WHAT'S NEW?

ARCHIVE 7

     UPDATE:

SAD NEWS

            We begin this Update with sad news.  As reported on my Home page, Geraldine “Gerry” Terry, the last promoter at Dayton Speedway and mother of former driver Kenny Terry, has passed away after a long illness.

            It’s a well-worn sports cliché, but Gerry gave 110% in her efforts to keep the Dayton track operating.  The track eventually failed under the weight of dwindling crowds and ever escalating operating costs and maintenance.  Gerry was there at the end, on that last fateful Sunday when the racers and fans were sent packing because the track had lost its insurance coverage.  The pain and despair that Gerry must have felt on that day at that moment is too great to contemplate.

            We extend our deepest sympathies to Gerry’s family and many friends.

            Rest in peace, Gerry.

HAVE YOU SEEN AMERICAN SCENE?

            Our BookMeister, Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net), offers up another great read, this one by well-known writer Dave Argabright.  Dave co-authored the Earl Baltes book, Earl!, and returns again with American Scene, a collection of his best columns from National Speed Sport News.

            Take a look at Rand’s review here on the Bookshelf under the author’s name, Argabright, and make plans to add the volume to your own bookshelf.

            Thanks Rand!

A PHOTO OF GORDON “FLASH” REID

            Our Memoriam page (here) finally has a good photo of the unfortunate Gordon Reid whose April 1952 accident at Dayton Speedway was the worst ever witnessed at the West Dayton speed plant.

            The photo originally appeared on page 25 of the Dick Wallen book Roaring Roadsters.  We are able to post here at DSL thanks to our Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net) who secured Wallen’s permission.  The photo appears here courtesy the Dick Wallen Collection.

            My thanks to Rand and to Dick!

CHUCK STAPLETON’S BROTHER-IN-LAW CHECKS IN

            Over the last few Updates I’ve posted notes from Dianne Robinson, the daughter of Dayton Speedway (and Kil-Kare Speedway and Shady Bowl Speedway) driver Chuck Stapleton who was killed in May, 1954 at Winchester Speedway shortly into his first season in AAA sprint cars.  In the most recent Update I posted a note from loyal FODS Bob Gilberg (rgilberg@san.rr.com) that included his thoughts on the Stapleton accident (Bob was there) and the remarkable skill and bravery those early drivers displayed.

            Dianne’s uncle, John Hufford (huffjo@att.net), replied to Bob and here’s what he had to say:

Hello Bob,

My name is John Hufford and I am Dianne Robinson’s uncle.  She had sent me a copy of your letter to Mickey Thompson.  She has gotten me to the Dayton Speedway Lives website and I have found it very interesting and your comments to Mickey in your e-mail to him.

I was 17 when Chuck died and I had spent a lot of time with him growing up.  In the latter forties, we spend a lot of time at Dayton Speedway watching the Roadster races and that gave Chuck the idea of going racing.  When he found out he costs involved, he went out and bought a ’39 Ford coupe instead in 1950.

            My father passed away when I was 7 years old.  Chuck became an older brother to me, and we worked on the race cars and he taught me a great deal about the automotive things.  The Thursday before he died, we went down to the work on the sprint car and he told me that that was going to be his last sprint race.  He said he didn’t feel comfortable in the sprinter.  Little did I know what was to occur, but for the wrong reasons. 

I was not at the race that day and in one sense I was glad I wasn’t.  I had to go over to the Winchester to get his belongings from the funeral home.  My friend and I went over to the track and checked out the spot where he went over the wall.

            Chuck was a mechanic and service writer for the Peffley Ford dealership in Dayton and one Saturday he came home with a big bumper guard on his new 1951 Ford sedan.  He told us he was going to run it in the Late Model race at Dayton Speedway the next day.  He finished 7^th against a bunch of Hudson Hornets.  I know this is a bunch of ramblings, but as I was typing this I kept getting other memories in my head.

            Thanks for being tolerant.

            John Hufford

MORE CHUCK STAPLETON

            Long-time FODS and President of the SoCal Chapter of FODS, Bob Gilberg (rgilberg@san.rr.com) sent this response to John Hufford and Dianne:

            It is good to hear from you, John and Dianne. I am always happy to talk with people who lived back in the mid-west and were part of that racing scene in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s…even if only fans, as I was.

            The men who actually participated were always, to me, like supermen from another planet; how can they do that….?

            I don’t remember the “how it happened” part of Chuck’s accident.  I just remember two cars tangling part way into the south turn, and one of them flipping as it went over the wall.  Everyone in the stands knew it was likely to mean very serious injures to Chuck, and the whole place just went totally silent.

            An announcement was made sometime afterwards that Chuck’s injuries were fatal.  Whether that was immediately after the rescue teams had completed their work, or after word came back from the hospital is not something I remember; but it was known before the racing ended.

            Many people walked over to the place at the bottom of the banking outside the track, after the feature race finished, to witness where Chuck’s car landed; including myself and others in my family.  I think people were paying their last respects to a brave man.

            That was the first racing fatality I had ever seen (I was going on 14 that year) and had seen a few races, starting when I was 12.  Racing both terrified and fascinated me; I couldn’t get enough!  The people, including Dianne’s father, involved in that mid-west racing scene all around my hometown, New Bremen, Ohio, back then have had a lasting impression on me ever since.  I was mildly interested in the Reds, the Indians, and the Browns, but racing, that was something I was passionate about!

            I haven’t given you much information, I’m afraid, but I do want you both to know that I do remember Chuck Stapleton.

Bob Gilberg

            Thanks, Bob, for sharing your response with us.

PIX OF FT WAYNE TRACK COMING

            New FODS Roger Donaldson (h2orogerh20@aol.com) has checked in and reports that he has some photos of the Fort Wayne Indiana five-eighths-mile speedway that he is willing to share with us.  He’s making arrangements now to get the photos to me and I will be posting them here.

            Fort Wayne Speedway and Dayton Speedway share some history.  The Fort Wayne track operated from 1937 – 1942 before closing for the war, then operated again after the war from 1946 – 1964.  It was a blindingly fast high-banked dirt track, over 28’ high at its highest point.  Ten drivers lost their lives there; six died at the Dayton track.

            And Frank Funk, Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame Class of 2009, owned both tracks.

            I’ll continue to work with Roger to get his photos posted here at DSL.

            One more item links the two speedways.  On June 14, 1942, driver Rex Woodward of Wichita, KS tangled with another driver during a “big car” event at Fort Wayne, and crashed.  His injuries proved fatal.  The other driver also suffered injuries, but survived.

            The other driver was listed in the program as Charles Engle of Dayton, OH.

OLD JOE GETS HIS OWN PAGE

            In one of the prior Updates we ran a photo and a brief story about Old Joe, the larger-than-life character who lived in the little blue trailer on the grounds of Dayton Speedway for many years.

            Virtually everyone who attended a Dayton Speedway event saw Old Joe, whether they remember it or not.  Joe preferred bib overalls and in good weather was almost always on his porch to watch the fans and racers arrive at the West Dayton track.

            When we ran his photo several Updates ago we didn’t know very much about him beyond the fact that folks called him “Old Joe” or “Uncle Joe.”  It was assumed he was the caretaker, or maybe the maintenance guy.  Now, thanks to FODS Jerry Boeckman, we know much more.  Jerry inherited the contents of Joe’s modest wallet and has agreed to share the contents with us.

            “Old Joe” was Joe Goodman and he has quite a story.  Dayton Journal Herald writer Bucky Albers tells that story in a column he wrote in 1975.  Read it here.

            I’m honoring “Old Joe,” a fixture at Dayton Speedway for decades, by making him a fixture here at DSL.

WACO AND DAYTON SPEEDWAY

            I spent a considerable portion of my youth at Dayton Speedway, and I have memories I’ve never shared.  Since the passage of time has robbed me of many memories, I thought I’d better share another one with you while it still ricochets around in my brain pan.

            What triggered this memory was the recent appearance at the Dayton Auto Race Fans meeting of “Waco” Wayne Watercutter.  Waco was one of my contemporaries, but he was one (of many) who was so much better than my team that we simply struggled to avoid being his speed bump.

            The year of my memory (please don’t ask me to be specific; the next time I see Waco I will ask him.  I’m sure he remembers the year.) Waco showed up early in the season with a brand new ’49 or ’50 Ford.  Waco and his crew could build a beautiful Sportsman racer and the Ford was no exception.  It was wonderful.

            Kil-Kare had just been repaved, and the pavers had turned the fourth corner into a real corner, a 90 degree turn that ought to have had a stop sign.  It didn’t of course and at the start of the feature, or perhaps it was a heat race, the entire field came thundering down into the corner and all heck broke loose.  Waco’s brand new race car was thoroughly destroyed.

          [That's "Waco" Wayne Watercutter at the right.  The photo was taken at a recent Dayton Auto Race Fan meeting and comes to us courtesy of Earl and Peggy Isaacs.]

            Weeks passed and the next time I saw Waco was at Dayton Speedway.  And he had another brand new Ford, another real beauty.  He went out onto the track and turned some practice laps and then came into the pits.  I was there watching when one of the crew members noticed that the fender of the race car had pushed down into one of the brand new rear tires when the suspension compressed on the banking.  There was a cut in the tire exactly as wide as the thickness of the sheet metal of the fender.  It was so thin that it almost looked like someone had taken a marker and drawn a perfect line all the way around the tire.

            Now mind you this was in the days when racing slicks were those thick caps, and they were expensive, at least by my budget standards.  We stood there looking and everyone, including Waco, was thinking the same thing: Boy I sure hope that cut isn’t too deep.

            Waco took a key from his pocket (house key or car key, I can’t remember which) and slowly stuck it in the cut.  And the key almost disappeared up to his fingertips!  He was out one brand new racing tire after just a handful of laps.

            As it turned out, that was the least of his problems.  During the days racing events Waco destroyed his second brand new car of the season!

            My only thought at the time was that Waco’s team was a good place to play “I’m Glad I’m Not That Guy.”

            The next time you see Waco Wayne Watercutter have him polish up the rough edges of my memories and straighten out any facts I might have mangled along the way.

WHICH IS WHICH?

            Any race fan worth his or her salt can glance at one of today’s open-wheel race cars and tell in a nanosecond whether it’s a midget or a sprint car.

            But believe it or not, we spend a disproportionate amount of our time here at DSL looking at early open-wheelers and trying to decide if they are midgets.  Or “big cars.”  It would seem like it should be easier, and as the year’s roll by, it does get easier, thanks in no small part to Frank Kurtis and his Kurtis Kraft midget production line.  The Kurtis cars were so good that it wasn’t unusual for every car in a feature race to be a product of that California shop.   As a result, midgets took on a particular look.

            But in the earliest times, midgets were all home-built and varied widely in appearance.  The same can be said about the “big cars” so-called because, well, they weren’t the small cars, the midgets.  To add another layer of complexity, some of the big cars were stretched midgets.

            And then there were the races themselves.  I cannot say that it ever actually occurred for sure, but at least at Dayton Speedway events that combined big cars and midgets were scheduled.  This could conceivably have happened at other tracks as well.  So when we look at a photo of a field of open-wheel cars at the Dayton track we have to avoid making a snap judgment based on the appearance of just one or two of the cars; it might be a race that combines both the big cars and the midgets.

            So, bottom line, how do you tell the big cars and the midgets apart in old and faded photos?

            First, we try to judge the wheelbase.  Midgets and big cars, obviously, differed in wheelbase.  Second, we look at the wheel/tire combinations.  The big cars tended to have wire-spoke wheels until Mr. Halibrand introduced his solid, light-weight racing wheels.  The midgets almost always had solid wheels, perhaps because Detroit had never built small spoke wheels.  Third, we look at the relationship of the wheels to the car.  The midget race car wheels usually appear disproportionately small when compared with the rest of the car.

            Fourth and finally, we check the back of the photo for a caption, then contact our Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) and ask him!

            To help us along, Gene, who must have been getting tired of trying to explain the difference between big cars and midgets, sent us this photo.  Thanks, Gene!

 A LEGEND SHARES A LEGENDARY COLLECTION

            We tend to use the word “legendary” a lot here in the plush DSL offices, but it always seems perfectly appropriate, and never more so than when we now refer to Red Harvey, a legendary racer who was always a threat to take the checkered flag during a driving career that spanned decades.

            Red has been kind enough to share his photo collection with us and you can check it out here.  All the photos were taken at Dayton Speedway in the ‘30s and early ‘40s, and some of them are simply spectacular.

            One of drivers featured in Red’s collection is Clay Corbitt.  Corbitt lived for a time in Dayton and made numerous appearances at the Dayton track.  He was a skilled mechanic when it came to race cars, but spent most of his free time employed as a linoleum installer.

          [Red Harvey is shown at left at a recent Dayton Auto Race Fan club event.  The photo is posted here courtesy of Earl and Peggy Isaacs.]

            He was living in Columbus, Ohio, with his mother when he entered the very first race meet at the then-new Salem Speedway on June 22, 1947, subbing in the Johnston Offy for another Daytonian, Travis “Spider” Webb.

            Tragically, Clay, a twenty-plus year racing veteran, was killed in an accident in the first turn of the first lap of the first heat race ever held at the Indiana track, when he tangled wheels with Jack Schultz.  Schultz was very seriously injured and though he survived another five years after the accident he never fully recovered from the injuries he sustained in the Salem crash.

            I’m confident that you will enjoy looking at Red’s collection here, and as usual we could use your help in captioning some of the photos.  You can contact me here if you have information to share.  (And by the way, you practical jokers out there need not tell me the names of the drivers whose names are already printed on the photos.)

            As I have shared so many times, Red has never retired from driving, but as he tells folks “car owners just don’t call as often anymore.”

            Thanks, Red.

PIC OF THE WEEK; FINALLY, A LOOK AT KEN FOWLER

            FODS who are regular visitors to DSL already know something about Ken Fowler.  For one thing, he won the very first feature race ever held at Dayton Speedway.  On June 3, 1934, Fowler’s Ambler Special out ran the competition to take the checkered flag on the Dayton banking.

            Ken, by his own admission, also had a hand in helping Mauri Rose set fire to the New Bremen Speedway grandstand in the famous September, 1931, race track riot.  (Rose did ten days in the Auglaize County lock-up and paid a substantial fine; Ken made himself scarce and was never indicted.)

            Auto racing’s fleet-footed fire bug eventually went straight, so to speak, and ended up as the flagman for the USAC sprint division.  And as if that wasn’t enough, he also had a hand in helping the Beck’s (Harold Sr and Sonny) come to grips with maintenance in their first Offenhauser engine.

            We’ve been sharing these Ken Fowler stories for months now, but until this Update we’ve never had a photo to share with you.  Now thanks to our ace researcher, Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) we have that photo.  I’ve posted it here as the Pic of the Week(s).  We don’t know where the photo was taken but we think it was in 1934 or 1935.  Best of all, the photo features Ken in the same Ambler Special he rode to victory in that very first Dayton Speedway feature event.  The photo comes to us from the Larry Sullivan collection.

AND WHO WAS THE WINNER OF THE VERY LAST FEATURE?

            This would make a great trivia question for FODS:  Who won the first feature race at Dayton Speedway and who won the last feature?

            The answer:  Ken Fowler won the first feature (see Update item above) and Gene Smith won the last.

SIDEBAR: MY LUCKY LAS VEGAS ADVENTURE

            I just returned from Las Vegas where we’d taken my youngest daughter to celebrate her 21^st birthday.  We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and later that evening we just happened to be strolling across the casino floor at Caesar’s when I was approached by the actor John Amos (Coming to America, Roots, Good Times, etc.)  “Here’s two tickets to Cher’s show tonight.  The seats are in the orchestra.  Her publicist gave them to me, but I can’t use them tonight.  Enjoy.”

            Cher’s new show is the hottest ticket on the strip at the moment and my wife and I took the tickets, walked right into the theater to our orchestra seats.  I have no idea how much the tickets were worth because they were complimentary to Amos, but the top price for a Cher ticket is now $250.

            I wish that I could tell you that my luck continued at the slots and tables for the rest of the week…but that would be a lie.  When your flight leaves Las Vegas and banks back towards the Midwest you get a great view of the city…and a chance to wave bye-bye to your money.  Like I did.

            Great show, by the way.

LUNATIC RACE TRACK

            Yes, yes, I realize that Darlington was the first of the superspeedways and that most drivers of a certain age would have rather won the Southern 500 than any other auto race on the planet, but in its earliest form the track was just a nutty track.  As evidence, I present the photo below provided by our own Jerry Wahl.

          I post the photo here not just because it’s a heck of a photo, but also because some of the photos of Dayton Speedway that are posted on this site show an odd sort of curbing as the track’s banking approaches the outside guardrail.  The curbing doesn’t begin to match the one-car-width of Darlington, and from the condition of the Dayton paving it’s pretty clear that it was never intended that drivers get up close to the guardrail, but like Darlington, Dayton at one time had a remarkable angled curb at the top of the bank.

          [Ooooops!  Staffer Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) did a little research and discovered that the photo above was not taken at Darlington.  It was taken at Oakland Speedway.  So Okaland is the lunatic track.  But so is Darlington.  So there.] 

CHECKERBOARD THEORY CONFIRMED

            Many of the DSL photos of the quarter-mile track at Dayton Speedway show stripes or a checkerboard pattern painted on the asphalt of the small bullring.  It took us awhile here to come up with an explanation, but we finally decided that the stripes and checkerboard were there to give a better sense of speed in the earliest days of television.  Our theory has been confirmed.

            I was recently reading a short history of Hinchliffe Stadium in Patterson, New Jersey.  Hinchliffe, a fifth-mile, is one of America’s best-known bullrings.  The track featured motorcycles, midgets, and jalopys, and in the ‘50s the track surface was painted with a white checkerboard pattern…so that the primitive television technology of the time could better show the speed of the competitors!

LARRY RICE STRUGGLING

            Larry Rice, the sprint car driver who achieved his greatest fame as a broadcaster, is struggling now with health issues.  You can read the details at http://www.indianaopenwheel.com/showthread.php?p=102886&posted=1#post102886.

            Please keep “Rice-a-roni” and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

YOUR HELP NEEDED

            I’m having some difficulty getting in touch with some of our Hall of Fame Class of 2009 inductees and/or their families.  Chick Hale, Dick Dunlevy, Jr., Lee Raymond, Bobby Korn are all accounted for, as are the family members of Dick Freeman, Russ George, and Neal Sceva, but we could use some help with the rest of the first-year inductees.

            If you can put me in touch with any of the other inductees, through phone numbers or e-mail addresses, please contact me here. 

            Thanks!

AUGUST 18, 1935

            The DSL ace researcher, Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) has gathered all the information you could possibly need for the race held at Dayton Speedway on August 18, 1935, a race that was won, by the way, by Daytonian Charlie Engle aboard Daytonian Johnny Vance’s car.  It was an all-Dayton day at the then-five-eighths-mile speedway!

            Reading Rick’s report here at the plush DSL offices was bittersweet for me.  That Vance Special that Charlie drove to the win was the car that another Daytonian should have been driving.  Aloysius Thiesen was Vance’s driver late in the 1934 season and suffered serious injuries in a Dayton race in September of that year.  He still managed to snag the 1934 Midwest Championship title.  He would likely have been back behind the wheel of the Vance car in 1935 had he not agreed to a midget ride inside a Detroit fairground’s coliseum in April, 1935.

            It was Al’s first time back in a race car since he was injured at Dayton and he was probably anxious to show that he hadn’t lost his ability to drive a race car.  He turned the midget car over in the corner attempting to qualify and suffered injuries that proved fatal a few days later.

            Read Rick’s report on the August 18, 1935 race meet at Dayton Speedway here under the Race Results tab.

A NEW MYSTERY PHOTO

            There’s a new Mystery Number Sixteen posted here on the HELP! page.  It shows 20 young stock car drivers preparing for a 200 lap grind at Shady Bowl Speedway in 1962.  All these drivers were regulars at Dayton Speedway and more than a few of them have already been the subject of entries here at DSL.  For once, I actually can identify a few of the drivers in the mystery photo…but not too many.  I’ll leave that job to you.

            When you think you have one or two of the drivers identified, contact me here.

            By the way, Mystery Number Fifteen remains just that, a mystery.  I’ve spent more than a little time studying the photo and I remain amazed at the force of the impact that the #71 car is suffering…just off camera.  The #71 has stopped on the track with such force that the rear window shatters and the rear wheels lift at least two feet off the ground.  The front end of the car looks like it compresses flat onto the speedway’s surface.

            It looks like an accident that would be memorable, and yet no one has yet been able to tell us what happened on that particular day.  Take another look at Mystery Number Fifteen here and if you can tell me what happened please contact me here.

NEED TO CONTACT US?

            To make it easier for FODS around the globe to contact us, I’ve posted a Contact page here.  You’ll find the e-mail addresses of the highly-paid staff (thanks, guys!) and my e-mail and phone number.

            We’d love to hear from you, and you can contact any of us at any time, although I’ve also posted our “specialties” to help you choose the DSL guy who seems best able to answer your question.

            If you call me and get my voice mail, please leave your name, phone number, and subject and I will get back to you pronto.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU

            That wraps up another Update.  Our next Update will be on or about May 31, 2009.  In the meantime, get out there and support your local speedway.

            And, as always, I thank you for your continuing support as we try to keep alive the memory of that wonderful old race track we knew as Dayton Speedway.

     Mickey

     May 18, 2009                

     UPDATE:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING UPDATE SCHEDULE!

            I’ve been updating the site every week, but during the active racing season, the Updates will be posted every two weeks so that I and all the FODS who support the site have a chance to go out and support their local speedways.

            The next update will be May 16, 2009 because I will be traveling for the next several weeks.  The update that will follow will take place on May 30, 2009, and then Updates will happen every two weeks after that until the Fall.

            Please note that I am constantly adding new items to the site between the dates that I post the Update announcements.  The Updates, like this one, serve simply to summarize all the changes that I have made on the site since the previous Update.

            So if the races are rained out at your local track and you have nothing better to do, you might try surfing this site, even if I haven’t posted a new Update.  You’re sure to find something you haven’t seen before!

DSL FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY A HUGE SUCCESS!

            We had a great time at the DSL birthday party on April 21 at Campioni’s Pizza in Springboro, Ohio.  There were approximately 50 FODS in attendance including famous Dayton Speedway drivers Bill Chambers, Mick Miller, Dick Dunlevy, Jr., and Chick Hale.  And let me tell you, racers can eat pizza like no other group in the world!  The Campioni’s staff was kept hopping, trying to keep the pizza coming while the FODS did their best to make it disappear.

            Here four of those present have taken a break from devouring pizza to pose for the camera.  They are (from left to right) DSL staffer Jerry Wahl, Bobby Korn, Chick Hale, and Bill Chambers.

DID I ALREADY MENTION...?

            If I haven’t yet mentioned it, photos from the DARF car show and the Piqua car show are available at www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles. Find the albums with the appropriate names and check them out.  You can have the fotki folks print the photos for you or you can download them at no charge and print them yourself.  Note that there are actually several albums from the Piqua show.  One is from Jerry Wahl who took quite a few photos of folks who stopped by the DSL booth.  The other is an album of my own photos including every single race car entered in the show.

            And if you didn’t make it to the birthday party on April 21, there’s an album of photos from that event also.

A NEW CATEGORY OF OVER THE WALL

            Sonny Beck played a big part in the Beck family’s racing history (you can read more about the Becks here) and now we can report that he represents a new and previously unknown category in the Over the Wall club. (The OTW page is here.)

            In May, 1954, Sonny has the misfortune to ride his Sportsman stock car over the guardrail…of the quarter-mile track!  Rather than end up in the cabbage patch or the swamp or any of the other possibilities that awaited those who went over the half-mile fence, Sonny ended up…well…he ended up in the infield.

            The fact that Sonny went over the quarter-mile fence rather than the half-mile fence is not to say that he went for an easy joy ride.  In fact, Sonny hurt his back in the crash and though he returned to racing the crash no doubt contributed to his eventual retirement from behind the wheel.

            We don’t have a photo of Sonny’s OTW adventure, but thanks to Rocky and Diane (Beck) Lane we do have a newspaper clipping.  You can see it here on the OTW page.

            My thanks to Rocky and Diane!

AND WHILE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ROCKY AND DIANE…

            Along with that clipping of Sonny Beck going over the quarter-mile wall, The Lane’s also sent along some photos that represent the first of a kind we have ever received here in the plush DSL penthouse offices high-atop the DSL building in downtown Springboro: cars actually racing on that famous short-lived quarter-mile track in Dayton Speedway’s infield!

            The quarter-mile racing was frequently televised by WLW TV2 in Dayton in the 1950’s.

            I’ve posted one of the photos of quarter-mile Sportsman racing here as the Pic of the Week, and others here on the Beck family page.

            Thanks (again) to the Lane family!

NEVER TOO OLD

            Most of us that are my age or older still think that it is not out of the question that we own or will someday own a race car.  For some of us, that’s “own a race car again,” and for others a race car in the garage would represent a new adventure.

            Mel Anthony has popped up here on DSL before and most of you know something about him.  Mel is 85 or thereabouts, and he lives in the far, far Northwest corner of the country.  Any farther west and he would get his feet wet in the Pacific; any farther north and he would be drinking Moosehead beer and saying “G’day, eh?”

            Mel started his racing career in the very earliest days of the sport and despite a serious crash or two somehow managed to survive.

            And a few months ago, he and his son Dennis decided that it was time to put a race car back in their garage.

            They purchased a red vintage midget race car and it was quite nice looking.  We posted photos of it here on the Updates page and also here on the Survivors’ page.  Mel posed in the cockpit for the photos.

            And with that we thought we were done reporting on the car until the next time Mel or Dennis sent us some photos showing the car at some vintage race car gathering.  Ha!  We didn’t count on Mel and Dennis cleaning the car up a bit.  And “cleaning” here would be defined as “polished to jewel-like brilliance.”

            (Above) Here’s just one of the photos of the engine compartment after Mel and Dennis have applied what looks like a huge amount of elbow grease.  You can see the rest of the photos here on the Survivors’ page.

            My congratulations to the Anthonys who obviously really know their way around a race car.

ENGLE’S BAR STILL STANDS

            Just one week ago I announced that Daytonian Charlie Engle had been elected to the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame, Class of 2009.  Charlie’s life reads like it was written as some Hollywood screen play.

            He was a driver of some renown; later a spectacularly successful car owner and mechanic.  His cars took some of the most famous drivers of that era to the checkered flag.  But his cars also took Gordon Reid into the crowd of Dayton Speedway spectators, and Larry “Crash” Crockett died in an Engle car at Langhorne.  Charlie’s life ended when he was murdered during a robbery attempt at one of his Dayton taverns, although some would argue that his life really ended when he decided to leave auto racing in the face of the emerging Chevrolet dominance in sprint car racing.  Charlie loved those Offenhauser engines; he hated the Chevrolet engines with equal passion.

            Charlie owned two taverns, one on Second Street and one on Third Street.  The tavern that was the site of the robbery/murder, the Second Street

            Charlie’s Third Street tavern remains, now under new ownership and with a new name of course.  Here’s a photo of the place courtesy our Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net).  It’s across the intersection from the Dayton library.

            If you visit around closing time, you just might hear faint murmured curses about Chevrolet engines in sprint cars, even if you’re the only guy in the joint.

A NEW FODS AND FORMER COMPETITOR

            We’re always excited when a new FODS checks in and even more so when the FODS turns out to have been among that select group of men (and women) who can claim that they once turned a wheel in anger at the wonderful old west side track.

            So we’re happy to report that Terry Egger (eggermageto@aol.com) has checked in as a new FODS and a former competitor.  Here’s what his note said:

"Greetings; My name is Terry Egger.

"I ran the last year Dayton Speedway was open. My car was a 1969 Olds Cutlass #41, tan and brown in color. Dennis Cornett built, helped set up and told me how to drive the Dayton track. With so much of his help on the car, I asked if I could use his #41 in gratitude, and with him saying YES, I went racing.

"I ran in the Hobby Stock Division with the likes of Ken Stookey, Eddie Shaw and Earl Jenkins. The best I could ever do was 3rd place with Ken Stookey usually taking everything!

"My memory on this is a little vague, but if I remember right, with a shortage of cars, they combined the Hobby Stocks with the Sportsman Division (Leonard Nier, Carl Stapleton, Russ Patrick ). You knew these faster cars were going to pass you; it was just a matter of when.

"With all the history, it was truly an honor to race at the Great-Greater Dayton Speedway.

"Finally, if anyone has a picture of my car in the pits or racing, I would certainly appreciate a copy."

I’ll be scanning the vast collection of photos that have collected here in the DSL offices and in the meantime, if you have any photos of Terry’s car or of Terry at Dayton, please get in touch with him.

Welcome aboard, Terry!

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING

            Not one single person from around the globe has offered any guesses as to the answers to the Chick Hale trivia test that I posted here.  There are several possible explanations.  One, none of you knows any of the answers.  Two, you are busy working on your cars now that racing season is here.  Or three, I’ve posted the trivia challenge as a .pdf document and not all of you have that software loaded.

            One and two are definite possibilities, but three seems like the most reasonable explanation.  So I’ll give you a bit more time and post the Chick Hale Trivia Challenge again here as a Word document and here again as a .pdf document.

MORE SILENCE EQUALLY DEAFENING

            A week ago I posted the latest Mystery Number Fifteen showing something strange and unpleasant happening to a stock car at Dayton Speedway.  I hoped that someone would remember the incident and send me the details.  So far, nothing.  And that means my theory, that the car was hit square on the nose by a meteor, is still the best guess as to what happened.

            Take a look at the photo here.  If you know what happened that particular day, please contact me here.

            For now, let me just say that there is a photo of a race car being hit by a meteor from outer space on the Help page.  Weird.

            Actually, Kevin Shatto (kdcrace@roadrunner.com) did send in a clue of sorts.  He thinks that the #71 in the photo might be John Wilson.  It’s John’s old number, and the word Springfield can be seen on the side of the car.  Does this help anyone?

THE HATCHET HAS BEEN BURIED

            In the last update we posted some photos of Al Smith’s remarkable crash at Powell Speedway near Columbus.  The car was completely torn apart in the accident, but somehow Al Smith, the luckiest guy in auto racing then or now, walked away (and if you will note from the photos, he didn’t have to open the car door to walk away).

            Those photos were supplied by Blackie Lawhorn, a former driver now in his 80’s.  When he passed the photos to our Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) he happened to mention that he distinctly remembers another driver forcing him into the guardrail at Dayton Speedway.  In fact, his car got up onto the guardrail and he very nearly joined the OTW club.  Blackie said that he was so mad he could have strangled the other driver, but over the years since then they have become the best of friends.

            That other driver?  Chick Hale.

ANOTHER HERO GONE

            If you came in through the home page you saw the obit for Danny Kladis who left us at age 92.  Danny was the oldest surviving driver from the earliest Indy 500, the 1946 edition, when he drove for the Granatelli brothers.

            If you came in through another page, visit the home page here now to read about Danny’s life and times.

MEMORIES OF THE CHAMP CARS AND RHONDA FLEMING

            A new FODS, Jerry Castor (cstrindy@aol.com) from North Vernon, IN has checked in with a personal remembrance of that champ car race that was held at Dayton Speedway (read more about it here).  Here’s what Jerry wrote:

"Hi Guys!

"I was at the track when movie star Rhonda Fleming was on hand to kiss the feature winner.  It was a race program for the 'Champ Cars' of the day--dirt cars. Times were tough for the Champ Cars, and USAC occasionally scheduled races on half-miles in order to have something of a 'full' schedule of races.  I know the Champ Cars ran on some Eastern half-miles, but I believe Dayton was the only site where they ran on the banks.

"I was 18 years old at the time…not old enough for a pit pass unless you 'knew someone' and it didn't really make much difference, because the only thing separating the infield from the pits was a rope stretched between several steel fence posts that had been driven into the ground.  And only one overworked security guard who chased me from the pits at least three times that afternoon.

"The feature race was a classic battle between my hero Pat O'Connor and Ed Elisian, with Elisian making a final pass for the lead in the closing stages of the race, and taking the win by a whisker.  I later heard from personnel who were in the Judges' Stand that Ms. Fleming was looking forward smooching handsome Pat and was somewhat put off when she had to cuddle up to the sweaty, 'sartorial-and-etiquette-challenged' Elisian.  Pretty funny.

"Thanks for the website--and fond memories.

Best Regards,

Jerry Castor

North Vernon, IN"

            Thanks Jerry for checking in with a great story of your visit to the Dayton Speedway for the champ car event.  And I have to admit that even now photos of the lovely Ms. Fleming cause my forehead to bead with sweat.  A little.

THE GILBERG BROTHERS RIDE TO THE RESCUE…AGAIN

            Buzz Rose, author of some of the nicest auto racing history books, is in the process of writing another book, and this one focuses on the few times the champ cars battled on tracks of less than one mile.  There were only four such instances, and Dayton Speedway was one of those events.

            One of the things that Buzz needed was a photo of the cover of the Dayton Speedway program for that event.  Lo and behold, after just two trips into the attic, Rich Gilberg (fgilberg@woh.rr.com) was able to find the program from that 1956 event!

            I sent the cover on to Buzz and posted it for you to see here on the home page (temporarily) and here on the page devoted to that Dayton champ car event.  You will also find, at the bottom of that page, the scoring that Rich’s mom kept during the event.

            My thanks to Rich for braving the attic (twice!) to uncover the treasure!

THE OTHER GILBERG BROTHER

            The other brother Gilberg, Bob, President of the SoCal chapter of FODS, chose not to fly in for our birthday party (cheap!) but sent along this note:

"Congratulations!!!

"Hello Foggy;

            "SoCal region checking in!  Sorry I will not be back in the Ohio region for your anniversary celebration, but congratulations n a great year, and many thanks for founding this wonderful web site!

            "Just a couple of comments on some later items in “What’s New?”

            "For Diane Stapleton: while I am no a member of the inner circle of drivers and owners she is hoping to hear more from, I was at Winchester the day her father lost his life in 1954.  She was 5 at the time; I was 14.  At the tender age of 14, Chuck’s accident had a profound effect on me.  Then and now, I was, and still am, in awe of the men who stepped into those unforgiving machines and raced them up on the edges of the high banks, with eternity just visible out of the right side corner of their driving goggles.  I couldn’t believe men could will themselves to do that.  Now, looking back at those unprotected cockpits, skinny tires, tee-shirt “uniforms” and rough tracks, I believe it even less; even though I was there!

            "It was certainly even harder for Dianne, at 5, to understand she had lost her Dad doing that.  But, she should be thrilled and proud that her Dad played a part in the most exciting era of our sport!  Dianne, I hope you hear from everyone who raced with Chuck, or watched him drive.

            "That photo of a field of super modified running up the back stretch of the dirt-track-within-the-high-banked Dayton Speedway in 1959 reminds me of how good the supers had become at that time.  At many track, they could qualify at sprint car lap times.  Hemi’s, nailhead Buicks, you name it, they tried it…even superchargers!  After watching the IRL racing yesterday with all cars using the same chassis, same engine, same tires, same 125 pound drivers…what is there to say?  Harold (the Bear) Smith need not apply.

Bob Gilberg

San Diego (Home track: New Bremen, Ohio)"

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

            After I posted last week’s Pic of the Week I received an e-mail from Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com).  Jerry had studied the photo (you can see it here) and read the caption as supplied by Kevin Shatto from his father’s collection, and he said that something just didn’t “feel right.”

            Then, later, another e-mail from Jerry reporting that something about that photo “bothered him.”

            And another…”wish I could put my finger on it.”

            Finally, several days after I posted the photo, I received this:  “Light bulb…I was in bed and the light bulb came on.  I believe #72 is Kenny Arnold.”

            Check out the photo and if you have another opinion as to the driver’s identity, please contact me here.

            (I wonder if Nancy Wahl can even sleep what with that light bulb constantly flashing…)

SCARY PROMOTION

            If you’ve read the articles published when the Dayton Speedway was under construction, you probably noticed the owners’ plans for the first season, 1935.  They planned to run a half-dozen events for cars, some events for motorcycles, and some events that would combine cars and motorcycles!  Even now, 75 years after publication of those plans, the mind boggles at the dangers involved in combining cars and motorcycles in the same speed event.

            While there is no record that the cars/motorcycles events were ever held, the owners were apparently not very quick to abandon the concept.

            Our Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) has found an article dated August 21, 1936, that promises an August 30, 1936 race with midgets and big cars on the same track at the same time.

            Oh I know what you’re saying.  In road racing, sports cars of widely varying horsepower share the same track.  True, but those are very long tracks.  In the case of the midgets and big cars at Dayton, they would be sharing a flat five-eighths mile dirt track where the midgets would be at a significant disadvantage.

            So what happened?  Good question.  There’s no indication that the race was ever held.  It’s possible that there was a rain-out; Rick is continuing to search for evidence that the race was postponed and held at a later date.

            Of course, it’s also possible that there weren't enough drivers in either class who were interested in testing their luck by sharing the track with a different class of cars.

            Stay tuned.  In the meantime, you can read the newspaper article as a Word document here.

THOSE DARN TROY, OHIO SPEEDWAYS

            I’ll confess to being an eavesdropper.  At least I was at the DARF and Piqua car shows as I listened in to various old timers who remembered the pair of speedways that used to exist in Troy, Ohio.  Considering that there are a lot of towns much bigger than Troy that never had a single race track, it’s pretty amazing that Troy had two.

            It was pretty clear from the chit-chat at the shows that the existence and location of the two tracks was not necessarily widely known.  Let’s call on our own Jerry Wahl (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) for the final and definitive word on the subject:

"Now for the two, yes two, race tracks near Troy. I attended both of them. Trojan Speedway was located north of Troy off of what is now known as 25-A near what is known as Eldean and was a quarter-mile dirt that ran in the early 50's and I am not sure when the last event was run. I do know when they built I-75 that erased the track.

"The second track was located south of Troy off of what is now known as 25-A south and was called Boone Hill Speedway and to this day the drive going back to where the track use to be is still there. It is just south of the Erwin car dealership and there is also a street named Boone nearby. A gentleman from Pleasant Hill and several other men built the track, a quarter-mile dirt that ran from about 1950 to 1955 or so and then sat idle until a man by the name of Gene Hickman re-opened it in the early 60's and he ran it for several years.

"The group that built the track had a business in Troy manufacturing concrete block and I believe it is called flexicore. Anyhow it is the same material that the old Tri-County/Queen City Speedway had for seating and those two products are what they used to construct the seating. Boone Hill is the track that ran parallel to a railroad track and whenever a train approached they had to halt the racing until it passed.

"Boone Hill was the more popular of the two and that is where the Hewitt family, before Jack of course, started racing along with Jerry and Dick Poland and others.

"Hope this helps some and by the way New Bremen Speedway historian Dave Kramer had video of racing at Boone Hill.

---Jerry"

HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2009 ANNOUNCED

            If you missed that DSL birthday party on April 21, you also missed my announcement of the 18 men who will be inducted into the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame as the first class, the Class of 2009.  I counted over 10,000 votes cast by FODS from all corners of the globe.

            All 18 are worthy representatives of the hundreds, if not thousands, of men, and women, who toiled at Dayton Speedway as promoters, car owners, mechanics, drivers, and media representatives.

            The formal induction ceremony will be held in the Fall.  As I finalize the details, I will post the information here at DSL.

            I congratulate the inductees, their friends, fans, and families on this very special honor.  You will find the complete list of the Class of 2009 here.

THAT’S A WRAP

            That closes another Update, FODS.  As I mentioned earlier, I will be traveling quite a bit over the next few weeks, but I will be making changes to the site here and there.  You can read about the changes I’ve made at the next Update, May 16, 2009.

            As always, my sincere thanks for your continuing support of this website as we work to ensure that the memory of that wonderful old speedway on Dayton’s west side doesn’t fade away.

            Mickey

            April 28, 2009

     UPDATE:

RAISING OUR EDITORIAL STANDARDS HERE AT DSL

                        When longtime racer and FODS Becky Pfeiffenberger recently offered me a chance to raise the level of writing here at DSL I couldn’t say no.  It seems that when her daughter Laurie (now Laurie Deeter) was in high school she was given a creative writing assignment.  Since Laurie was (and is) a race track brat who had been attending races since she was born and was thoroughly addicted to the sport, Laurie decided to write a poem about the start of a brand new racing season and the sense of anticipation that brings.

            I think it’s pretty clear that Laurie’s a gifted writer and since we are just now enjoying the first races of a new season here in the Midwest, what better time for me to share her poem with you.

            (My thanks to Laurie’s mom Becky for sharing this with me!)

    (P.S.  Laurie got an “A” for her effort!)

A Lump in the Throat

This is my home

sweet smell of ethanol

gritty clay rough against my skin

wooden planks propped atop

cold cement foundation

Familiar faces

the “Frontstretch Club”

JeffRandyCarolAaronJason-

weekend playmates

Beautiful oval of claydirtrubbermud

so many stories

tragedy and triumph

watched a man die

others fulfill wildest dreams

Eldora

Taj Mahal of dirt track racing

Trailers in the pits

like boxcars in a train yard

mighty wings hover over horsepower

feel the thrill

tips of toes to

hair on your head

I sit

boiling with anticipation

as sun paints my Rudolph-red nose

freckles bloom

smile grows wider

eyes dance with excitement

I’m home

I’m at the track

cars are warming up

time to go racing!

Laurie Pfeiffenberger

NEW FODS CHECKS IN

            A brand new FODS has checked in.  Dick Markley (hoguru@q.com) had this to say:

Great memories  and as long as we have them the places we used to race like DAYTON  NEW BREMEN,  QUEEN CITY,  POWELL and others will and can never be forgotten.  

WONDERFUL site.  I truly wish I could turn back the clock  to ‘75 or ‘76 when a good many of us would race like the dickens to get to CMS after a race in DAYTON on a SUN afternoon.  That was a magical time I will never forget and the local racing in the 70's was so competitive.

I miss it and yes I do live in the past.    DICK MARKLEY

Like Dick, I was among those who would try to get in two races in a single day, and the race to Columbus Motor Speedway was usually at least as exciting as the on-track action!

Welcome aboard, Dick! 

BUZZ ROSE CHECKS IN

            Buzz Rose, author of some terrific auto racing history books including Kings of the Hills, a volume  that features Dayton Speedway, called me the other day to talk about his next effort, a book that will focus on the few times the championship cars ran on a track of less than a mile.  Dayton Speedway was going to be included of course since the Dayton half-mile track hosted a non-points race in 1956 (you can read all about it here).

            Champ cars only ran on the shorter tracks four times.  Besides Dayton, the champ cars visited Williams Grove, Pennsylvania in the same year that they ran at Dayton, and raced at Legion Ascot twice in the 1930’s.  Rex Mays won both of the Ascot champ car events.

            Rose needs a few items for his champ car book and DSL will try to assist of course.  What we are still lacking, I think, is the program (cover at least) for the Dayton champ car event, and photographs of Ken Fowler who won the very first race run at Dayton when the track was still a flat 5/8-mile rectangle.

            If you can help with either of these items, or any other items related to the championship car race at Dayton, please contact me here.

EARL BALTES AT DAYTON SPEEDWAY

            If you haven’t yet read Earl Baltes’ book Earl, co-authored with Dave Argabright, you need to put it on your “to do” list.  (Check out Rand Thompson’s (caprirand@comcast.net) review here on our Bookshelf.)

            In it, Earl tells the fascinating story of his involvement in Dayton Speedway.  It began with strong encouragement from John Marcum.  Yep, that John Marcum, head honcho of the ARCA series.  Marcum convinced Baltes that they needed to take a run at getting Dayton Speedway back in operation.

            Baltes went along.  The pair of them formed a corporation with both of them owners of 50% of the stock.  Marcum, for reasons that later became apparent, refused to accept the presidency of the new corporation.  Baltes didn’t want to be president either, but Marcum insisted that it wouldn’t work if he wasn’t the president.  So Baltes became the president of the corporation.

            They leased the property from the owners, Flanagan and O’Grady, who insisted on being paid 15% of every gate, right off the top.

            When Marcum and Baltes inspected the track it was obvious that a lot of work would be needed.  Specifically, two major capital improvements loomed on the horizon.  The guardrail was in terrible shape and would have to be replaced.  And the track surface was a mess.  Not only would the track have to be completely repaved, but the subsurface would have to be smoothed to take out the dips.

            The two partners took care of the guardrail, but the track surfacing required a pro.  They hired a contractor who, after much head scratching and consultation with an engineer, bid $95,000 for the job, an amount equal to approximately $650,000 today.  And by all accounts, the contractor took a bath on the job.

            Needless to say, $95,000 was a lot of money, but Baltes was already confident that he could cover his half of the bill.

            And then, with the contractor finished and the invoice delivered to Earl Baltes, John Marcum called Baltes and asked him to meet him at the Speedway.  Baltes arrived with no idea that there was any problem.  In fact, Earl thought that John was meeting him to hand over his half of the money.

            When they met, Marcum told him straight out that he couldn’t come up with his half.  In fact, according to Marcum, his wife Mildred was so tired of Marcum losing money on speedway deals she’d told him that he was never again to have an interest in or operate a race track.

            “Earl,” Marcum said, “if I don’t get out of my involvement here at Dayton Speedway, Mildred will divorce me.  It’s that simple.”

            What happened next?  Hey, you’ll just have to read the book!

OTW MYSTERY DEEPENS

            We thought we’d answered all the questions connected with the Paul (not A.J.) Stapleton over the wall crash at Dayton Speedway.  But just about the time we sat back and congratulated ourselves for sorting out that series of photos here from the Ralph Bray collection, one of the FODS steps up to our DSL table at one of the car shows earlier this year and points out that there are actually TWO cars shown in that series, not one!  Well thank you very much.

            We’re pretty certain that Paul went out of the park all by himself, so who’s the other OTW club member?  And which car is which?

            Please!  Put us all out of our misery!  Send me the answer here!

ROGER MAY CHECKS IN

            Another new FODS!  Roger May (rogerhelenmay@bellsouth.net) checks in.

The bottom picture on the left orange #45 I believe is Dave Jackson from Cincinnati.  He ran there some in the late ‘70s.

The bottom picture on the left orange # 45 I believe is Dave Jackson from Cincinnati he ran there some in the late 70's.

By the way a GREAT web site I found it by accident I saw it on the Dayton Daily News web site.

Also just a little history I was at the 1958 Dayton 500 in Sept of 58 don't remember the exact date but I do remember it was HOT.

Thanks from a Cincinnati, Dayton and Eldora race fan.

Roger May

Corbin,Ky 40701

H:606-528-3796

C:606-344-6491

            Thanks Roger.  I’ve added the appropriate caption to the photo.  You can check out all the Dayton 500 photos here.

MYSTERY PHOTOS

            I thought for sure that our Mystery Number Fourteen photos (here) from the camera of FODS Craig Shaw (crudbro20@yahoo.com) would remain mysteries for as long as this site exists.  I didn’t count on the first rate sleuthing of FODS Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net) and ace researcher Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net). Between the two of them they’ve managed to get a pretty good idea of where the photos were taken relative to the location of the Dayton Speedway.  You’ll find the analysis by both these FODS here at Mystery Number Fourteen.

Since we’ve solved Mystery Fourteen it seems only appropriate that we look at Mystery Number Fifteen. 

Photographer Al Wolford sent along a small collection of terrific photos that I’ve been posting over the past couple of weeks.  One of the photos showed three stock cars racing on the high-banks and one of them was Chick Hale.  Nothing unusual about that; Chick was a fixture at the track for many, many years. 

But then we looked closer at the car in front of Hale, a Chevelle I think, and that’s when we realized that something very strange had happened to it.  My guess is that it was hit by a meteor, but then that’s just my guess.  Take a look here, read the caption, and tell me if you know what the heck happened on that particular day at Dayton Speedway.

BOB PRONGER STORY/CADILLAC

            Bob Pronger showed up here at DSL when one of the FODS identified the driver of the Cadillac (shown on the left and here on the Surges/Richardson page) as Pronger.  We’ve been having a heck of a time identifying the drivers of the cars in that great collection of Surges/Richardson photos so I was just happy that we were able to put a name with one of the photos.

            But surprise, surprise (as Gomer Pyle used to say).  Our Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net) came across a short bio of Pronger on the web written by one Bob Markos and it is quite a story.  We have no way of confirming the details of the story, and we’d be happy to add or subtract from the tale as new information is received.  Here’s what Markos wrote:

I grew up watching Bob Pronger race around the Chicago area. He was involved in Interstate Racketeering and was to testify in 1971 before a grand jury and two days before he disappeared. It was claimed to be a mob hit and he was never found.

He was a very tough racer but extremely talented. He stood 6 foot 7 and was from Blue Island, Illinois. He raced NASCAR and drove in the 1953 Beach Race and the inaugural Daytona 500. In ‘53 he set the world's record at the Beach for stock cars and sat on the pole next to Fonty Flock. The two of them had a side bet in who would lead the first lap. As they went into the first turn side by side Flock backed off and Pronger keep on going full speed off the course and flipped. He landed on his wheels and got his car started and was beating his roof back up with his fists while he was steering with his knees! He only lasted one more lap.

Pronger was involved in an accident at Daytona in I believe ‘62 or ‘63 with Jr. Johnson and was banned from NASCAR for life. During the ‘50's he ran the SAFE circuit and the NASCAR Convertible division. He won a number of SAFE races around the country.

He was extremely tough around Chicago and raced at Raceway Park and was Bud Koehler's biggest nemesis. He also won at places like Illiana, Mazon, Grundy City., Soldiers Field and others. At the 1969 Illiana Bettenhausen Memorial Race, Moose Myers broke the track record and started last and he was heading to the front in a hurry, when Pronger put him in the fence. Many say that cheated the fans of watching Myers and Joy Fair duo that day as both were extremely fast and very equal. Fair end up winning by a lap.

Thanks Bob Markos  

            Rand added this bit of information:

            Of his days at Raceway Park, Pronger was in a number of rhubarbs there and promoter Pete Jenin told him he had to clean up his act or hit the road. A week later he returned and raced for the remainder of his career wearing a suit and tie!   

PIC OF THE WEEK

            Sportsmen class cars!  Gene Smith!  Harold Smith!  Buster Blackford! Coupes!  Flatheads!  Six cylinders! I raced with these guys!  (OK, more accurately, my car was on the same track at the same time as these guys, and we tried desperately not to get in their way.)

            Our Pic of the Week is a good one and it comes to us from the collection of Dennis Shatto, courtesy of his son Kevin (kdcrace@roadrunner.com).  A great photo.  Check it out here!

            Thanks Kevin!

UNHAPPY NEWS

            I’m sorry to report that as of this writing Gerry Terry, the last promoter at Dayton Speedway before it closed, is abed at Hospice and not doing well.  She was an important part of the Dayton Speedway history and did her best to keep the old track afloat.

            Our thoughts and prayers are with Gerry and her family.

ANOTHER NEW FODS

            Ken Chew (dianechew@comcast.net) now of Seattle is the latest FODS to check in, this time with memories of that great driver Dick Freeman.  Here’s what Ken told me:

First of all thx for this great site !! 

I met Dick & Dora in the very early ‘60s . I was in HS with Dora’s son Gene. Before I knew it I was hooked on racing.

            I wound up in the Army in 10/64, and unfortunately I lost contact with them. Those were some great times going to all the different tracks.

The next time I sawn Dick I had a brand new spouse in tow. We were on our way to Ft. Gordon, GA.  Dick being a bit of a teaser asked my new wife if she had read Tobacco Road, which she had.  Needless to say my new bride was terrified at the prospect of living there.   

I have found two fotos besides the one you have on the site, I believe these are from Sceva’s or Wahl’s site. I sure miss those times and still think of them occasionally. MY best to you and all who run this site.

KEN now in Seattle

I’ve posted both of the photos that Ken sent here on the Dick Freeman page.

And while we’re talking about Dick Freeman, I’ve also posted a couple of photos that Tom Davidson, the former official MARC/ARCA photographer provided.

Thanks to both Ken and Tom.

YET MORE ON DICK FREEMAN FROM HIS DAUGHTER VICKI

            Vicki Freeman and DSL’s Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) have been communicating via e-mail on the subject of Vicki’s dad and I thought that I’d share with you part of one of her e-mail messages.

Hello Rick,

It is amazing how many people still remember my Dad.  I run into people all the time who use to go to Kil- Kare and tell me that Dick Freeman was their favorite driver.  I can’t believe it will be 34 years since his passing.  Thank you for keeping his memory alive.  He was such a fun loving guy and never met a stranger.  And he never had anything bad to say about anyone either.

I remember wanting to meet Jim Cushman (remember him?).  I bugged my Dad every Friday night that I wanted to meet Jim Cushman.  I think I was only 9-10 years old.  After one Friday night race I was standing with my Dad and Jim walked up and Dad tried to introduce him but I hid behind my Dad’s legs and didn’t day a peep.  I was a little shy back then!

My mother is still in touch with Harold Smith’s widow.  Janet Smith lives in Florida and they still write each other.  Of course you know Harold passed away a few years back.

I go to a lot of the NASCAR races around the Midwest and South.  It just gets into your blood.  Either you love it or you hate it.  I really love it though. As well as my brother and sister, Dick and Debby.

I know a few of the drivers that are driving at Kil-Kare this year.  I plan on going to a few Friday night races.  The place brings back so many memories and still looks the same as when I was a kid!

Thanks, again, for the information and pictures.  Maybe I will see you at the track.

Vicki Freeman

ONE MORE FREEMAN ITEM

            The photo that Marvin Goins donated over a year ago showing Dick Freeman sitting in his car at Dayton Speedway is not a Ford, despite my best efforts to convince everyone that it was.  It was a Mercury, and according to our official flagman, John Potts (indybigjohn@roadrunner.com), the car shown was one of a pair of team cars that year.  John remembers the car as a 1961 or ’62 Merc, as was the team car.  Anyone have a different view, or more information on the team?  If so, contact me here.

            Thanks John for straightening me out.  I’ve fixed the caption.

JUST TWEAKING THE FACTS

            It’s so hard to find the facts when trying to research the history of the Dayton Speedway that we feel obligated to be as precise as possible whenever we can.  So you can consider this a mere tweaking of the facts and not a correction.

            An Update or two ago I told you that Daytonian Charlie Engle (read his story here) got the Vance ride after Dayton driver Al Thiesen was hurt in September, 1934, at Dayton Speedway.

            To be more accurate, Engle got the Vance ride full time for the 1935 season.  Driver Bob Saul got the ride for a race a few weeks after Thiesen was injured.

            Here’s the newsclipping.

I’M GOING ON RECORD HERE AND NOW

            I’m going on record here and now to say that I want very much to dislike John Surges (vintagemodman@msn.com).  John, you see, has four (yep, four) vintage race cars.  That is exactly four more than I have.  You can see why I would dislike him.

            On the other hand, he has provided a beautiful collection of slides of mid to late '50s stock car racing action at Dayton and other tracks for me to share with the FODS Nation.

            Oh, what to do?

            Well, I suppose I am just going to have to like the guy because not only has he shared those slides with us, but he is also doing a fabulous job with his latest vintage race car, the Frank Smith 1957 Ford replica race car.

            Here’s a photo of the car with Frank (left) and John.  You can check out John’s other vintage cars here on the page where I have posted just some of the Surges/Richardson slides.

            (P.S.  Thanks, John.)

TOM DAVIDSON

            I want to give a special shout out to former official MARC/ARCA photographer Tom Davidson who has been kind enough to supply us with some of his wonderful photographs for our use here at DSL.  I hope that I will have more to post as time goes by.

            Thanks Tom.

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

            My thanks to all of you who have RSVP’d for our big DSL first birthday party tomorrow night at Campioni’s Pizza in Springboro.  I’ll be reading the results of the Hall of Fame voting and talking about the induction ceremony planned for the Fall, 2009, and there will be a few surprises as well.

            Author Buzz Rose is sending copies of his book Kinds of the Hills that has a lot of material about Dayton Speedway in it and the books will be available for sale there.  And I’m working on a souvenir for all who attend.

            There is still time for you to RSVP to me here or by calling (937) 550-4067.  There are more details on our Pizza Party Page.

            I hope to see you there.

ANOTHER NEW BOOK

          Rand Thompson has sent along his review of another terrific racing volume, Driving with the Devil.  Check it out here on the Bookshelf and then plan to add it to your collection.  Look for it under the author's name, Neal.

A VERY LUCKY MAN

          If you've been a regular visitor to this website you'll have already read about some very lucky drivers who somehow managed to survive horrendous accidents in an earlier era.  For the most part, they are drivers that were thrown from their cars onto the track, but somehow managed to get up and walk away.

          Meet Al Smith, a Dayton Pleasure Car Club member and Dayton Speedway regular who firmly established himself as the luckiest man on the face of the earth one Sunday afternoon at Powell Speedway near Columbus.  Check out the photos supplied by 80-something Blackie Lawhorn who reports that not only did Al survive, he did indeed walk away, complaining only of stiffness!

UPDATE SCHEDULE CHANGE

            Next week will be my last weekly Update; the Updates for the rest of the racing season will be every two weeks.  This will give me a chance to go out and support my local race tracks so that they don’t end up as memories posted on a website like the wonderful old Dayton Speedway.  I urge you to do the same.

            By going to an every-two-week schedule, I’ll get a chance to take a deep breath and improve the site, add more photos and stories, and just generally give the FODS Nation a better product.  Likewise, my dedicated and unpaid staff, Jerry Wahl, Rick Patterson, Gene Ingram, and Rand Thompson, all of whom are dyed in the wool racers, will have a chance to catch their breath and at the same time catch some local races.

            Tomorrow night we’ll be celebrating the one year mark since I first published the Dayton Speedway Lives! website.  Based on what you’ve told me, it would seem that the website is a hit and a great success.

            I would love to take full credit (and maybe someday when I’m with people who have no way of knowing the truth, I will).

            But the truth is that this website is successful because of each and every one of you who visit here, who have offered stories of their time at the track, or provided photos, or other memorabilia.

            I can only hope that our second year is as successful as our first.  I’ve had a wonderful time, and I hope that you have, too.

            I leave you with this: We all know that it’s not healthy to live in the past…but it’s a wonderful place to visit!

            Thanks again for your continuing support of this website and your help in keeping alive the memory of that magical 55 acres of land that was once the world’s greatest race track, Dayton Speedway.

            Mickey

            April 20, 2009