Keeping auto racing history alive. http://autoracingmemories.com Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:28:59 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://autoracingmemories.com/content/view/49/34/ The birth of what would become one of the fastest short track speedways West of the Mississippi started with two men, Ed Clark and Carroll Quelland, who together owned many properties around the Denver area. One of the lots was a desolate 15 acre field of weeds in what is now the small Southwest suburb of Sheridan, CO. The site was between Clay Street and South Federal Blvd., along the North side of West Oxford Ave. At the time, South Federal deadened at Hampden Avenue. Originally, the two men were interested in buying a Midget race car when Ed’s brother John convinced them to build a racetrack instead. John Clark was running a concessions business at race tracks and rodeos around the region, and this new track, just a few miles out of Denver, would be a perfect place to center the business. ARM News - Race Track Profiles Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:56:17 +0100 http://autoracingmemories.com/content/view/48/34/ Greg Cederburg (Cheyenne, WY) was the driver and 1/3 of the Cederburg, Noud, and Wendzel (CN W) #84 race team (circa 1968-1969). I first met Greg in the Cheyenne Intra-city Elementary School Basketball Conference. He led his team as a nimble point-guard, while I occupied the paint as a center for my team. We later attended the same junior-high school on the south-side of Cheyenne. Greg's Dad owned and operated Lee's Motorcycles: a Triumph, Norton, BSA, Ducati, BMW, Hodaka, Bultaco, and Honda dealer that was located on the old South Greeley Highway. Back then, it was legal to operate a motorcycle on the public-streets at the tender age of 14, but only if it was under 50 CCs of total displacement. Lee, a most talented motorcycle-mechanic / machinist / fabricator, inserted a thin-plate on a Honda 50 between the bottom of the cylinder-barrel and the base of the crankcase; thus, the de-stroked Honda Less-than-50 was born...and very soon there after, every 14-year-old kid in the area was riding one. At this very young age, I hired on part-time at the motorcycle shop at the flunky-level to help fund my Honda and... ARM News - Driver Profiles Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:33:58 +0100 http://autoracingmemories.com/content/view/47/34/ John E. “Johnny” Rostek (Ft. Collins, CO) When you ask someone what drivers from Colorado drove in NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying races in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the most common response would be: “Fritz Wilson, and…<long-pause>…there’s someone else?” I will get back to that later in this article. Johnny Rostek (1925-1969) owned and operated Rostek Construction and the Lamplighter Motels, Inc. based out of Ft. Collins, CO. His wife, Shirley L. Rostek (1925-2008), was the bookkeeper for these two booming enterprises. Later, Rostek owned the Charco Broiler steakhouse in Fort Collins. They were also the proud parents of two lovely daughters: Sharon and Cathy. Sharon has an extensive collection of her father’s racing mementos, and in the past, she shared many of them with us at the “old memories” site. In the beginning (circa 1950s), “Johnny” drove race cars and won a lot at Speedway Park (Ft. Collins, CO), Intermountain Speedway (Cheyenne, WY), Pikes Peak Speedway (Colo. Springs, CO), Lakeside Speedway (Denver. CO), and Englewood Speedway (Englewood, CO). ARM News - Driver Profiles Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:37:06 +0100 http://autoracingmemories.com/content/view/45/34/ There was an early photo of a well publicized on-track incident at Lakeside Speedway that had always intrigued me. That incident involved Vern Grams and Keith Lane with Vern’s car ending up on top of Keith’s car. I’d always wanted to learn more about that incident in general and Vern Grams in particular. A few years ago I was fortunate to have an opportunity to sit down with Vern and his wife Mariann where they shared photos and stories of his racing with me. And yes, he had an 8x10 glossy of that photo, and more. Here then is his racing story. Vern was originally from the Greeley area. It was 1952, the popularity of stock car racing was booming everywhere, including Greeley, and Vern, just out of the service, like a lot of young guys, went racing. One of Vern’s early rides was in this car getting sideways just in front of the #11. Things got worse instead of better as Vern took a pretty good tumble. When the car came to a stop, Vern was unconscious and had to be helped from the car. Not really the way he wanted... ARM News - Driver Profiles Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:45:08 +0100 http://autoracingmemories.com/content/view/44/34/ Lakeside Speedway was home to many beautiful modified stock cars. One of my personal favorites was this gorgeous 'Vicky'. The 'Golden Chariot', as it was known, was shoed by veteran driver Ed Mailo. The car was built and owned by Ernie Reese and Pat VanDyke. If my memory is correct, Ernie was some sort of engineer. Pat owned and operated A-1 Truck and Auto. Both men were talented mechanics and it showed everytime this beauty entered the track. The tragedy of this car came in the same year of its existence. Early in that year, and I believe it was in hotlaps, the radiator of the #40 car of Doug Plue ended up sitting right behind Ed Mailo's seat. The car was a total loss. ARM News - Car Profiles Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:15:26 +0100