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#3500 - Jack Hewitt's caption to this photo: "Sign language. This guy’s telling me, 'Go get-’em, Jack!' I'm telling him he’s number one." From HEWITT'S LAW, by Jack Hewitt with Dave Argabright. (Allen Horcher Photo)

#3499 - The appendages are connected to two very special people. Motorsports lensman extraordinaire Jack Kromer, on the left, always has a twinkle in his eye. Recently, standing next to Paul Pitzer, among the world's bravest Sprint Car drivers, Jack glanced south, He wondered whether after all those decades delivering mail, his right foot could possibly match the weightiness of Paul's. No way, he concluded. (Jack Kromer Photo)

#3498 - The late Darel Dieringer, an Indianapolis native, turned down open-wheel rides and the possibility of running the Brickyard, instead moving South to join NASCAR. Despite an admirable run in 181 Grand National events, including seven wins and 79 top-tens, he is seldom referred to these days. Additionally, he was named the most popular driver in 1966 and was known to be a welcoming ambassador to the sport with an infectious smile. (Photo: STOCK CAR RACING: The High Speed History of America’s Premier Motorsport, by Don Hunter and Al Pearce.)

#3497 - Speedway Illustrated head honcho Karl Fredrickson reported this from last month’s PRI show: "Bobby 'Abraham' Lincoln (his sister is named Mary Todd) and colleagues Bryan Bower and Jerrett Lapour from US30 Speedway in Nebraska built this incredible rollover simulator to be in our booth...Over 270 tried it, all learned some muscle memory. And we only lost one pair of pants, luckily the next door vendor was a race decal company, so he was lettered-up instantly." (Speedway Illustrated Collection)

#3496 - "Bobby Grim carries the Hector Honore Black Deuce into the first turn at the 1956 Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln. The combination of Grim and the Deuce was as close to unbeatable as any in the long history of the Husker Fair. Grim won nine times (including six in a row) from 1953 through 1958. After Grim departed for an Indy ride, Pete Folse took over the Deuce, winning six times at Lincoln, then Bill Peterbaugh scoring two more and Don Daniels winning yet another in 1967. That’s 18 victories in 15 years for one car!" From NEBRASKA DIRT: A Century of Racing in the Cornhusker State 1901-1999, by Bob Mays. (Harold Mauch Photo)

#3495 - Back in the '60s, trophy girls were a big part of the show, and the West Coast seemed to lead the pack. Ken Clapp, California's hyper-energetic promoter and future NASCAR Vice President, was on the case - for a while. "This good-looking girl came walking into the barroom, and I told her I was looking for a Trophy Girl for an upcoming race. It was June Wilkinson [above], and she said she’d go for it. I said, 'One thing you have to do is kiss the winner. This is business, but I need to kiss you first, to see if you kiss all right.' She said that would be okay, so I laid a big one on her. I felt something nudge me from behind, and when I turned around, all I could see was black stars. I was out. Her boyfriend, who was a logger, just came in and knocked the living crap out of me. I decided after that I would let somebody else interview the Trophy Girls." Quote and Photo from RACING'S REAL McCOY: Sharing the Road with the Pioneers of the Wild West, by Jack McCoy and Keith Sellers with Richard “Sterling” Hagerty. (Montgomery Collection)

#3494 - Larry McReynolds (in 1992): "I grew up in Bermingham, Alabama, and I became involved in cars on a part time basis in the mid-seventies when I was fourteen or fifteen. I didn't have a hot rod street car. Those things didn't flip my switch. I had a little ole ’71 Pinto I puttered around in, but I never had a hankering for dirt track racing. I’ve only been to a dirt track once in my life. And I left halfway through it because of the mess that was going on." From AMERICAN ZOOM, Stock Car Racing From the Dirt Tracks to Daytona, by Peter Golenbock

#3493 - Jeff Gordon kisses the bricks along with his family following his historic 2014 win at the Brickyard 400. From JEFF GORDON: His Dream, Drive, & Destiny, by Joe Garner.

#3492 - Jimmy Sills recalls: "In May of 1987 we traveled to the one-mile track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The Indy mile is a bad fast racetrack. Our straightaway speeds were in the 165-170 range, and you can run wide open through the corner. Lenard McCarl didn't put any special aero element on our body, but we did have a new set of wings with a clean leading edge and no rock dents. Leonard stiffened all four spring rates and put more toe in the front wheels to make for a better feel...We lapped up to sixth place at the finish. What a great night!" From LIFE WITH LUKE, by Jimmy Sills, with Dave Argabright. (Sills Family Collection)

#3491 - "Packing four Pontiac V-8s into a single streamliner required some real engineering, as did developing the drivetrain that could get all 3,000 horsepower to the salt. Ed Iskenderian liked and trusted that the young, handsome, self-confident Mickey Thompson could get the job done at Bonneville, and recalls sponsoring him with about $6000 worth of parts and seed money. Once again Isky knew which horse to hitch his promotional wagon to, and Thomoson came away with great runs and a record." From ISKY: Ed Iskenderian and The History of Hot Rodding, by Matt Stone. (TEN, The Enthusiast Network Archive Photo)

#3490 - "Steve McQueen and legendary English racer Stirling Moss became fast friends, and the latter coached the former on the finer arts of sports car racing. Moss's connections with the Cooper factory and Austin-Healey teams helped McQueen earn a factory ride at the 24 Hours of Sebring in 1962. He drove well there and the car ran credibly when a mechanical failure caused the car not to finish the race." From BULLITT: The Cars and People Behind Steve McQueen by Matt Stone. (McQueen Family Collection)

#3489 - In her dad Louie's book that came out last year, 44-year-old Mimi Lazzaro (announcer, anthem singer, and racing ambassador) reflected, "It seems I've been going to the races forever." She sure had that right. From LAZZARO: The Man and His Machines, by Ron Moshier. (Lazzaro Family Collection)

#3488 - There was a doozey on August 23, 1953 during an AAA 100-miler at Milwaukee. Driving his red-hot Hornet, Jack McGrath sailing high and wide until the 43rd lap, when he simply did not see Don Dunfee's Dodge stalled and abandoned in the south turn. McGrath hit it full on and flipped many times. Good thing that was the first year AAA mandated roll bars in stock cars. He escaped with a cut wrist. From RACE CAR FLASHBACK, Edited by John A Gunnell. (Phill Hall Collection)

#3487 - Here's the Ford Midget Engine developed for Steve Lewis. It used a Yates NASCAR head, a block casting from Joe Fontana, and a special EFI ignition system. Pink was all over it when it launched at the Copper Classic and Kenny Irwin parked it on the pole. The only thing that kept him from the win was last-lap traffic congestion that allowed Billy Boat to slip by. Pink says, "All these engines were my children...I was always the first person into the pits when the track opened and one of the last to leave when the races were over. Hey, I was spending time with my kids." Photo and Quote from ED PINK: The Old Master, by Bones Bourcier. (Ed Pink Collection)

#3486 - In 1959, after great success at Lime Rock at a Formula Libre event in a Midget, Rodger Ward ventured on down to Sebring with a Modified Wilke Offy for the US Grand Prix. That didn't go so well. He was fast, but at a huge disadvantage on those endless old bomber runways. Further he had to run gas rather than alcohol, which robbed horsepower and resulted in overheating. He pulled out. From Leader Card Racers: A Dynasty of Speed, by Gordon Eliot White. (Wilke Family Collection)

#3485 - Here's Jeff Gordon contemplating his Sprint car at Fremont, Ohio, in 1985. The year before, the 14-year-old had gone to Lee Osborne's shop to check out Sprinter chassis with step-dad John Bickford. "Aren’t you a little old to be starting in Sprint Car racing," Lee asked John. The car wasn’t for John; it was for Jeff. John recalls "You had to picture it. Jeff's standing there, and even soaking wet with a hundred dollars' worth of quarters in his pocket, he didn't weigh a hundred pounds." From JEFF GORDON: His Dream, Drive, and Destiny, by Joe Garner, Foreword by Tom Cruise.

#3484 - "Did it ever get any better than this? Foyt inside, Parnelli Jones upstairs at Trenton in 1962." From FOYT ANDRETTI PETTY: America’s Racing Trinity, by Bones Bourcier, Forewords by John Andretti and Dave Despain. (Caption by Bones, Ray Masser Photo)

#3483 - It was quite apparent that popular Jessica Zemken was really coming into her own at Utica-Rome Speedway in 2004. "That didn't mean that the boys weren't going to joke about things occasionally. On the night of her third win, Mike Button finished third. 'I asked Mike what he thought he had to do to beat Jessica,' recalls announcer Shane Andrews. 'His comment was, "I guess I'm gonna have to start wearing a sports bra." The next week, Andrews was dong his usual afternoon pit crawl when he was beckoned by Bill Shantel Jr., the defending Sportsman champ. 'Bill says, "Hey, check this out." He unzips his firesuit and he’s wearing a sports bra.'" From THE HOME OF HEROES: Fifty Years of Racing at Utica-Rome Speedway, by Bones Bourcier. (Post-Time Photo)

#3482 - Popular journalist Joyce Standridge, shown way back in 1980 at Tr-City Raceway, has a point: "When I was a little kid, we looked up to race drivers as being the toughest guys in town. They had to be because they took such terrible risks. No roll cages, no safety harnesses, no insurance plans. If you lost an arm, you raced with a hook. If you lost your life, they passed the hat in the grandstand, and your family ate for another week. They smoked too much, drank too much, and chased too many women who were in awe of their daredevil ways. I don't know why we thought them so admirable. But we did." From AUTO RACING, I GAVE YOU THE BEST YEARS OF MY LIFE, by Joyce Standridge. (Marvin Scattergood Photo)

#3481 - "Ed [Pink] never lost his habit of conferring with drivers, looking for their input on engine performance. In the case of a ground-up project like the Toyota Midget engine, that was critical. Here he's talking with Nine Racing driver Dave Steele." From ED PINK: The Remarkable Life and Times of Racing’s Most Versatile Engine Builder, by Ed Pink with Bones Bourcier. (Ed Pink Collection)

#3480 - "Cale Yarborough in his driver's suit prior to the 1962 Daytona 500. It was the first of twenty-seven Daytona 500s Yarborough ran in his Hall of Fame Career." Quote and photo from NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, and Al Pearce.

#3479 - That's Johnny Rutherford at Indy in the mid-seventies. "You don't want the car to push at the Speedway. I prefer the car to be neutral, maybe with a little bit of oversteer, but that McLaren was perfectly neutral. Within the first day of practice, I was able to flat-foot it around the Speedway. It was the first time I’d been able to do that at Indianapolis and during the week of practice we were the first team to run some laps at 200mph. We had two or three practice qualifying runs and we were able to run four laps just on 200mph and we thought Wow! This is going to be something," It was. They won.Photo from BOOST: Roger Bailey’s Extraordinary Motor Racing Career, by Gordon Kirby. (RMA/Torres Photo)

#3478 - Alan Kulwicki with Marilyn Mee, Miss Slinger Speedway, on May 30, 1977. "Meeting Alan had been easy. He won a lot of races. He was flirty in his own way. He attempted to say things that were cute and clever, but never were. He wasn't really smooth, but he believed he was. Other boyfriends arrived at her door dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Alan wore polyester pants and a Banlon shirt with buttons and a collar. Marilyn could smell his cologne. He was so dorky and dad-like. He dressed like her Uncle Conrad. 'God!' she thought!" Quote and Photo from ALAN KULWICKI NASCAR CHAMPION: Against All Odds, by Fr. Dale Grubba. (Marty Lemmermann Photo)

#3477 - Sam Posey: "When Bob Sharp stopped racing, he hired me to take his place co-driving with Paul Newman...We couldn't find an open place to test. Because of Paul, Stewart Air Force Base in New York opened up a runway for us...As we left, the sun was setting, the light raking across the runways. The car [a Datsun 280ZX] looked spectacular. It should have been a moment of great excitement and anticipation for the racing to come. But already we sensed the car just wasn't fast. It was too wide, too heavy, the paint job too elegant...Paul and I co-drove at Atlanta and Elkhart Lake. We were never competitive with the turbo Porsches. My career was winding down, but, even though Paul was ten years older, he was still coming on. With the right car, he could have been mixing it up with the top guys." From SAM’S SCRAPBOOK: My Motorsports Memories, by Sam Posey with John Posey

#3475 - "Drag News columnist Judy Thompson gave John Peters's rail the "Freight Train" name in the early 1960s after watching it defeat the competition by a train's length. Driver Bob Muravez made over 1,300 runs in the car, and at one point went 28 consecutive rounds without a loss." Quote and photo from CHEVY DRAG RACING 1955-1980, by Doug Boyce. (Photo Courtesy Forrest Bond)

#3474 - It was quite the day at Alexandria Bay, NY, in on August 10, 1940, as a huge crowd assembled for the Round the House road race. When Paul Wilson pulled in for fuel, the scene sure was far more genteel than the typical NASCAR pit stop. But that didn't mean things didn't get racy. Next in was Dick Wharton, and as he left, spilled fuel erupted, and he bailed out, beating out the flames on his driving uniform. Meanwhile an enterprising fan ran onto the road, reached for the steering wheel of the now slowly moving car, and guided it to an intersection where officials hit it with fire extinguishers. Wharton then caught back up with his car, which was singed but essentially undamaged, hopped in the cockpit. and carried on. Right to the win. From American Road Racing: The 1930s, by Joel E. Finn.

#3473 - Linda Vaughn: "Wendell won a race, and he said to me, 'Miss Linda, you don't have to kiss me. I wouldn't do that to you.' I just hugged his neck and almost cried: that was so sweet." Quote and photo from DIRT TRACKS O GLORY: The Early Days of Stock Car Racing as Told by its Pioneers, by Sylvia Wilkinson

#3472 - "CART replaced F1 at Long Beach in 1984 and through the eighties and nineties the race was an important part of CART's growth, with big crowds jamming the city all weekend. Here Mario Andretti leads the start in 1987 as his son Michael mows down some marker pylons." Wally Dallenbach, then CART's Chief Steward, recalls, "Two of my pet favorites were Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi. They were two great guys with big hearts who sometimes went a little beyond the line." Quotes and Photo from WALLY DALLENBACH: Steward of the Sport, by Gordon Kirby. (Photo Jutta Fausel)

#3471 - Guys like Randy Lanier don't come along too often. He emerged out of poverty in South Florida at the turn of the '80s, entering the racing scene with flashy self-confidence and curiously self-sponsored race cars. His progression to the top was simply dizzying. In 1986 he set the fastest time ever for a rookie at Indy and motored on to a stunning 10th-place finish. He would have a long time to contemplate his pathway: He spent the next 26 seasons in prison for an enormous drug-smuggling operation. (Photo from SURVIVAL OF THE FASTEST: Weed, Speed, and the 1980s Drug Scandal that Shocked the Sports World, by Randy Lanier with A.J. Baime)

#3470 - Unquestionably the American board-track era was among the most savage of all in motorsports. Shown above was a section of the 1.25-mile Kansas City Speedway with its cliff-like, 35 degree-banked turns. The broken top rail marks the spot where on September 16, 1922, racer Roscoe Sarles sailed out of the park. The cross on the ground in the lower right marks the spot where he landed and met his maker. (R.A. Silvia Collection)

#3469 - He looked pretty pleased about his July 4, 1975 weekend at Lime Rock, CT, for the Kendall Cup SCCA Nationals. Not even that apparent war with Gillette could keep Paul Newman from the podium. (R.A. Silvia Collection)

#3468 - When early outlaw John Wohlfeil out of Detroit, MI, pulled into Newmarket, NH, in 1938, he didn't match up to the competitive stylin' WoO teams seem to engage in today, with their fancy haulers. But for his time he was lookin' pretty natty with the matching midget and sprinter - and that way-cool Hudson pickup. (R.A. Silvia Collection)

#3467 - Everyone's favorite Charlie Elliott was likely the Northeast's most prodigious track builder and operator ever. Always smiling, he was wonderfully old-time with a carny theme to his promotions. They were certainly unpolished and often adorned with side shows, a merry-go-round, and his "Hoochie Coochie girls." But there was one project that really proved how unbound Charlie was by current norms. He decided in the very early 1950s to build a car for Maine wheelman, Bob Moore. It was no looker, crude, overweight, but look again: That Flathead engine sat down back, a full decade before John Cooper and Jack Brabham stunned the roadsters at Indy with their little Cooper. It worked like a champ, with Moore running wild on Maine and New Hampshire ovals - that is until he won 20 straight at Beech Ridge Speedway near Portland. That was it. The car was banned. (Steve Pellerin Collection)

#3466 - That's a classic image of Jimmy Sills in the Bailey Brothers Sprinter back in 1998. In his book, Jimmy recalls an early racing experience: "Not only did Jimmy Boyd (winner of the first World of Outlaws show) have the fastest car, but he was a good-looking guy and he had the hottest wife in the pits. Even her name - Betty - seemed perfect. Jimmy wore an open-face helmet with a Norm Rapp leather mask which was cool as hell. He sat with his head upright in the car and he made everything look effortless. After that I tried to sit the same way when I raced." Quote from LIFE WITH LUKE, by Jimmy Sills with Dave Argabright. (Sills Collection)

#3465 - Ed Pink, his wife Sylvia, and Larry Slutter discuss Cosworth's Indy Car engine. Pink says, "Smokey Yunick used to call Indianapolis Motor Speedway 'the big dyno."...The first time I stood on pit road, watching and listening as a car came down that front straightaway, I knew what he meant...For me the it is not the RPM, but the sustained RPM that matters...We didn't have telemetry in those days, so all the engine builder could do was listen to the engine scream and imagine what the individual parts were going through." From ED PINK: THE OLD MASTER: The Remarkable Life and Times of Racing’s Most Versatile Engine Builder by Ed Pink with Bones Bourcier. (Pink Family Collection)

#3464 - On September 24, 1960, Johnny Thomson crashed a Sprinter to his death in deplorably dusty conditions at Allentown, Pennsylvania. That day, distraught at losing his friend, Tommy Hinnershitz told his wife, Betty, "Today the car drove me. I did not drive the car." After 30 years of racing, he quit and became mechanic on the Pfrommer Offy, his recent ride, for the next two seasons. Here he explains to wheelman Jiggs Peters the weight-jacking setup on the right front and the control handle just behind his back. From THE PFROMMER OFFY: A History of an iconic Sprint Car, by Alan F. Gross. (Photo Courtesy Eastern Museum of Motor Racing)

#3463 - "In 2916 Matt Brabham became the fourth third-generation driver to start in the Indianapolis 500. Brabham's father, Geoff, raced at Indy from 1981 through 1993, while his grandfather, Sir Jack Brabham, made four starts between 1961 and 1970. With Matt's successful qualification run, the Brabham family joined the Vukovich, Foyt and Andretti families in fielding three successive generations of 500 starters." From 500 on (The INDY) 500: Tales, Facts, and Figures on "The Greatest Race in the World," by Rick Shaffer

#3462 - Kenny Schrader just can't quit. Apparently he got restless spending Thanksgiving in North Carolina in 2016, so he decided to run funky Springfield Raceway in Missouri later in the weekend. A chassis builder and former Boone Nationals winner, Jerry Hoffman, who bought the track, is described by racing psychologist Rex Merritt as "not a half-bubble off center. He's on the whole other side of the level." Schrader won, and here's what Hoffman presented in victory lane. (Photo and quote from STILL RACING!, with Ken Schrader and Joyce Standridge)

#3461 - It was one steamy night on Aug. 7, 1974 when 57 Modifieds towed into Westboro, MA, Speedway, but short-track specialist, George Summers, was the hottest of all. Out of his heat with an engine problem, he went on to win the A and B consis from the back - and then the main from 21st. He drove the wheels off Connie Lajoie's #21, and the hood and fenders, too. The wildly popular victory inspired a tsunami to the beer stand. Sometime later a fan ran into the track office imploring promoter John Falconi to come outside, quickly! There Falconi's Cadillac - no one apparently aboard - was doing circles in the parking lot. It turned out to be the unquenchable George doing a few more laps, leaning down on the seat, a case of beer at his side. (Summers Family Collection)

#3460 - That's California's Jack McCoy on October 17, 1970, winning a NASCAR Western Grand National 100-lapper at Ascot Park, his first win there in 14 tries. It was pretty special for the runner-up, too. "Ray Elder's drive to a second-place finish was an exceptional show of talent for the 28-year-old racing farmer. Because Firestone, whose tires Elder runs, did not have a supply of dirt tires available at the raceway, he was forced to compete on the worn asphalt tires that were on his car. Elder posted 19th-fastest qualifying time on a very muddy clay and drover skillfully to his second-place finish." Photo and quote from RACING'S REAL McCOY, by Jack McCoy and Keith Sellers. (McCoy Collection)

#3459 - He was a standout in Modifieds and later equally successful in Sprint Cars, as both a wheelman and a builder of OzCars. Along the way in 1972, Lee Osborne made a winter detour to Daytona with a Late Model, dutifully painted with his familiar orange and #81. He qualified 9th for the running of the 1972 Permatex 300 and was a contender in the early stages, only to head pit-side for a DNF after 42 laps. He was credited with a 29th place finish worth $380. (Photo and caption, Mike Feltenberger)

#3458 - Classic Photo of the Day Contribution! "Dear Coastal: I finally found a picture I have been searching for, for years. My dad had a Sunoco station just up US-20 from Esperance, NY, on the way to Duanesburg. He was great friends with Milton Brown and Ed Feuz (the promoter of Fonda Speedway). He wrenched on Milton's stock car which ran (poorly) at the track. Anyway the boys decided to grab some attention by painting a pinup girl on the side of the car à la WWII nose art. After a brief run at Fonda, Mo Feuz got after her husband Ed (locally known as "Flicker"), and the girl was retired. If you look at the picture you will see why. Larry Easton"

#3457 - "Handsome" Harry Gant had a horrendous finish at the 1980 Daytona 500 after the Jack Beebe-owned Western Steer/Race Hill Farms # 47 had an engine expire after just 15 laps as he was entering the top five from his 10th-starting slot. He was credited with the last finishing position of 42nd for a payout of $3,025. The next year the late Ron Bouchard hustled the car to a win at the Talladega 500 and NASCAR’s Rookie of the Year title. (Photo and caption by Mike Feltenberger)

#3456 - Sometimes it just seems inevitable-even for the very best of them. At Eldora back in 2012, Kyle Larson rode out this one, disassembling the Hoffman Sprinter. From MODERN THUNDER: The Illustrated History of USAC National Sprint Car Racing 1981-2017, by Dave Argabright, John Mahoney, and Patrick Sullivan. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3455 - "US Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta (right) discusses SAFER barriers with inventor and engineer Dr. Dean Sicking on May 15, 2004 at Richmond International Raceway." From NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, and Al Pearce.

#3454 - That's Roger French, the author of DON’T MENTION RACING – Unless You Have An Hour To Spare (100 Stories, 60 Years, 1 Driver). The definition of a Renaissance man, here he was stumbling - dazed -back to the flag station at the old road course at Thompson, CT, after an encounter with the turn 9 embankment in 1976. French’s racing started out with a bomber at the rough-and-ready Pines Speedway in Massachusetts, and moved into Formula V, Formula Ford, GT3, and others. Along the way, he has been a high-tech guru, an international cyber-security consultant, a racing tech inspector and instructor, a writer, a sky diver, a championship chess player, and continues at age 81 to run in regional SCCA races. Recently his son, Brian, shaking his head, pointed out that his dad "has been fighting an ulcer, so he gave up chess." (Robert Beaulieu Photo)

#3453 - "At the NHRA's first Nationals (in April 1953 at the Los Angeles Fairgrounds in Pomona), the flathead-powered belly tank of Ray Harrelson, the Motor Reco Special (Motor Reconditioning Co. of Houston) driven by a young A.J. Foyt proved to be one of the more impressive cars on hand." From DRAG RACING's REBELS: How the AHRA Changed Quarter-Mile Competition, by Doug Boyce. (Ruth Tice Photo)

#3452 - "During the 40 years of Springfield Speedway's operation in central Illinois, owner/promoter Joe Shaheen ran his beloved midgets as much as possible. When the track first opened in 1947, they were the premier class in fact. During the early years, they often ran before packed houses as seen here. Shaheen also owned some of the best cars of the era, these three racing for the lead among his stable. With little in the way of safety equipment, the drivers had to be just a little crazy - and those who survived to tell the tales reveled in their wild exploits, on-track and off. One of Shaheen’s drivers, Harry Myers, many years later recalled how a teammate pretended to be Myers, called his employer and quit his job - just so they could be sure that Myers, who was also a top mechanic, would be able to go with the team to an out-of-town event." (Caption thanks to Joyce Standridge, photo from FAST MEMORIES; Springfield Speedway 1947-1987, by Joyce Standridge and Terry Young.

#3450 - He chose the high groove: "Jimmy Wilkins was one of the big winners at US 13 who lived nearby in Delaware. During one of the year-end afternoon specials, Wilkins took the above bad crash off turn two." From LEGENDARY RACES, PLACES, AND FACES: Photos from the Lens of Lenny H. Sammons.

#3449 - Dick Trickle's philosophy was, "Usually a man who works hard, plays hard. The drivers I grew up with were a group of assertive, hard-working, very determined people... Just because the races were over didn’t mean pulling the shades and going to bed. What were you going to do - stop at the corner church? Well, we went down to the corner pub to socialize. Fortunately they closed at 1:00 AM so we did get home eventually." Trickle claimed you only needed an hour's sleep for a 100-lapper, two hours sleep for a 200-lapper and three hours for a 300 lapper. Here Bobby Allison checks to see if Dick Trickle has had enough sleep. From 67: Tom Reffner and Dick Trickle, by Fr. Dale Grubba. (Russ Lake Photo)

#3448 - Our friend and customer Mick Fesko sent along this photo of the late Jimmy Winks, commemorating the ten years since his passing. Jimmy, from Cicero, NY, was an outstanding wheelman, known especially for his versatility. He won widely aboard dirt and asphalt modifieds, Sprint cars, Supers, late models and sportsman cars. In the early '80s, he moved to Florida and kept right on racing. It's interesting how racing standouts so often connect with one another. In the Sunshine State, he befriended Bob Judkins, the legendary car builder and owner from Connecticut who had also meandered south. They teamed up, with Jimmy many a night aboard Bob's red #2X machines on the Florida circuit. (Mick Fesko Collection)

#3447 - This rather utilitarian-looking structure certainly attracted a lot of attention on hot summer nights back in the 1960s and '70s. It was the three-minute clock, a staple at the incredibly popular Reading Fairgrounds. When the first caution was thrown, everyone had three minutes to make changes on their cars. If they didn't make it back out onto the track before the last light went out, they restarted in the rear. (Photo and caption Mike Feltenberger)

#3446 - "In the mid-1970s, Richie Evans, definitely an asphalt Modified guy - and the best of ’em - bought a gaggle of parts and equipment from Ronnie Wallace, including a Supermodified. Richie did try to race it once - at New Hampshire's Star Speedway, but it misfired its way out of the top five. Richie sold it off over the following winter." From RICHIE: The Fast Life and Times of NASCAR’s Greatest Modified Driver, by Bones Bourcier. (Clint Lawton/Speedway Scene Photo)

#3445 - Noting Ernest Hemingway’s comment that "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering,” organizers of the 1967 Mexican Grand Prix staged their post-race prize ceremony in a bullfighting ring. Those were winner Jimmy Clark with the helmet and cape and Mexican Shelby Mustang wheelman Freddie van Beuren with the moves. From F1 MAVERICKS: The Men and Machines that Revolutionized Formula 1 Racing, by Pete Biro and George Levy. (Peter Biro Photos)

#3444 - "I hate photos from Indianapolis in 2004. I seem to be smiling, but I was miserable. I was driving an under-powered car for Patrick Racing. After my arrest in 2002, no sponsor would touch me with a ten foot pole. I was embarrassed to wear a blank uniform with only the minimum number of patches required by the IRL."
From AL UNSER JR. - A Checkered Past, as told to Jade Gurss. (Dan Boyd Photo)

#3443 - Bones Bourcier, king of the motorsports journalists, interviews Steve Kinser, king of the Outlaws, following a win at Lebanon Valley, NY, in 1985. From MODIFIEDS OF THE VALLEY: A History of Racing at Lebanon Valley Speedway, by Lew Boyd.
(Mike Adaskaveg Photo)

#3442 - "Kurt Busch and Rick Craven (right) race off to the finish of the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 on March 16 at Darlington Raceway. The two traded paint all the way around the 1.36-mile Darlington Raceway during the final lap, with Craven taking a .002 second victory in what is still considered the closest finish in NASCAR history." From NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, Al Pierce.

#3441 - Olney, Illinois' Levi Jones considered it the break he had been looking for when he jumped in Jeff Walker's Sprinter in 2002. He sure gave it a ride at Terre Haute. In 2005 he joined Tony Stewart Racing and won five USAC Sprint titles. Photo from MODERN THUNDER: The Illustrated History of USAC National Sprint Car Racing 1981-2017, by Dave Argabright, John Mahoney, Patrick Sullivan. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3440 - Whatever it takes: "One of the most outstanding ... early driving stars ... was Roberto 'Chino' Vegas, who drove a very unusual stock car to many victories in both road races and dirt ovals. The vehicle in question was a 1928 Lincoln V-8 four-door, seven-passenger sedan. Cubans believed it had originally been ordered by and constructed for a Chicago gangster with bulletproof glass windows and armored inside panels, but never delivered. The vehicle came to Cuba in 1930 as the official vehicle for then-president Gerardo Machado. After Fulgencio Batista ousted Machado as president in 1933 ... the Lincoln was eventually acquired by a Lincoln dealer, but ended up in a junkyard and was subsequently acquired for scrap by Vegas... Vegas repainted the original black Lincoln in yellow, hopped up the engine ... and went racing... Vegas was unbelievably successful in the car, nicknamed 'the Tank,' and his competitors refused to compete against him if he didn't start last." From CARIBBEAN CAPERS: The Cuban Grand Prix Races of 1957, 1958, & 1960, by Joel E. Finn.

#3439 - By the end of the 1950s, Florida's Pete Folse had earned his way into the seat of owner Hector Honoré's 2 Bardahl Special Sprint car for the IMCA circuit. "Hector’s brilliance, Pete's wild Creole bravado and his finely tuned dirt racing skills, and their shared skill at race preparation and mutual French-American heritage made them the perfect team...The Honoré-Folse team was about to embark on an odyssey that would take them from a race shop in the midst of Pana's rose-growing greenhouses to Tampa and [Plant Field] Pete's home track, and then onto the heart of America, and after the fall/winter break, back to Tampa again for the start of another season of thrilling the fans and annoying their rivals." From RACERS IN THE SUN: The Story of Florida’s Sprint Car Legends, by Richard Golardi

#3438 - That's Buck Simmons celebrating a win with promoter Robert Smawley and NDRA's racy trophy queen Eva Taylor queen. Buck's lack of experience in setting up a race car was colorfully described by former NDRA pit steward Fuzz Orange. "Buck's idea of race car setup was to climb in, wiggle your ass in the seat 'til you were comfortable, strap yourself in, and then ...lean forward and tell the car that it was going to be his best friend tonight." From THE ROCK-EM, SOCK-EM, TRAVELIN’ SIDEWAYS DIRT SHOW: A History of Robert Smawley's NDRA, by Gary L, Parker. (Michael Edwards Photo)

#3437 - Sometimes it actually looked under control. Emil Andres, Williams Grove, 1949. (Bradley Poulsen Collection)

#3436 - Verta from The Vancouver Province newspaper August 10, 1940: "The women folk just can’t keep out of anything these days. Monday night at Con James Park a member of the sex supreme will compete in the midget auto races, thus giving a feminine touch to a sport that hitherto has been free of the influence, locally at least. The interloper is Verta Warrens and she is from Portland. According to the press agent ... Verta is a first-class mechanic and a virtual whiz at fixing flats and recharging a run-down battery...The press agent has also shown the writer a picture of Miss Warrens, who was once voted Miss Portland. The writer's only comment is directed towards the male drivers who will race against her on Monday night: 'Boys, keep your eyes on the road.'" From THE GHOST TRACKS OF PORTAND, OREGON, by Bob Kehoe and Ralph Hunt.

#3435 - "Jackie Stewart on his way to victory at Silverstone in 1964. Stewart's performance that year earned him a ride with BRM in Formula 1 for 1965. The Scot scored his first F1 victory at the 1965 Italian Grand Prix at Monza and went on to win three World Championships, in 1969, '71 and '73 driving for Ken Tyrell’s team." From BOOST: Roger Bailey’s Extraordinary Motor Racing Career, by Gordon Kirby.

#3434 - Just in case you didn't know: "Dwayne 'Tiny' Lund of Cross, S.C., displays his Hanes thermal underwear, which the Grand National drivers used for the Daytona 500 race. Tiny's problem was that the original supply didn't have anything big enough, and special suits were flown in from Winston-Salem to Daytona Beach for Lund and John Sears." From NASCAR Magazine and Auto Race Program, 1967 Season.

#3433 - "Campaigned in 1959-1960 by Chrysler engineers that became the Ramchargers, the High and Mighty 1949 Plymouth, powered by a 354-ci Chrysler Hemi with 392 heads, was a racing test bed that ran the high 11s in the quarter-mile with a top speed of 117 mph." Quote and Photo from VINTAGE SPEED PARTS: The Equipment that Fueled the Industry, by Tony Thacker. (Marc Rozman Photo)

#3432 - It was 1947, the heyday of the Midget boom, and quite the scene in Lakeside, CO, a track referred to as "The Palace." Up front in the feature line-up were three maroon-and-silver Jimmy James Offys, familiar to fans coast to coast. On the pole sat Johnnie Parsons with Ernie Gesell outside and Johnnie Tolan in third. Parsons won and would motor on to win at the Brickyard three years later. From THE MIGHTY MIDGETS by Jack C. Fox. (LeRoy Byers Photo)

#3431 - One stout crowd at the start of a curious event run by the Ontario Motor Speedway in 1970 called the Questor GP. Held on the 2.9-mile infield road course, the concept was Formula 1 versus Formula 5000. Mark Donohue had the only competitive Formula 5000 ride, and he battled gallantly with eventual winner Mario Andretti before encountering a fuel system problem. From LOST IN TIME: Formula 5000 in North America, by John Zimmerman. (Photo RMA/George) Now on Holiday Catalog Sale!

#3430 - Tony Kanaan: "Oval tracks favor aggressive drivers that like high-speed corners. We have balls and we use them." Quote from HELLO, I’M PAUL PAGE: "It's Race Day in Indianapolis," by Paul Page with J.R. Elrod. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3429 - "Jeff Gordon sits in his Ford Thunderbird prior to the March 14, 1992 NASCAR Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon dazzled the huge trackside throng as well as NASCAR's Winston Cup team owner Rick Hendrick with his dominating win from the pole. Although Gordon was being groomed by Ford Motor Company for a splash into the NASCAR Winston Cup series in 1993, Hendrick snapped up the 21-year-old with a lucrative long-term contract to drive his Chevrolets." From NASCAR: The Complete History, by Greg Fielden.

#3428 - "Slammin' Sammy" Swindell in the Bobby Sparks #91 gets after it with his dad, "Swingin' Sam" (Harry Culbreath, #22) at West Memphis in 1974. In his book SAMMY! 50+ Years of Winning with Bones Bourcier and Bob Mays, Sammy writes, "I did have a little help on the human side. My dad was quiet like I am, but he was a good coach. I had something else going for me, too. My grandfather on my dad's side had done some boxing. I figure he passed that competitive gene down." (Gary Alan Strain Photo)

#3427 - Jack McCoy recalls his sweet victory at Irwindale's San Gabriel Speedway on Memorial Day of 1969. "That hundred-lap race got off in typical fashion with Ray Elder jumping from the pole into the lead, and myself and Scotty Cain in hot pursuit. When I say on his bumper, that's literally what I mean. The competition between us became so intense that rough stuff or 'aggressiveness with finesse' as Ivan Baldwin would later coin the phrase, was the order of the day. It took 42 laps for me to get Elder sideways enough that I could get by him. About 20 laps later his flywheel exploded cutting his steering and brake lines. He crashed and was out for the day. Don Nole ran us hard to the finish but we were able to prevail.' From RACING'S REAL McCOY: Sharing the Road with the Pioneers of the Wild West, by Jack McCoy and Keith Sellers with Richard "Sterling" Hagerty. (Steve Smith Collection)

#3426 - Bill Vukovich II, who died this past August, was one intense hombre. Climbing the ladder, he won dozens of features, some 27 in 1967 alone, aboard Midgets, Sprint Cars, and Supermodifieds. It was all in fierce pursuit of his only goal, the Indianapolis 500, a race his legendary father won twice. Vuky II got there in 1968, guiding J.C. Agajanian's Shrike/Offy to seventh place and Rookie of the Year honors. He ended up making 12 starts in the 500, finishing second in 1972 and third in '73, both aboard Jerry O'Connell's Sugaripe Prune Eagle. But that intensity never dimmed; despite a record most of his peers would have envied, he often insisted that he’d "failed" as a driver because he’d never been victorious at Indy. "Once a guy wins that race," said Vuky II, "he is a hero, a success. My father won it. I didn't." (Caption provided by Bones Bourcier, John Mahoney Photo)

#3425 - He was one of New England's most respected Hall of Famers, and he could win in anything and everything. And wasn't he just all duded up to hop into this early stock car that had the look of the Roman Empire? The colorful Dave Humphrey had started in Midgets, his first victory in 1941. When their heyday ended, it was into stock cars, claiming multiple championships before switching to URC Sprinters with great success. As the Midgets regained their appeal in the '60s, he joined NEMA. Over the seasons he emerged as their most illustrious champion, taking 72 feature events driving for 11 car owners. His last win was in 1986. Humphrey passed away in East Providence, RI, in 2020 at age 95. (R.A. Silvia Collection)

#3424 - "Spectacular at Indy in 1993 (the year of Mansell mania), Nigel had a rather unceremonious retirement in 1994 after Dennis Vitolo landed on top of his car on the pit warmup lane during a caution period. The Englishman had already vacated the cockpit to escape the hot fluids dripping on him." Photo and caption from 500 ON THE INDY 500: Tales, Facts, and Figures on “The Greatest Race in the World,” by Rick Shaffer. (IMS Photo Archives)

#3423 - A glimpse of the fifties. On August 25, 1956, the USAC Midgets pulled into Milwaukee State Fair Park. The winner, Oklahoma's Jimmy Reece aboard the John Zink entry, appeared surprisingly composed after a hundred miles, especially given what was described as a torrid battle with Tony Bettenhausen and Shorty Templeman. Known as "Go Go" for his effusive personality, Reece appeared to be on the edge of greatness, but perished two years later at Trenton on the final lap of a Champ Car race. Photo from MIDGETS OF WISCONSIN: An Illustrated Year by Year History of Midget Racing in America’s Dairyland, by Loren Olsen (Armin Krueger Photo)

#3422 - The boys will be the boys. That was Rags Carter's square top being extricated from victory lane after winning a Florida State Championship event at Medley Speedway in January 1952. It seems that Rags and hot shoe Banjo Matthews got to bumpin' and bangin' from the start. And coming off the fourth turn on the last lap they starred in one of the most spectacular crashes in the track's history. Banjo ended up wrecked in the infield while Rags flipped down along the fence and slid across the line, backwards and upside down. Apparently, no offence was taken. In several subsequent seasons, the Matthews and Carter families traveled the circuit together in the Carolinas. From JUST CALL ME RAGS: Rags Carter’s Racing Life, by Alan Carter Jr. and Family (Carter Family Collection)

#3421 - Two of our favorite people - Bobby Brack and Duane Brown - met at the recent Golden Gate Speedway reunion at Gibsonton, Florida. Bobby, the legendary "King of the Florida Late Models," and Duane, one of Coastal 181's longtime customers, had a grand ol’ time. Duane’s dad - racer Norman "Johnny Roscoe" Brown - and Bobby lined up against one another at many a track back in the day. (Duane Brown Collection)

#3420 - Polesitter and five-time CSRA champ, the sensational Jimmy Wilburn brings them down for the start on the oiled dirt of Funk's Winchester Speedway in Indiana in 1938. The next year he toured Greenfield, Ohio, at 27.72, the fastest a human had ever gone on a half-mile. From THE RIM RIDERS: The World’s Fastest Racing Circuit, by Buzz Rose. (Ed Hitze Collection)

#3419 - Christopher Beil, still peach-fuzzed at 16, traveled out of Oklahoma to Ohio to drive Rick Ferkel's Sprint Car. When she saw him, Cathy Ferkel ran to the phone and called Shane Carson back in Tulsa and asked "is this kid 12 yet?" But in his first run in a 410, Christopher gave the Ferkels their best finish to date that season. And he just never stopped. Here he was two years later, exciting the USAC railbirds. Now he’s a seasoned Cup veteran. Photo from MODERN THUNDER: An Illustrated History of USAC National Sprint Car Racing 1981- 2017, by Dave Argabright, John Mahoney, and Patrick Sullivan. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3418 - "Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp (#73) sail over the turn four railing of Daytona International Raceway after tangling on lap 37 of the second qualifier race for the 1961 Daytona 500. Both cars eventually ended up outside the speedway. This was an unexpected twist, as both drivers had been involved in the famous photo finish of the Daytona 500 in 1959." From NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, Al Pierce.

#3417 - Imagine this, 64 years past: "In 1959 Mickey Thompson took the 7,000 pound Challenger 1 to Bonneville and used a plane wing for shade. The four used Hilborn-injected 389 ci Pontiacs powered the beast to a new record of 362 mph." Quote and Photo from VINTAGE SPEED PARTS: The Equipment that Fueled the Industry, by Tony Thacker. (Danny Thompson Photo)

#3416 - "In a head-on crash into a concrete wall not covered by SAFER barrier during the 2005 season-opening Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Busch suffered a compound fracture of his right leg and a left mid-foot fracture. Busch missed eleven races that season, but came back to win five Cup Series races and qualified for the playoffs where he went on to win for the first time in his career." NASCAR 75 Years, by Al Pearce, Mike Hembree, Kelly Crandall and Jimmy Creed.

#3415 - Daytona native Marshall Teaque was an oversized man who had an oversized impact on the development of superspeedway Stock Car racing. A winner already in 1951, he went to the Hudson factory in Detroit and convinced executives to produce parts suitable for oval-track competition. The rapport he established led to factory backing of race cars - in public and in secret - that would continue for decades. Photo from RACE CAR FLASHBACK, edited by John A Gunnell.

#3414 - Can you imagine?!? 1977 World Motor-Cycle Sidecar championship. First place were George O’Dell and Cliff Holland. (Coastal 181 Collection)

#3413 - From our brand new book about the discovery and restoration of the iconic Pfrommer Offy: "Jud Larson and John Pfrommer, Reading 1956. At the tail of the car is Buster Warke with the hat and Johnny Thomson in the background... After a hard-fought second place behind winner Tommy Hinnershitz at Reading on September 23, Larson pulled his Pfrommer Sprinter into victory circle next to Tommy's Miracle Power car to congratulate him. With his arm around Tommy, Jud announced to the crowd in his Texas drawl, 'At.s as good a race as AH ever saw a man drive.'" From THE PFROMMER OFFY: A History of an Iconic Sprint Car, by Alan F. Gross. (Lloyd King Photo, Alan Gross Collection)

#3412 - It happens to the best of 'em: "Justin Grant (Clauson/Marshall 39BC) was chasing eventual 2017 USAC Midget champion Spencer Bayston at the 4-Crown Nationals when he got in a bit too close to the Eldora concrete, which bit him." From GUTS AND GLORY: The USAC National Midget Championship 1956-2022, by Bob Mays, Richie Murray, Patrick Sullivan. (Chris Pedersen Photo)

#3411 - Derek Daly suggested rather directly, "Michael Schumacher's commitment to win led him to literally assault drivers with his car, as he hit Jacques Villeneuve in 1997." From RACE TO WIN: 7 Essential Skills of the Complete Champion, by Derek Daly

#3410 - No question that Ohio native Frankie Kerr, the esteemed NASCAR crew chief, worked his way up through the ranks before moving to North Carolina at age 29. Over 18 seasons he won 188 Sprint Car features and four All Star titles. He also spent some time in hardtops. Here he was back in the day piloting the K54 Modified at New Jersey's old East Windsor Speedway, racing alongside Gary Hieber (56) and Mark Fluery. (Mike Feltenberger Photo)

#3409 - Cyrus Patschke poses in a rare if not-ever-before-published photograph. With the uncertainty of the physical demands of the inaugural Indianapolis 500, the Marmon team brought in a veteran racer to relieve, if necessary, the team's two drivers: Ray Harroun and Joe Dawson. Patschke's services were certainly needed as he relieved both with Harroun winning the race and Dawson placing a very respectable fifth. The 1911 event would be Patschke's only appearance in the Indianapolis 500. From 500 on (the Indy) 500: Tales, Facts and Figures on "The Greatest Race in the World," by Rick Shaffer. (IMS Photo Archive)

#3408 - Stock car driver Billy Pauch stunned the world by winning quick time and the race at Super DIRT Week in Syracuse in 1994. "The 24.898 lap BilIy reeled off in time trials not only put him on the pole: it set a new speed record on a closed dirt course - 144.590 mph, the fastest official time anyone ever turned on the Syracuse Fairgrounds mile... It took a second for it to sink in. 'I just held it to the floor for two laps,' Billy was matter-of-fact. 'The car was so glued, it felt like it was no effort. When you’re all assholes and elbows, you feel like you’re fast, but that’s when you’re not.'" From THE LAST COWBOY: The Life and Times of Billy Pauch, by Buffy Swanson. (Mel Stettler Photo)

#3407 - Doesn't that photo just make you want to go racing?! "Chuck Lynch (29) leads Dick Sutcliffe (Gary Hanna 29x), Kenny Grtiz (Larry Snyder 12), Bill Utz (Dean Hathman 56), and Ron Perkins (Bob Perkins 60) out of turn four at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1969." Quote from NEBRASKA DIRT: A Century of Racing in the Cornhusker State, by Bob Mays. (Harold Mauck Photo)

#3406 - Chris Windom of Clinton, Illinois, began racing at age seven at Spoon River Speedway. "Because he began his USAC career at such a young age, Windom has posted some staggering numbers. He is one of only a handful of drivers to amass more than 700 USAC National starts, a feat he accomplished before the age of 30." From Guts and Glory: The USAC National Midget Championships 1956-2022, by Bob Mays, Richie Murray, Patrick Sullivan. (Rich Forman Photo)

#3405 - "Western PA driver Ed Luch Sr. comes in for a splash of fuel with his Modified at Super DIRT Week in 1972. His son Ed Jr. (far left), a great Sprint Car driver himself, puts on his glasses as the car comes to a stop to help out." From LEGENDARY RACES, PLACES, FACES: Photos from the Lens of Lenny H. Sammons

#3404 - Rich Bickle: "Yesteryears was the best racing bar in Milwaukee back then. Everyone heads up there after the practice on the Speedway on Greenfield Avenue. The wait staff was having trouble keeping up with serving drinks, so I jumped behind the bar to do whatever I could to help out. Herman (Kenny Wallace) did, too.” From BARNYARD TO BRICKYARD, by Rich Biffle with John Close. (Jackie Biffle Photo)

#3403 - "During a USAC Sprint Car race at Winchester in 1978, Dana Carter (foreground) and Billy Casella tangled as they exited the fourth turn. Their flipping cars disintegrated as they tumbled down the full length of the main straight and came to rest under the first turn bridge. It was one of the most spectacular crashes in sprint racing history. In spite of the violence of the crash, continually improving safety measures permitted both drivers to survive and continue their careers." From FEARLESS: Dangerous Days in American Open Wheel Racing, Photography by Gene Crucean

#3402 - Rick Ferkel riding one out at Little Springfield Speedway. "Car owner Bob Hampshire told me that if I’d seen that crash, I’d never race again, it was that scary. It's probably good when you don't get to see them.” From WIN IT OR WEAR IT: All-time Great Sprint Car Tales, by Joyce Standridge. (Alan Horcher Photo)

#3401 - Bobby Unser: "When the car is handling good, I have a good chance of winning every race. Some of these other guys with fast cars aren't easy to beat, and I don't know if I can beat them every time, but I’m going to be on the leader like a chicken on a June bug." From SPEED: Indy Car Racing, Photography, by Chet Jerzierski.

#3400 - "The late Mike Stefanik with wife, Julie, and daughter, Christine, at New Hampshire International in the '90s. “His '89, '91, '97, and '98 Modified national titles resembled those of his mentor Richie Evans, in that Stefanik built his own cars and concocted his own setups. The cars took shape in the same Koszela shop that had birthed the championship coupes of Ernie Gahan and Fred DeSarro at the crossroads of Rhode Island routes 117 and 102. The later, fittingly, is known as Victory Highway." Quote from A HISTORY OF AUTO RACING IN NEW ENGLAND, a book of the Northeast Racing Museum. (Howie Hodge Photo )

#3399 - Famed World War I Ace Eddie Rickenbacker sits at the wheel of the Rickenbacker Vertical 8, the Pace Car for the 1925 Indianapolis 500. Rickenbacker had been a top racing car driver prior to World War I, starting in four 500s between 1912 and 1916. He learned how to fly an airplane after joining the U.S. Army in 1917. His racing skills served him well as he became America's "Ace of Aces," shooting down 26 enemy aircraft. He emerged from the war a bigger name than he had been as a racer with his new-found fame offering him numerous business opportunities, including a company that produced automobiles bearing his name. In 1927, Rickenbacker purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From 500 on (the Indy) 500: Tales, Facts and Figures on "The Greatest Race in the World," by Rick Shaffer. (IMS Photo Archive)

#3398 - "The continuing death toll on the world’s racetracks in 1957 caused the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) to dissolve its competition board and agree to withdraw from motorsports of any kind." From VINTAGE SPEED PARTS: The Equipment that Fueled the Industry, by Tony Thacker. (Don Shannon Photo)

#3397 - "J.R. Hildebrand leans against the wall in turn four at Indianapolis posing for the camera in a seriously contemplative mood near the spot where his car hit the wall while leading on the last lap of the 2011 Indy 500." Quote from SECOND TO ONE: All But For Indy, by Joe Freeman and Gordon Kirby (Doug Mockett Collection)

#3396 - "Roland 'The Hawaiian' Leong [the future Top Eliminator Gas maestro] made his maiden voyage in his new AA/FD Hawaiian on Saturday October 4, 1965 at Lions. This was the one and only time that Leong made the attempt to drive a nitro-fueled dragster, and it happened to take place on his licensing run. Under strict licensing rules, Leong was told to shut off at half-track, but he kept his foot on the gas pedal during the run, tripping the finishing-line lights at more than 190 mph. The result of his mishap ended with Leong being banned from ever receiving a Top Fuel license from the NHRA." From ROLAND "THE HAWAIIAN" LEONG: Drag Racing's Iconic Owner and Tuner, by Lou Hart. (Darr Hawthorne Collection)

#3395 - In 1970, legendary center steer Modified wheelman "Wily Will" Cagle pulled into Middletown, New York's Eastern States 200 with his #24. Back then the 200 was one of the most robust shows in the East, drawing all the name drivers and huge fields. But, quite uncharacteristically, Will crashed in his qualifier, delivering the radiator up to the firewall. He claims Butch Jelley forced him into the wall, unhappy about a Cagle car Butch had been driving. A few minutes later the crew of Al Waring’s #17 came over and asked Will to run their car in the main. Their driver, Ronnie Theil, had won his heat, but Ronnie was a bulky guy and doubted he could go the 100-mile distance. Will agreed to try it out in the final warmup session and give his answer then. When he came back in, he said, "I'll tell you this. If this thing holds up, I'll see you in victory lane in an hour and a half." And so he did. (High Banks Rumblings Photo)

#3394 - You know when you're in Speedway, Indiana, when you see checkered fire hydrants all around town. Here, Butch Welsch of St. Louis, Missouri, takes a short break before attending his 76th consecutive Indy 500. Folks, that must be some kind of record. (Don Figler Photo)

#3393 - Getting 24 vintage race cars that run in one place is a huge challenge. But, Butch Elms, Bill Josler and others took on the challenge and brought them all to Elms' Bear Ridge Speedway in Vermont. The cars were lined up on the road from the parking lot to the grandstands so fans could walk by every one of them on the way to their seats. Midway through the August racing program, all 24 were started and took parade speed laps. Butch (pictured), who was a track champion driver and is now the track's owner and promoter with his wife, April May Preston, gave the thumbs up after he walked through the line-up and shook the hand and said "thank you" to every driver. (Dick Berggren Photo)

#3392 - "AJ Foyt (right) and his long-time engine builder Howard Gilbert warm up their Cosworth engine while observing the autograph seekers outside Pocono garages." From SPEED! Indy Car Racing Photographs by Chet Jezierski

#3391 - Who says halls of fame are just for old guys? Not our friend Ed Wolf, the popular former dirt tracker in Algona, Iowa. He was inducted into the Kossuth County Racing Hall of Fame on August 3 for his exploits at Kossuth County and Hancock Speedways. Look who came along to cheer for him. (Wolf Family Collection)

#3390 - Two of the East's most successful Modified career performers, Lou Lazzaro and Bob McCreadie (L), worked through some seriously financially strapped times. In his book BAREFOOT, Bob wrote, "So I was as rich as Rockefeller when it comes to family. But I was still a church mouse when it came to racing. One night we were coming back from Brockville in Canada. The toll to cross the Thousand Island Bridge was $1.00. Nobody in the hauler, not me or my crew, had a dollar to our name. So we went through our pockets and came up with 97 cents in change between us. The toll taker felt sorry for us and let us cross for 97 cents." Photo from LAZZARO: The Man and his Machines, by Ron Moshier. (Junior Bianco Collection)

#3389 - Two characters to beat the band. When Dick Berggren (right) retired from NASCAR pit-road television reporting to concentrate on building his New England Racing Museum in Loudon, NH, a huge, riotous roast was held for him on a Cup weekend at the track. That's the Supermodified star, Paul "Ricochet" Richardson, on the mic with Bergie-like headdress. Everyone roared with laughter as Ricochet, never looking more serious, spun the tale of an outrageous Bergie escape. (Speedway Illustrated, Karl Fredrickson Photo)

#3388 - "Leslie Porterfield began riding and racing motorcycles at 16. By 2008 the American Motorcyclist Association named her Racing Female Rider of the Year. The year before, at 227 mph, a tumbling crash at Bonneville broke seven ribs, punctured a lung, and gave her a concussion, but did not break her competitive spirit." From BONNEVILLE’S WOMEN OF LAND SPEED RACING by Louise Ann Noeth.
(Horst Roesler Photo)

#3387 - Already at 19, back in 1995, Jimmie Johnson was an up-and-coming off-road and SCORE driver. He was admittedly self-confident and perhaps a bit too fast. Then, roaring along in Mexico's Tijuana-to-La Paz endurance event in the mountainous Baja Penisula, he dosed off in the early hours and flipped, tumbling deeply down into a ravine. It was 24 hours before he was found. During the wait for rescue, he claims he did a lot of thinking. "I was young and dumb and didn't care if I crashed...my career was going in the wrong direction...That time out changed a lot in the way I went back racing." He would continue for three more seasons on the rugged dirt pathways, but was never on his roof again. Quote from 50 FIRST VICTORIES, by Al Pierce and Mike Hembree. (Photo from ONE MORE LAP: Jimmie Johnson and the #48, by Robert Sullivan)

#3386 - A.J. Foyt takes a victory lap in 1977 following his fourth Indy 500 victory. Two decades earlier, he had walked into the place "starry-eyed" and wondering if he would really make it as a racer. Then "he heard over a Gasoline Alley loudspeaker the kind of prank announcement that has never gone out of style at Indianapolis. 'All rookie drivers bring your helmets to the Magnaflux station.' But, of course, magnafluxing had no relevance to the helmets Foyt and his fellow rookies were scooping up. 'I'll never forget it,' Foyt laughs, 'I’m going down the aisle with my helmet and everybody's laughing.'" From FOYT ANDRETTI PETTY, by Bones Bourcier. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3385 - Ed Flemke really was the calm and innovative professor of the East Coast Modifieds. His 1960s-era teammate Denny Zimmerman recalls: "His greatest improvisation was, of course, the Flemke front end, that split-spring setup (that replaced the stock bow spring). We were getting ready to leave Bert Brooks' garage for another weekend of racing, and Eddie was waiting for a spring he ordered from Superior Spring up in Hartford (CT). Well, when it finally got there, it was too short. Eddie thought for about a second, and he said, 'We can fix that.' He cut the spring in half, and now he had two small springs. He had to modify the cross-member a little bit to make everything fit, and he added two stacking bolts so each side would be adjustable. He had that thing designed and built in no time at all, and it worked so well that everyone in Modified racing copied it." Quote from STEADY EDDIE: Memories of Ed Flemke, Modified Racing’s Fastest Professor, by Bones Bourcier. (Photo Coastal 181 Collection)

#3384 - On April 28, 2001, CART arrived at the banked 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway. "Speeds immediately topped 230 mph. The high G-loads were causing some drivers to experience dizziness and even temporary blackout. During Saturday practice Mauricio Gugelmin was involved in an enormous accident and was taken to North Hills Hospital. On Sunday morning CART made the uncomfortable but necessary decision to cancel the race. Fans expressed their displeasure." Quote and Photo from TIME FLIES: The History of PACWEST Racing, by John Oreovicz. (Phil Sedgewick/LAT Photo)

#3383 - Massachusetts' ultra-popular Ron Bouchard stunned the racing world when he outgunned Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte to grab the Talladega 500 on August 2, 1981. Back in New England, everyone was tuned in. Bones Bourcier wrote "So were the pits at Thompson (CT) Speedway. During a break in the action, folks gathered around ramp truck radios to catch the finish. Bugs Stevens, suited up for the night's Modified action, exclaimed, 'That little shit! He won it!!'" Quote and Photo from RON BOUCHARD: Remembering the Kid from Fitchburg, by Bones Bourcier. (Brian McMurray Photo)

#3382 - That's the prototypical Smokey Yunick on the left after a win in the 1950s with Herb Thomas at the helm. Yunick's comment: "They said posing for a photo was in the contract, so I made myself look pretty." From BEST DAMN GARAGE IN TOWN, by Smokey Yunick.

#3381 - "Hard Luck Lloyd" Ruby just minutes before the start of the 1970 Indianapolis 500. "He started 25th and got out front in 50 laps... It was an overcast, grey day all day. He smoked for a couple of laps before it went, but when that thing blew, it was an absolute blowtorch. The flame out of the back of the car … was white hot. It would hurt your eyes to look at it… He was out by lap 54. Ruby commented, "It just ain't meant for me to win at this place." From HARD LUCK LLOYD: The Complete Story of Slow-Talking, Fast-Driving Texan Lloyd Ruby, by John Lingle. (Ron Nelson Photo)

#3380 - Chris Economaki (L): "Roger Penske was very young in this photograph but his confidence and intensity are already evident." From LET ’EM ALL GO: The Story of Auto Racing by the man who was there, by Chris Economaki with Dave Argabright

#3379 - Our friend and highly esteemed photographer John DaDalt leaves Connecticut each summer to take in Indiana Sprint Week. He thinks we all should, too, sending along this image of Jake Swanson with the wheels up on the inside at Gas City Speedway. (John DaDalt photo)

#3378 - "Dale Earnhardt Jr. (right) and his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Michael Waltrip share a poignant moment after Dale Jr. won the 2001 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2001, The win came nearly five months after his father, Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away due to injuries suffered during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. From NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree and Al Pearce

#3377 - "In October of 1981 at Charlotte, Gary Balough won an intense physical scrap with Dale Earnhardt in a 300-mile Late Model Sportsman race...At the Daytona 500 [three months later] Balough and the RahMoc Pontiac had one of the 500's fastest cars. Four days after his splendid 11th-place finish, Gary says, "my whole world came crashing down." From HOT SHOE – A Checkered Past: My Story, by Gary Balough with Bones Bourcier.

#3376 - Historian Tony Martin recorded much of the racing in the Ohio Valley in the 1960s at the time the coupes had given way to the "rails" and "bugs." Some of the new breed of cars seemed captivatingly funky, including Andy Taylor’s curious unit, powered by a GM straight-8 and wheeled by Estel French. When its division in turn gave way to the supermodifieds, this car was parked in a remote area of the pits and left for posterity. From ECHOES OF THUNDER IN THE HILLS: Photographic Memories of 1960s Auto Racing in Southeastern Ohio and Adjoining West Virginia, by Tony Martin

#3375 - Things sure changed when the lightning-fast pavement was poured over the dirt at New Jersey's Flemington Speedway in the early '90s. For Billy Pauch, "Fear had never been a factor in the past, but there it was at Flemington, a pervasive, blood-numbing foreboding that menaced every move. 'It was a scary place,' Pauch confessed. 'I crashed hard there twice,' he told. In July of '91, 'me and Hoffman got together, sent me into the outside wall and damn near killed me. The car was in two pieces - from the motor forward was a separate piece. It was pretty bad.'" From THE LAST COWBOY: The Life and Times of Billy Pauch, by Buffy Swanson, Foreword by Ray Evernham. (Mel Stettler Photo)

#3374 - The late East Coast Sprint Car standout Kramer Williamson spent 1991 and 1992 aboard Henry Fenimore's Sprinter and won the URC title both years. URC's former president, John Zimmerman, recalls, "There was one night when Jimmy Martin got mad at Kramer because he thought Kramer had hit him on the track. After reviewing the video, Martin realized it was not Kramer who did it, so Martin sent Kramer a rose with a card that said:

Roses are red, violets are blue,
I saw the film –
And it wasn't you.

Kramer got a big kick out of that. So Kramer being Kramer, he gets rid of the card before his wife, Sharon comes home, makes a new card, and gives the rose to Sharon. Her response, 'What did you do?'"
From KRAMER WILLIAMSON: Sprint Car Legend, by Chad Culver

#3373 - In advance of the 1984 season, "The race car engineer who conceived the Lola T-800 Indy Car, Nigel Bennett, along with Mark Williams, also of Lola, and Tony Cicale of Newman/Haas prepare an assembled model for testing inside The Imperial College in London wind tunnel." From SPEED! Indy Car Racing, Photographs by Chet Jezierski.

#3372 - 1969 was a busy season for the USAC Sprinters with 29 events, and the champion was the youngest in history, 23-year-old Greg Weld out of Kansas City. He was clearly on the hammer in the Dunseth Chevy Special #92. Photo from UNITED STATES AUTO CLUB: Fifty Years of Speed and Glory, by Dick Wallen. (Dick Wallen Collection)

#3371 - "Scott Bloomquist was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on November 14,1963. Scott's father, an airline pilot for Air California, moved the family to California, where young Scott was raised. His dad was invited to watch a friend and also a co-worker race. The Elder Bloomquist liked the race so much he bought a race car and decided to try the sport himself. After a short time behind the wheel, he decided racing was not for him and he gave the car to his son. Scott's first race was at Corona Speedway in Corona, California, in 1980. He was track champion by 1982." Photo and caption from RED CLAY AND DUST: The Evolution of Southern Dirt Racing, by Gary L. Parker.

#3370 - It's been said that the more technology in racing, the less colorful the anthropology. These shots from Massachusetts' Orange Dragway in the mid-1950s would seem to underscore the point. Pre-tree starters, so dramatically visible on the strip, were equal parts showmanship, courage, and endurance. Two of them were "Flying Dick" Zaido (#1) with his flat cap and "Air Leo" Errara who preferred a pork pie. From COOL CARS, SQAURE ROLL BARS, Photos and Recollections of Fifties Hot Rodding in New England, Edited by Bernie Shuman. (Photos Errara Collection)

#3369 - Jimmy Owens: "Our guys work hard, in tough conditions. Kier "Big Snack" Hoover is giving us signals at Florence in 2014." From THE NEWPORT NIGHTMARE by Jimmy Owens with Dave Argabright. (Rick Schwallie Photo)

#3368 - Formula 5000 at Riverside in 1972: "For me Riverside was a fitting end to the season. I thought I was headed for a big win, having led throughout, when a yellow flag waved when I was approaching the last turn of the last lap. I backed off, and Brian Redman blasted past me for the win. I went to protest, certain I had a solid case. The chief steward asked Brian whether he had seen the flag. Brain said he hadn't. The steward said they would penalize Brian $250, but the win would stand. Brian later told me, smiling like a Cheshire Cat, that the steward was from his home town in Burnley, Lancaster. The race wasn't a total loss. 'Hot Lips' Hoolihan from "MASH" was there, doing publicity for the show, and I got to kiss her in Winner's circle." From SAM’S SCRAPBOOK - My Motorsports Memories by Sam Posey with John Posey.

#3367 - "This was a big day! My first USAC Silver Crown win at Sacramento, June 3, 1990. Jeff Gordon ran third, and Jeff is obviously in awe of my amazing driving ability. Or, maybe Leslie Bremer, the trophy girl, has captured Jeff's imagination." Quote and Photo from LIFE WITH LUKE by Jimmy Sills, with Dave Argabright. (Cyndi Craft Photo)

#3366 - Clinically handsome but unto himself, New Englander Ollie Silva was cut from a different cloth. His Modified followed suit. Here they were getting ready at New York's Albany-Saratoga during the track's pavement days. From LEGENDARY RACES, PLACES, and FACES: Photos from the Lens of Lenny H, Sammons.

#3365 - "Just like Superman! Dan Drinan found his way to the nearest phone booth to call home after winning his first career USAC National Midget feature on May 16, 1992, at Indianapolis Raceway Park." From GUTS AND GLORY: The USAC National Midget Championship 1955-2022, by Bob Mays, Richie Murray, Patrick Sullivan. (Jack Gladback Photo)

#3364 - On February 2, 1975, IMCA held a Sprint Car race at Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa. Jan Opperman's ride did not arrive in time, so Harry Campbell (center) offered him the chair in his car. Jan won - his first pavement sprint car score. Afterwards on a picture of the race, Jan wrote, A good ole box which sure helped me eat and get my kicks. Sure was my pleasure - as it always is bein' around you, Harry, my double-good pal & brother. Tis good - our feelings! Thanks, Harry: Jan Opperman (Photo and caption from RACERS IN THE SUN: The Story of Florida's Sprint Car Legends, Volume 1, by Richard Golardi.)

#3363 - "Sammy (Guy Forbrook 5) charges inside Kevin Swindell (Swindell 1) at Tulare in 2006. In typical father/son fashion, the two Swindells often raced each other as hard or harder than the rest of the competition." Photo and Caption from SAMMY! 50+ years of winning, by Sammy Swindell, with Bones Bourcier and Bob Mays. (Paul Arch Photo)

#3362 - "It didn’t help that I looked like I was still in junior high school, but here I am peeking into the pit shack just a couple of days after a judge ruled that I was allowed to drive at age 16." Photo and caption from STILL RACING, by Ken Schrader with Joyce Standridge.

#3361 - Joe Ruttman provides an unexpected cooling-off to Linda Vaughn, the First Lady of Motorsports, in victory lane at the Michigan International Speedway on July 20, 1980. Ruttman, who was campaigning on the USAC circuit, stopped off to compete in the first-ever ARCA event held at the track. Ruttman, in a Pontiac, captured the 100-lap victory over Bobby Allison and a host of ARCA regulars. (Photo and caption courtesy Jim Hehl)

#3360 - When Larry Brazil moved from Tennessee to Tampa, the local racing community in Florida soon became aware of it. Good in stock cars and open-wheelers, Brazil was particularly notable at the notoriously rough and tumble Sprint Car races on the asphalt 1/3 at Tampa's Golden Gate Speedway. He was champion there for five seasons in the 1970s aboard George Rudolph’s "Cuban Offy," remarkably still actually Offy-powered. Here he was in Rudolph's rather sleek, Chevy-powered machine at DeSoto Speedway in Bradenton in 1988. He won his final title, the Pavement Racing Organization's championship, the next year at age 57. From RACERS IN THE SUN: The Story of Florida’s Sprint Car Legends, by Richard Golardi. (Gene Marderness Photo)

#3359 - MIckelina Monico is on the gas. The 16-year-old Californian organized a major dinner and silent auction benefitting the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital this past May. It was held the night before a St. Jude's Race for Research event at Dixon Speedway near Sacramento. Monico and fellow micro-sprint drivers in their fire suits prepared the food and waited on the tables. Quite incredibly they raised over $100,000. (Mickelina Monico Collection)

#3358 - "Barefoot" Bob McCreadie met some interesting people along the way. Here Bobby Allison teaches him how to hold a beer can. Actually McCreadie won on Bobby Allison night at Canandaigua, NY in 1985. From BAREFOOT: The Autobiography of Bob McCreadie as told to Andy Fusco. (Mike Hayskett Photo)

#3357 - "The beautiful rail of Creitz and Greer was always in the thick of things, thanks to the driving of Gene Goleman. Though the added tail did nothing for performance, it enhanced the looks of many mid-1960s rails." Quote and Photo from DRAG RACING IN THE 1960s, by Doug Boyce. (Don Pietro Photo)

#3356 - How about those crew cuts?! In 1961, Parnelli Jones and Bobby Marshman were deadlocked in votes on who would be the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year. The decision was made by the award sponsor, a meat company in Indianapolis, to anoint them co-rookies. Both received a check for $500 and a year's supply of meat. From AN AMERICAN RACER: Bobby Marshman and the Indianapolis 500, by Michael Argetsinger. (Marshman Family Collection)

#3355 - It's the rocks you don't look under... Scott Hansen: "After the races at Shawno, Wisconsin, in 1985, we'd bring our race car to a carwash on Green Bay's west side. Steve Marler was a local insurance agent. He would take his Mercedes to get it washed there. He saw me one day and said, 'You know, I really don't like all this dirt and clay when I'm here trying to wash my car. What's it going to take to keep you guys out of here?' We struck up a conversation, and, before you know it, my crew guy, Richie Wauters, was persistent with Steve and finally convinced him to buy me an asphalt Late Model." From WISCONSIN INTERNATIONAL: Where the Big Ones Run, by Joe Verdegan. (Pete Vercauteren Photo)

#3354 - It was the first turn at South Bend, IN, in 1948 - and it was all
hand brakes and body English. Bud Koehler led in a V8-60 with a home-built chassis with three Offy-powered Kurtis Krafts in tow. Midget racing really was a national rage around the time of the war. From FEARLESS: Dangerous Days in American Open Wheel Racing, by Gene Crucean. (Red Scarich Photo)

#3353 - The late John Anderson from Warren, MI, gets a victory champagne bath from longtime American Speed Association (ASA) official Steve Stubbs while enjoying a cold Bud on a hot July 4th afternoon at Salem Speedway, IN. Anderson captured the ASA National 200 on Salem's high banks and followed up the next day by taking the 100-lap ASA event at Winchester Speedway. Anderson was a stand-out short-track star, capturing wins all over the U.S. and Canada and eventually competing on the NASCAR circuit before retiring. (Caption and Photo courtesy Jim Hehl)

#3352 - That's Melvin "Puddin" Swisher out of Kernersville, NC, on the Daytona Road Course in 1972. He ran 17th in the 52-lapper won by Bobby Allison. Swisher had started racing at Bowman Gray in 1960, moving up to the Modifieds a decade later and accumulating 24 wins. His driving career was interrupted by 10 weeks in the crash house following an incident at Caraway Speedway. But he kept at it - and in 2014 Northerner Danny Bohn wheeled the Swisher #53 to the Madhouse championship. (Mike Feltenberger Photo)

#3351 - That's Oklahoma's Joe Duvall (6/23/23 Tearoff), current Modified star, on the #91 back in his flat-tracking days, on the mile at Will Rogers Downs. Rather tight company, wouldn't you say? (Duvall Collection)

#3350 - With the wildly spiraling costs of "open" motors in short-track racing these days, renting a motor rather than actually purchasing one has become commonplace. But, truth is, it's been going on for a long time. Here's the late Pepper Eastman exercising his Plymouth Sportsman before a few onlookers at Fonda, NY, in the early 1960s. The car, built and crewed by Ron Hedger and his brothers, was quick but underfunded. Beneath the hood was a Fred DeCarr engine on loan from the Bill Wimble/Dave McCredy championship team. Ron recalls the tariff was "30 percent of the purse, which in those days was not big money. Then again, engines were not that expensive either. Freddy built better ones for Wimble, and ours had mostly used parts, but they were good engines and, most importantly, very reliable. He had them balanced at Ted Simonek's on Gasoline Alley in Patterson, NJ." (Frank Simek - The Guy with the Hat - Collection)

#3349 - Three time NASCAR National Modified champion Bugsy Stevens, could do it all - and he did just that. Road courses, 1/5- to 2.5-mile ovals, dirt, asphalt, whatever. Here he was in 1977 in Frank Fusco's rear-Porsche-engine Midget. He’ll tell you, "That guy was amazing. He built the fastest thing I ever drove. No contest. It was like strapping an engine onto your ass. All I had to do was steer. It was banned after a couple of races." Probably a good thing. (R.A. Silvia Collection)

#3348 - Jessica before she was Jessica Friesen. (Frank Simek - The Guy with the Hat - Collection)

#3347 - Davey Hamilton at Meridian Speedway in Boise in 1987. (Idaho Historical Racing Society Collection)

#3346 - Cloyce Roller Hart (C.J. "Pappy" Hart) was largely responsible for the Santa Ana drag strip and the introduction of basic organization and rudimentary safety regulation to the sport. His wife, Peggy, was quite the woman, as can be seen in this shot from 1953. She's perched behind the wheel of her Caddy-powered rail wearing safety shorts and a sweater. From VINTAGE SPEED PARTS: The Equipment that Fueled the Industry, by Tony Thacker. (Don Shannon Collection)

#3345 - Troy Ruttman always appeared to sit tall in a race car. Look at him after he hung up his helmet, shown on one of the mini-bikes he was manufacturing in the 1960s under Troy Ruttman Enterprises. He was one aerial guy. From CALIFORNIA GOLD: The Legendary Life of Troy Ruttman, by Bob Gates. (Photo Troy/Toddy Ruttman Collection)

#3344 - As time goes by. Mike Joy and Buddy Baker. (Frank Simek - The Guy with the Hat - Collection)

#3343 - Michael Schumacher, shown here lapping Patrick Friesacher, easily drove to a hollow victory in the sixth running of the United States Grand Prix in 2005 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, finished second. Of the 20 qualifiers that started the race, 14 were on Michelin tires and dropped out after the formation lap because concern over their tires failing left only the remaining six cars on Firestone to race. (Photo and Caption by Don Figler)

#3342 - One Saturday night at Fonda (NY) Speedway in the early '60s, Cliff Parker dropped a drive shaft in Wally Pettengill's coach, launching him into a sky ride, and landing with one big thud. There by the left front, in the striped pants and dark shirt, observing the damage was young crewman Dick Berggren, from way over in Manchester, CT. Even in high school, he was already on a mission. (Frank Simek - The Guy with the Hat - Collection)

#3341 - "NASCAR's Big Bill France tried to form a Roadster Class in 1949, but it fell flat. The race fans in the South just didn't care for the hot rod look-alikes. In California, roadsters were tops, but 3,000 miles to the east, they fizzled out." Photo and caption from REBELS WITHOUT APPLAUSE: Southern Modified and Late Model Racing 1939-1947, by Greg Fielden. (Photo K.C. Breslauer Collection)

#3340 - Dave Argabright, Doug Wolfgang, and Chris Economaki, all three tops in their fields in racing. (Frank Simek - The Guy with the Hat - Collection)

#3339 - Travis Pastrana has done wild and crazy things in cars and on motorcycles. He's a multi-time X-game Gold Medal winner and once jumped out of an airplane without a parachute to be caught mid-air by another jumper equipped with tandem equipment. He is the Executive Producer and stars in the TV show "Nitro Circus," which features stunt driving. Pastrana is a many-time Rally-driving champion. He twice (2010 and 2017) drove an exotic Rally car to a record-setting run up Mt. Washington, with tires near the road’s edge when going off the road would have been a catastrophe. On a motorcycle in Las Vegas he jumped 52 cars (142 feet), 16 buses (192 feet) and over the Caesar's Palace fountain (149 feet), the latter of which Evil Knievel attempted but crashed and was terribly injured. Our photo was taken in February 2023 after Pastrana drove a UMP Modified on the dirt track at Florida's Volusia Raceway Park, winning the feature race in only his third start in a Modified. He went on to lead a lap and finish 11th in this year's Daytona 500, which he describes as one of the most exciting things he has ever done. Pastrana has been injured many times while performing stunts but that doesn’t seem to stop him. (Photo and Caption by Dick Berggren)

#3338 - Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, new to the Players' team's Indy Car effort, had a rough start in 1994, crashing in Australia, Phoenix, and Long Beach. Then came Indy, another frustration-sort of. Villeneuve was quick, but so, too, were the Penske stock block cars. It looked like leader Al Jr. was going to have to pit, but a safety car came out following an incident and he didn't have to. He won, and Villeneuve was bridesmaid. Then at Elkhart Lake, Villeneuve got his due. Here he leads Gil de Ferran, Michael Andretti, and Raul Boesel on his way to his first Indy Car triumph. From THE GREEN FLAG: Just a Bloke's Story, by Barry Green with Gordon Kirby. (RMA/Swope Photo)

#3337 - Few racing venues have matched the incredible - albeit short-lived - success of California's Gilmore Stadium. The beautiful facility at the edge of Hollywood regularly drew movie stars and celebrities among its crowds of 18,000. The first Turkey Night Grand Prix was run there in 1934. Shown here was the lineup of the event in 1938 on one chilly evening. It would all go away way too soon with the end of the midget boom in the late '40s. Photo from POLE POSITION: REX MAYS, by Bob Schilling. (Bob Schilling Collection)

#3336 - On the hammer! Brady Bacon put the Kasey Kahne Mopar sprinter through its paces back in 2007. From MODERN THUNDER: The Illustrated History of USAC National Sprint Car Racing 1981-2017, by Dave Argabright, John Mahoney, and Patrick Sullivan.

#3335 - Hope Jackie Stewart was ready for Kevin Olson! Photo from CAGES ARE FOR MONKEYS: Unleashed with Kevin Olson, Racing’s Zaniest Hall of Famer, by Kevin Olson. (Kevin Olson Collection)

#3334 - Occoneechee Speedway in Hillsboro, North Carolina, 9/10-mile dirt, held NASCAR's Modified Race #9 in May of 1949. It was a 35-lapper with 36 starters, won by Fonty Flock. Greg Fielden reports in his new book REBELS WITHOUT APPLAUSE: Southern Modified and Later Model Racing 1938-1949, "Spectators jog across the track on Hillsboro. It was pretty dicey to allow fans to run across the track during a race. But remember, this was 1949, not 2023." (Jack Cansler Photo, Greg Fielden Collection)

#3333 - It was a chilly day on Long Island in September 1962 for the FIA points race at Bridgehampton. The Shelby team managed to populate the front row with Bob Holbert in the foreground, Dan Gurney in the middle, and Ken Miles in the background. They got it done, mostly, for Shelby's first long-distance race win. Gurney was first, Miles second, while Holbert did not finish. From KEN MILES: The Shelby American Years, by Dave Friedman. (Dave Friedman Photo)

#3332 - "Here’s the late Texan Jim McElreath, hero of Ontario Motor Speedway's first dance, the 1970 Ontario 500. The beautiful track's closure in 1990 was heartbreaking....The original investors bought the 800-acre property for an average of $7500 per acre. By 1980 they were looking for an exit. Commercial real estate in that area was right around $150,000 an acre, although that was not generally known by the track's investors and bond holders. A development company swooped in and bought the place for $10 million, an absolute theft." From SEA TO SHINING SEA: Racing from the Wild West to Daytona, by Ken Clapp with Bones Bourcier. (Ken Clapp Collection)

#3331 - The iconic Boehler Ole Blue Modified at Lee, New Hampshire, on May 17, now, incredibly, in its 67th season of sallying forth from its former chicken-coop garage in East Freetown, Massachusetts. Featured in our book THE SOUL OF A MODIFIED, the car was waltzed for years by veteran stalwarts such as Bugsy Stevens and Fred DeSarro. Today its drivers are numerous, young, and fresh - Ryan Narducci and Jake Johnson so far this year. "It's so different now," says crewman Bruce Holbrook. "These kids are really fast. I think I-racing has a lot to do with it. When we took Ryan to the mile at Richmond, Virginia, he had never even seen the place before but qualified fourth and ran up front." (Photo by our esteemed webmaster Norm Marx, who himself regularly hit 173mph in his F5000 Lola T300 on the backstretch at Road America back in the day.)

#3330 - Last Saturday the weather was just plain nasty - a dreary 48 degrees on June 3 - as much of the world of drag racing had descended upon New England Dragway in Epping, NH, for the Nationals. Speedway Illustrated's Karl Fredrickson ran into John Force and reports, "He was the ONLY guy standing in the rain greeting fans. Hero! I took this photo and showed it to him. He just didn’t get it. I said, 'You’re the ONLY guy doing this!' He said, ‘I enjoy it as much as they do.'"

#3329 - "Danny 'The Kid' Caruthers experienced the most spectacular beginning and the most sorrowful ending to any midget racing career in the history of the sport. He came from nowhere to dominate the scene with 12 victories on the USAC national midget circuit, then, just a week after clinching the point title, he was killed at Corona Raceway while warming up his car for the main event. His dad, Doug, stands at the right front." Photo and Caption from GUTS AND GLORY: The USAC National Midget Championship 1956-2022, by Bob Mays, Richie Murray, and Patrick Sullivan. (Leroy Byers Photo)

#3328 - Isn't it curious how starring race car drivers from all about the country so frequently come to know one another? It's been going on for a long time. Case in point came in the late 1950s in Tampa. Before he ventured north, local hot shoe Will Cagle befriended Ollie Silva, a legendary Massachusetts cutdown/Supermodified driver. Silva had been wintering in Florida, earning his daily bread on the Southern tracks. Upon returning home for the summer one year, Silva sold his speedy Flathead coupe to Cagle. Cagle won with it prodigiously, as shown here after a romp at Tampa's Phillips Field. The car was still the black #0, Silva's trademark, not even yet changed to Cagle's familiar #24. (Will Cagle Collection)

#3327 - So very many folks in the international racing community are deeply saddened by news of Jimmy Dilamarter's passing after a long illness. As Parnelli Jones' associate and confidant in racing and in business since 1968, Jimmy simply could not help making friends with everyone he encountered - even in the most modest settings such as checking out Coastal 181 machinery. (Coastal 181 Collection)

#3326 - The Modifieds sure are getting it done on that scenic and now refurbished dirt half-mile West Haven, Vermont. (Alan Ward Photo)

#3325 - It was 1968 at New Hampshire's newly built Star Speedway. Right to left were two supermodified greats, Don Maclaren and Ollie Silva, who did not confer with civility all that often. That’s Wes Pettengill, then a track photographer, with the hat looking at the camera. He figures the two might been asked to put on a little back and forth to treat the fans - and Don had just told Ollie, "No problem. We’ll go four laps and then I'll put you in the fence." (Rick Eastman Collection)

#3324 - Italian Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina was one tough customer. Back in 1950 he was the first Formula One champion, but along the way in his career he brushed off several nasty incidents involving fatalities. Ironically, he perished himself crashing in the Savoy Alps on his way to being a driving double for French actor Yves Montand in the film Grand Prix. Photo from RAY CRAWFORD: SPEED MERCHANT, by Andrew Layton. (Photo Dick Wallen Collection)

#3323 - Remember? The surreal start of the 2020 Indy 500. Things will be a whole lot more colorful on May 28! IMS Photo from 500 (on the Indy 500) - Tales, Facts, and Figures on the Greatest Race in the World, by Rick Shaffer.

#3322 You do have to worry about Kenny Schrader sometimes: "After we're done with a race car, there's a lot of things we can do with it from parting it out to selling it. But if it was really evil, we can turn it into a table." From STILL RACING! by Kenny Schrader with Joyce Standridge. (Joyce Standridge Photo)

#3321 - In 1970, New York Modified wheelman Lou Lazzaro, known for his incredible success with completely understated equipment, picked up a ride in the Permatex race at Daytona. With literally not one lap of practice, he qualified 26th and meandered home in ninth. His comment: "Have you ever had to wait to get a haircut and there are three guys waiting ahead of you - and you have to read a magazine that's ten years old? That's what Daytona is like. All you do is steer." Quote and Photo from LAZZARO: The Man and his Machines, by Ron Moshier. (Len Sammons Photo)

#3320 - A decade past: "A happy Kevin Swindell is joined by Kyle Larson and Dad following Kevin's victory in the 2012 Chili Bowl. Sammy was second and Larson third." Photo and quote from SAMMY! by Sammy Swindell with Bones Bourcier and Bob Mays

#3919 - It was August 25, 1962, a different time - before cages and long before containment systems. California's Russ Long, aboard the Leon DeRock Offy, was starting up front at the Minnesota State Fair, when the car, with no contact, somehow launched into a serious of shattering flips. Long tried to hold on in the cockpit, but the speed of the car and violence of the incident had him thrashing out in the open. He was admitted to Bethesda Hospital with shoulder and eye injuries, but was released a week later. He merrily continued his racy pursuits. (Photos from IMCA YEARBOOK 1963)

#3318 - Here's a racer....That's Karl Fredrickson, Modified driver and publisher of Speedway Illustrated magazine, a full plate for sure. For around the time of his 58th birthday, Karl decided to sooth his soul bit by finding something relaxing. So, wouldn't you know, he harkened back to days of old and joined a hockey league. He was brilliant. A week ago they won the championship. (Christine Worthington)

#3317 - Here's a John Grady shot of Fulton, NY, back in the day. What a curious layout. The 3/8 mile opened in 1961, initially with pavement and then, since 1978, on dirt. On this day a deliciously varied field of Modifieds assembled, just as they used to be. Pitside were Dick Clark's cool coach and Ed Cloce's radical red #69 exercised by Guy Chartrand. (Ron Hedger Collection)

#3316 - "One of the most prominent features of the NASCAR Hall of Fame is Glory Road, a 33-degree banked ramp (matching that in the famed Talladega Superspeedway turns) that can feature up to eighteen different cars. It is also used to salute past and current tracks on the NASCAR circuit." Photo and Quote from NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Al Pearce, Mike Hembree, Kelly Crandall and Jimmy Creed.

#3315 - Two West Coast friends of Coastal 181 who had never met. That's sprint car master photographer Steve Lafond and longtime NASCAR executive and Sea to Shining Sea author Ken Clapp at the ribbon cutting/dedication of the Ken Clapp Annex to the Woodland Auto Display in Paso Robles, CA, on May 13, 2023. According to the museum's website, "The annex will feature rotating tributes to many who dedicated their passions to vintage racing, and the vehicles which played a major role is the history of automotive racing" - a history to which Ken contributed greatly and Steve has documented brilliantly with his camera.

#3314 - That's 84-year-old "Dandy Don" Klein spending a moment with his memoires at the farm where he grew up in St. Genevieve, Missouri. A dedicated dirt tracker, he started out in 1955 at the old Lake Hill Speedway and won 557 features before retiring in 2012. In recent years he had spent his weekends at Belleclair and Pevely Speedways with a 2004 Mustang on a Masterbuilt chassis with significant Ford power. (Info and photo from Don Figler)

#3313 - It was steaming hot at the mile in Trenton, NJ, when on July 24, 1960 the ARDC Midgets lined up for 300 mile shootout. That was young Bobby Marshman on the outside of row one. He went on to win in the Konstant Hot car, offering up an incredible performance, the only driver not to call for relief. He managed to collect the princely sum of $3,032 for the victory before collapsing and being carted off to the Helene Fuld Hospital for fluid replacement. From AN AMERICAN RACER: Bobby Marshman and the Indianapolis 500, by Michael Argetsinger. (RMA Chernokal Photo)

#3312 - Yup. You're seeing correctly. This was a display at the Race Car Show at the New England Racing Museum last weekend. It's the hind end of a radical Supermodified built for the late Jim Shampine, beautifully restored by Martel Automotive in Ipswich, Massachusetts. The rear bumper mounted to the fuel cell's tin can is as it originally was. Scotty Martel says simply, "Shampine wanted everything light." (Coastal 181 Photo)

#3311 - "IMSA's GTP cars put on a great show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, drawing big crowds to six races between 1987-92." Quote and Photo from CHRIS POOK and the History of the Long Beach GP, by Gordon Kirby. (Jutta Fausel Photo)

#3310 - This is how Portland (OR) Speedway looked in its heyday. The track hosted car racing in various forms from 1924 to 2001, with competitors pulling in from up and down the West Coast and British Columbia. The final shows featured WoO Sprinters, but lacking an anchor division, the place was town down in 2003 to become a trucking terminal. Photo from THE GHOST RACETRACKS OF PORTLAND, OREGON, by Bob Kehoe and Ralph Hunt.

#3309 - "Ron Hornaday (Dale Earnhardt #16) goes to-to-toe with Sammy [Swindell) (Brad Akins and Bob Sutton #38) at Flemington, New Jersey, during the NASCAR Truck Race in 1995. Hornaday won the event while Swindell finished 10th." From SAMMY! 50 Years of Winning, by Sammy Swindell with Bones Bourcier and Bob Mays. (Jack Kromer Photo)

#3308 - They say "Chicago Gang" Midget pioneer Wally Zale was as rough and tough as they came in the pre-war days. The look of his biceps sitting there in his Outboard would lend credence. He once won 173 features in a three-year period. Photo from THE MIGHTY MIDGETS, by Jack C. Fox. (Author's Collection)

#3307 - Raceway Park, the fabled 1/5-mile bull ring in Chicago (Blue Island) was one busy place. In its run from 1938 to 2000 it offered up a remarkable 2949 racing programs. It was also pretty speedy. Back in 1984, multi-time champ Pat Echlin turned a qualifying record lap of 11.191 seconds. From BLUE ISLAND'S RACEWAY PARK, by Stan Kalwasinki and Samuel Beck. (Bob Pilsudski Photo)

#3306 - Life on the road. Both photos by Tim Aylwin, from Paul Oxman's SPRINT CAR RACING CALENDAR 2021.

#3305 - "Ryan Newman, in his third career NASCAR Winston Cup start, shocked onlookers by winning the pole position for the May 27, 2001 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The open-wheel veteran and newcomer to stock cars led the opening ten laps before he lost control of his #02 Ford a lap later. The car slugged the wall and spun to the bottom of the track. Jeff Burton went on the win the race." From NASCAR: The Complete Story, by Greg Fielden.

#3304 - It was May of 1977 and the last major race at San Jose Speedway. The track had been a shiny jewel, attracting crowds of 3,000 since 1946 before being dimmed by the wildly rising land prices and residential-development opportunities in that part of the Bay Area. The Winner of the Winston West 100 was a 23-year-old Chuck Bown, about to take off in his national racing adventure. From SEA TO SHINING SEA: Racing from the Wild West to Daytona, by Ken Clapp with Bones Bourcier. (Dennis Mattish Photo)

#3303 - It was a busy moment at the Delaware State Fair back in 1964. Bill Brown had just won the first of two URC 25-lappers, but in the second one, he backed Jim Jorgensen’s #0 into the wall. That's Earl Halaquist in a #2 Nesler car (middle of photo) in search of an escape route. No one was injured in the melee. (Walt Scadden Collection)

#3302 - Shane Carson. "I knew I was going to become a racer. When I wasn't selling programs [his father promoted races at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds], I was racing bicycles and motorcycles. But, when I won the local championship and my dad realized how serious I was, he put his foot down. 'No more! Only four wheels'." So Shane buckled into a Sprint Car on his way to an enviable career. Quote from Speedway Illustrated magazine. (Photo Shane Carson Collection)

#3301 - The 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified champion, an unusually versatile and extremely determined Jon McKennedy, exercises his Super. This was at Seekonk (MA) Speedway on Boston Louie Memorial night, with McKennedy charging for the win, of course, over Ben Seitz and Rob Summers. (Norm Marx Photo)

#3300 - "October 1984. For the first time in the 37-year history of Martinsville Speedway, there was a dead heat in qualifying. Charlie Jarzombek (left) congratulates Tony Hirschman for taking the pole position for the Modified half of the Miller Time 500 after the two had turned identical speeds if 96.435 miles an hour. Hirschman won the Miller Pole Cup since he qualified before Jarzombek’s run." (Quote and Photo from FROM DUST TO GLORY, by Morris Stephenson)

#3299 - Mari Hulman George (L), 1955 500 winner Bob Sweikert, and Boots [Mrs. Wilbur Shaw] break ground for the first Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1955. (Photo from GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES: The Rest of the Story…, by Wilbur Shaw and Bob Gates)

#3298 - In the 1950s and into the '60s, swarms of snarling cutdowns formed the Class A division at many New England tracks. It was dramatic stuff. Builders found that the fastest way to get their flatheads around the ovals was to lighten their loads. Skimpy, flyweight construction followed, and Gavin Couper, one of the most wired of their chauffeurs, referred to the cars as "so dangerous you could be wounded just looking at one." In the top photo they danced on the high banks of the old Westboro Speedway in Massachusetts, while, below, Mal Case's machine rests somewhat flattened after an incident at Lonsdale, Rhode Island. Somehow he was unscathed. (Photos R.A. Silvia Collection)

#3297 - Steve and Kraig. Everybody move back. Photo from Win It or Wear It: All-Time Great Sprint Car Tales, by Joyce Standridge. (Doug Johnson Photo)

#3296 - Wally Dallenbach on Indy: "The race is secondary. That's only five hundred miles and three and a half hours. You can be immortal a thousand times in that three and a half hours. In qualifying you only have a couple of minutes to be immortal. I find I'm much more apprehensive. At Indianapolis, it's the only time in a month you have the whole spotlight on yourself. For that reason it's important, and the superman comes out in everybody. When the chips are down, that last ounce of adrenaline comes out of you, and you just hang on." SPEED! Indy Car Racing, by Chet Jezierski. (Chet Jezierski Photo)

#3295 - "During the early laps of the 1971 Indy 500, Steve Krisiloff blew the engine in his STP Spl. and oiled the track. Mel Kenyon then lost it and spun to a stop against the third turn wall. On the scene almost immediately were two firemen, extinguishers in hand, prepared to serve. However, the accident continued to unfold with near tragic consequences. Fast-approaching Gordon Johncock failed to see the yellow light, lost control and spun. John Mahoney's iconic image, which was distributed nationally by United Press International, records an onrushing Johncock blasting into Kenyon’s static car as two firemen brace themselves for tragedy. Mario Andretti, seen in the foreground, also lost control and spun down the short shoot. Pure good luck prevailed, however, as no one was injured." Quote and Photo from FEARLESS: Dangerous Days in American Open Wheel Racing, by Gene Crucean. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3294 - It was mid-summer, June 23, 1973, and a big crisis was looming on the horizon...the gasoline crisis. But Bob McCoy did not look too disturbed. He’d just whupped Hershel McGriff and Ray Elder in Grand National West Race #8, a 100-lapper on Oregon's quarter-mile Coos Bay Speedway, pocketing $900 of the $8540 on the line. Photo from RACING'S REAL McCOY, Sharing the Road with Pioneers of the Wild West, by Bob McCoy, Keith Sellers, and Sterling Hagerty (McCoy Collection)

#3293 - It must have been difficult for Kyle to be son of the King, but Richard must be awfully proud of his son. (Howie Hodge Photo)

#3292 - He had been a street rodder when in 1946 Rags Carter and some buddies went to the races at Opa Locka Airbase in South Florida. One of the drivers did not show up, so the towering Rags borrowed a helmet and climbed aboard. He never disembarked. He spent the next few decades racing up and down the East Coast, eventually settling in on the NJ/PA Modified circuit. (Photo from JUST CALL ME RAGS, by Alan Carter Jr. and Family)

#3291 - If it has to do with the West Coast and Sprint Cars, it likely involves the Kaedings. That's Howard Kaeding (center), king of San Jose Speedway, and his grandsons Bud and Tim back in 1996. (Dennis Mattish Photo)

#3290 - Steve McKnight sent along this remarkable shot he took from the stands in turn one at Loudon, NH, on September 20, 2014 at a Whelen Modified event. He says, "It was Ron Yuhas in a very hard crash that I believe ended his career. I did see him in Victory Lane last weekend at the Tour race at Richmond Raceway as crew chief for winner Austin Beers. No doubt some days are better than others."

#3289 - The Richmond NASCAR race in September 2014 honored their late hometown hero, Junie Donlavey, who had passed away 3 months earlier. Donlavey was known to have given many drivers their first starts in Cup racing. It was quite ironic that Dunlavey died at the age of 90, since that was his car number for 52 years. Here former Dunlavey driver Ken Schrader paced the field with a copy of one of Junie's rides. (Photo and caption by Mike Feltenberger)

#3288 - It was the talk of the racing papers in 1974 but quickly faded into obscurity. On July 28 a field of 40 lined up for the Hutchinson Supermodified Nationals on the Kansas Fairgrounds half-mile dirt. Even on the parade lap the dust was so bad that several drivers thought of pulling out. They should have. The first lap was not even complete before one of the worst short-track fires in history erupted, with no fire truck on the premises. Fifteen cars were involved. Miraculously, no one died, but Jack Perry, Jerry Soderberg, and Aaron Madden were all very seriously burned. Photo from EARLY SUPER MODIFIEDS and Other Early Racers, Vol. IV, by Gerald Hodges. (Racingfromthepast.com Photo)

#3287 - "Troy Ruttman lies collapsed at Langhorne, June 25, 1950. One of the toughest tracks ever, intense heat - it was over 100 degrees - and high humidity exacted an even heavier toll in 1950 as driver after driver fell out of competition. Troy had won the pole, but had to be relieved by Walt Brown who was in turn relieved by Joe James." Quote and Photo from CALIFORNIA GOLD: The Legendary Life of Troy Ruttman, by Bob Gates. (Troy/Toddy Ruttman Collection)

#3286 - So sad, so random. "Jeri Rice, a competitor with the Arizona Midget Racing Association for several years, was killed in a freak accident at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruses, New Mexico on August 12, 1988. Jerry's car had experienced engine problems, and she had gone to the team's hauler to change out of her fire suit. She was walking across the pits when she was struck by a wheel that had broken loose from a stock car and was thrown into the pit area. She had been a school teacher in Tucson." Quote and photo from RACERS at REST, Revised Supplement 2012 to original book by Buzz Rose, research by Don Tash and Steve Estes. (The Toops Photo)

#3285 - Here's a real blast from the past. It was a holiday show at the old Pines Speedway in Groveland, MA. A mixed field lines up, cutdowns up front and bombers down back. Notables included Ollie Silva (second row, inside) and Bentley Warren (second to last row, outside). This was right at the dawn of fuel injection as the cutdowns were becoming Supermodifieds, and Silva was arguably the first in the area to use it. Others tried to outdo one another with multiple carburetors. You have to wonder what the total number of carbs was on the cars in the first eight rows. (R.A. Silvia Photo)

#3284 - "Daniel Suarez carries a Mexican flag to present to members of his fan group, Daniel's Amigos, who were there to see him become the first Hispanic driver to win a Cup Series race. Suarez took the lead with twenty-six laps to go in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 12. 2022. He held on the rest of the race to become just the fifth foreign-born driver to win a Cup Series Race." From NASCAR: 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, and Al Pearce. (Gary Coronado Photo)

#3283 - Back in 2017, up-and-coming Christopher Bell had just won the Chili Bowl and landed a full-time ride with Kyle Busch's truck team. But he was still leaning on his mentor from open-wheel days, Pete Willoughby. Here's what Pete had to say at the time: "Christopher just needs to settle into NASCAR. Soon he’ll develop connections and new mentors. I tell him that right now he just needs to win five races a year - not the ten he is used to - to be the best driver in trucks. In the meantime, watching him is kinda fun. He hasn't taken that Chili Bowl Driller trophy out of his car yet - and you can bet everyone in Charlotte has seen it." (Pete's quote from Speedway Illustrated, Mike Feltenberger Photo)

#3282 - "Freddy Lorenzen, Elmhurst, Illinois, went broke and quit the sport in 1960. He soon got a call from Holman and Moody and by 1963 became the first driver to earn more than $100,000 in a single season." From RACING’S REAL McCOY: Sharing the Road with the Pioneers of the Wild West, by Jack McCoy, Keith Sellers, and Richard Hagerty. (Clapp Collection)

#3281 - Folks have referred to it as "carrying the car." That’s when a driver almost seems to be going faster than what he's driving. Check out Bill Vukovich in his Drake at Sacramento in 1947. From SACRAMENTO: Dirt Capital of the West, by Tom Motter.
(Russ Reed Photo)

#3280 - Wouldn’t you have loved to take in one of those mid-winter Sprint Car shows in Tampa? Here was Lou, the head of the Blaney clan, getting ready back in 1967. (Doug Haack Photo, Bradley Poulsen Collection)

#3279 - The 1969 Permatex Late Model Sportsman race may have been 41-year-old Hershel McGriff's debut at Riverside, California, but it sure didn't look it. Here he was on his whatever-it-takes way to the win. His comment: "The guy in the #16 didn’t give me much room, kinda like you used to do." Quote and Photo from RACING’S REAL McCOY: Sharing the Road with the Pioneers of the Wild West, by Bob McCoy, Keith Sellers, and Sterling Haggerty. (McGriff Collection)

#3278 - The brand-new Bourcier/Mays book SAMMY! 50+ Years of Winning is huge and highly professional, reflecting perfectly Swindell's racing career. He has run, of course, what would seem a million laps in Sprinters. There were also Modifieds, Supers, Silver Crowns, stock cars, and Champ Cars. Sammy has even been a popular drop-in at NEMA Midget events on the asphalt bullrings of New England. Our esteemed webmaster, Norm Marx, captured him winning one at Lee, New Hampshire, in October 2019, shown here with car owner Tim Bertrand and Tim's daughter. And with that win Sammy's streak continued: 49 straight winning seasons. (Norm Marx photo)

#3277 - Summer in Kokomo! Are you ready? (John Mahoney Photo)

#3276 - Here's a typical entry back in the Cut Down era in New England in 1954. This was built and owned by Jack Peterson of Peabody, Massachusetts, and wheeled by notables Leo Cleary and Jackie Dodge. The Cut Downs were everywhere, and on April 15, 2023 there will be a West Peabody Speedway reunion at the Peabody Historical Society at 39 Felton Street, Peabody. That track was so close to the Pines Speedway in Groveland it was said that on a race night, you could hear one of them out of each ear. Check it out on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/events/686930406434180/
(Jack Peterson Collection)

#3275 - Doug Wolfgang: "Sept. 20, 1997. A few minutes later, I was badly injured...I remember lying there in the hospital, beat all to hell, and closing my eyes to pray. 'God, if you let me off just this one time, I promise I won't do this anymore.' That was the end. He held up His end of the deal; I eventually recovered. Since that night at Granite City, I never raced again." Caption and photo from LONE WOLF, by Doug Wolfgang with Dave Argabright. (Mark Funderburk Photo)

#3274 - It was in this race at Winchester, Indiana, that Rich Vogler (#2) captured the 1980 USAC Sprint Car title. But along the season he was given fits by Steve Chassey, often aboard the memorable Jet Engineering (#10) roadster. From USAC Sprint History 1956-1980, by Carl Hungness, John Mahoney, and Jep Cadou. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3273 - "Jeff Gordon suffered one of the most violent wrecks of his career on June 11, 2006. Heading into Turn 1 with 11 laps to go, his right-front rotor went, and he lost control. The car skidded through the infield, then back onto the track and slammed the driver-retaining barrier at nearly 150 mph... A week later he was back behind the wheel at Sonoma. On Saturday before the race, Ingrid and Jeff gathered family and close friends to announce their engageme...and he told them something he had never said before a race: 'By the way, we’re going to win tomorrow.'" He did. (Photo and Caption from JEFF GORDON: His Dream, Drive, and Destiny, by Joe Garner, Foreword by Tom Cruise)

#3272 - Rene Charland really was a piece of work. Twice in the days we raced at Fonda Speedway in New York, he complained that I came at him backwards on the track. How do you think that happened?! (Photo from edflemke.com)

#3271 - Jimmy Owens: "Early in my late model days...we were at Glasgow (Kentucky) and I was running both classes. I didn't have a chance to hot lap my Modified and went straight into qualifying, where I flat-footed my lap and was really fast. After qualifying, I walked over to the concession stand and a guy stopped me. I wouldn't describe him as angry, but he was definitely direct.

"I’ve watched you run many races,' he said, 'but I I’m just gonna tell you...if you took that MSD box out of that Modified, you wouldn't win another race.'

He was accusing me of using a cheater ignition box. Traction control and all that, you know. Without skipping a beat, I smiled real nice and said, 'Well, then, why would in the world would I take that box out?'

He stomped off, and I'm sure he told his buddies, "He all but TOLD me he was cheating!"

I'm a happy guy, not too worried about stuff. When they are accusing you of cheating, you know you're in their head. In a warped kind of way, that feels good."

Caption and Photo from JIMMY OWENS: The Newport Nightmare, with Dave Argabright. (Heath Lawson Photo)

#3270 - How cool is this! "Gober Sosebee (50) in a 1949 Oldsmobile and Woodrow Wilson (12) in a 1949 Mercury lead the pack in a race run on the Daytona Beach Road Course on July 10, 1949. It was the second race sponsored by the newly created stock car governing organizatio...NASCAR." Quote and Photo from the brand new book, NASCAR 75 YEARS, by Kelly Crandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, and Al Pearce.

Addendum: Sharp-eyed reader Larry Jendras questions whether this is really the Beach Course. He suggests it might have the shot might have been on a short track somewhere. And, given the look of the surface and that banking in from of the stands, Larry may well be right.

#3269 - "Rich Vogler (Larry Howard #71) and Sleepy Tripp (George and Gary Zarounian #1ws) lean equally well on their right rears at Ascot in 1989." From GUTS AND GLORY: The USAC National Midget Championship 1956-2022, by Bob Mays, Richie Murray, Patrick Sullivan (Mike Arthur Photo)

#3268 - The Pacific Late Model 250-lapper at Texas Int'l Speedway on 12/7/69: "It was late in the event and it was under yellow. Buddy Baker, going for his third Grand National win, had led on 15 occasions for 150 laps. He was leading and so excited about his opportunity to win this major race that he put his two fingers out in a V for victory sign and looked back at his pit for their reaction. As he did, James Hylton slowed in front of him and he ran into Hylton, crushed his nose cone, knocked his radiator out, and was out of the race. Cotton Owens, his car owner, was so upset that he threw his pit board like a frisbee in the direction of the car." Quote and photo from RACING'S REAL McCoy, by Jack McCoy and Keith Sellers with Richard "Sterling" Hagerty. (Billy Conn Photo)

#3267 - "Sammy takes a tour of Ascot Park in the Old Milwaukee Special in 1985." Quote from Bones Bourcier and Bob Mays' totally incredible new Swindell book -
Sammy! 50+ Years of Winning. (Mike Arthur Photo)

#3266 - It was the dawn of the rail chassis for Modifieds. Pennsylvania’s Dick Tobias introduced the concept known as "Toby’s Tubes" at the Syracuse 100 in September of 1971. It was an instant hit at $465 all glued up and $290, all pieces bent and fish-mouthed. From TOBY: The Star-Crossed Story of an American Racing Family, by Lew Boyd. (Dick Berggren Photos)

#3265 - Yikes. Those high banks! It was at a USAC Sprint Car show at Winchester, Indiana, on July 26, 1981, when Bud Wilmot spun on the second turn and got to flipping. Amazingly, he was uninjured, maybe just a bit dazed? (Jimmy Dawson Photo, Bradley Poulsen Collection)

#3264 - Tiny, Wanda, and son Chris Lund. Wanda remembers, "We used to tease Tiny about the song 'Old Dogs, Young Children, and Watermelon Wine.' That about summed up his philosophy in life." From THE LAST LAP: The Life and Times of NASCAR’s Legendary Heroes, by Peter Golenbock. (Photo Courtesy Wanda Lund Early)

#3263 - “To go to America as reigning FI World Champion, win his series debut, lead the Indy 500 in the closing stages and secure the championship says it all. [Nigel Mansell] tried pretty much everything - and he was damned fast in them all. He just chose to concentrate on one type of car, but in anything he was one hell of a driver. But ... for all his fans, Nigel Mansell was not to everyone’s taste. Just ask his Newman-Haas teammate Mario Andretti, who describes him in words that ought not to be printed" From ROMANCE OF RACING, by Dario Franchitti. (Ian Walton Photo/Getty Images)

#3262 - Another really unusual shot from Joe MacFarlan at 3 Wide's Picture Vault. We sent this photo of a young, and pensive, Richie Evans at Trenton, to Richie's biographer and close friend, Bones Bourcier, for some more background. Here's his response: "If I had to guess, I'd say the photo is from 1972 or '73, probably the latter. If I'm right, that was a weekend of firsts for Richie: his first of three ROC triumphs, which also sewed up the first of his nine NASCAR championships. The biggest weekend of his career to that point for that longhaired hooligan." (Nelson Ivins Photo, Bob Pickell Jr. Collection on 3WidesPictureVault.com)

#3261 - The S.C. Cobra 427, developed by an ex-chicken farmer from Texas named Carroll Shelby: 417 cubic inches, 485 horsepower at 6500, 2 Holly four barrels, disc brakes, rack and pinion, 2595 pounds, 90-inch wheelbase, zero to 60 in 4.3 seconds, and top speed of 165 mph. (Photo from WORLD OF RACING: Sights and Sounds of International Motor Racing, by Wade Holt)

#3260 - Bob Cloutier, a top runner in New England's URDC circuit in and around the 1960s, is shown with this nifty little cutdown at New Hampshire's Hudson Speedway. Despite the rather massive frame, it looked as though he had weight on his mind when he built it. And, as the second photo shows, it may have been too much so. He did survive, but good thing he didn’t go over one more time... (Coastal 181 Collection)

#3259 - "With World War II coming to a close, Raceway Park was perhaps the first track in the United States to hold a midget racing program. Racing returned to the Chicago area oval on August 25, 1945, with Tinley Park's Tony Bettenhausen claiming the feature win. Bettenhausen is seen wheeling the Nichel's black No. 1 into Raceway's turn one before a packed house in October 1945." Photo and Caption from BLUE ISLAND'S RACEWAY PARK, by Stan Kalwasinski and Samuel Beck. (Bob Sheldon Photo)

#3258 - Andretti, calm and steady. Zen and the art of driving the banks. (Beetle Bailey Photo, Bradley Poulsen Collection)

#3257 - Rex Mays in the Pete Clark-wrenched Bowes Seal Fast #5 glides by the outside of Billy Devore at Indy in 1948. Devore was aboard the Pat Clancy Special, the first car at Indy to use magnesium wheels. It needed a bunch of them. From POLE POSITION: Rex Mays, by Bob Schilling. (Mays Family Collection)

#3256 - Back in the '80s Midwestern Dirt Late Model shoe Paul Schafer was topless on his car - but not so much on his cranium. (Bradley Poulsen Collection)

#3255 - Eddie Leavitt was a another of the fabulous wheelmen who learned their trade on the pint-sized Olympic Stadium in Kansas City. After being picked up by Pappy Weld, he was on his way. Two Knoxville National wins, '75 and '76, a '78 triumph at the Tony Hulman Classic at Terre Haute for Louie Seymour, and a Silver Crown score at Williams Grove were but a sampling. He passed away of lung cancer in 2003. (Bradley Poulsen Collection)

#3254 - "My deal at the time was to find a way to go to the Indianapolis 500. I figured Silver Crown maybe would open the right doors. I got my first shot at Silver Crown at the Hoosier Hundred in 1978. I made the show and finished 15th. My second time out I did really well. I qualified seventh quick, and Jimmy DePalma (Ralph's brother) said, 'Look, just follow Pancho Carter and Bettenhausen and those guys. Don't do anything stupid, just follow them and learn.' I followed them for maybe 15 laps, and they're all running around the bottom, and there is that beautiful cushion up there. That's like putting a naked woman in front of me and telling me not to touch; it's only a matter of time. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, and I shot the car up to the cushion. l ended up taking the lead, but we blew the motor. Pancho won it, but it felt great to have such a good showing." (Photo and caption from HEWITT'S LAW, with Dave Argabright.)

#3253 - A.J. Foyt #14 puts Rocky Moran a lap down during the running of the 1990 Indianapolis 500. This was A.J.'s thirty-third consecutive Indy 500, starting in the tenth position and finishing fifth. (Photo and caption by Don Figler)

#3252 - That's Ray Lee Goodwin, left, and 25-year-old Kenny Gritz at the 1968 Knoxville Nationals. They had won the A and B features. With only five years behind the wheel, Gritz pulled off the A main win in 1969, passing Jan Opperman along the way and astounding race watchers nationwide. But just 16 days later he died in a crash at an IMCA race at the Nebraska State Fair. Officials had demanded that he remove the cage on his car because it was supposed to be a Sprint Car race, not for Supermodifieds. In Bob May's words, "Gritz then became a martyr for short track safety as every Sprint Car club in the country immediately passed rules allowing full coverage chrome-moly life insurance." (Photo and caption info from NEBRASKA DIRT: A Century of Racing in the Cornhusker State 1901-1999, by Bob Mays, Gene Barnett Photo).

#3251 - "We discovered that people love our nickname "the Newport Nightmare." I think it was Ozzie Altman (the announcer) who came up with that. We put this guy on the hood back in 2012. I've always been amazed that so many people like the nightmare theme. Monsters, skull-and-crossbones, that whole deal. If I put an angel on my car or a cute puppy dog, nobody would like it. They like darker stuff, it seems." (Photo and quote from THE NEWPORT NIGHTMARE: Living the Dream, by Jimmy Owens with Dave Argabright. Photo Rick Schwallie)

#3250 - Ken Schrader: "I fell asleep in front of the television the night they televised that sprint race from Salem, Indiana, in 1990. Ann woke me up to tell me that Rich Vogler had just flipped and hung his car on a pole. They didn't show any replays, and I knew from the way they were talking that it wasn't good. The following day they announced that Rich died in the wreck. What few people remember is that he was qualified for the Winston Cup race the following day in Pocono. I don't know what kind of Cup career Rich would have had. He couldn't have continued exactly the way he'd run on the short tracks because the Cup guys wouldn't have stood for it. Hell, neither would Bill France. But, if he could have harnessed that incredible desire he had, Rich might have conquered NASCAR, too." (Quote from Gotta Race!, by Ken Schrader with Joyce Standridge, photographer unknown)

#3249 - Florida's Volusia Speedway Park is one of the nicest dirt tracks anywhere. The track-prep crew creates multiple lanes of smooth racing on the bottom and middle with a beautiful cushion up top. Drivers of Sprint Cars and stock cars of all types search high, low and in the middle for the best grip at the moment. Lots of passing results. Sprint Car engines run wide open all the way around and the stock cars are close to that. But there's a bump in the road. The route in and out of the pits across the track lifts the cars, which come back to earth with a thud. So, the engine screams when the rear tires lift off, then there's a return to earth with a jolt to the rotating engine assembly. Drivers say the place is hard on engines in part because they run wide open so long without a breath, and then there's the whooptie-do at the crossover. In all it's a great place to race and a great place to watch. (Photo and Caption by Dick Berggren)

#3248 - How do you think Ray Russell really felt about it when BCRA mandated mufflers back in the 1970s? (Photo from RACING CARS 4th Quarter 1977)

#3247 - Joe MacFarlan of 3 Wide's Picture Vault sent us this cool shot of Gil Hearne and Richie Evans at Trenton back in the 1970s, both of them right at the top of their games. (Nelson Ivins Photo on 3WidesPictureVault.com)

#3246 - "The Houston Astrodome welcomed the USAC National Midgets on March 8-9, 1969." Photo and Caption from the amazing, brand-new book GUTS AND GLORY: THE USAC National Midget Championship 1956-2022, by Bob Mays, Richie Murray, Patrick Sullivan. (C.V. Haschel Photo)

#3245 - It was April 10, 1949, opening day at Plainville Stadium, Connecticut's funky quarter-mile. As you can infer from the photo, owner Joe Tinty faced some surface problems that day. But the next week the track was paved and would be so until it closed in 1981. Denny Zimmerman, Ed Flemke, Ron and Ken Bouchard, and Reggie Ruggiero were just a few of the notable wheelmen making early appearances. Some growing up observing from the stands also became famous, certainly among them everyone's favorite racing scribe, Bones Bourcier. (Jeffrey Hardifer Collection)

#3244 - Nope, it wasn't Richie Evans at play at Daytona Beach. This car wash came decades earlier. Attempting a record on the Beach in the Rajo Ford Special in April of 1928, Wilbur Shaw got a bit off track. (Jeff Hardifer Collection)

#3243 - Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 1960s. DIRT TRACKS TO GLORY: The Early Days of Stock Car Racing, as told by the participants, by Silvia Wilkinson.

#3242 - The USAC experiment that failed. The June 2006 Silver Crown event at Richmond produced a totally modified version of the Silver Crown cars. Here Rich Tobias Jr. heads through turn 2 in what many race fans called "Vacuum Cleaners." Only 14 cars entered, with Bud Kaeding getting the win. Tobias finished 11th after encountering some mechanical issues. (Mike Feltenberger Photo)

#3241 - "Before Ray Evernham became one of NASCAR's most successful crew chiefs with Jeff Gordon, he raced at Wall Stadium first in a Modern Stock and then in a Modified. One night, he led the feature until the final lap when pressure from Tony Siscone (14) found him spinning in turn two. Siscone crossed [the finish line] first with ... Jamie Tomaino (56) in second. Evernham went to victory lane to approach Siscone... Officials disqualified Siscone, and it was Tomaino and his crew that would celebrate." Photo and Caption from LEGENDARY RACES, PEOPLE, and FACES from The Lens of Lenny H, Sammons.

#3240 - Who could ever forget Kevin Olson - his unstoppable spirit and contagious joy of life. Here he was, tirelessly supporting his buddy Stan Fox's sponsor ABC Bowling, which built a rather remarkable bowling pin golf cart. Stan and KO went on tour with it, visiting 35 bowling centers across the nation, here in the company of some lovely young ladies from Hooters. Photo from CAGES ARE FOR MONKEYS, by Kevin Olson with Lew Boyd. (Tom Davey Photo)

#3239 - Dan Gurney (L) and star-crossed Swede Savage talk over the handles. In 1970 the two ran Barracudas in the Trans-Am Series. Then on November 21 that fall, Savage steered an Eagle-Ford IndyCar to the win at the 150-mile Bobby Ball Memorial at Phoenix. It was Savage's sole professional car racing victory and Gurney's first as a team owner. From SAVAGE ANGEL: Death and Rebirth at the Indianapolis 500, by Ted Woerner. (John Mahoney Photo)

#3238 - "The first lap at the Danbury (CT) Racearena in 1957. Future star Bobby Marshman #7 tries the outside groove as he races with veteran Len Duncan #9. Tony Romit #2 follows the dueling duo closely followed by Bobby Boone #24 trying an outside move on Roger Bailey.” From KURTIS-KRAFT MIGET GENEAOLOGY, Companion Edition, by Bill Montgomery. (Jack Marsden Photo)

#3237 - That's Nathan Owens giving his dad Jimmy some setup tips at Batesville. From the brand-new book THE NEWPORT NIGHTMARE: Living the Dream, by Jimmy Owens with Dave Argabright. (Rick Schwallie Photo)

#3236 - "By the early 1970s, the tracks looked to create excitement by combining racing venues in exhibition runs. Here Chuck Poole drives the Hemi-powered Chuck Wagon against the infamous Ronnie Sox in the Sox and Martin Hemi-powered Plymouth Duster." From HEMI UNDER GLASS: Bob Riggle and his Wheel-Standing Mopars, by Mark Fletcher and Richard Truesdell. (Ted Pappacena Photo)

#3235 - Rather sparce eye-protection didn't seem to slow Ryan Newman down too much at Phoenix's Copper World Classic in 2000. He set a scorching new lap record at 135.358. But come feature time, he couldn’t contain Tony Stewart, who blew by him for the win with the white flag waving. Mike Arthur Photo from UNITED STATES AUTO CLUB: Fifty Years of Speed and Glory, by Dick Wallen

#3234 - The Legendary Lou Lazzaro attacks the old Syracuse mile back in the early 1970s. His signature coupe, so mighty over the last few seasons, was on its last gasp, about to be unceremoniously deposited in the boneyard. (Peter Lazzaro Collection). Stay tuned for our new book on Lou Lazzaro, by Ron Moshier, coming late spring 2023.

#3233 - Bill Vukovich guided the Fuel Injection Special (the Offy-powered Kurtis-Kraft 500A) to victory at Indy in 1953. He won the pole in a downpour, but on race day the track temperatures reached 130 degrees. Fourteen relief drivers were called to action, and Carl Scarborough died of heat stroke. Vukovich, however, refused any victory assistance other than a cup of water on his second stop. He won by eight miles. Photo from EPIC DRAMA: The Winning Collection of Indianapolis Motor Speedway

#3232 - Doug "The Boogie Man" Dumphy, shown here during his burn out at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Doug's AA Fuel Altered drag car was powered by a supercharged 454 cu. in. Chrysler "Hemi" engine. The body is a reproduction of a Topolino, an Italian city car produced by Fiat from 1936 to 1955. (Photo and Caption by Don Figler.)

#3231 - "In his twin role as promoter and team owner, J.C. Agajanian used his ramp truck to advertise the 1951 AAA Championship race at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Unfortunately, Aggie's driver, Walt Faulkner, missed the qualifying cut." (Photo and caption from SEA TO SHINING SEA: Racing from the Wild West to Daytona, by Ken Clapp with Bones Bourcier)

#3230 - A gaggle of fans greets Lou Moore with starry admiration. It's not hard to understand why. He had just at aimed his Miller to a record victory in the 100-miler on the half-mile Woodridge (NJ) Board Track Speedway on July 1, 1929. That required more than the standard dosage of testosterone. Especially with its 38-degree banks, Woodbridge typified the danger of the timber-track era. Three drivers died there in its four-year existence. (Jeffrey Hardifer Collection)

#3229 - Our friend Stanley Bielusiak writes: "Seeing Photo of the Day #3222 about Clyde Smith's Mexican Road Race effort reminded me of Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson's win at the Mille Miglia in 1955. They practiced ahead of time and used a roller device which I suspect worked much like Smith's. In the actual race, they set an all-time average speed of 99 mph, with Jenkinson using hand signals to inform Moss of upcoming directions and speeds for upcoming turns. They beat teammate Juan Manuel Fangio's time by 32 seconds, and Moss later said he could not have won without Jenkinson's navigating." (Stan Bielusiak Collection)

#3228 - Every race fan should know of Danny "The Dude" Lasoski. Knoxville Nationals winner in 1998, 2001, 2003, and 2004, overall WoO champion in 2001. He was invited to race in the International Race of Champions, (IROC), from 2002 until 2004. However in 2002 he missed the final race at Indianapolis due to injuries he suffered in a qualifying crash at Indy and recruited Kenny Schrader to fill in for him. Photo shows Danny giving Kenny last minute advice before the race. That's Dale Jarrett trailing behind as they are walking to their cars. Danny did win a race at the Texas Speedway in 2004, and he also raced in the Canadian IROC series, winning three times. (Don Figler Photo and Caption)

#3227 - Scott "The Iceman" Dixon, pictured here the day after his 2008 Indy 500 win with his wife, Emma, who is a former Welsh and British 800-meter track champion. Scott's resume is longer than 500 miles. His IndyCar start was in March 2001 in Monterrey, Mexico, and his first win in May of the same year in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. As of this date he has 53 IndyCar wins and six NTT Championships. Also, he's credited with three overall wins and one time-class winner in the 24 Hours of Daytona. (Don Figler Photo)

#3226 - From ILLUSTRATED SPEEDWAY NEWS August 1968: "It's nice when you win, but, even nicer when you are rewarded with a kiss from an admiring speed fan. Johnny Coy (right) received his for winning at the Hershey PA Stadium ARDC main event. His car owner Ken Brenn also shared in the fun." (Arnie DeBrier Photo)

#3225 - Reminiscent of the Yukon's Tim Gee, Bill Balog, branded the "North Pole Nightmare," was originally from Alaska and now lives in Wisconsin. Here he contemplated the evening's events at Wilmot Raceway in his new home state in 2021. From Paul Oxman's SPRINT RACING 2021 calendar. (Tim Aylwin Photo)

#3224 - A reprimand for a friend about taking unsafe chances: "Jimmy Reece lets fellow Oklahoman Jerry Hoyt know how he felt about Hoyt running the last four laps of the main event at Salem, IN, on July 3, 1955 with the right rear about to fall off. As Hoyt crossed the finish line in 4th spot, the wheel separated and Hoyt rolled to a stop on the apron." Photo and caption from DISTANT THUNDER magazine, Sept-October 1996

#3223 - This was the Jig-A-Lo fender skirt car in 1982. In Dave Argabright's book about him, Larry Moore describes it as "the most badass wedge car ever built." From ON TOP OF THE WORLD: The Life and Times of a Racing Pioneer

#3222 - Long before computers pushed tool boxes out of the prime space in the pit area: "Clyde Smith, master racing mechanic and strategist, ponders a section of the almost 2,000 mile course [of the Mexican Road Race], all of which was mapped in careful detail on a scroll contained in the neat device shown here, another example of careful Lincoln preparation." Photo and Quote from MOTOR LIFE, February 1954.

#3221 - Helio "Spider-Man" Castroneves enjoying his 2003 IndyCar win at the World Wide Technology Raceway, in Madison, IL . His partial resume: Four time Indy 500 Winner, including 25 IndyCar wins, 47 poles, and 84 four podiums, so far. IndyCar Series runner-up in 2002, 2008, 2013, and 2014. Helio finished third in 2003 and 2006. Winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, IMSA Sports Car Championship in 2020. And how about even a win in Tony Stewart's IROC-like Stock Car Series, the SRX, in 2022. (Photo and Caption by Don Figler)

#3220 - The family racing tradition this man put in place is almost second to none. Here's Lou Blaney in 1987 with one of his legendary #10 rides during Super Dirt Week at the New York State Fairgrounds. Blaney coached sons Dave and Dale to championship seasons and helped set thing forth the right way with grandson Ryan. (Photo and Caption by Mike Feltenberger)

#3219 - A.J. Foyt and Chief Mechanic George Bignotti are most likely discussing race strategy prior to the 1964 Indianapolis 500. Perhaps A.J. was suggesting: "If those 'funny cars' (rear-engine designs) don't hold up, we have a good chance of winning this thing." They didn't, and he did. Please note that although he is wearing a Goodyear driving suit, his car was shod with Firestones. Despite successful tests, Goodyear opted to skip that year's 500, but Foyt wore his Goodyear driving suit anyway. (Thanks to Indy historian Rick Shaffer for the caption, and to Dan Boyd for sharing this photo from his collection!)

#3218 - "Hanna Motorsports of Enfield, CT, has fielded over 50 professional drag race cars over the years, all shapes and sizes. Al and Ellen were inducted into the New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame in 2014, recognizing the enormity of their contribution to the sport. This is their son Rich in a family jet." Photo and Caption from A History of Auto Racing in New England, A Project of the New England Racing Museum. (New England Dragway Collection)

#3217 - That's Chase Dowling returning to the pits $10,000 the happier up at Thunder Road in Vermont's scenic Green Mountains. The Monaco Tri-Track Series will return on Saturday, May 28, 2023 for the 60th Mekkelsen RV Memorial Classic. (Steve McKnight Photo)

#3216 - It must have been quite the place. This was the start of a 100-lapper at the uptown Gilmore Stadium in Hollywood on January 1, 1950. Hangovers aside, 6,669 spectators watched as the 12 Midgets diced for the $2,750 purse. That was Bob Barker jumping into the lead which he kept all the way. Just a couple of years earlier, crowds of 18,000 were in attendance, and the purses were twice as big. But the track would close the next year, much of the seating going to Saugus Speedway. Photo from DISTANT THUNDER: When Midgets Were Mighty, by Dick Wallen. (Art Bagnall Collection)

#3215 - How many top drivers nationwide have done duty in a black #29 Seymour open-wheeler out of Massachusetts? The late family patriarch, "Boston Louie" Seymour, spent decades parading Champ and Silver Crown cars, Sprinters and Midgets nationwide, earning the handle "The man who towed a million miles." Here Texan Lloyd Ruby hustles a Sprint Car around Pocono in the 1974 USAC World Series of Auto Racing. The tradition motors on today as the Seymour family prepares Midgets for Auburndale, Florida, in early February. From HARD LUCK LLOYD: The Complete Story of Slow Talking, Hard Driving Texan Lloyd Ruby, by John Lingle. (Ruby Family Collection)

#3214 - "The Andretti Family in Montona, Italy, 1947." From John Andretti RACER, as told to Jade Gurss. (Andretti Family Collection)

#3213 - "Tall, skinny, wearing striped overalls, always with a pretty girl, and always enjoying himself hugely, Carroll Shelby was the very essence of what a race car driver ought to be," James T. Crowe wrote in Road & Track. Wearing his signature duds, Shelby celebrates with his then-wife, actress Jan Harrison, after scoring his last win as a driver, squiring a Scarab around Continental Divide Raceway in 1960. From SHELBY AMERICAN: The Renegades Who Built the Cars, Won the Races, and Lived the Legend, by Preston Lerner. (Dave Friedman Photo)

#3212 - Chris Bowen was 21 when she met Rick Mears in 1981. She was not sure of things. "I thought a race driver was a red-neck, a hillbilly type of person." She changed her mind. They were married, and, when he won his fourth Indy 500, she looked pretty pleased with things. From RICK MEARS: THANKS, by Gordon Kirby. (IMS Photo)

#3211 - It was July 16, 1979, the day of one of racing's greatest infamies. Mike Feltenberger watched and snapped this picture where the first turn once greeted some of the country’s greatest dirt trackers. The grandstands of the great Reading Fairgrounds were being torn down. (Mike Feltenberger Photo)

#3210 - The hometown crowd went totally crazy when Kenny Wallace blasted to the front of that last-chance Modified race at the Gateway Dirt Nationals a week or so ago – and it sure looked like Kenny was enjoying himself during his roof dance. But it also looked like he was having a good time along the way. (Hermanator Collection Photo)

#3209 - How about Jack "Do-it" Hewitt's do! Things may have changed above, but certainly not below. (Photos by Allen Horcher from by Joyce Standridge's DID YOU SEE THAT? Unforgettable Moments in Midwest Open-Wheel Racing,)

#3208 - Wouldn't you have liked to have overheard this conversation between Chevy boss Roger Penske and Ford boss Michael Kranefuss, at the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race in 1992? Kranefuss's man won the pole with Michael Andretti; however Penske's man, Emerson Fittipaldi, won the race. (Photo and caption by Don Figler, producer of the annual Midget Racing Calendar)

#3207 - There was a time that the premier division of NASCAR was much more involved with short track racing. In fact, in the mid-1950s, Big Bill France was listed as promoter of Detroit's Flat Rock Speedway. Here he presents Lee Petty with his winning bling. Petty sure looks pretty preppy and his car pretty shiny and unscathed. Perhaps that was because, as Allan Brown, master recorder of America's speedways points out, Flat Rock was the first rubberized asphalt track in the country.
(Photo Jim Hehl Collection)

#3206 - Danny Drinan and Dave Darland at a Silver Crown show at Phoenix back in 2000. Two serious gassers about to jump into growling but magnificently classic race cars, at a beautiful facility. What could be better? (Bill Taylor Photo)

#3205 - New Jersey-based Harry and Jane Cella are among the most popular - and productive - motorsports photographers on the East Coast. Harry got started at the turn of the 1970s, but, unlike many lensman, became more interested in what was going on in the cockpit. He got himself a 320 Sportsman in '74 and ran Nazareth, PA, and occasionally Middletown, NY, for five seasons. It was the time of enormous car counts, but Harry (shown above) was right in the thick of things. He says with a smile that his most memorable race involved a rather captivating end-over-end down the backstretch at Nazareth. Eventually he had to quit for lack of money and lack of new ways to tell his boss he needed time off to recover from injuries. It was a sad day for him, but a good one for us. He returned with passion to the photos, and he and Jane have kept right on going over the years, sending us lots of them for our books. (Cella Collection Photo)

#3204 - Two of New England very finest work on the carburetor of the # Flying O Modified in the pits at the old Riverside Park Speedway in 1959. The driver, right, was an ultra-talented smoothie named Buddy Krebs, who was equally followed when performing with his string band. The owner, left, Jim Jorgensen, was a skilled builder and mechanic who would soon venture into Indy Car racing, starting out with Gene Bergin in the seat. Photo from SWAMP YANKEE: The Racing Life of Jim Jorgensen, by Walt Scadden.

#3203 - Help needed! This is kind of a random old photo, but perhaps someone can help with some identification. Road racing aficionado Tom Cutter races one of the rare Cunningham C3s and ran across this faint, time-honored image about drag racing way up at the old Sanford Airport in Maine in the 1950s. How curious it was that such a car would be competing there. If anyone happens to know who owned it and what C3e number it had, Tom would be grateful to know. (It is possible that a guy named Henry Dingley was driving it that day.) Tom's email is Tomcotter@csx2490.com Photo from COOL CARS SQUARE ROLL BARS: Photos and Recollections of Fifties Hot Rodding in New England, by Bernie Shuman.

#3202 - "Grand Prix legend Jim Clark (right) gives his fellow Scotsman Jackie Stewart some encouragement as the latter gets ready to make his first qualifying run [at Indianapolis] in 1966." Photo and Quote from 500 on (the INDY) 500: Tales, Facts, and Figures on the "Greatest Race in the World," by Rick Shaffer (Dan R. Boyd Photo)

#3201 - It doesn't seem that long ago that Dave Blaney and his son Ryan visited us at Area Auto Racing News' Motorsports show, held that year in Atlantic City. Ryan was racing Quarter-Midgets at the time. I asked him if he was going to be as fast as his Dad. His answer: "I am now." (Coastal 181 Collection)