Chris Ertlers #29 Lakeside Modified

[superstroke]

I apoligize for the poor picture quality.

In this photo, shot in the pits at Colorados Lakeside Speedway, Chris Ertlers #29L modified stock car stands idle, awaiting this nights competition. What a beautiful modified this was. Check out the chrome kick offs and nerfing iron. Unlike most of the modifieds of this era the hood and radiator housing are in line and beautifully detailed. This car would fly. The driver at this time was Butch Wallace. Butch was no stranger to Lakesides 1/5th mile oval, and it showed as his driving talents mixed well with this cars abilities. I will ask Chris Ertler to add more information about his car, as he has just become a member of this great website.

Beside the yellow mod, is the trailer belonging to Tim Miles of Miles Auto Service. Tim was the caretaker of Rick Carellis #6 modified. And beside the trailer is the purple #90D Sportsman belonging to Frank Denning. On the left sits the #32 belonging to one of the Gallegos Brothers, either Joe or Ron, as they shared in the driving responsibilities. Way in the back, the red modified #99 awaiting the unloading process belongs to Bob Land.

The photographer of this picture is unknown.

[lakeside #29]

Thanks Superstroke,
This photo was from 1984 and is my favorite edition of this car. I had bought Clarence Krieger's #83G in 1979. I was going to make 1 frame out of 2 using #83's frame and my old #29 frame that I got from Jeff Anderson. Terry Boyle did the work, but by then tube frames were the way to go. Mike Colitti had a friend, Tom McManus, who had the blueprints to Ed Brunner's Dennis Frings late model chassis. Ed donated the jig he made for that car. Ed had gone to Frings shop in Wisconsin and bought the chassis unassembled. Frings was ahead of his time in design. In 1982 Mike Colitti, Dennis Osborne, Tom McManus and I built #29 adapting the Frings design to a coupe.

We used a cross leaf front spring set-up we got from Dennis Osbourn that had been under one of Steve Troxel's old sprint cars. On the car in the picture we had a '50 Chevy truck front axle that was trimmed and adapted to cross spring. The rear axle was a '57 Olds that Porky Laughlin built for Darrell Stingerie's '64 Fairlane late model. I had bought that car and stripped it for parts. We used trailer leaf springs in the rear, with adjustable shackles and made up wedge screw adjusters for the front spring eye.

We used a number of engine parts from Terry Boyle's old late model. The engine and the machine work was done by Joe Blackburn at The Block Shop. The engine was built in my gararge by Butch Wallace , Mike Colitti, and me. Our secret weapon was little Roy Jackson. He operated a degree wheel with the skill of a brain surgeon. I bought the camshaft from Herman Chapman. The steering was a Sweet rack and pinion that originally was for Butch's late model. Butch's brother-in-law Max Smith was a machinist who shortened the tie rods to fit the car.

The transmission was from Junior Denning. We used the wheels off the Stingerie car. I called Jack McCoy at McCoy Tire in California and got the right tires. I got the front brakes from the Pickard brothers of Pueblo. They were off an old late model. I think they said it was a guy named Max and his Falcon. I don't know southern Colorado cars that well. Who ever he was he did great work. He used aluminum Buick brake drums with the fins milled off to clear the wheels and 8 lug Chevy truck rear hubs. We are still using those same breaks on the #52 car. Chuck Jarman also donated a number of parts from his old late model. The body work was done in my garage also. Figure 8 racer and former co-worker Don Bedore helped with body work. Super modified racer John Pickard helped with a lot of fabrication work.

The first year we ran this car Mike Colitti painted it. That year Pete Brandenberg lettered it. Rody pinstriped it. My late step dad, Les McGriff did all the sheet matal. He made the rolls on the side of the hood around an oxygen cylinder and on the tailgate of his truck. He made the hood scoop at my request exactly like a piece of duct work. I found the grill at a swap meet at After The Gold Rush. The grill is off of a 1921 GMC truck. In the 1984 edition in the above photo Kim Bieckman of Dakota Auto Body handled paint chores. A bearded sign painter named Rick Losh handled all the lettering and pinstriping. If you look closely at the "A" pilar you'll see "Woody Woodpecker". Rick copied this off a thermos bottle. I think he painted the thermos in the first place. "Woody" was Butch's good luck charm.

We had an amazing year in '84 winning the Limited Modified championship and almost every award you could name. That year Butch had a time share on a houseboat at Lake Powell so he wasn't going be at every race. He kept telling me not to worry about a driver for those nights, he had someone to fill in. He did all right, his brother-in-law Late Model Champion Roy "Jack" Jackson. We had a ball with Jack driving the car. A lot of people complained how much we spent. That is not true. We built just about everything ourselves, mostly in my garage. Every year we upgraded the car as much as finances allowed. I still have the car living comfortably in my garage. It currently has an old but still excellent Tim Miles paint job. The sides still have Rick Losh's artwork. The hood and decklid have been repainted over the years and now have Dale Moore's work on them.