by two with this Update. Both Jack Farris and George Henderson joined the club in June, 1958, and both survived. I’ve got no photos of the accident or its aftermath to share with you, but I have posted a photo of the beautiful Mercury driven by Jack just before his adventure. That photo came to us as part of the Surges/Richardson donation. (You can see all the Surges/Richardson photos here.)
Surely someone out there across the vast FODS Nation has photos of either the accident or the Farris and Henderson cars after the event. Do you have them stashed away in a shoe box in the closet or attic? Please contact me here so that we can share them with the rest of the FODS!
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There’s a couple new photos posted here as Mystery Number Eleven. Your job, as usual, will be to identify the drivers shown killing time in the Dayton Speedway pits during a 1976 event. I haven’t numbered them, so give me their names in left-to-right order. Many of you will have no difficulty identifying these guys, so “Mystery” might be too strong a word to use this time.
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Our official flagman, John Potts (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com), writes a terrific column, “Driven to the Past” over at www.Frontstretch.com. Publication date for his next column will be this coming Friday, February 13, 2009. If you’ve not had a chance to read John’s work, visit now and check out his archived columns. If you are a regular Potts-Head like me (hmmm…that didn’t come out quite right), I’ll see you over at “Driven to the Past” this coming Friday.
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Our Bookshelf here has grown by two more volumes, both of which you ought to consider adding to your own collection. Veteran FODS Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) added a review of Langhorne! No Mans Land, a book I have been meaning to track down and buy. Langhorne always had a ferocious reputation and was tough on both men and equipment because it had no straights; it was all turn.
I’m told that FODS Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net) has a huge motorsports library of over 400 volumes. He’s not related to me, but with that size library perhaps he will consider adopting me as a distant relative so that I can establish borrowing privileges. In this Update Rand reviews Earl! The Life and Times of One of the Nation’s Best Racing Promoters, another book that ought to find space on your shelf.
My thanks to both Gene and Rand.
Do you have a motorsports book you’ve owned or read and enjoyed? Share it with the rest of the FODS by contacting me here.
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At the risk of making it appear that I am the President of the Mel Anthony Admiration Society I just have to share the latest photos that have come my way courtesy this site’s lead investigator Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net). As you might remember from previous Updates, Mel is the 85-year-young racing driver who started his career in track roadsters in the Northwest and managed to survive those perilous years. And, as I revealed in the last Update, Mel isn’t done driving race cars.
He and his son recently purchased a vintage midget and as the photo above (and other photos here on the Survivors page) show, Mel isn’t the kind of guy who is content to just wax and polish his latest hotrod!
Our congratulations to both the Anthonys, father and son, on keeping the pedal to the metal!
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New FODS Fred Sackrider (fssackr@hughes.net) checked in with some info he thought might be helpful in our continuing search for details of Al Thiesen’s life and times. Thanks Fred! I hope to hear from you again in the future.
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Here’s a new Pic of the Week (though a few days short) showing a classic Dayton Speedway high-banks battle, Ford versus Chevy, Don Wilbur battling Dick Dunlevy. Jr. The photo comes to us courtesy of loyal FODS Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net).
Thanks Scott!
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File this under “Small World:” In the last Update I reported that the very first event held at Dayton Speedway took place June 3, 1934. The feature event that day, the so-called 40 lap “sweepstakes” race, was won by Ken Fowler followed by Mauri Rose, Haskell, and Charley Engle.
Rocky and Diane (Beck) Lane (rockyl159@comcast.net) sent in this note shortly after:
We knew Ken Fowler very well. He lived in Dayton and worked at Frigidaire. He also was a flagman for USAC in the sprint division and some stock car races and was assistant flagman at the Indy 500 with Pat Vidan. He also ran the Indy 500 several times.
He told us stories about running motorcycles and racing cars on board tracks. One track was in Chicago; it was called Jungle Park Speedway. The track was so bad that the drivers said they could see fans looking up thru the boards watching the race. When Harold Beck Sr & Jr bought their Offy, Ken was there most nites to help, teaching them how to tear down and put it back together.
The case had to be heated so they could get out the crank shaft. Something totally different from any engine they ever built. He told some wild stories that seemed at times to be unbelievable, but we always found out later that they were true. To his close friends he was called KNOBBY. Rocky & Diane
You can check out the exploits of the Becks, father and son, here. My thanks to Rocky and Diane for sharing their memories of Ken Fowler, Dayton Speedway’s first-ever feature winner.
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Yes, I’m still looking for Ben Pelfrey, winning car owner and co-driver of the very last Dayton 500 run at Dayton Speedway. You can contact me here.
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FODS Bob McCray (sprintracer2001@aol.com) comes to our rescue by finally answering a question that I asked about six months ago when I first posted this photo (right) in the 1970s – 1980s Gallery page here. I asked if anyone could tell us something about the unusual offset midget. Bob tracked down an answer. The car is a Badger midget, according to Bob, and it was owned by Bob Lockheart of Joliet, Illinois. The driver of the car in the photo was Dayton’s own Mack McClellan.
Thanks Bob!
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This Update ends as it began, with a reference to the Great American Race, the Daytona 500, that goes under the green flag this coming Sunday, February 15th. Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) reports that the Grand Lake Eagles ( 1400 E. Market Street, Celina, OH) are having a 500 party from 10 a.m. ‘til 4 p.m. Admission is free and beer is discounted. There will be door prizes, a live auction and a silent auction for racing memorabilia. If you don’t have a better place to sit and watch the event, plan on hanging out at the Eagles and watch it with friends.
Look for the next update around Valentine Day (and here’s a reminder to you male FODS out there to plan now to do something nice for your significant other; it will be awful hard to read the next Update through blackened and swollen eyes!).
And thanks for your continuing support!
Mickey
February 11, 2009
UPDATE:
I’m providing a lengthy update this time to keep the FODS Nation busy because I will be out of the office from February 1st through February 8th. That means that this update will have to last you folks until at least February 11th or a few days beyond that.
So let’s get to it…
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My money was on Melanie Dunlevy (racin4theracers@aol.com) to be first to the door with the answer to the Mystery Number Ten photo posted here, and I was correct. Here’s what Melanie told me about that no-kidding lion that was apparently prowling the pits at Dayton Speedway:
"Hi Mike –
"John Wilson, of Springfield Oh, brought the cat to the speedway during the 1979 season. She was a female named Lena. She was a curiosity, and people just accepted her being there, from at least 10 ft. away!
"She was at Dayton 4 or 5 times, and even made an appearance at Winchester at least once for an overnight stay! (I'm not sure if it was a tent or RV).
She was a Chevy lion, as her playmate was a ‘57 Chevy driven by her owner, John Wilson, who went on to become the Street Stock champion in 1979 at Dayton Speedway. As for rough driving, the lion usually did the talking, although keep in mind she was a lady.
"No one witnessed feeding time, but I'm sure she enjoyed an occasional red meat type sandwich!
Take care!
Melanie"
Amazing! Thanks Melanie!
Literally just minutes behind Melanie was our official flagman John Potts (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com) with almost the same information on Wilson’s lion. Sorry John; the lady beat you to the finish line!
And finally Kevin Shatto (kdcrace@roadrunner.com) checked in to say that it was his dad, Dennis, who babysat the Wilson feline at Winchester while John was racing. They kept it in the Shatto motorhome! I asked if the lion had the motorhome all to itself. Nope! Kevin’s mom was in there with it!
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Our official flagman John Potts (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com) did better with the Pic of the Week (posted last week here) provided by Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net). We wondered about the identity of the flagman (Was it the famous Shorty Miller?) and the identity of the driver of the #4. John doesn’t think that the flagman is Shorty (and John knows it’s not a picture of himself since John was in the service at the time), but he thinks that the driver of the #4 might be Paul Parks. Anyone have a different view?
Thanks John!
And Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) took a look at the same photo and thinks that the flagman is Ralph Ormsby from Cincinnati who spent some time in the Dayton Speedway flagstand. And other opinions?
Thanks Jerry!
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In the last update I mentioned Daytonian Charley Engle. As a driver, Engle was pretty good and won his fair share of races. In fact, he participated as a driver in the very first race meet ever held at Dayton Speedway. But his real skill was as a car builder and mechanic. As an owner, Engle experienced the highest of highs with a car that could win almost anywhere with almost anyone behind the wheel. But he also experienced the lowest of lows. Drivers died in his Engle-Stanko sprinter, including Gordon Reid who lost control, went over the fourth turn wall and into the crowd, killing him and others. (Read that story here.) Apparently, Engle eventually lost his passion for the sport and was said to have traded the Engle-Stanko to a roofer in exchange for a new roof for one of his taverns. And it was in one of those taverns where Charley Engle eventually lost his life, shot to death during a robbery.
It’s a fascinating story, and I expected to have to spend quite a bit of time in research to tell it properly. As it turns out, that won’t be necessary because the story has already been written. Visit Charley Engle’s page here and click on the link.
I don’t want to spoil it for you, but the story did answer two questions that have been nagging me for some time.
First, who the heck was the “Stanko” in the Engle-Stanko sprinter? The answer: he was a beer distributor who partnered with Engle in the racing effort.
Second, did the steering wheel of the Engle-Stanko sprinter really come off in Gordon Reid’s hands as he entered Dayton Speedway’s fourth corner, as has been long rumored? The answer, at least according, to the story is “no.” In fact, the hapless Reid’s lifeless body was pinned in the car after the accident forcing Engle to run from the pits with a wrench in order to remove the steering wheel so that they could get the body out. From all accounts Charley was simply too good a mechanic and car builder to forget to properly install a steering wheel.
And Engle loved Offy engines and resisted changing to a Chevrolet when those engines began their rise to dominance in the sport. Senior FODS Karl Brown (keb3389@aol.com) remembers sitting one day in one of Charley’s taverns sharing a drink with him. At some point, Charley suddenly exclaimed, “There are two things that I just can’t stand; Chevy engines and Larry Dickson!”
Finally, “Iron Mike” Nazurak was almost unbeatable in the Engle-Stanko, but Charley fired him anyway, and for reasons unrelated to his on-track performance. You won’t believe why Engle had to can him! Check it out here.
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In this digital age when every thing happens lightning-quick and most information is digitized and downloaded, books don’t seem to be getting the respect that they used to get. But for those of us interested in auto racing history, books are an important source of material that help answer questions about the sport’s earliest days.
Accordingly, I’ve opened a Bookshelf page here and, over time, will list some of the books I think are important and interesting. If you have a favorite motorsports book, let me know and I will list that also. Likewise, if you have an opinion about a book on the list, or a new book that you want to add, I’ll include your review of the book to help other FODS decide if they want to take a look.
So the question is, what’s on your bookshelf?
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While I wish that more of the photos and material donated to DSL! had captions or descriptions, I have to admit that sometimes the research required to caption a photo is fun. Instead of “whodunit,” research here at DSL! seeks to answer “who won it” and “who drove it.”
We always have about four or five investigations underway at any one time and most of those are led by Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net). Since the journey is almost as interesting as the destination, I’ve started an Ongoing Research page here. I’ll try to post, in rough notes fashion, the question we are trying to answer and some of the clues (or false leads) we’ve stumbled across.
Here’s the important part: if you can help find an answer, please jump in!
The most current investigation, headed up by Rick, is to find out something about that little yellow car(see photo above) that showed up on one of the Surges/Richardson slides. (See those photo slides here.) We believe that the photo dates to a race run in 1958 at Dayton Speedway called the “International 300” in which “foreign” makes were invited to participate with the American-made stock cars.
We’re simply trying to identify the make of the little yellow car and find out who was driving it. Any additional information we gather along the way would be a bonus.
So take a look here on the Little Yellow Car page. Check out the notes. Got any ideas?
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A brand new FODS has checked in! Craig Shaw (crudbro20@yahoo.com) of Portsmouth, Ohio, has climbed aboard the FODS pace car and sent in some photos from the early ‘50s. He also went searching for the remnants of the speedway, but without much success. Here’s what he said:
Hi Foggy!
These shots were taken at Dayton in the early 50's. I never got to see a race at Dayton, but tried to find the site a few years ago. Of course, nothing was visible. I took some photos anyway, but not knowing the layout of the track, I was just guessing. We turned left off of Soldiers Home / West Carrollton onto Frytown Rd., then north. I would assume we were on the grandstands side of the track. A TV station (Ch. 22?) was located on what I would assume was the backstretch or turns 3 and 4 of the speedway. Thanks for a great website !!!.
Craig Shaw Portsmouth, Ohio
At one time I had a link on the DSL! Home page here to a vintage site that offered a satellite view of the Dayton track’s former location, but I was recently alerted by a faithful FODS that link had died. I checked; he was right. And I couldn’t find the original site that I had linked to begin with.
So if you check now on the home page here down on the right side you’ll find a link to a google satellite view of the 55 acres that used to be the Dayton Speedway.
And Craig was on the backstretch side of the speedway; the grandstands backed up to Soldiers Home West Carrollton Road and looked towards South Gettysburg.
And I have posted Craig’s photos on the 1950s – 1960s Gallery here. They are down at the top of the right hand column. Thanks, Craig!
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There’s a new Pic of the Week posted here. The photo comes courtesy of a brand new FODS, Brian Norton of Michigan, and shows that not every feature race at Dayton Speedway started smoooooothly. Dick Dunlevy, Jr. (racin4theracers@aol.com) was right there in the middle of the excitement and he has provided the story that describes the photo.
My thanks to both Brian and Dick!
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Our Dayton Speedway “Over the Wall” club just recognized two additional members, thanks to the first-class memory of FODS Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net).
Scott was at the track when Larry Gorman punched through the second turn fencing. You can see the story and photos on the Over the Wall page here.
Scott was also on hand when the speedway management announced that a special trophy would be given to the first driver to crash out of the speedway. It sounds like a pretty desperate promotion to me, but in any event a driver by the name of Max MacIntyre (we’re really not sure about the spelling of his name) claimed the trophy almost before the speedway management had gotten it out of the shipping carton! You can real Scott’s memory of that event here.
Scott thinks that Gorman’s crash took place around 1978 – 1980, and MacIntyre claimed his trophy in 1976 – 1977. We have very few pix of either event, although Scott did donate two photos he took of Gorman’s adventure. I’m counting on you FODS to come up with more details and some photos. It would be even better if we could locate Gorman and MacIntyre and get their impressions of their special days. And a photo of the MacIntyre trophy would be extra special!
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Another new FODS! Linda Ettel got hooked on auto racing because of her grandparents. Here’s what she said when she checked into DSL!
Hi Mickey,
Just wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed looking at your website for the old Dayton Speedway and sharing it with friends and relatives. I happened upon it about a month ago one Sunday when I was bored (winter and waiting for Nascar to start up again) and I did a search on the Speedway as I was curious as to what I might find out about it.
I live in Germantown, just down the pike from the old site, and my husband and I attended races there in the 70's when it reopened. We were thrilled to have it so close, as we'd been driving to Rossburg, Springfield, West Chester, up to Shady Bowl, etc to attend races. I can remember the last race we went to ... I think there were about 50 people in the stands and 10 cars showed up to race! Sad ending ... I was 18 months old the first time I attended a race there. My parents & grandparents went often and would spread a blanket on the hill.
Mostly I attended races with my grandparents when a little girl ... I'd spend the weekend and we'd head to KilKare on Friday nights, or Eldora on Saturday nights or New Bremen on Sundays. I got bitten by the race bug early and continue with it still.
Your site has brought back a lot of fond memories and familiar names from the past and I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it and that I will continue to check each week for UPDATES.
Keep up the Great work ....
Let's go racing boys!
Linda Ettel
Thanks for sharing your memories about the speedway, Linda, and thanks for your kind words about the site. DSL! continues to thrive because of folks like you who are willing to share!
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I’ve added a few photos to the Special Attractions page here. In the mid to late ‘30s Mickey Martin and the Hellriders came to town and apparently were a huge hit with the speedway patrons.
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Yet another new FODS, this one Bob Aldredge (aldrd@aol.com). Bob was born in Dayton in 1927, and if his name sounds vaguely familiar to you, it should. Bob’s uncle, Joe Aldredge, was one of the principals in the construction of the Dayton Speedway. You’ll find his name mentioned several times in the articles that I’ve posted here on the Speedway Birth page.
Bob reveals that Joe was Captain of the Dayton Police Department and came up with an unusual source for the labor required to build the track. I’ll let Bob tell the story:
Hi Mickey
Some interesting past memories. My father used to take me out to see my uncle building the Dayton Speedway. In the early thirties, Uncle Joe Aldredge and a Dayton attorney were building the track. Joe was Captain of the Dayton police Dept. He arranged using Dayton Workhouse Inmates to build the track (cut a hole through the fence between the properties).
I remember the high banks were built out of railroad ties laced criss-cross, by the hundreds of ties. I remember them saying banks were around 30 degrees. My other Uncle lived in the farm house at the track, Mike Dorgan He also had a sprint car. In my teens I picked up trash, bottles, etc at the track.
My name is Robert Aldredge; Born 1927 in Dayton. I was told the track was closed during the war yrs. Uncle Joe couldn't meet his note and the track Was sold at Sheriff Sale. New Owners paid off the track the first or second race. P.S. I STILL HAVE CASTEROIL IN MY BLOOD!!
Later Bob Aldredge ALDRD@AOL.COM
P.S. Joe’s son Tom Aldredge may have pictures. He lives in NY city and is an actor. Look him up on the net.
I must admit that I had trouble believing that railroad ties were somehow used in building the original track. Even today’s pressure-treated lumber will eventually rot if buried and that would seem to spell trouble in the future as the track started to sink here and there. (On the other hand, it has been often rumored that Frank Funk used old trolley cars under the track when he built the banking up later in the track’s history and that approach seems worse.)
But then Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) uncovered the earliest articles detailing the building of the speedway (you can download the articles as .pdf files by clicking here or visiting the Speedway Birth page here) and there, clear as day, in one of the photos is what appears to be the early speedway banking laid out with…railroad ties!
And as for using prisoners for a commercial work detail? What might be considered corruption today was probably not all that unusual 76 years ago.
Thanks for checking in, Bob! (And how many FODS out there can claim that they were present when those 55 acres were being plowed into the shape of a racetrack? Darned few I am guessing!)
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I’d still like to find Ben Pelfrey. Ben etched his name forever in Dayton Speedway lore when he teamed with “Hillbilly” Duncan to win the very last Dayton 500 at the track. And they won in Ben’s car to boot. We know where Hillbilly is. He remains a fixture on the Columbus auto racing scene. But Ben? No one seems to know. Come on, FODS! Help me find Ben so that hopefully, assuming that Ben is still among us, I can get him to share his memory of that race with the rest of the FODS Nation. If you have information about Ben’s whereabouts, please contact me here.
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Our own Jerry Wahl, who would hold the distinction of being FODS #1 if I ever got around to issuing membership cards, had to have some surgery on his peepers recently. Jerry came through the surgery in fine style and is thrilled to report that he can actually read the print in the newspaper and on the computer monitor again. You can reach Jerry at jlwahl1@hotmail.com.
Congratulations Jerry!
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At the end of the previous update I asked you to try to guess who won the very first race run at Dayton Speedway. The answer: Rex Mays, for heaven’s sake!
Mays won the very first race ever run at Dayton Speedway. On June 3, 1934, Mays beat Mauri Rose and Ken Fowler in the first of three 10-lap heat races, run in just 5:15 (and remember the track at the time was a relatively flat 5/8-mile dirt). The second 10-lap heat was won by Haskell over Kneisley, and the third 10-lap heat was won by Petillo, over Daytonian Charley Engle!
The 40 lap sweepstakes (feature) was won by Fowler, who was followed by Rose, Haskell, and Engle.
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Here’s a couple of great photos. The first shows “Gentleman” Jim Cushman in his #94 stock car on the backstretch at Dayton, and the second shows Iggy Katona in his #30 Ford. You’ll find the photos here near the top of the 1950s – 1960s gallery page here. My thanks to FODS Brian Norton who provided the pix!
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FODS Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net) who interviewed Joy Fair for his remembrances of Dayton
Speedway (read it here) is first to the line to identify one of the drivers in one of the Surges/Richardson photos. (Those photos are posted here.)
According to Rand, the driver of the white #719 (see the partial photo to the left) is none other than Joy Fair! Thanks Rand!
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In the last update I told you about my visit to the annual Cavalcade of Customs at the Cincinnati Convention Center. (You can see my photos at www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles. Look for the album with the appropriate name.) Now I find out that our own Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) was involved in helping set up the “survivors” display that was such a
hit. And because Gene didn’t have to battle the crowds like I did, he got a terrific overhead shot of the entire survivors section. Here it is.
Thanks Geno!
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Just a reminder that I will be abandoning the plush DSL! office suite for one week. I’ll be returning to town late on February 8th, so you can expect the next update sometime around February 11th.
My thanks to all of you for your kind words about my site and for your continuing efforts to keep the memory of Dayton Speedway burning bright in the hearts and minds of race fans.
Mickey
January 31, 2009
UPDATE:
At last! The sound of racing engines! It’s the start of another racing season FODS, as the sporty car guys and gals prepare to stare down that imposing banking at Daytona in the Rolex 24 Hours endurance race and the stock cars battle at Irwindale. Here at Dayton Speedway Lives! of course we’ve been revving our engines, at least in our memories, all winter long. It won’t surprise you to know that visitors to DSL increased dramatically over the winter months, particularly after live racing vanished from television. In the week before Christmas week, over 5,000 FODS stopped by…and yet explain to me why not a single one of them sent me so much as a tie.
It looks like we are on track to hit over 100,000 visits in the first 10 months of this site’s existence! I’m trying hard not to imagine all those FODS crammed into Dayton Speedway. Now THAT would have been the real definition of “sold out!”
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FODS who have been following along with some of the stories uncovered here at DSL will remember the remarkable 85 year-young Mel Anthony (shown at right). Mel’s racing career began in the very earliest days of American motorsports when simple survival was among a driver’s greatest rewards.
Mel is still going strong and apparently resurrecting his driving career. He and his son Dennis will take delivery of the new vintage midget they purchased. You can see their bright red #12 “Scio Cabinet” special here, on our Survivors page.
Our congratulations to the irrepressible Mel Anthony!
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When Mel sent photos of his new old midget, he included a photo of some restored vintage race cars. It’s a great shot of some vintage iron. Our ace researcher Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) was admiring the photo when he suddenly realized that there, several cars back from the car closest to the camera, was the bright red #4 Engle-Stanko sprinter, a famous car with dramatic ties to Dayton Speedway. We have no idea how the car came to call the far Northwest home.
Charlie Engle was a well-known Daytonian who drove race cars before WWII. Later he became a car owner. The Engle-Stanko sprinter was built in Dayton, and in 1951 Jimmy Daywalt drove it at Dayton Speedway, and finished 2nd behind Troy Ruttman.
Sadly though, Gordon Reid was aboard the Engle-Stanko sprinter when he flew over Dayton’s fourth turn wall and into the crowd, killing him and others. (Read that story here.)
The car was rebuilt only to see Larry Crockett fatally crash it at Langhorne in 1955, just six weeks before Iron Mike Nazaruk lost his life there.
Charlie’s story ended tragically was well. Charlie was shot and killed during a robbery of his business sometime in the ‘70s.
We’ll try to gather enough information to tell Charlie’s story in greater detail here at DSL. If you have information regarding Charlie Engle’s life and times, I’d sure like to hear about it so that we can share it with the rest of the FODS Nation. You can contact Rick or e-mail me here.
By the way, you can see the photo of the restored Engle-Stanko here with Mel’s new old midget.
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Our Pic of the Week here comes to us courtesy of good friend Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net). Gene asks if the flagman in the photo is flagging legend John “Shorty” Miller. The photo was taken sometime around 1957-1958. I need to hear from some of the folks who knew Shorty best; is that a young Mr. Miller waving the bunting at this event? Send me your information here.
By the way, those of you who are regulars here at DSL! will probably notice that the race car in the photo can also be seen among those on the Surges/Richardson slides that are posted here. Anyone know who the driver of the car is? If you can help, you can reach me here. We haven’t had too many FODS guessing drivers’ IDs on those Surges/Richardson slides, by the way. We could sure use some help captioning them. If you have answers, please contact me here.
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We have a new Mystery Number Ten here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pet in any pit area in over 40 years of involvement in the auto racing sport. But somebody brought their kitty to Dayton Speedway and we’d like to know more about it. Check out the Mystery Pic here, and then send me your answers here.
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Stubby Stubblefield’s great granddaughter Kathy Hall (jestkathy@yahoo.com) has promised to send along a host of photos of Stubby to share. She originally found DSL! mention of her famous great grandfather on one of Foggy Goggles’ tales here (at the very bottom of the page).
Thanks Kathy! We’re all looking forward to seeing your pix!
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When I was more active in auto racing (i.e., when I actually had some race cars) our team would always enter our cars in the Carl Casper Custom Car Show at the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The show was usually held the first weekend in January and our theory was that if we had our cars ready to go by then, we were all set for the racing season. (I’ll admit that our ARCA car was sometimes presented without an engine or transmission, but otherwise it was ready to head to Florida.)
Casper called it quits eventually, at least as far as a Dayton show. Others tried, but for the past ten years or so the only show in the area has been the Cavalcade of Customs in Cincinnati.
I went this year (again) and though race cars were few and far between, there were quite a few interesting vintage machines in the “rat rod” area where patina and rust are embraced as enthusiastically as candy apply, metalflake and chrome.
What’s that you say? You were planning to go to the show but things didn’t work out? Not to worry! I took pix. Lots of pix. And they are yours to download free of charge (or you can have fotki print them for you).
Go to www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles and look for the Cavalcade of Customs album.
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Many of you have written to say how much you enjoyed seeing those Surges/Richardson slides posted here. You’ll be glad to know that I have posted another ten photos on that page at the bottom. Take a look. A FODS also asked me what John Surges’ 1956 Ford stock car would look like when he completed the build. Actually he’s modeling the Frank Smith #1 and I’ve posted a photo of Frank and his racer right under the photo of John’s work-in-progress here.
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Finding out who won what and when at Dayton Speedway is always a daunting task. It’s just been made easier, thanks to long-time USAC official Dick Jordan, veteran FODS Bill Holder (billholder@webtv.net) and our very own Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com).
Dick has provided, through Bill and Jerry, a complete listing of every USAC event held at Dayton Speedway, complete right down to the car number of the winner. I’ve linked the USAC document at the Race Results page here, but if you absolutely cannot wait to see the list, go ahead and see it right here.
My thanks to Dick, Bill, and Jerry for helping.
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I don’t think that I ever got around to telling you the identity of the driver in our Mystery Number Nine photo here. Lots of you guessed correctly, but there might still be a few of you wondering.
The driver of the #37 is Terry Senneker, brother of another famous Senneker, Bob. For a time Bob’s #84 was the car to beat in the Midwest. Melanie Dunlevy (racin4theracers@aol.com) reminds us that Terry’s son, Terry Jr., is still behind the wheel and doing very well. He won the Main Event at Columbus Motor Speedway recently.
Thanks to all of you who sent in guesses!
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Finally this bit of Dayton Speedway trivia: the first race meet was held at the track in 1934. Can you name the winner of the very first race, a heat race, at the speedway? You’ll have to wait until the next update to find out!
My thanks to all 2418 of you who visited last week, and to all FODS around the globe who make my efforts here so enjoyable. Look for the next update by the end of the week.
Mickey
January 25, 2009
UPDATE:
Before we get into the update items, I want to take a minute and speak to all the older FODS scattered around the globe. Photographs are a vital part of this site and probably every other site and publication that looks at history. If a picture is worth 10,000 words, as they say, then this site and others like it comprise an encyclopedia of American motorsports.
The photographs I receive here at DSL tend to fall into two categories. Either the photo arrives with a complete and thorough description, or the photo arrives naked, with no description, nothing to use to caption the photo. Some of the photos without a description end up on our Help page here as Mystery photos. But if I were to put every photo that needs a caption on that page, it would be 100 times larger than the rest of the site.
Where a photo is provided by the owner, the FODS who either took the photo or bought the photo, I usually get a very thorough description. But where the photo is provided by a surviving family member or someone who found the photo at a flea market or garage sale descriptions are sometimes hard to come by. Photos are powerful, but without captions they lose some of that power, some of the impact that they might otherwise have.
So listen up, you older FODS: Whether you have six photos or six hundred photos, please consider doing these three things to help future generations of motorsports history buffs.
First, take each photo and on the back, in pencil and ever so gently, write a description of the photo. Include names, dates, events, and any details that you share with other folks when you are showing them the photo.
Second, buy a scanner (less than $100 the last time I checked) or find someone who owns a scanner, and digitize your collection. If your collection is so large that scanning every photo is impossible, at least scan your best or favorite photos. Time and moisture and heat and cold and dust and handling take a terrible toll on paper photographs over time, but once they are digitized they remain unchanged forever. And as a bonus, you can make multiple copies and stash the copies in different places to help guarantee that the digital photos aren’t lost. And as a second bonus, there’s a ton of easy-to-use-software available that will help your restore your photos to their former glory.
Third, name a successor! If your spouse or significant other is a big race fan and loves your collection of photos as much as you do, or if your kids or grandkids spend hours with you looking at your old photos, consider yourself lucky. When you finally must leave for that big speedway in the sky, chances are very good that your collection will be in good hands. But if your family – wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, kids, grandkids – aren’t much interested, for heaven’s sake don’t put them in the position of having to decide what to do with your memorabilia. Find someone to take over responsibility for your collection. And don’t pick a race buddy who is the same age as you; try to find a younger person to minimize the possible frequent movement of the collection.
These three steps will help guarantee that future generations of race fans, perhaps yet unborn, will be able to enjoy your collection as much as you enjoyed it.
In the same vein, I’ve been thinking about what would happen to DSL if something unexpected happened to me. FODS across the nation and around the world have spent a great deal of time and effort sharing their Dayton Speedway photos and stories, and we are all bound, you could say, by our mutual affection for those 55 acres of real estate that were once a race track. It would be a shame if all that evaporated just because I happened to suffer some misfortune.
Accordingly, I have asked constant DSL contributor Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) to take over this site in the unlikely event something happens to me. He’s passionate about Dayton Speedway and the men and women whose lives intersected at the raceway. He has a knack for research. And, equally important, he is younger than me, and a lot of you I would guess. He has agreed.
If this was a made-for-television movie I would now disclose that I’ve been stricken with some horrible disease and have just 23 minutes to live. Such is not the case. I’m well and healthy. (I plan to live forever, and so far, so good.) And in putting Rick in a difficult position I have increased the number of people praying that I remain healthy by one!
Now, on with the update…
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As you can tell, I’ve had to start a fresh “What’s New?” page. The most recent What’s New? updates can be found here on the What’s New Archive 3 page.
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There’s a new Pic of the Week here. The photo comes courtesy of Diane (Beck) and Rocky Lane (rockyl159@comcast.net) and harkens back to a time when almost every race car was a bit different. In the field are cars owned by her father Harold E. Beck, Sr. and her brother Harold E. “Sonny” Beck, Jr. It’s a great photo. Thanks, Diane!
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Since the Becks made auto racing a family affair, I’ve added a page here to honor them. The page features photos from the collection of Diane, daughter of Harold, Sr. and sister to Harold, Jr.
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In all of auto racing, only fire is more frightening than a race car crashing over the track and wall and out of sight. This was particularly true at Dayton Speedway where a trip over the guardrail meant a drop of some 40 feet. And while it is true that some of the speedway’s great tragedies involved cars leaving the track (see the In Memoriam page here), there were quite a few other drivers who took a hair-raising flight over the wall and into the unknown, and lived to tell the story. I’ve started a new page here to recognize these drivers and what must have been their single most memorable racing moment.
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I’ve posted a new page for the amazing Surges/Richardson photos. You can see it here. For those of you who are new FODS and new to DSL, John is the guy who was able to save a number of photographic slides taken by a photographer known to us only as “Richardson” that were on their way to the dump. The slides depict stock car racing from the mid to late ‘50s and they are simply fascinating. You’ll find every make and model of car competing, including a snappy 1957-58 Cadillac and a beautiful Merc. I think that the Mercury is being wheeled by Jack Farris of New Paris, Ohio, one of the original short track heroes in Middle America. The slides arrived without captions of course, so here’s your chance to once again jump in, FODS, and supply some captions. Dick Dunlevy, Jr. (racin4theracers@aol.com) has been helping identify the tracks (and it appears that Dayton, Salem and Winchester Speedways are all represented), and this site’s ace researcher Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) has been working on identifying the possible dates for what appear to be Dayton events, but additional help is always welcome. You can contact Rick or e-mail me here.
By the way, I am working hard not to fly into a jealous rage; John has revealed that he owns no fewer than four beautiful vintage race cars. You can see them also on the Surges/Richardson photo page here.
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When I wrote the tale of Foggy Goggles’ encounter with legendary driver Stubby Stubblefield (read it here at the very bottom of the page) I never imagined that someone from Stubby’s family would contact me. So imagine my surprise when Kathy Hall (jestkathy@yahoo.com) contacted me. Needless to say, it is an honor and a privilege to get to meet, even electronically, one of Stubby's family!
Hello Foggy,
My name is Kathy Hall. I am Stubby’s great granddaughter. His daughter, Patricia, is my grandmother. Unfortunately she passed quite a few years ago. You may be interested to know Dorothy lived a very full life. She outlived her daughter. We have a large family, all descendants of Stubby, myself included. The temper from the story I read has lived on also! LOL. But on a lighter half, so have the ears. Thanks so much for the story. I really had a good laugh.
Kathy Hall
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According to the reports I get from my hosting service, a lot of you have visited the speedway obituary here. Sad though that is, I thought it only appropriate to bookend that item with what amounts to the speedway’s birth announcement, now posted here. And for the first time I am linking to .pdf format documents. In order to view .pdf files, you have to have the Adobe reader installed on your computer. Most of you probably already have the reader. Those of you who do not have a reader can get one free and it only takes about 4 minutes to install it on your computer. Just in case you don’t have the reader and don’t want to download it, I’ve retyped the entire text of the articles. Unfortunately I can’t duplicate the photos that were included with the original articles. Those photos show steam tractors working on the speedway, the speedway officers, and the land that was to become Dayton Speedway. You really ought to think about installing that Adobe reader if you don’t already have it…
My thanks to Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) who found these early articles!
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That’s it for this update. I have still more Surges/Richardson photos to post, a remembrance from Rick Patterson, a photo from Gene Ingram, a terrific e-mail from a new FODS with an intriguing tale of how that Dayton Speedway Corporation had a hole cut in the fence that separated the speedway property from the county workhouse so that the inmates could…uh…pitch in to help build the track. All of that is coming up in the next update in just a few days.
As always, thanks for your continued support of this site and for helping keep the memory of that grand old speedway alive and well.
Mickey
January 21, 2009