Mitch G.
05-21-2009, 05:11 PM
O.K. here's another race car history, genealogy story, on a local Denver car. Harry Conklin always had the best equipment money could buy, I doubt he kept a car for more than 2 seasons. Some of this history is conjecture on my part because I only new one owner of this particular car, real well. In 1977 Conklin buys a new Don Edmunds Auto-Craft (VW) powered midget, it's painted brilliant yellow, with silver leaf #5, C.E.L is lettered on the hood (Conklin Enterprises Ltd?). Eddie finished 1977 RMMRA points 4th in the car.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=405
Here's Eddie at Lakeside with the yellow Edmunds. If I'm not mistaken, Rick Carelli may have driven the Yellow #5 late in the 1977 season at Englewood.
Then in 1978 Eddie Jackson drove a brand new Schlieger built VW #25 for Dave Williams, my programs list Rick Carelli in the Conklin #49 for 1978, now the car is dark maroon, black with gold leaf lettering, and numbers. Again my faded memory tells me Carelli wasn't much of a dirt driver, and late in the season Conklin has Eddie back for the "1st Annual Coors Midget Nationals" at Belleville, KS. Now this part I remember well, I was pitting for Jack DeShon at Belleville, Sleepy Tripp, Larry Patton, Mike Gregg, Jeff Heywood, Bob Wente, a ton of talent on hand.
It was a 3 day show back then, I can't remember who won the Thur. and Fri. mains. For the big final on Saturday, crafty old Eddie Jackson wins the 30 lapper over Larry Patton, and Sleepy Tripp. I'll never forget Sleepy Tripp pulling into the pits, getting out and slamming his helmet into the seat of his midget, Eddie must have been 46 or 47 years old, Tripp maybe 26 or 27? It was the best midget, if not auto race, I've ever seen.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=407
This is how close they ran for 30 laps, Eddie leading, Tripp in #26, Patton in Roger Mauro's #11.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=406
Mike Gregg, and Sleepy Tripp in this photo with Eddie, leads me to believe Gregg, and Tripp won the prelim mains.
Now here is where it gets foggy, I think Mike Van Dyke bought the #49 from Conklin and numbered it 96, and ran it for 2 seasons like that. Then Bill Morton bought it from Van Dyke and ran it in 1981 as #0
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=408
Here's Mike Van Dyke at Lakeside Speedway in 1981, the programs list it as owned by "Pace-setter Racing" this was Bill Morton's team. Bill put Dana Carter, Pancho's little brother, in the car a time or two also. In 1982 Leo Tucker took over driving the Edmunds for Morton, now I think these two stayed together for 2 seasons. In 83 or 84, back at Belleville, Leo Tucker takes a wild end for end flip just past the start finish line. Morton see's the red flag, but never saw the crash, so he grab's two 1/2 inch end wrench's to adjust the weight on the Edmunds, thinking Leo has stopped on the front stretch. Morton heads toward his car which was nearly broke in two, with two little end wrench's. We kidded him later, saying it would have taken more than those wrench's to fix Leo's problem, luckily Leo was o.k. So Morton takes the car to Ron Schlieger and they keep the Edmunds roll cage, which was not damaged, and put a new frame under it, and fit a new tail tank to it, removing the old tank, and fiberglass tail piece. Lots of nice chrome, white paint, and a red #9, and Morton takes the car to Southern California with him, as he re-locates out there for a couple of years. In the winter of 84/85 I worked in Los Angeles , and would visit Morton's house, and he tried to sell me that car, but I couldn't afford it, it was really pretty though. Morton ended up selling it to a guy in Northern California, and I don't know where it is now. So the winning midget of the first ever Belleville midget nationals is lost somewhere in time.
However, in 1987, I think, back at Belleville, a midget vet from Wisconsin, Hans Lein, puts a old Edmunds VW in the big Saturday night final, the last VW to ever make the midget nationals. The announcer says it's the ex-Eddie Jackson car that won the first nationals, and I've seen this reported on other web sites. This is wrong, the car Lein put in the main was an ex-Conklin Edmunds VW, but it was a later model that Eddie Jackson had modified, he put down bars on the back of the roll cage joining the rear cage loop to the lower frame, this car ended up getting a newer tail tank on it to replace the old flat top tank covered by the fiberglass tail piece. This particular Conklin Edmunds was always black, and always #5 for it's whole life, until Lein bought it, he painted it white with a red #5. Randy Roberts won mains with this car, Dave Manes out of Tuscon AZ won a main in the car, Johnny Parsons Jr. out of Indianapolis won a main or two in this car. It was very successful, but it was not the car that Jackson won the "1st Annual Coors Midget Nationals", in. Where the Hans Lein car is now, is anybody's guess. This is how I remember this cars history, it may not be totally accurate, so if anybody out there has more info, please share!
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=405
Here's Eddie at Lakeside with the yellow Edmunds. If I'm not mistaken, Rick Carelli may have driven the Yellow #5 late in the 1977 season at Englewood.
Then in 1978 Eddie Jackson drove a brand new Schlieger built VW #25 for Dave Williams, my programs list Rick Carelli in the Conklin #49 for 1978, now the car is dark maroon, black with gold leaf lettering, and numbers. Again my faded memory tells me Carelli wasn't much of a dirt driver, and late in the season Conklin has Eddie back for the "1st Annual Coors Midget Nationals" at Belleville, KS. Now this part I remember well, I was pitting for Jack DeShon at Belleville, Sleepy Tripp, Larry Patton, Mike Gregg, Jeff Heywood, Bob Wente, a ton of talent on hand.
It was a 3 day show back then, I can't remember who won the Thur. and Fri. mains. For the big final on Saturday, crafty old Eddie Jackson wins the 30 lapper over Larry Patton, and Sleepy Tripp. I'll never forget Sleepy Tripp pulling into the pits, getting out and slamming his helmet into the seat of his midget, Eddie must have been 46 or 47 years old, Tripp maybe 26 or 27? It was the best midget, if not auto race, I've ever seen.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=407
This is how close they ran for 30 laps, Eddie leading, Tripp in #26, Patton in Roger Mauro's #11.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=406
Mike Gregg, and Sleepy Tripp in this photo with Eddie, leads me to believe Gregg, and Tripp won the prelim mains.
Now here is where it gets foggy, I think Mike Van Dyke bought the #49 from Conklin and numbered it 96, and ran it for 2 seasons like that. Then Bill Morton bought it from Van Dyke and ran it in 1981 as #0
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=9&pictureid=408
Here's Mike Van Dyke at Lakeside Speedway in 1981, the programs list it as owned by "Pace-setter Racing" this was Bill Morton's team. Bill put Dana Carter, Pancho's little brother, in the car a time or two also. In 1982 Leo Tucker took over driving the Edmunds for Morton, now I think these two stayed together for 2 seasons. In 83 or 84, back at Belleville, Leo Tucker takes a wild end for end flip just past the start finish line. Morton see's the red flag, but never saw the crash, so he grab's two 1/2 inch end wrench's to adjust the weight on the Edmunds, thinking Leo has stopped on the front stretch. Morton heads toward his car which was nearly broke in two, with two little end wrench's. We kidded him later, saying it would have taken more than those wrench's to fix Leo's problem, luckily Leo was o.k. So Morton takes the car to Ron Schlieger and they keep the Edmunds roll cage, which was not damaged, and put a new frame under it, and fit a new tail tank to it, removing the old tank, and fiberglass tail piece. Lots of nice chrome, white paint, and a red #9, and Morton takes the car to Southern California with him, as he re-locates out there for a couple of years. In the winter of 84/85 I worked in Los Angeles , and would visit Morton's house, and he tried to sell me that car, but I couldn't afford it, it was really pretty though. Morton ended up selling it to a guy in Northern California, and I don't know where it is now. So the winning midget of the first ever Belleville midget nationals is lost somewhere in time.
However, in 1987, I think, back at Belleville, a midget vet from Wisconsin, Hans Lein, puts a old Edmunds VW in the big Saturday night final, the last VW to ever make the midget nationals. The announcer says it's the ex-Eddie Jackson car that won the first nationals, and I've seen this reported on other web sites. This is wrong, the car Lein put in the main was an ex-Conklin Edmunds VW, but it was a later model that Eddie Jackson had modified, he put down bars on the back of the roll cage joining the rear cage loop to the lower frame, this car ended up getting a newer tail tank on it to replace the old flat top tank covered by the fiberglass tail piece. This particular Conklin Edmunds was always black, and always #5 for it's whole life, until Lein bought it, he painted it white with a red #5. Randy Roberts won mains with this car, Dave Manes out of Tuscon AZ won a main in the car, Johnny Parsons Jr. out of Indianapolis won a main or two in this car. It was very successful, but it was not the car that Jackson won the "1st Annual Coors Midget Nationals", in. Where the Hans Lein car is now, is anybody's guess. This is how I remember this cars history, it may not be totally accurate, so if anybody out there has more info, please share!