Jerry Lee
06-10-2009, 01:07 PM
If there's one name in local racing history that most won't soon forget, then it's got to be Junior Reeder. No doubt one of the wildest guys in Colorado Figure 8 folklore, Junior was fearless, fast, and always furious. Famous for wheeling his '57 Chevys with fists and fenders flying, he thrilled many a race fan with his antics both on and off the track.
Not long after Englewood Speedway closed down in 1979, the rumor-turned-legend was that "Crazy Junior" had finally met his fate. Killed in a bar fight. Stabbed to death. Some even said that it didn't surprise them.
I talked to Junior during a 1997 phone interview, almost 20 years after those rumors started about his so called demise.
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JL: "Junior, do you confirm or deny the reports of your death?"
JR: "Well, I'm not dead y'know. I came close, been stabbed and shot 3 or 4 times."
JL: "When did you first start going out to Englewood?"
JR: "I used to go out there in the '50's when they were running Modifieds and stuff, 'cause my sister lived up the block and you could hear 'em racing. You heard 'em, and you just had to go down there and sneak in. The Figure 8's didn't cost much money to put together when they first came out. My first car was a '55 Plymouth and cost me $49 to build."
JL: "One of my most vivid memories is that wild series of flips you took in 1972. Do you remember how that came about?"
JR: "Yeah, I was coming up on the leaders, there was two Fords in front of me, that's what pi$$ed me off! Really, I have no idea what the hell broke. Something popped and I started going end over end and upside down."
JL: "I still remember the gasp of the crowd when we all thought for a minute that you had lost your head and it was now rolling toward the X!" (laughs)
JR: "I had a brand new Bell helmet and it broke and just tore off. They had to sew my left ear back on and they were picking asphalt out of my head. But I came back out and raced the next week. There was always a car around."
JL: "For some years there, you even had your own color called "Reeder Green". I understand you'd give people grief if they were running the same color on their car."
JR: "Right, I think one of my buddies had a '68 or '69 Challenger, and they came out with that green color."
JL: "It seems most everyone I talk to has some sort of Junior Reeder story. How about you?"
JR: "Aw hell, there's quite a few of those."
JL: "Weren't you once suspended from the speedway for a year for beating up some track officials?"
JR: "Aw yeah, just having some fun."
JL: "Is there anyone you didn't fight with?"
JR: "Oh, sure. I got along with some of those Modified guys. Joe Lehman, Pete Stringer."
JL: "Have you mellowed any?"
JR: "Oh yeah, hell, I had to."
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And so reads the legend of Junior Reeder, the wildest stock car driver in the West. No matter what kind of antics he pulled off the track, he was also a lot of fun to watch when he was on it.
I would have loved to see a grudge race between Junior Reeder and Sammy Sauer. I don't think either one would have finished.
Not long after Englewood Speedway closed down in 1979, the rumor-turned-legend was that "Crazy Junior" had finally met his fate. Killed in a bar fight. Stabbed to death. Some even said that it didn't surprise them.
I talked to Junior during a 1997 phone interview, almost 20 years after those rumors started about his so called demise.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JL: "Junior, do you confirm or deny the reports of your death?"
JR: "Well, I'm not dead y'know. I came close, been stabbed and shot 3 or 4 times."
JL: "When did you first start going out to Englewood?"
JR: "I used to go out there in the '50's when they were running Modifieds and stuff, 'cause my sister lived up the block and you could hear 'em racing. You heard 'em, and you just had to go down there and sneak in. The Figure 8's didn't cost much money to put together when they first came out. My first car was a '55 Plymouth and cost me $49 to build."
JL: "One of my most vivid memories is that wild series of flips you took in 1972. Do you remember how that came about?"
JR: "Yeah, I was coming up on the leaders, there was two Fords in front of me, that's what pi$$ed me off! Really, I have no idea what the hell broke. Something popped and I started going end over end and upside down."
JL: "I still remember the gasp of the crowd when we all thought for a minute that you had lost your head and it was now rolling toward the X!" (laughs)
JR: "I had a brand new Bell helmet and it broke and just tore off. They had to sew my left ear back on and they were picking asphalt out of my head. But I came back out and raced the next week. There was always a car around."
JL: "For some years there, you even had your own color called "Reeder Green". I understand you'd give people grief if they were running the same color on their car."
JR: "Right, I think one of my buddies had a '68 or '69 Challenger, and they came out with that green color."
JL: "It seems most everyone I talk to has some sort of Junior Reeder story. How about you?"
JR: "Aw hell, there's quite a few of those."
JL: "Weren't you once suspended from the speedway for a year for beating up some track officials?"
JR: "Aw yeah, just having some fun."
JL: "Is there anyone you didn't fight with?"
JR: "Oh, sure. I got along with some of those Modified guys. Joe Lehman, Pete Stringer."
JL: "Have you mellowed any?"
JR: "Oh yeah, hell, I had to."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so reads the legend of Junior Reeder, the wildest stock car driver in the West. No matter what kind of antics he pulled off the track, he was also a lot of fun to watch when he was on it.
I would have loved to see a grudge race between Junior Reeder and Sammy Sauer. I don't think either one would have finished.