Jerry Lee
10-19-2009, 04:43 PM
To say Figure 8/Late Model owner Kent Moore was obsessed with his race cars is truly an understatement as he was known to take out every dent, every scratch, and have the areas repainted and relettered every week for many many seasons. And running a Figure 8 through the 60's and '70's at Englewood, there was always plenty of work to do. His multi-championship cars always looked the part.
Laid back and reserved, I got Kent to spill a little about his days in "The Wildest Show on Wheels" in this 1997 interview.
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JL: "Did you start out at Englewood?"
KM: "Yeah, the wife wanted to go out there once. So we went out to Englewood to watch 'em and I started seeing people I knew, so the next week I went down to the pits. One thing led to another, I started playing around with Jim Beckley's Modified, and a few weeks later I got tangled up in the Figure 8's."
JL: "You drove a little bit, didn't you?"
KM: "Yeah, me and Omer Holtz bought a car from somebody, and me and him drove it. Then I started building 'em."
JL: "You had a lot of good drivers come through your stable."
KM: "I told my drivers "If you can't get it in there, I'll figure out how to make it go it in there."."
JL: "What was Greg Higgins like?"
KM: "He was like me. He was up in the points at the time I picked him up, so we put a car together, and from there we went on."
JL: "What kind of a guy was Jack Voorhis?"
KM: "Rough, ready, crazy type guy. He'd just stick his foot in it and go!"
JL: "John Halvarson."
KM: "He could put his foot in it."
JL: In 1970, you had twin cars with both Greg Higgins and Pete Brandenburg driving for you."
KM: "Yeah, Pete was an easy going guy. He wasn't the crazy type like Higgins and Voorhis, but he was a good driver."
JL: "What about Crash Mullins?"
KM: "He was a hot foot. He'd make it run."
JL: "Your cars made it out to the World Figure 8 Championships in New York a few times."
KM: "Yeah, we done good out there every year we went except you couldn't finish races out there. They'd take your car out one way or the other."
JL: "Every week you were known to get your cars back out looking spotless. What's this story I heard about you once taking a Ballpeen hammer to one of your beautiful paint jobs?"
KM: "Well, one night we had got quick time, but got last in the dash and last in the heat. Jack Voorhis came in and I says "What's wrong with the car?". He says "Nothing. I don't want to wreck the paint job." So I took a hammer to it and wrecked it for him! I told him "Now go drive it!". So he went out and won the main."
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Laid back and reserved, I got Kent to spill a little about his days in "The Wildest Show on Wheels" in this 1997 interview.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
JL: "Did you start out at Englewood?"
KM: "Yeah, the wife wanted to go out there once. So we went out to Englewood to watch 'em and I started seeing people I knew, so the next week I went down to the pits. One thing led to another, I started playing around with Jim Beckley's Modified, and a few weeks later I got tangled up in the Figure 8's."
JL: "You drove a little bit, didn't you?"
KM: "Yeah, me and Omer Holtz bought a car from somebody, and me and him drove it. Then I started building 'em."
JL: "You had a lot of good drivers come through your stable."
KM: "I told my drivers "If you can't get it in there, I'll figure out how to make it go it in there."."
JL: "What was Greg Higgins like?"
KM: "He was like me. He was up in the points at the time I picked him up, so we put a car together, and from there we went on."
JL: "What kind of a guy was Jack Voorhis?"
KM: "Rough, ready, crazy type guy. He'd just stick his foot in it and go!"
JL: "John Halvarson."
KM: "He could put his foot in it."
JL: In 1970, you had twin cars with both Greg Higgins and Pete Brandenburg driving for you."
KM: "Yeah, Pete was an easy going guy. He wasn't the crazy type like Higgins and Voorhis, but he was a good driver."
JL: "What about Crash Mullins?"
KM: "He was a hot foot. He'd make it run."
JL: "Your cars made it out to the World Figure 8 Championships in New York a few times."
KM: "Yeah, we done good out there every year we went except you couldn't finish races out there. They'd take your car out one way or the other."
JL: "Every week you were known to get your cars back out looking spotless. What's this story I heard about you once taking a Ballpeen hammer to one of your beautiful paint jobs?"
KM: "Well, one night we had got quick time, but got last in the dash and last in the heat. Jack Voorhis came in and I says "What's wrong with the car?". He says "Nothing. I don't want to wreck the paint job." So I took a hammer to it and wrecked it for him! I told him "Now go drive it!". So he went out and won the main."
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