WHAT'S NEW?

ARCHIVE 9 

NEW UPDATE COMPLETE - MONDAY AUGUST 31, 2009

           UPDATE:

HOF CEREMONY TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE

            Tickets for the November 1^st Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame induction ceremony (read more about that here) went on sale August 1^st and your response has been terrific.  I’m continuing to hold some tickets back because I haven’t confirmed the number needed by all our inductees’ families, but those tickets that have been released for sale are going quickly.

            I know that November 1^st seems like it is a long way off in the future and some of you might be procrastinating for that reason, but if you’re planning to attend the HOF ceremony you should be ordering your tickets now while some tickets are still available.

            Ordering tickets is simple.  Send a check or money order for $10 for each ticket ordered to: 

Mickey Thompson,

            If I run out of tickets before I fill your order, I’ll return your check or money order to you uncashed.

            You can read more about ordering tickets here.  If you have any questions, please contact me here.

NIX TIX AT THE DOOR

            I was recently asked if tickets to the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame induction ceremony would be available at the door.  The answer is “no.”

            There will be a light luncheon beginning at 1 p.m. and in order to make certain I have enough food I need to know who is going to attend.

            Tickets have to be ordered in advance, and I will cut off sales when I run out of tickets, but in any event ticket sales will end several weeks before the HOF event.

            Thanks.

MUTT ANDERSON CONFIRMED

            Clarence “Mutt” Anderson is no stranger to auto racing Halls of Fame.  In 2003 Mutt was inducted into the prestigious Sprint Car Hall of Fame.  Now, in 2009, we’ll be inducting Mutt into the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame, along with fellow Sprint Car and Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame inductees Earl Baltes and Frank Funk.

            I’m happy to report that Mutt has confirmed that he will attend the Dayton Speedway induction on November 1^st and he has also confirmed that he will be available to sign autographs.

            I lived in Xenia during my high school years.  It was there, in my father’s garage in northwest Xenia, that I built my first race car, a 1952 Chevrolet Sportsman. (You can find a photo of it here.)  You could probably argue that the Sportsman class was at or near the bottom of the auto racing food chain in the mid-sixties.  Hobby/street stocks were just gaining some traction and the only thing below that, relatively speaking, was demolition derby.

            I considered the center of the professional auto racing universe just a mile or two from my humble shop.  That’s where Mutt Anderson built and prepared the sprint cars for the USAC sprint wars.  My father worked at Bob Evans’ sausage plant and knew Mutt, but in the three or four years while I lived in Xenia I never once went over to Mutt’s shop to visit.  I mean, really, how could I do that?  Mutt was a guy at the top of the racing game.  He hung out with guys like Roger McCluskey and Mario Andretti and Parnelli and A.J. and all the rest.  He was a champion and his cars won big important races.

            Meanwhile, my car was a moving chicane at Eldora, challenging guys like Chick Hale and Red Harvey and Don Wilbur to miss the blue Chevy each time they lapped us.  My teammates and I were enthusiastic, but enthusiasm doesn’t translate to speed, or much else really.

            I finally got a chance to sit for a couple of minutes with Mutt at one of the Dayton Auto Race Fan club car shows a couple of years ago.  I told him about living in Xenia during high school and building my first race car not far from his shop.  He responded “You should have stopped by and said hello.”

            I told him that I just couldn’t do that, because whereas I was sort of starting at the bottom of the motorsports ladder, Mutt was at the top.  Mutt got sort of a far away look in his eyes and simply said, “Yeah, but it’s hard to stay up there…”

            We’re fortunate to be able to host Anderson and the rest of the 2009 class.  If you haven’t ordered your tickets yet, better step on the gas!  You’ll find directions for ordering your tickets here.

THIS MONTH IN DAYTON SPEEDWAY HISTORY

            For some months our ace researcher Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) has been gathering information for an article that appears here on the DSL home page.  I’ve been titling the article “This Week in Dayton Speedway History,” but with my Updates to this site coming farther apart during the racing season I’ve changed the title to “This Month in … .”

            Check out the special September article here and you’ll find that the Dayton 500 occupies most of the items.  That’s not surprising; the Dayton 500 was the traditional big season-ending event for the west Dayton speed plant.

SAD BUT TRUE

            I recently uncovered a story that has nothing to do with Dayton Speedway, but it is sufficiently tragic, weird, and sad that I need to share it with you.

            On September 2, 1957, in Lebanon, PA a driver was killed at a stock car event.  On the face of it that’s not so surprising.  In that earlier time drivers (and pit crews and spectators and … ) were killed on a regular basis every week.  What is unusual is how this driver met the Reaper.

            Melvin Kreiser, 34, was killed when he walked on the track to halt a race in which he was an entry!

            Kreiser ran on the track at Myerstown Speedway to halt the speeding cars which had started the event in which he was to drive.  He was late reporting at the starting line, and the race began without him.

            Kreiser was struck by six of the racers before the other drivers could halt their cars.  He was dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

            I checked the Motorsports Memorial page (www.motorsportsmemorial.org) and found that poor Kreiser wasn’t listed.  I sent along the information and Kreiser has been added to that database.

A NEW RECORD…FOR ME

            With the posting of this 1976 photograph showing Troy, Ohio’s favorite son, Jack Hewitt, in a USAC sprint car on the Dayton banking I’m setting a new record of sorts.  In this Update there are no fewer than three – count them! – three photographs of Jack.  The other two?  One is here as the Pic of the Week(s).  It was also taken, by me as a matter of fact, in 1976 at Dayton, and shows Jack sporting a ‘70s disco hairstyle.  (Compare this photo with the photo we posted in the previous Updates showing Jerry Wahl in full disco-inspired attire.)

            The third photo is somewhere below and it shows Jack, along with a gang of other drivers, at a recent event to honor Terre Haute businessman and auto racer Don Smith.

            In his time there was no more exciting driver than Jack Hewitt.  Watching him on dirt, whether in a midget, sprinter, or Silver Crown car was always worth the price of admission.  At Eldora Speedway the entire grandstand would hold its collective breath while Jack routinely destroyed the rest of the field by running within inches of the outside wall.

            On September 26, 1998, Jack had a remarkable day at the USAC Four Crown Nationals at Eldora.  He won all four feature events - midget, sprint, Silver Crown, and UMP Modified – the only time that has ever been done.  (And likely the only time it will ever be accomplished.)

            If you never got a chance to see Jack in action, words cannot describe it adequately.

THE NAME OF OTHER DS OWNERS SURFACE

            Just when I thought that we knew the names of every owner of Dayton Speedway, a new name pops up: Tom Cushman.  And another: Bill Edmonds.

            Before the start of the 1958 race season, DS co-owner and promoter Blair Ratliff joined with John Marcum (head of MARC, later ARCA) and Cincinnati native Tom Cushman to buy out the speedway stock belonging to Ratliff’s then-partner George Geis.  Ratliff, Geis, and their former partner Bill Edmonds, of Hamilton, OH (another new owner’s name!) purchased the speedway from Frank Funk (DS/HOF/2009) in 1950 for around $125,000 (that’s almost $1.2 million in today’s money, adjusted for inflation).

            Geis’ shares at the time of the 1958 transaction were estimated to be worth about $80,000 (about $600,000 in today’s money, adjusted for inflation).

            With the new ownership, the track would operate as Dayton Speedway, Inc.  Ratliff was the president and promoter, Marcum was the vice-president, and Cushman was the treasurer.

            So what did the new partners get for their money?  In 1958 Dayton Speedway, Inc. consisted of 53.8 acres of land, a wooden grandstand and bleacher section with seating for between 10,000 and 11,000 spectators, a half-mile high-banked asphalt track, and a slightly smaller dirt track built in the spring of 1957 at a cost of $15,000 ($115,000 in today’s money).  More on that dirt track in a moment.

            When Ratliff and his partners announced the new ownership group, Ratliff also announced plans to build a road course on the back 24 acres for use in sports car racing.  Sports car racing was becoming very popular in the ‘50s because anyone who could afford a foreign car could begin racing it, regardless of skill level.

            Those of you who remember the story of Marcum’s later involvement with Earl Baltes (DS/HOF/2009) will not be surprised to read that Marcum’s involvement in this ownership group was limited to vice-president.  Marcum pushed Baltes into the position of president in their ‘60s adventure, too.

            Now about that dirt track.  The dirt track was the flat dirt oval built at the base of the half-mile banking.  You can read more about it here, and there’s more farther down in this Update.

DAYTON SPEEDWAY BANS USAC SPRINTS!

            Yep, it’s true.  While most of us know that USAC pulled the plug more than once on racing at Dayton Speedway because of track conditions, few of us probably remember that at the start of the 1957 season, Dayton Speedway banned USAC.  And Dayton was not the only track involved in the boycott.

            From all indications, DS promoter Blair Ratliff was the driving force behind the boycott, and it revolved around purse money, although appearance money demanded by some of the drivers was a contributing element.  Ratliff’s Dayton track, along with Winchester and Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and New Bremen, Ohio, plus Heidelberg, Pennsylvania, entered into an agreement to boycott USAC and each promoter put up a $1,000 bond (around $8,000 today) that would be forfeited to the other promoters if a track caved in and booked the USAC circus.

            The drivers and owners had demanded a minimum purse of $6,000 (almost $50,000 in 2009 dollars) while track owners wanted a payout of around $3,500 – 4,000.  While this difference doesn’t seem like much to us now, there was also a significant appearance money cost to the promoters that was seldom spoken of in media reports of the time.

            In the absence of USAC, for the 1957 season, Dayton Speedway booked Tom Cherry’s All American Racing Club big cars for a series of events.

            Cherry’s group could be booked for less money, but they lacked the star power of USAC and its drivers with Indy 500 connections.  In addition, the AARC guys were slower than the USAC entries, though AARC could attract many more entries for a particular race than USAC.

            In time, the track owners and USAC owners and drivers compromised and USAC returned to the speedways that had boycotted them.  But more about that later.

AFTERMATH OF THE REID ACCIDENT

            I’m often asked about the Gordon Reid accident (read more about it here).  In particular, FODS want to know about any lawsuits that came out of the tragedy.  I get the sense that many folks think that our current litigious nature is new and that in earlier times people simply shook hands and apologized and whatever the issue was just evaporated.  Not so.

            When Reid rode the Engle-Stanko Special into the grandstand at Dayton on April 20, 1952, three people, two fans and a security guard, were killed along with Reid.  In addition, almost 100 people were treated for injuries.

            On April 26, 1954, suit was filed in Dayton, Ohio on behalf of the Gordon Reid family.  The suit asked for $250,000 (about $2 million today) in damages and named as defendants the Dayton Speedway company, the American Automobile Association (AAA) contest board, and John T. Stanko and Charles Engle, the owners of the car in which Reid met his death.

            The action was filed by Dayton attorney Harry B. Decker on behalf of Attorney Jerry Oleser of Beverly Hills, California, the West Coast lawyer who had represented many of the nation’s top movie stars.  Decker represented Reid’s family who lived in Los Angeles County, California.

            The speedway, AAA, and car owners were charged with gross negligence on three principal grounds.

            1.  That the racing car was entered in the race without its parts being magnafluxed.  (Race car parts at the time were magnafluxed to determine if there were any flaws or cracks in the metal.)

2.  That the speedway did not have an adequate safety guard rail.

3.  That the track did not have an unbroken surface.

            The suit also alleged that Engle and Stanko assured Reid that the car had been magnafluxed and that it had been adjusted and worked on mechanically and was in excellent condition when it actually was “unsafe to drive.”

            Though Dayton attorney Decker filed the suit, the Plantiff in the case was Charles P. Buck acting as ancillary administrator of Reid’s estate.  Reid left a widow and four children aged two to seven years.

            Just a few days before the Reid suit was filed, two of the many fans injured in the Reid accident filed an action seeking a total of $85,438 (approximately $700,000 today) from car owners Engle and Stanko.  The car owners had also previously been sued for $50,000 (about $400,000 today) by the estate of one of the woman spectators killed in the accident.

            The widow of the special policeman working as a security guard had also previously sued the speedway for $50,000.

            These details were reported in National Speed Sport News and frankly I was a little surprised to read them.  I had heard that Charlie Buck was involved in the lawsuits, but was under the impression that he was assisting Engle and Stanko.  (For those of you who might never have met Charlie, he was a well-known race fan who was active in auto racing activities in the Dayton area for many years.  In his later years he owned a tavern he named “The Torsion Bar.”  Open wheel racing was his particular passion.)

            I’ve also been led to believe that several vintage car owners around the country think they have the fatal Reid car, now restored, in their possession.  That’s not possible.  I’ve been assured by some of our older FODS that Engle, possibly acting on the advice of an attorney, took the once beautiful Engle-Stanko sprinter, or at least what was left of it, back to his shop and cut it up into scrap.

            So how did those lawsuits conclude?  Good question, one that I have not yet been able to answer.  But I’m working on it…

MY HEART WENT PITTY-PAT

            I was out and about the other day conducting some DSL business and I found myself in a shop talking to the owner.  After we’d talked business for a bit and I’d shared the Dayton Speedway history with him, he asked me how much land was required for a track like Dayton.  I told him that the old Dayton Speedway had occupied about 55 acres.  He leaned across the counter and whispered to me, “Some friends and I own land along the I-75 corridor and we’ve been approached about selling the property for a speedway.”

            FODS, my little heart went pitty-pat and just about jumped out of my chest.  Was there someone out there working on building another Dayton Speedway or maybe TriCounty/Queen City track?

            Uh, no, according to my almost breathless research.

            It seems that here in Ohio we are in the midst of a huge, sweaty debate over gambling, of all things, and slowly but surely a majority of us are leaning towards the idea that it’s silly to have Buckeye state residents drive to a neighboring state to gamble.  Since Ohio already allows gambling on the ponies (real animals, not the kind of ponies that live inside a race engine) we’ve decided to allow those horse tracks to install slot machines.

            Lebanon Raceway near my home is located in Warren County, an area that is so conservative folks still think a well-dressed man ought to wear a straw boater in the summertime.  Warren County has therefore puffed up its collective chest and decided that they will not allow the Lebanon Raceway to install slots, and (you’ve probably already guessed the ending of this story) Lebanon Raceway has decided to move, lock, stock and hay-burners.

            But for just a little while I thought that there was a new speedway in our future.  Darn…

BOOKSHELF ADDITIONS

            Our resident Bookmeister, Rand Thompson (caprirand@comcast.net) has provided two more volumes for our DSL library.

            For this Update, Rand has reviewed The Physics of NASCAR by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, and Bugsy! The Life and Times of Bugs Stevens by Bones Bourcier.

            You can find both reviews here on our Bookshelf.

            Thanks Rand!

A SURPRISE IN EVERY BOX

            My continuing research at the Library of Congress in Washington DC is a bit like opening a box of Cracker Jacks; there’s a surprise in almost every issue of the National Speed Sport News.

            Consider this.  I’d been thinking that the big Dayton 100, a race that dates to almost the beginning of the speedway, was a stock car event.  It was not.  It was a “big car” or sprint car event that served as the premier open wheel event each year at the Dayton track.

            I’ll have results for that event over the years eventually here at DSL.

ANOTHER NEW MEMBER FOR THE OVER THE WALL CLUB

            I’ve found another new member for our Dayton Speedway Over the Wall Club.  Of course.  What would an Update be without another OTW victim?

            The new member is the famous Marlin Renner, better known as “Red.”  On July 4, 1950, the 23-year-old Renner was driving a “hot rod” racer at Dayton and he provided his own fireworks.  Here’s how Bill Zimmerman, a reporter for the old Dayton Journal Herald, began his story:

            “Marlin “Red” Renner, a 23-year-old “hot rod” driver, had another rendezvous with the Grim Reaper at the north curve of the Dayton Speedway yesterday, but fate and the overgrown weeds in the field below intervened.”

            They don’t write like that anymore.

            You can read the entire article here on the Over the Wall page.

            By the way, the article is a good reminder of exactly how lethal auto racing once was.  Renner survived his Dayton crash, but was killed on September 9, 1962 at Winchester Speedway in an accident during an IMCA sprint car event.  Larry “Crash” Crockett who went on to win the roadster race on the day that Renner went over the wall died March 20, 1955 at Langhorne Speedway behind the wheel of the Engle-Stanko sprinter.

            Second place in the July roadster race at Dayton Speedway went to Pat O’Connor who was killed at Indianapolis on March 30, 1958.  Third place went to Everett Burton who lost his life in a roadster less than a year after the Dayton event at Kokomo Speedway on May 25, 1951.

            The past is a great place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.

OTW CORRECTION

            For some time I’ve carried an entry on the OTW page here based on a photograph we were provided that appears to show one and possibly two cars going through the Dayton Speedway guardrail.

            I finally managed to stumble across the same photo, but this one had a caption.  As it turns out, the photograph did indeed show a racer going through the wall at Dayton, but it was Dick Bailey, a driver whose OTW adventure was already recorded on the OTW page.

            I’ve gone ahead and deleted the double entry.  Sadly, both the photos that we’ve seen of the incident were of such poor quality that I couldn’t post them on the OTW page.  If you have photos of that incident, or any other OTW incidents and you’d like to share them with the rest of the FODS Nation, please contact me here.

ANOTHER CORRECTION

            If you’ve been exploring this site you’ve likely come across the story of that amazing (also bizarre, weird, and unbelievably dangerous) almost-a-half-mile dirt track that was carved out at Dayton Speedway at the base of the half-mile asphalt track’s banking.  Check it out here.

            We had thought that the track was used for just a single season, 1959, and abandoned afterwards.  All the photos that we’ve been provided show the early modifieds as the only “lucky” competitors on the flat dirt raceway.  Again, with only the photographs to go by, the track looked incredibly hazardous.  On the outside racers faced the looming asphalt of the banked track (and we suspect a less than smooth transition between the dirt and the lip of the asphalt).  On the inside, the light poles appear to be unprotected, offering racers numerous opportunities to shatter both their cars and themselves.

            As it turns out, the track was actually built in 1957 at a cost of approximately $15,000 (or $115,000 in today’s money).  At the time, Blair Ratliff, the speedway co-owner and promoter, announced that he had booked the American Motorcycle Association riders for three events on Sunday May 12, June 30, and September 29.  He also promised that USAC midgets and modified stock cars would be featured on the new track.

            Apparently only two of the motorcycle events got off the ground in 1957.  Everett Brashear and Dick Klamforth, two of cycling’s most famous riders, both won feature events in 1957 competition.

            In 1958 the track had to be “reconditioned” with an additional 100 loads of clay, though the record is silent on why that might have been necessary, since only motorcycles had used the track previously.  Promoter Ratliff once again scheduled the motorcycles for a race on May 11, and added the USAC midgets for the first time for Friday night, May 23.  The midgets would be the first automobiles to test the flat dirt speedway.

            The midget race was booked just seven days before the annual Indy event in the belief that every driver worth his salt would be in the Midwest, if not for the Indy race itself then for all the midget activity scheduled around the same time.  USAC officials weighed in with the appropriate hype, calling the flat Dayton ½ mile dirt track “excellent” for midget competition.

            The entry list was impressive:  Shorty Templeman, Rex Easton, Van Johnson, Don Branson, A.J. Foyt, Billy Garrett, Jack Turner, Leroy Warriner, Hank Nykaza and many other well-known wheelmen.

            But the spectators failed to show. A slim crowd watched Lloyd Ruby take the win in the Ray Bohlander midget.  Gene Force was second, followed by Don Branson, Les Scott, Paul Howe, Buzz Barton, and Roy Graham.  Harry Kern set fast time for the evening at 23.8 seconds with 26 cars on hand for the race.

            The Dayton Speedway’s “reconditioned” track didn’t much cooperate.  It turned rough as the evening wore on and the best that could be said for the track was that it “showed promise.”  With the benefit of hindsight, we know that the dirt track’s days were numbered.

            Stay tuned for the continuing story of Dayton Speedway’s half-mile dirt track!

AMERICAN HEROES RACED AT DAYTON SPEEDWAY

            They held a salute to Terre Haute, Indiana, businessman Don Smith recently.  Smith’s career in motorsports has been long and impressive.  He’s been a race organizer, a car owner, a sponsor, and held a host of other jobs in the sport.  I’m posting the press release and photo I recently received via our Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) because I was struck by how many of the drivers in attendance competed on the Dayton high-banks, including Steve Chassey, Dayton Speedway’s all-time fastest sprint car driver.

“TRIBUTE TO DON SMITH” DRAWS “AMERICAN HEROES”

            American racing heroes were in abundance on Thursday, August 27, when the inaugural “Tribute to Don Smith” was held in Terre Haute, Ind. Honoring the motorsports contributions of the Terre Haute businessman, the day included a luncheon at the Holiday Inn, followed by tours of Smith’s collection of race cars and memorabilia.

            Enough drivers to fill a feature field at the Terre Haute Action Track paid homage to Smith, who has served in numerous capacities during his long motorsports career, including race organizer, car owner, sponsor, etc.

            The Terre Haute First Financial Bank president was surprised at the turnout of drivers who posed for a group photo before touring his extensive collection.

            Drivers in attendance included some of the most prolific Sprint and Midget racers of all time. Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, Ken Schrader, Gary Bettenhausen, Larry Dickson, Pancho Carter, Tom Bigelow, Jack Hewitt, Bill Vukovich, Bruce Walkup, Charlie Masters, Johnny Parsons, Bill Engelhart, Steve Chassey, Ralph Liguori, Mel Kenyon, Steve Stapp, Rich Leavell, Joe Saldana, Steve Lotshaw, Gary Irvin, Jim Mills, Brad Marvel and event organizer Duke Cook were all there, sharing stories from the past.

            Racing notables also in attendance included Robin Miller, Dave Argabright, Bob Higman, Bill Marvel and “Speedy Bill” Smith, who came from Lincoln, Neb. to show his support.

Photo courtesy of Joe DeFabis.

Front row (l-r): Jack Hewitt, Bill Vukovich, Gary Bettenhausen, Johnny Parsons, Mel Kenyon, Bill Engelhart, Bill Smith, Ralph Liguori, Pancho Carter.

Center row (l-r): Bruce Walkup, Larry Dickson, Charlie Masters, Steve Lotshaw, Tom Bigelow, Ken Schrader, Johnny Rutherford, Brad Marvel.

Back row (l-r): Duke Cook, Steve Chassey, Jim Mills, Rich Leavell, Joe Saldana, Gary Irvin, Steve Stapp.

NO RESPECT

            As most of you know by now, construction on Dayton Speedway began in 1933 and the first races were held there in 1934.  It soon became apparent that there were problems with the design of the track.  From the hillside where spectators sat it was almost impossible to see the cars on the front stretch.  The sightlines were simply not very good.

            In defense of those pioneer DS designers it should be pointed out that in 1933 there were few who could even begin to claim expert status in any area of auto racing.

            In 1936 the track owners decided to rebuild the track and there were some harsh words for the designers of the first configuration at the Dayton track.  Consider this item that appeared in a racing paper at the time:

            “Altho Dayton will have a complete rebuilding involving an expenditure of many thousands of dollars, caused by inexperienced persons who designed the Dayton Bowl, as an experiment for unpractical ideas, officials of the Dayton track have not ascertained whether they will carry out their plans for concrete affair or rebuild with a dirt foundation at this time.”

            “Inexperienced” and “unpractical,” and an “experiment” to boot.  Not much reward for what must have been a huge effort on the part of some unknown designer(s).

            The model for the newly reconfigured Dayton Speedway?  The Avus brick bowl speedway near Berlin, Germany!

DINSMORE SUSPENDED

            Duke Dinsmore, one of the finest drivers Dayton can claim as its own (even though he was born in San Diego, California), was always a contender at Dayton Speedway.  But in June, 1937, Duke was suspended by the Central States Racing Association, the primary auto racing sanctioning body at the time.  Dinsmore was one of two drivers to have won two features at Dayton Speedway, but the other driver, Red Campbell, had been killed at Winchester Speedway just a few weeks before the Dinsmore suspension, leaving Duke as the only living driver to have won two Dayton main events.

            Dinsmore suspension covered all CSRA sanctioned tracks as well as tracks sanctioned by the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), an affiliate of CSRA.

            No reason was given for the suspension and Dinsmore was later reinstated.

            Do you know why Dinsmore was suspended?  Contact me here.

YEP, ANOTHER OTW MEMBER

            When I started the Over the Wall page I had no idea how many drivers had vaulted the Dayton Speedway fencing.  I knew of a few from my own experience – Hurtubise, Harrison, Smith – but would never have imagined how large the OTW club at Dayton really was.

            I’ve added another driver with this Update.  Richmond, Indiana’s own Johnny DeCamp blasted through the north turn fencing during a CSRA event on August 4, 1940 while battling for the feature win.

            You can read more here on the OTW page.

AMAZING COURT DECISION

            I preface this by saying that it has little, if anything, to do with Dayton Speedway.  I also recognize that while I am a lawyer, most people might not share my interest in this sort of thing, but the outcome of a lawsuit filed in 1955 and decided in 1956 is amazing enough that I wanted to share it with you.

            William H. Blevins was a stock car driver killed during an auto race at Raleigh Speedway in North Carolina on September 19, 1953.  His widow Rebecca filed suit seeking $230,000 (approximately $1.8 million today) from NASCAR, William France, the J&W Corp, its president, James Chestnut, and Dixieland Speedway, Inc.

            Judge Clawson Williams (yep, “Clawson”) issued a directed verdict for the five defendants after hearing testimony from both parties.  He based his ruling on three points:

            First, he held that Jesse Midkiff, another race driver, crashed into Blevins’ stalled car and that Midkiff was negligent because a car just ahead of him had already swerved and successfully avoided Blevins.

            Second, Judge Williams ruled that Blevins had a chance to run away from his stalled car before the crash and did not do so.

            Finally, the judge declared that Blevins’ car was not in good repair for that particular race and Blevins knew it and should not have entered the event.

            Testifying for the defendants?  Ralph Liguori was one of the drivers in that race and he testified that the starter, Alvin Hawkins, was one of the best in the business.  Curtis Turner agreed with that in his testimony and further stated that he, Turner, had always been able to either steer his car off the track or jump free within three or four seconds.

            Another man, a mechanic, Eugene Blackman, testified that he had pushed Blevins’ car to get it started and that he had urged Blevins to pull of the track, to which Blevins had responded, “Give me a push.”

            In a nutshell, the judge’s ruling determined that Blevins’ car shouldn’t have been in the race because it had to be push-started, but that once in the race Blevins had a chance to climb out of his car and run away after it stalled, and in any event, the other driver, Midkiff, was negligent because he should have been able to miss Blevin’s car but didn’t.

            So somewhere out there in the vast FODS Nation someone is wondering why Rebecca Blevins didn’t include Jesse Midkiff as one of the defendants. Midkiff was killed in the accident along with Blevins.

            To summarize: the entire affair was the fault of the only two participants unable to appear at the hearing. 

            Amazing.  NASCAR and the France Family has a remarkable track record in the courts.  Someone should write a book about it.

NUTZ & BOLTZ

            N&B… The FODS have let me down.  In the last Update Keith Koether was looking for a photo of Al Watt’s rear-engine midget.  I didn’t have a photo, but I assured Keith that within a few days I expected the FODS Nation to fork over dozens.  Never happened.  I’ll ask again:  If you have a photo of Al’s rear-engine midget, please contact me here so that I can share it with the rest of the FODS.

            N&B… We’ve never been able to locate the families of either Charlie Engle or Milton “Buster” Blackford.  We had little hope of locating Charlie’s family; he billed himself as an orphan and never married (that we know of), but Buster’s family is still in the area.  It seems that with Buster’s passing (and the earlier death of Buster’s son, Bussie) there are no remaining links between the Blackfords and the auto racing community.

            If you can help, please contact me here.

            N&B… My thanks to all of you who have already ordered tickets for the Hall of Fame event on November 1^st.  It promises to be a very special afternoon, particularly for the families of the inductees who are no longer with us.  If you haven’t yet ordered your tickets, please do so as soon as possible.  You can find more information on ordering here.

            N&B…  I’ll soon be headed back to Washington to the Library of Congress to take another stab at wading through the back issues of National Speed Sport News.  I am now halfway through 1958 and I hope to finish before the Hall of Fame event.  Thanks for your support of DSL and your patience for the long periods between Updates!

            N&B… The recent Indy car race from Chicagoland Speedway was, without exception, one of the best races I have seen in my nearly 50 years of race watching.  Contrast that with the Nationwide race from Canada, in the rain - one of the messiest, most comical “races” I’ve ever witnessed.  My favorite part was when the talking heads at ESPN interviewed NASCAR major domo Mike Helton during the mandated caution when all the teams were allowed to install the rain tires, windshield wipers, and St. Christopher medals.  The talking heads and Helton all agreed that the rain tires were much, much better than the year before, and the drivers were much, much better racing in the rain, and the fans deserved it, and blahblahblah.  And then those professional Nationwide drivers went out and proceeded to smash the heck out of each other until the poor flagman had worn out the yellow flag. What a circus!  I wonder how much it costs Goodyear to develop and stock rain tires for a couple of possible road course races each year?  Those tires have a short shelf life.  And after Sunday’s demo derby in Canada the big boys have to be wondering if the damage to their reputations is worth the hassle.

THAT’S ALL FOLKS

            That’s it for another Update.  I hope to publish the next Update not later than September 26, 2009, but as always I’ll be adding items to the site as I go along.  Thanks for your continuing support; there wouldn't be a DSL without you!

            If you have any questions or comments you can reach me here.

            I leave you with this thought: Whoever decided that the king’s horses would be able to help put Humpty Dumpty together again must have forgotten that horses don’t have fingers and thumbs.

            Mickey

            August 31, 2009

      UPDATE:

HALL OF FAME TICKETS NOW ON SALE…

            Tickets for the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame induction ceremony set for November 1, 2009 at the Baum Opera House in Miamisburg are now on sale!

            I have approximately 100 tickets available.  I don’t know the exact number because some of our inductees have yet to return their ticket requests.  However, based on the requests I’ve received thus far, I think that 100 tickets remaining for sale is accurate.

            Ticket holders will enjoy a light luncheon including sandwiches, fruit and vegetable trays, and drinks, and more before the induction ceremony.  Some of our inductees have agreed to sign autograph cards, and there will be some other surprises that promise to make this event one to remember.

            Tickets are just $10.  To order, send your check made out to Mickey Thompson to 135 Heatherwoode Blvd., Springboro, OH 45066-1579.

I’ll fill the ticket requests in the order in which they are received.  When I run out of tickets, I’ll return any late checks without cashing them.  I expect all tickets to be distributed for this event so if you’re planning to attend I urge you to place your ticket orders early.  Don’t be disappointed!

AND THEN THERE WERE JUST TWO…

            We’ve been able to track down almost all of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees or their families, and invitations have been sent.  Now just two of our honorees are unaccounted for.

            Charley Engle (read his story here) we think was an orphan and we have no record of Charley ever marrying, so I think it unlikely that we will be able to find a surviving relative to stand in for him.  Fortunately, Dayton Daily News columnist Dale Huffman, a former friend of the Dayton tavern owner and auto racer, has agreed to attend and accept on Charley’s behalf if we are unable to find an Engle family member.

            Milton “Buster” Blackford has been a surprise.  Buster passed away just a few years ago and we know that some members of his family remain in the Dayton area.  So far, however, we’ve been unable to make contact with any of them.  If you happen to be able to help us connect with any of Buster’s relatives, please contact me here.

            In the meantime, here’s a photo (below) of Buster in Donnie Seaborn’s Home Juice #55.  The photo was taken at Shady Bowl Speedway, but we believe that Buster wheeled this same machine at Dayton Speedway.  The photo comes to us from Kevin Shatto who’s the caretaker of his father’s photo collection.  Thanks, Kevin!

PIC OF THE WEEK…

            The new Pic of the Week here is from 1956 and features Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame inductee John “Shorty” Miller and “Pappy” Kuntz.  I’ll tell you right now that it’s an odd photo.  Shorty and Pappy are shown wearing Central States Racing Association (CSRA) armbands and posing in front of a huge trophy.  It’s hard to read the inscription but this much is visible: “Drewry’s 1955 Class A Award.”  The AAA logo is prominent.  It could well be the 1955 champion’s trophy and that makes it significant because AAA withdrew as a race sanctioning body at the end of that year citing the continuing racing deaths.

            How to explain the two CSRA reps posed at what must have been a AAA event?  CSRA and AAA temporarily held hands for part of one season in 1938 and drivers were allowed to run events sanctioned by either organization without fear of reprisal by their parent organization.  Perhaps a similar agreement was reached for this event.  Further research is needed or perhaps one of you knows the answer.  If you can shed any light on this photo, please contact me here.

            The photo does answer a lingering question about Shorty’s ability to keep his tam on his head during the swirl of racing action; he has the perfect haircut to keep his hat planted firmly on his head!

AND SPEAKING OF THE PIC OF THE WEEK…

            Remember the Pic of the Week(s) for June 29 – July 12?  It showed a bunch of slightly embarrassed looking CSRA drivers posing at a race track while wearing matching sweaters (see it here).

            Our Gene Ingram (harleygene@comcast.net) and his vintage comrades have been studying the photo and conclude that the tall driver in the middle of the back row is Doc Shanebrook, and the driver two places to his left is Ted Hartley.  Both Shanebrook and Hartley were frequent Dayton Speedway visitors and, in fact, Hartley won the very first race run at Dayton Speedway after the WWII racing ban was lifted.

            Here’s a portion of the Pic (above) showing Shanebrook (left) and Hartley (right).  We could use some help identifying the other drivers in the full-size photo posted on the Pic of the Week page.  If you can put names with faces, please contact me here.

I WAS WRONG ABOUT THAT METEOR…

            I was so sure that I was right about that meteor strike.  You might remember that Mystery Number Fifteen photo (here).  Car #71 appears to have stopped dead on the track, the front end smashed into the pavement, the rear tires two feet in the air, the rear window glass shattering from the sudden stop.  That kind of damage, I was certain, could have only occurred if a tiny snot-sized meteor (it doesn’t take much, gang; those space thingies are traveling at better than 50,000 mph) had struck the Chevelle squarely on the hood ornament.

            Well, I was wrong.  There was no meteor involved.

            I got a call from Springfield native John Wilson who just happened to be aboard that #71 Chevy on that particular Sunday at Dayton Speedway.  As he remembers it, he was having a good season at Dayton in his ’57 Chevy, but the competition started to heat up.  He and his crew decided to re-body the racer as a Chevelle for improved aerodynamics at the high-speed West Dayton speed plant.

            The Chevelle ran fine, but Cincinnatian Dave Jackson, #45 in the photo, proved to be a real threat to Wilson.  During hot laps on the day the photo was taken, Wilson, Jackson, Hale (#01) and others were lapping at top speed.  John knew that Jackson was behind him and for just a second (John remembers that it was only a second) Wilson looked in his rear view mirror to try to gauge his speed against Jackson’s.

            When he looked back out the windshield, there was another car sitting sideways on the track, stopped dead.  Wilson hit the idled car squarely in the side at top speed.  The nose of the Chevelle dug under the other car, the rear tires lifted into the air, and the rear window glass exploded under the impact.  John remembers it as one of the biggest hits of his long career.  Remarkably no one was injured in either car, other than in the wallet.

            John Wilson went on to fly his flag with the ASA touring series for many years, though he never had the resources needed to run consistently at the front of the field.  And though he had other incidents during his racing career, few came close to matching that hit at Dayton.

            I look forward to hearing from the driver of the car that John hit.  His day must have been at least as momentous as John Wilson’s!

A SCARY STORY…

            Long-time FODS Mike Entienne (mikeentienne@sbcglobal.net) dropped me a line to remind me that among his memorabilia that I scanned during the DARF Toys for Kids car show some months ago was a Dayton Speedway program that included a photo of Jim Smith, the USAC sprint car driver who went over the wall at Dayton on May 30, 1969 and emerged unhurt from the boggy swamp where he’d landed.  Smith retired on the spot, certain that he had used up all the luck a sprint car driver could expect to have.  I clearly remember the photo.  It showed Smith smiling and wiping the mud and debris off his face.

            I’ve searched through my digital files and so far the darn photo hasn’t shown up, but I haven’t given up.  But along with the reminder, Mike sent along a story of a scary incident for a street stock driver, and…well, I’ll let him tell it.

Mickey,

      I have inside info on another OTW that I don't believe has been documented. On the video that Dunlevy Jr. was playing [at the DARF show] there was an OTW in the "hobby stock" race. It appeared to be a blue car of some sort. My lifelong friend and 2nd father Tim Ramsey was driving the Red #77 car, black #'s with white stripe. Kinda looked like the Starsky and Hutch car. He remembers this like it was yesterday and it was the scariest day in his short racing career. Here is how he remembers it.

"We were going through 1 and 2 and I got a run on him, do not remember the name or car number, my rear end  wiggled just enough to touch his right front and that was it, I [remember] looking back and seeing nothing but chaos and debris in turn 2. I stopped on the front because of the red flag and could barely get out of the car. My only thought was that I had just killed a man. My knees were shaking and I just waited there only to see him climb over the guardrail and wave.

My last race at Dayton speedway was 1980. I miss that place, it was pure speed and adrenaline".

That was the just of the story as he told it to me (as much as I could remember).

It would be neat if you came across any pictures of that car, the #77 or the OTW car and posted them. Or send them to me via email. Thank you,

Mike Etienne

P.S. Now that you officially have my email address am I an official FOD. LOL.

            I’ve let Mike know that we think we have figured out who was behind the wheel of the blue car that Tim nudged that particular Sunday.  It was Max MacIntire and he not only survived the accident but he has checked in here at DSL Central.  He’s promised to send along some photos of his car and the trophy that he won for being “the next car out of Dayton Speedway.”  You can read more on our Over the Wall page here.

            I’ll continue to hunt for that photo of Jim Smith and we’ll keep an eye out for Tim’s red #77, too.

            And by the way Mike, you were already an official FODS.  The only difference is that now I know how to find you!  Thanks!

THURSDAY NIGHT THUNDER …

            Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) and I took in the July 2 Thursday Night Thunder event at Winchester Speedway early last month, and we had a great time.  The USAC sprints had what seemed to me to be a very short field of some 15 cars, but I was assured that the most that could have been expected was 18 cars.  The cost of running a USAC sprint on pavement seems to be the underlying reason for the size of the fields.  I was told by one competitor that an owner who ran hot laps, qualifying, the ten lap heat race, and the forty lap feature could run up a tire bill of almost $2000!

               Most of the entries were wheeled by drivers familiar to race fans, but one new driver stood out, literally.  “Snake” Livernash and his family operation towed all the way from their home in Spanaway, WA (how’s that for a tow?) and Snake’s first look at Winchester Speedway was from behind the steering wheel of a high-horsepower sprint car!

            The USAC sprint car drivers at Winchester for the Thunder event were on the short side, but Snake stands an imposing six feet-four inches and even more remarkably he spent several seasons racing midgets.

            If this was a movie I’d tell you right here that Snake came from behind and won the feature.  This isn’t a movie of course, this is real life (and life doesn’t get more “real” than when you are trying to make your way in the racing game) and Snake struggled with a race car that, for reasons they haven’t yet sorted out, gets harder and harder to drive in the corners as the race goes along.  They followed the tour to Toledo the following night but didn’t have any more success there than they did at Winchester.

            A family-run, low-budget operation and an unforgettable name makes this team one to root for, and they show no signs of giving up.  Here’s hoping that Snake and the Livernash team have better luck in the future!

            You may not agree with me, but I believe that driving a non-wing sprint car at Dayton Speedway or Winchester is as close as you can come to the very edge of life, and I have the deepest respect for anyone who has done it.

LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO REMEMBERS DS…

            I spent most of the evening at Winchester’s Thursday Night Thunder event looking for a driver who had been to Dayton Speedway.  It was a frustrating, but not unexpected, search.  Consider well-known driver Bryan Clausen who told me that he was born in 1989, just seven years after Dayton Speedway closed.  As Maxwell Smart from “Get Smart” might have noted, “He missed it by that much.”

            Just about the time I was ready to give up on my search for a driver who had been to Dayton Speedway I stumbled across Bill Charles in the Compact class pits.  Where everyone else had given me a blank look when I asked about Dayton Speedway, Bill told me sure, he’d been there (and not as a baby in diapers either).

            Turns out that Bill (photo at left) was a student in Jim Fredericks’ high school auto shop class.  Besides being a shop teacher, Jim was (and is) a race driver and Bill had helped Jim out in the pits at Dayton several times near the end of the track’s life.  On top of everything else, Bill admitted to being a FODS and visitor to this site.

            Hey, it gets even better.  Bill and his Honda dominated the Compact race and came home the winner.  Our congratulations to Bill and his team on a great win.

            Before I get away from the Thunder event at Winchester I have to give a nod to Compact driver Troy Frazier.  Troy is way too young to have been to Dayton Speedway, but his entry shows the inventiveness and daring that would have made the early pioneers at DS proud.

            Troy (shown at right) races a tiny (at least in comparison to the other cars in the class) Toyota Corolla.  He told me that he thought that the light weight of the car would offset the horsepower advantage that the other guys had, and the night’s feature for the Compacts proved that he was at least partially right.  His Toyota seemed much faster in the corners than the other cars, but horsepower eventually proved dominant.

            Here’s saluting driver Troy Frazier who is willing to fling his tiny, bare-bones race car into the Winchester banking at almost 100 mph!

THURSDAY THUNDER WINCHESTER PIX POSTED…

            Those of you who weren’t able to get to Winchester for the Thursday Thunder on July 2 can see my pix of the event at www.public.fotki.com/foggygoggles.  Look for the album with the appropriate name.

MYSTERY MAN NOT MUCH OF A MYSTERY…

            In the last Update I posted a photo of a mystery media man (or human Q-Tip depending on how you looked at the photo).  It turns out that the mystery was really no mystery at all to a lot of FODS.

               DS HOF 2009 inductee Lee Raymond (j.leeraymond69@gmail.com) was probably the first of the FODS to correctly identify the guy in the photo as our own Jerry Wahl, and he added his belief that Jerry still owns and possibly wears those same pants.

            Melanie Dunlevy (luv2race11@aol.com) also recognized the mystery man as Jerry Wahl, the guy who used to have her babysit his kids so that he could attend DARF banquets, and she wondered if those sunglasses the dapper Wahl is wearing are really Richard Petty’s shades.

            FODS Rick Hardin (rhardin98@gmail.com) was kind, identifying Jerry and simply calling him an awesome guy.

            Oddly enough, Jerry (jlwahl1@hotmail.com) apparently had some difficulty figuring out who the mystery man was and could only offer this: “I have no idea what clown would wear his hair like that, and those outdated pants especially out in the public… .”

            I think that Jerry is just being shy.  With some encouragement from the vast FODS Nation perhaps Jerry would be willing to get those pants out of his closet, get a new perm, and give us all another peek at what “disco style” really meant 35 years ago.  Disco might not be dead after all, just in need of resuscitation…

SACRED INDIAN BURIAL GROUND?

            My continuing research at the Library of Congress on the history of the Dayton Speedway has been fascinating.  So far I’ve managed to research up to and through 1950 and the general theme I’ve found is that our favorite track has found disaster at almost every turn of the calendar.  It seems that just when things begin to look up, when a new owner or promoter takes over, when improvements to the plant begin, and when the size of the crowds start to build, something happens that sends the track into a tailspin.  Interestingly, there may be an explanation, though one that you’d be more likely to find in a Stephen King novel than a racing program.

            Some of the earliest articles on the track’s construction referred to the DS plot as being the general area of a sacred Indian burial ground!

            Sure, I know what you’re thinking.  DS wouldn’t be the first track to be built on a supposed Indian burial ground.  Remember Talladega?  Through the early years of that track’s existence all sorts of odd disasters befell both the track and the men who raced there.  Drivers were seriously hurt or killed.  Tire issues led to the famous driver boycott (and the only win ever for Richard Brickhouse who went ahead and raced anyway, then suffered the enmity of the other drivers for the rest of his career, such as it was).

But before you laugh off the idea that DS might have been cursed consider this:  Archaeologists have discovered the site of a Native American village not far from DS.  The stockaded village, with astronomical alignment, was apparently occupied for about a twenty year period in the 13^th century.  The village site, now known as SunWatch Indian Village, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

We’ll leave it to our Rick Patterson to figure out if the Pontiac brand won a disproportionate number of races at the Dayton track before deciding if there’s anything to this possible curse…

STILL SORTING THROUGH THOSE PHOTOS…

            Two of the most patient FODS on the planet have to be Ralph Bray, Jr. and Scott Solem (kb8zcb@netzero.net).  Ralph loaned me a box of thousands of DS photos in April, 2008, and I have yet to finish sorting through them.  Scott loaned me seven albums of his DS photos last year and I am still working through the scanning process with his pix.  I have no excuse, other than this is a very big job.

            But I do have good news; I’m making progress.  Really.  As proof, let me point out that with this Update I have added more of Scott’s stock car photos here on his stock car page and I’ve started a second page here for his sprint and Midwest Modiefied photos.  Check them out.

            Thanks, guys, for allowing me to hold onto your pix for such a long time.  And the irony here is that when FODS mail me a few photos I scan them and get them back in the mail the very next day 99% of the time.

REVISITING THAT GOOFY OAKLAND TRACK…

            Several Updates ago I posted a photo of another banked speedway that I misidentified as Darlington.  I was quickly corrected.  The track turned out to be Oakland Speedway in California, and now I can’t seem to get that track out of my head.  It was a speedway that made Darlington and our Midwest high banked tracks look positively sane.

            The track was used as a flat dirt track, but in the corners there was a single lane of asphalt banked at such an angle as to boggle the mind.  I’ve not read enough about the track to understand the point of this madness.  It might be that the designers intended for that one lane of banking to serve as the wall for the dirt track, but when the stock cars came to prominence the drivers discovered that they could run on the asphalt and slingshot on to the straight.  At least that’s my theory.

          And did I mention that while the banking and the straights were paved, the transitions were dirt?  Let’s see those smarty-pants NASCAR Cup crew chiefs figure out the set-up for that track!

            I can’t help myself.  Here are a couple of photos (above) from the Oakland Speedway that were sent to me by an equally amused FODS.

NORMAN WITTE…

            Daytonian Norman Witte played an important role in the history of auto racing and at least indirectly in the history of the Dayton Speedway.

            Witte wrote a regular column for National Auto Racing News (later National Speed Sport News) and the goings-on at DS was a frequent subject.  Later he became the Executive Secretary for the CSRA and as such wielded substantial power.  He held that post for most of the organization’s existence and for a time near the end was the CSRA President.

            We knew all that, but it took our ace researcher Rick Patterson (elvis334@att.net) to find that Witte began his racing career behind the wheel.  I guess we shouldn’t be surprised by that information since almost everyone in our sport tried his or her hand at driving at some point.  Norman Witte is listed as one of the top drivers at a New Bremen Speedway event in September, 1929.

            Then there is this interesting nugget.  Frank Funk (DS HOF 2009), Dayton Speedway owner and promoter, ran DS under CSRA sanction and was on the board of directors of the sanctioning body.  Funk and CSRA had a falling out as the 1930s came to a close, and Funk left the CSRA board and announced that in 1941 he would run under AAA sanction.

            And from that point on, mentions of DS in Witte’s NARN/NSSN column were few and far between.  Is it possible that he couldn’t separate his role as CSRA Executive Secretary and his role as a columnist?

            We’ll eventually dig up a photo of Witte and post it here at DSL.

FODS REMEMBERS THE 1980 RUNNING OF THE DAYTON 500…

            Somewhere here at DSL we’d earlier indicated that the Dayton 500 wasn’t run in 1980.  New FODS Dennis Chaffin (d.chaffin@insightbb.com) took exception to that in a message to our Rick Patterson.

I stumbled across info on your web site in Mid American Auto Racing News. I think you are wrong about not having a Dayton 500 in 1980. I remember going to Dayton Speedway and a 500 in September of that year. The reason I'm so sure of the year is the same day the old Fairgrounds Motor Speedway ran what turned out to be their very last race.

I remember the race being an American Speed Association Late Model Sportsman race. This was a division with the same chassis as the main cars but less expensive motors and possibly tires.

I remember Wayne Lensing made of 7 laps to win over Buddy Schrock with relief help from his recently "retired" Father Vern Schrock.

            Dennis’ note sent Rick to his files and, sure enough, Dennis was absolutely correct.  The 1980 version of Dayton’s signature event wasn’t an ARCA event like most of the others and that might have thrown us off a bit.

            I’ve posted the articles that Rick uncovered here on the page devoted to the 1980 Dayton 500.  Thanks Dennis for keeping us straight!

THAT QUESTION AGAIN…

            As I’ve mentioned before, the most common question I get here at the plush DSL offices is “Where was Dayton Speedway?”  Lots of new FODS want to know how to get to the speedway, or what is left of it.  While a lot of old race tracks still exist as ghosts with bits and pieces of the track or grandstand visible, our Dayton Speedway is completely gone as evidenced by the aerial shots we’ve posted here.  But I realize that some of you might still want to at least drive by the former location of the speedway and need directions.

            Fortunately, Dick and Melanie Dunlevy (DS/HOF 2009) were out for a drive recently and decided to retrace their steps to the raceway where Dick was once the track champion.  Here’s what they wrote:

Hi Mike,

Recently, Melanie and I were out for a ride. We were talking about people that didn't know where Dayton Speedway was.  So, we drove there using I-75 and New Rt. 35 for a starting point. 

We took 35 west, about 2.3 miles to the Gettysburg exit, and turned left,  South, on Gettysburg and traveled 6/10 of a mile to Germantown St., which is St. Rt. 4.  We then turned right, West, 6/10 of a mile on St. Rt. 4.  Soldiers Home - West Carrollton road is on the left, which is the road Dayton Speedway was located on, about 1/4 mile on the left. 

            Dayton Speedway once was 45 acres of land, which sadly is now a landfill and buried. 

            When you come to a 8 ft. tall chain linked fence on the left, that's where the grandstand parking lot was, about 2,000 ft. of road frontage.  About the middle of the parking lot, approximately 350 ft. off the road was the main entrance to the grandstand.  You bought general admission

tickets there, and about 75 ft. you walked downward in a covered tunnel, and came to the grandstand, 500 ft. wide and 75 ft. from the track. 

            This put the racetrack about 500 ft. from 1550 Soldiers Home West Carrollton Rd.  If you want to use Mapquest from where you're starting, the Business there is now SRI, Inc, 1550 Soldiers Home -

            As we left the site, it was depressing.  But, after exchanging memories and events that we remember, it wasn't so bad.  After all, we always have the Dayton Speedway Lives web site!

Dick & Melanie Dunlevy

            It doesn’t get much clearer than that, but if you still need a hint as to where the track was located, take a look at this photo (below) provided by Rick Patterson.  Rick took the photo while standing in Carillon Park in Dayton.  Just ahead of the camera is the I-75 bridge over the Great Miami River.  In the distance are several tall antennas and two of them belong to Channel 45.  One is a single mast and the other has three distinct and separate antennas at the top of the tower.

            If you were sitting in the grandstand at the Dayton Speedway you would be facing towards those towers which were located just east of the backstretch, and more or less towards the camera.  Thanks Rick!

GLUTTONS FOR PUNISHMENT…

            Believe it or not, those 500 lappers run as the Dayton 500 were not the longest events held at the Dayton track.  One time, and one time only, the ARCA mob ran a mind-blowing 600 laps at Dayton!

            The date was September 16, 1962, and legendary Iggy Katona staggered home the winner after just slightly over four hours of racing.  Even more amazing: there were only 23 yellow flag laps during the 300-mile grind.

            Jack Farris finished in the runner-up position just three miles behind Iggy.  Several of our DS/HOF 2009 inductees were entrants.  Dick Freeman led the first 54 laps and Harold Smith led for much of the afternoon, too, until finally finishing sixth.

            The race was not without injury.  Dudley Stacy and Ken Toole hooked bumpers at one point and slid down into the pit area.  Car owner Ivan Hine from Kinsman, Ohio, was struck and his leg amputated.

            This was the only time 600 laps were attempted at the Dayton oval.

STILL WORKING ON AL THEISEN’S STORY…

            We’re continuing to research the story of Al Theisen, the Dayton resident and 1934 Midwest Champion, who was fatally injured in an indoor midget race at the Detroit fairgrounds coliseum in April 1935.  As I mentioned in the last Update, we’ve located Beverley Jane, Al’s only daughter and that closes out one of the few remaining questions about Al and his family.

            When Al went to Detroit for that small car race he was to drive a midget owned by his friend Ted (or Terry) Curly (or Curley) of Indianapolis.  The midget was powered by what was described in contemporary news reports as a “rare Elto 460 X” powerplant, one of only six in the nation at that time.

            None of us here at DSL are what you would describe as midget experts, but we’ve been told by those who should know that the Elto engine could be identified by the over-sized exhaust plumbing.  This midget, we’ve been assured, carries one of those Eltos.  If you believe otherwise, please contact me here.

 TOMMY LEGGE AND OTHERS REMEMBERED…

            Over 68 years have passed since young Tommy Legge was fatally injured at Dayton Speedway on July 20, 1941.  The Seattle, WA native met his end during warm-ups when his car went out of control and catapulted down the track.

            FODS Don Tash (dtash90@yahoo.com) of Phoenix, AZ must have been thinking about Legge’s misfortune and he provided a photo of Legge’s grave marker in Acacia Memorial Park, Lake Forest Park, Washington.  You can see it here.

            Thanks for the photo, Don!

Don also provided a photo here of Jim Rigsby’s headstone in Inglewood Memorial Park, Inglewood, CA.  It’s a plain marker with no indication that Jim was a racer, but even at that he rests for eternity with more recognition than poor Gordon Reid.

Reid lies in an unmarked grave next to his mother Hazel at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, CA.  You can see Hazel’s marker here on the In Memoriam page under Gordon Reid’s section.  Again, Don Tash provided the pix.

Finally, Don sent along a photo of Elbert “Pappy” Booker’s (DS/HOF/2009) marker in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan.  It’s posted here on the In Memoriam page and here on Booker’s page.

A QUICK GAME OF “JEOPARDY”…

            Ready for a quick game of Jeopardy?  Let’s go! 

            Here’s the answer:  This national touring organization sanctioned more races at Dayton Speedway than any other similar organization.

            I’ll give you a minute to think about it.  Remember that your response must be in the form of a question.

            Ready?  If you responded with “What is MARC/ARCA?” you win the round.

            According to DSL researcher Rick Patterson, John Marcum, the President of MARC/ARCA, seemed to fall in love with the Dayton track on his first trip to the speedway in 1953 and resolved that MARC/ARCA would continue their close relationship for the duration.

            MARC/ARCA staged a remarkable 54 races on the Dayton high-banks and 29 different drivers took the checkered flag.  MARC/ARCA also took over promotion of the Dayton 500 in 1955 and ran the race almost every year until 1981.

            Many other sanctioning organizations trooped into Dayton Speedway over the years – CSRA, AAA, ASA, NMRA, NASCAR, USAC – but none came close to matching the record set by Marcum’s mob.

            We’re working hard here at DSL to compile the complete story of MARC/ARCA at Dayton Speedway and we hope to be able to begin publishing the amazing story soon.  The effort is being led by Rick Patterson with the assistance of FODS Brian Norton.

            Stay tuned.

CHARLES BLACK’S GRANDDAUGHTER CHECKS IN…

            Our sport has always demanded a great deal of patience and persistence.  For the most successful practitioners it can be a difficult road to travel.  That’s even more true for our minority members of the auto racing fraternity.  With diversity still struggling to gain traction in 2009 one can only imagine what it must have been like in the 30’s and 40’s.

            Local garage owner Charles Black, an African American, must have truly loved the sport.  He built and entered race cars locally, including at the Dayton Speedway, and all his cars carried a Mickey Mouse cartoon.

            Sometime ago we published this photo (below) of Charles standing with one of his Mouse cars and asked the vast FODS Nation to let us know if anyone had more information on Black’s racing exploits.

            I’m thrilled to tell you that his granddaughter, JoAnn Jackson Williams, contacted us on behalf of Charles’ daughter, Anna Black Jackson, and herself.  Here’s what she wrote to our Jerry Wahl:

Dear Mr. Wahl,

            A friend of mine told me about the website “Friends of Dayton Speedway.”  I am the granddaughter of Charlie Black.  My family has enjoyed looking at the old pictures of the “Mickey Mouse.”  When I was a little girl he would let me sit in and of course I didn’t think much of it back then.  I wish I had a picture of me in it.

            I have e-mailed Charles Black III and Charles Black IV who now live in Detroit, MI.  We thank you for the pictures that have been posted.  The gentleman he is standing beside is not his brother.  He was a dear friend who hung around the garage all the time.

Thanks again.

Anna Black Jackson (daughter of Charles Black)

JoAnn Jackson Williams (granddaughter.

            Later Jerry asked for more information on JoAnn’s family and received this:

            Grandpa has three daughters still living and he had a son (Charles Black II) who is deceased.  Stephen, Charles Black III (grandsons) and IV (great-grandson) live n Detroit.  Two of his daughters (Mary and Marjorie) live in Springfield, Ohio and my mother (Anna) lives with me.  We live in Englewood, Ohio.  She is now 90 years old. 

            We had plenty of pictures but most are all family pictures, so my mother was elated to see the speedway pictures.

            It’s always a thrill for those of us at DSL when someone with connections to the speedway’s sometimes dim and distant past contacts us, and never more so than when we heard from JoAnn.

            Welcome aboard, JoAnn!  Consider yourself an official FODS!

STILL A CHANCE TO SEE THE SPRINT CARS RUN AT DS…

            What’s that you say?  You never got a chance to see the USAC sprint cars run on the Dayton Speedway high banks?  (My math tells me that would include most people younger than about 35.)  Not to worry; you still have a chance to see what you missed.

            Visit www.sprintcarstuff.com and click on the videos icon.  Once in the videos section of the on-line store look for Roar from the 60’s #3.  That video includes footage of the USAC Thunder and Lightning boys storming around the Dayton track.

            And the VHS will set you back just $20 plus postage.  What a deal!

            Thanks to Rick Patterson for finding this item!  Now leave me alone for a minute while I place this order…

BUCK ROGERS HIGH-TECH DEVICE INTRODUCED…

            It’s helpful to sometimes remind ourselves exactly how far auto racing has come over the years.  Consider this item that refers to an upcoming event at Greenville Speedway.  The article is from the Greenville Daily Advocate, Greenville, Ohio of Saturday, May 14, 1938:

            “Electric-eye timing devices recording in thousands of seconds, will be used in timing the entrants for tomorrow’s race.  This is the first time this new and positive system has ever been used in Darke county speed sorties.”

YEP, ANOTHER OTW CLUB MEMBER…

            It seems that lately an Update here at DSL just wouldn’t be complete without adding another member to the Over the Wall club here.

            On the 70th lap of a MARC sanctioned new car contest, Bob Cochran of Sharon PA. Managed to roll his mount over in the north turn and he dumped a crankcase full of oil all over the track in the process.

The next car on the scene, a slick 1957 Pontiac driven by Dave Hirschfield, found traction non-existent at the scene of Bob’s mishap.  Dave’s car slewed through the goop and, with Dave hanging on for dear life, eyes as wide as saucers, the big Poncho shot straight over the wall and out of the park.

No one was injured, and Dave joins the other fortunate wheelmen who went over the Dayton Speedway fencing and lived to tell the tale.

Cincinnati native Nelson Stacy had a much more pleasant Sunday afternoon at the speedway, winning his third straight MARC race at Dayton that day.

Visit the OTW page here, and if you have a photo of Dave, before, during or after his adventure, please contact me here.  Thanks to Rick Patterson for discovering our newest OTW.

OTW PHOTO ADDED…

            While we’re talking about the OTW gang, FODS Tom Davidson has given us permission to post his photo of OTW club member Jack Farris’ forlorn Mercury sitting at the bottom of the banking outside the Dayton Speedway’s north turn after his memorable MARC crash on June 22, 1958.  You can see it here.

            We sometimes make light of those out-of-track excursions witnessed at Dayton over the years, but people sometimes lost their lives in those accidents and those who survived didn’t always simply walk away from the scene.

            The complete destruction of the Farris Mercury, which was being run for the very first time, reminds us that going over the wall, whether at Dayton or some other track, is always serious business.

            Thanks, Tom, for offering to share the photo with the rest of the FODS.

RACING BANNED DURING WWII…

            Most FODS probably know that auto racing was banned by the War Department during World War II, even if they aren’t old enough to have experienced it first-hand.

            For the record, the ban on auto racing began on July 31, 1942, and lasted until late July/early August, 1945.  The last event at Dayton Speedway before the ban was enacted was a midget race run on July 21, 1942.

            While it’s true that other sports weren’t similarly banned, it’s pretty obvious that auto racing consumed rubber, metal, and petroleum products, both in building the race cars and in operating them, and these items were vital to the war effort.

            But I think that there’s another factor that is often over-looked.  The other stick and ball sports could be (and were) played during the war by men much younger or much older than the usual participants.  That wasn’t so in the auto racing world of the early 40’s.  Virtually all the contestants in that era fell into a very narrow age band, and it was the same age group that was the first target of the military draft.

            By the way, when the ban was lifted Dayton owner/promoter Frank Funk (DS/HOF 2009) had time to squeeze in just one racing event at Dayton before the snow started to fall.  On September 9, 1945, 10,201 paying customers showed up for an event billed as the “Dayton Speedway Tryout.”  Driver Ted Hartley won the event.

SIXTH IN THE 1981 STREET STOCK POINTS…

            Another FODS has checked in and this guy actually raced at Dayton Speedway shortly before the track closed forever.  Here’s the message I received from Wayne Owens (owenswayne@aol.com):

Hi Mickey,

My name is Wayne Owens and I raced at the speedway in 1981 in the street stock division and finished 6th in points my first and only season of racing there. I have a few pictures from that season that I would love to share with you if you are interested in them.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Wayne

            Needless to say, I’ve been in touch with Wayne via e-mail and I hope to be able to share his photos with the FODS soon.

            And Wayne hasn’t given up on identifying the folks shown in Mystery Photo Number Eight (here), a photo that I posted way back in October, 2008.

            Wayne reports: “Number 11 in the picture is Leonard Neer ( or Near, not sure about the spelling) of Springfield. He drove a yellow Chevy Laguna number 4 that flew around the speedway.”

            Thanks to Wayne we’re getting close to putting a name with every face in that photo!  Take a look and see if you can identify any of the as yet unidentified guys.

THE LLOYD MOORE STORY REVISITED…

            Surely you remember Lloyd Moore.  (If the details of his remarkable story are a bit fuzzy for you, click here for a review.)

            Lloyd was one of stock car racing’s pioneers.  His racing career was somewhat short as he turned to the more important job of raising his family, but while he was competing he was a threat to win wherever he went.

            Lloyd caught our attention here at DSL because the one piece of memorabilia he kept from his racing days was the trophy he received for winning the 1954 running of the Metropolitan 300 at Dayton Speedway.  To the end of his life, Dayton remained his favorite track.

            A recent discovery by Rick Patterson suggests that Lloyd’s relationship with the Dayton track didn’t start well.  On June 25, 1950, in a race that was won by Jimmy Florian of Cleveland, Lloyd Moore slammed through the wall and out of the track!

            I’ve added Lloyd’s name to our Over the Wall page here.  Some of you might be thinking that the name of the race winner, Jimmy Florian, sounds familiar.  It should.  We’ve reported on this race here at DSL before.  The event was significant because in winning that day, Jimmy gave Ford it’s first ever NASCAR (now Sprint Cup) victory.

MORE ON RACE WINNER JIMMY FLORIAN…

            Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Lee Raymond (j.leeraymond69@gmail.com) was web surfing and found a website with lots of additional information on Jimmy Florian, the Cleveland driver who gave Ford their very first NASCAR Cup win when he wheeled across the Dayton Speedway finish line first in 1950.  Check out http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Jimmy_Florian.htm for lots of additional information on Jimmy including the surprising fact that he continued to race midgets and sprints well into his later years, and was still driving a vintage racer when he was 70.

            Florian passed away in February, 1999, after a battle with cancer.

            Thanks, Lee, for the link.

DAYTON SPEEDWAY HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2010…

            It’s hard to think in terms of next year’s Hall of Fame class when there is still so much work to do to get ready for the 2009 induction, but time marches on relentlessly so I thought that I’d better at least give you some idea of how I’ll run the nomination/election process for the 2010 class.

            Nominations will open on October 1, 2009 and run through December 31, 2009.  All of the nominees from 2009 will carry over to the 2010 list, but I distinctly remember dozens of e-mails after the nominations closed last year asking why certain folks were left off the list.  If your hero didn’t make the list last year, don’t forget to throw his or her name into the hat sometime between October 1st and December 31^st.

            Elections begin on January 1, 2010.  Polls will be open, so to speak, until March 31, 2010.  I might be tweaking the voting process a bit, but those details will have to wait.

            The results of the voting will be announced at the second annual DSL birthday party sometime in April, 2010, and the induction ceremony will once again take place near the end of the 2010 racing season.

            I expect to have further announcements on the 2010 election process at the HOF induction ceremony on November 1, 2009.

NOT SO SURPRISING…

            I once read that many of us end up marrying people we meet at work.  It’s not surprising given that we spend so many hours with our co-workers each week.  Still, I’ll admit to being a little surprised that well-known mechanic Jud Phillips who worked on Jim Rigsby’s car ended up marrying Rigsby’s widow when Jim was tragically killed at DS.  Gordon Reid’s widow, Betty, married another driver, Eddie Sachs, after Reid lost his life at the same Dayton track.

            There must be more examples, but none come to mind at the moment.

MORE ON CHARLEY ENGLE…

            Regular visitors here have probably read the amazing story of Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame inductee Charley Engle.  (Read more here.)  At the time of his death, Charley owned two taverns in Dayton (and was shot to death during a robbery of one of them) but before he owned those two he owned a third one, the Farm Dell Bar, located on the 400 block of Cincinnati Street in Dayton.

            Steve Estes has unearthed this early photo from his collection showing Engle’s race car posed in front of that Cincinnati Street bar.

            Thanks, Steve.  I’ve also posted the photo on Charley’s page here.

RON MORGAN FOLLOW-UP…

            Several Updates ago I introduced you to brand new FODS Ron Morgan (cmorgan34@woh.rr.com) who was wondering if anyone remembered one of his childhood heroes, Red Findley.  As it turned out, Jerry Wahl did remember Red.

            Ron recently forwarded a follow-up message:

Mickey,

            Thanks for printing my correspondence with Dave, Jerry and Earl. Since I found out about it I have been enjoying your website every night of the past week. I'm still not all the way through it because I keep going back and reading things a second and third time. I can picture most of it having seen several events at Dayton.

The whole thing is very heart warming and heart breaking at the same time. These days in the sun watching race cars were some of my best child hood memories with my Dad. Now we are watching him leave us thanks to Alzheimer's.

That's a bit of a downer but I thought it would help you know how much your work has touched one of your readers.

Thanks so much!

Ron

            Thanks for the kind words, Ron.  On behalf of all the FODS I wish you, your dad and your entire family all the best.