My pics and stories, 1941-1972

[cemar]

I was not sure how much of this past Midget stuff you all would like to see and read about. I have so much to share I'll just use this title to add things weekly.
Hope some of you will enjoy it as much as we did racing it back then.

This is the start of the Main event at the Davenport Iowa Speedway.
It was on the 1/2 mile track early in the spring of 1952.
Note if you can that drivers from the 4th row back can not even see the flagman due to the dust.
Yes, the crows nest hung out halfway across the race track about 12 ft up. As far as I know they still flag from there today and no cars have ever flipped into it.

Oh ya, we won this race.:checker:

cemar

[cemar]

Going to give this a shot and hope you can read it, if not I'll try something different.

Here are the rules we ran under in 1947 with the MMARA sanction.
I like the part that says if a car has chronic bad handling officials will make suggest to the driver to make it better. If the changes are not made the car will be disqualified.
cemar

[cemar]

Try this.
Don't forget to click on the pic for larger viewing.
cemar

[cemar]

I will never post a picture of wrecks when drivers did not survive.

This one is from 1950 at the old Cemar track outside Cedar Rapids Iowa.
The car airborne is #37 Don Branson of Champaign Ill. Outside top left is Mike O'Hallaran. Driver coming out of the car is Steve Orme of Springfield Ill while the car about to make contact is Gene Wyant of Champaign Ill.
cemar

[Quick Time]

Hey Cemar,

Thanks for the posts, keep up the good work. I really enjoyed the rule book!!!

Chuck

[cemar]

Thanks, being new to this type of posting I didn't know for sure what you folks liked to see or read.
As in the pic, many drivers back then were thrown from their race cars.
Yes, some came out better than if they had been kept in the car but more suffered worse fate by being tossed out.
My family member driver was tosssed out once and he walked away.
Had he not he probably would not be with us. The car barrel rolled on the top of the guardrail bending the steering wheel down to the seat, as this was the age before roll bars.
cemar

[Mitch G.]

Great stuff cemar, please keep it up. I've seen that midget crash photo somewhere before, it's pretty terrifying. If a driver got pitched out of a race car back then, it usually was o.k if they did not land square on their head, or get run over by another race car. Check out the photo's of Charlie Mussleman at Langhorne getting thrown out of Sam Traylor's sprinter. You can't see the car too well here, but in other photo's you see the steering wheel touching the headrest, it would have pinched Charlie in half if he stayed in the car.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=24&pictureid=701

[cemar]

Many unscrupulous promoters took advantage of the early hipe of Midget racing sweeping the country back in the 40's.
Besides taking off with the purse money some would make a somewhat legit attempt at promoting us.
That is, they would drive around a populated area that did not have a race track, looking for a corn field that was flat and easy to see from a hiway.
Offer the farmer little cash (after the crop was brought in) for a "small piece of the field for the late summer early fall season.
The promoter would hire someone to come out with a grader and blade of a 1/4 mile or smaller flat track.
No guard rails, no pits (parked outside the track in the cornfield), no "real" fire crew or ambulance, no stands, only an outhouse for you know what.
Never would the racing be sanctioned, so this was about as cheap as one could get to building and putting on a race program.
Real dust bowls as all races were during the day.
Race fans would line the track with their cars and watch the events and I mean right next to the track.
Only positive for us was back then women were not allowed in the pits but with us settting up outside the track in the cornfield the ladies could stay with us.
Many a driver would race these tracks under a different name because if a sanction caught you running an unsanctioned track you were booted out and fined from that sanction.
These tracks ran for about 2 or 3 months and then go back to the farmer.
cemar

[cemar]

Found a couple pics from one those one and done tracks.
I think the year was around 1947.
There are the wives of 2 drivers and an owner.
The other pic is from the pits.
Look close and you can see all the cars lined up and people "standing" along the front chute.
Yes many spectators were injured or killed back then by cars going into them.

[numbbers]

Many unscrupulous promoters took advantage of the early hipe of Midget racing sweeping the country back in the 40's.
Besides taking off with the purse money some would make a somewhat legit attempt at promoting us.
That is, they would drive around a populated area that did not have a race track, looking for a corn field that was flat and easy to see from a hiway.
Offer the farmer little cash (after the crop was brought in) for a "small piece of the field for the late summer early fall season.
The promoter would hire someone to come out with a grader and blade of a 1/4 mile or smaller flat track.
No guard rails, no pits (parked outside the track in the cornfield), no "real" fire crew or ambulance, no stands, only an outhouse for you know what.
Never would the racing be sanctioned, so this was about as cheap as one could get to building and putting on a race program.
Real dust bowls as all races were during the day.
Race fans would line the track with their cars and watch the events and I mean right next to the track.
Only positive for us was back then women were not allowed in the pits but with us settting up outside the track in the cornfield the ladies could stay with us.
Many a driver would race these tracks under a different name because if a sanction caught you running an unsanctioned track you were booted out and fined from that sanction.
These tracks ran for about 2 or 3 months and then go back to the farmer.
cemar
Yep, my dad did the same thing. For AAA sanctioned events he was T.E. Russell, but for the outlaw events, he was David Lynn.

[cemar]

Pit next to this Indy 500 driver once in the late 60' and took this pic.
Anyone want to guess who it is?
cemar

[Mitch G.]

Arnnie Knepper?

[cemar]

Yes, it is Arnie.
He was a super nice guy to be around.
cemar

[cemar]

One of the best early Midget sanctions in the midwest was the M.M.A.R.A.,
Midwest Midget Auto Racing Association.
Here is the original M.M.A.R.A. menu and program from the end of season 1947 racers banquet.
Little different from todays standards.
cemar

[cemar]

Here is the only time dad came out of a racer (1941-1972).
We were 5 laps from the main event win that day when this happened.
This was the start of the first roll and he was thrown out (belt was not tight enough) and a goodthing.
As you can see the car is headed up towards the guardrail. It rolled along the rail pushing the steering wheel down against the seat. Pretty sure you all know what would have happened had he not been tossed out (no roll bars then).
Belts were always snug after this.
Take a look at that rear wheel and you can see why he went for this ride.
Axle snapped just as he was going into the turn.
cemar

[Mitch G.]

Holy Crap!!!! One lucky dude.

[cemar]

We ran a few U.A.R.A. events in 1971.
A couple cool cars I liked.
Midget Roadster, now that was different.
Nothing better than the old Red,White and Blue theme.
Flagman looked cool out on the track but some paid the price for it.
Let me tell you, nothing better than to carry old Glory around the track but man it was a handfull trying to hold onto that big thing. (not us in this pic.)
cemar

[cemar]

This is a main event shot at a 1969 USAC midget event at Davenport Iowa.
We are just out of this pic., behind the Lockart Chevy II.
These three drivers finished in this order.
Can anyone name the three?
cemar

[Wayne Arner]

The 3 drivers are : #25 Bob Wente, ]#69 Roger West[/B], and #28 Bob Tattersall ( in the Lithgow Offy). This race was run on 8/19/1969, and it is interesting to note that Tattersall drove the Lockard Chevy II the night before this race, on 8/18/1969, in Springfield, Ill! Tattersall drove at least 8 different cars in 1969, on his run for the USAC Championship, but he was in Bob Stroud's "Honker IIJ' for most of the season. Great picture!

[cemar]

Please, I will never correct anyone when it deals with race events that happened so many years ago but, in our records, it shows Merle Bettenhausen driving the Lockhart car this night.
This event was Aug. 19th and in investigating further, by looking up results from USAC that year, they have the finish as follows:
Lee Kunzman, Merle, Tattersal and Wente.
There is also a pic of Lee in victory circle.

That was a heck of a barnstorming week.
5 different tracks in 3 states over a 7 day run.
Started the 18th at Springfield Ill (Larry Cannon) then went to Davenport the 19th, on over to Fairbury the 20th (Dave Strickland) the 22nd saw them at Hindsdale Ill. (Don Vogler) and ended the week at Rossburg on the 24th (Mel Kenyon).

cemar

[cemar]

Think Richard Petty got his wet rag in the mouth idea from this guy?:rotfl:
cemar

[Racefan 777]

It looks to me that the belts in the last photo would bust the ribs in a crash. Have not seen them in other pictures. Were they popular and did they work?