Jerry Lee
11-04-2009, 04:11 PM
Two time Colorado National Speedway Figure 8 champion Jim Egli began his racing career "snaking" the 8 at Englewood Speedway during the division's heyday when a driver had to win a 20 or 30 car "Hooligan" just to make the back row of the semi-main.
Jim reminisces about those early days in the 8's in this 1997 interview.
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JL: "Were you racing anything prior to your start in the Figure 8's in 1971?"
JE: "No, that's all I've ever done. I watched them all the time as a kid so, y'know, I just wanted to do it. It was an affordable division, but it was unbelievable when I first started at Englewood. I used to have to pit out on Oxford Avenue on the dirt shoulder there were so many cars. Everybody was racing Figure 8's."
JL: "But eventually you worked up to the trophy dashes."
JE: "Yeah, we were running with the top dogs. Guys like Greg Higgins, Jack Voorhis, Tommy Darrow, Junior Reeder, Bennie Garcia. All those guys were real men when we were racing because we were just kids. And they scared the snot out of us. But y'know, we did a lot of bangin' out there and those veterans weren't too excited about younger guys making the trophy dash."
JL: "Did they mess with you a lot?"
JE: "Oh sure, Junior Reeder was tough to race with. Y'know, he was rough, but he did help me out a lot."
JL: "So what's your Junior Reeder story?"
JE: "He taught me a lot of things. There was one time I protested him for a locked rear end and he told me he was going to kill me when it was over with. (laughs) Turns out it wasn't locked and he came over to me and said...."I had you scared didn't I?". He had me pretty wound up because I thought I was a dead man. But he had that dry sense of humor that could scare the crap out of you!"
JL: "Anyone else?"
JE: "Ol' Lee Stogsdill was a legend out there at Englewood. I don't think I ever passed him. He was unbelievable. So was Terry Boyle. Y'know, I see those guys every once in awhile and they tell me they come out to watch me race, and I can't believe it. I used to watch them race all the time. To have those guys come out of the stands and talk to me is something else."
JL: "I noticed now that you're starting to make a jump to the oval."
JE: "Yeah, you try to move up to get better, there's a lot of guys racing out there in other divisions that started off running Figure 8's. People tend to forget this. But y'know, you've got to move on to give the guys behind you a chance to learn."
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Jim reminisces about those early days in the 8's in this 1997 interview.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JL: "Were you racing anything prior to your start in the Figure 8's in 1971?"
JE: "No, that's all I've ever done. I watched them all the time as a kid so, y'know, I just wanted to do it. It was an affordable division, but it was unbelievable when I first started at Englewood. I used to have to pit out on Oxford Avenue on the dirt shoulder there were so many cars. Everybody was racing Figure 8's."
JL: "But eventually you worked up to the trophy dashes."
JE: "Yeah, we were running with the top dogs. Guys like Greg Higgins, Jack Voorhis, Tommy Darrow, Junior Reeder, Bennie Garcia. All those guys were real men when we were racing because we were just kids. And they scared the snot out of us. But y'know, we did a lot of bangin' out there and those veterans weren't too excited about younger guys making the trophy dash."
JL: "Did they mess with you a lot?"
JE: "Oh sure, Junior Reeder was tough to race with. Y'know, he was rough, but he did help me out a lot."
JL: "So what's your Junior Reeder story?"
JE: "He taught me a lot of things. There was one time I protested him for a locked rear end and he told me he was going to kill me when it was over with. (laughs) Turns out it wasn't locked and he came over to me and said...."I had you scared didn't I?". He had me pretty wound up because I thought I was a dead man. But he had that dry sense of humor that could scare the crap out of you!"
JL: "Anyone else?"
JE: "Ol' Lee Stogsdill was a legend out there at Englewood. I don't think I ever passed him. He was unbelievable. So was Terry Boyle. Y'know, I see those guys every once in awhile and they tell me they come out to watch me race, and I can't believe it. I used to watch them race all the time. To have those guys come out of the stands and talk to me is something else."
JL: "I noticed now that you're starting to make a jump to the oval."
JE: "Yeah, you try to move up to get better, there's a lot of guys racing out there in other divisions that started off running Figure 8's. People tend to forget this. But y'know, you've got to move on to give the guys behind you a chance to learn."
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