Indy roadsters at Texas World Speedway

[Mitch G.]

I went up to Texas World Speedway in College Station, TX last Saturday. It was a vintage sports car weekend (the 18th annual) but they had oval track cars featured this year. There were a few midgets, a couple of sprints, and 6 Indy roadster. 3 of the roadsters were actual real cars, and 3 were reproductions, of the 3 real cars, the Simoniz Spl. #16 was the only genuine A.J. Watson roadster. The #28 was built by Edgar Elder, and the #44 was built by Wally Meskowski. All 3 of these cars raced in the Indianapolis 500, but the Simoniz has the most amazing history. Watson built the car in 1959, it raced in and won the first and only open wheel race at Daytona International Speedway in April of 59'. It won the race with Jim Rathman driving and set a world's closed course speed record in the process at 170.261 mph. The car had many personalities over the years, it was the Dowgard #2, the Coral Harbor #15, the Drewry's Brewery #88. It was turned into a supermodified and raced short tracks for several years, finally being restored by it's current owner Larry Pfitzenmaier of Sonoita, AZ. Larry let my son sit in the car, and took time to tell me many details of the cars life. Jim Rathman, Tony Bettenhausen sr., Jim Hurtubise, Gene Force and other greats drove this wonderful roadster. It was awesome to hear for the first time, a real Indy roadster with a 255 c.i. Offy run and see it at speed on a race track. Here are some photo's from the event. That's my son Evan in the cockpit, and there's a shot of me next to the Simoniz, and a couple more from the event. I've included a shot of the Simoniz as it appeared in 1959 with Jim Rathman at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[indybigjohn]

I love those old roaders, Mitch. A guy from Indianapolis who builds race car replicas, Mac Miller, was there with his Boyle Valve Special. He has also built a replica of the Agajanian 98 "Calhoun" and the Fike Plumbing Special sprinter, and is now working on a Novi replica.

[Mitch G.]

I saw the car, did not get a chance to meet him, just too short on time. I've seen his tribute car to "Ol Calhoun" and his "Fike Plumbing" sprinter, neat stuff. My daughter got him in action.

[webby]

Dude, that's insane!!! That must have been great to see.

Tell us about what they looked like and sounded like when they were at speed.

[Mike Croley]

You're a lucky guy to get to go to that show . If my vote counts i vote to turn the IRL back to front engined , Offy powered ( Drake Engineering always insisted they had all the tooling to start building Offys again ) roadsters , but with much wider tires .

[Mitch G.]

The guys were taking it pretty easy, so it's hard to say what a big Offy would sound like if it were really being flogged. But, these guys were turning 130 mph laps on a terrible old bumpy track and it sounded wonderful! And the way they looked on the track, real race cars, not wings with wheels. The more I go to these vintage events, the more I lose interest in the modern day racer. Larry Pfitzenmaier, owner of the Simoniz #16 told me that Jim Rathman told him, back in 1959 when he won the Daytona race, he was turning 170 mph laps, as they came off the banking onto the back chute the cars front end would lift, no steering....until the front end would come back down, and they were being clocked at 200 mph on the back chute, no joke. No wings, no aero package, hard tires only 7 inches wide, no computers. And to think some people have the nerve to say "Oh yeah, Danica could do that, so could Helio, and Marco Andretti" Give me a break. You should see the cockpit, you could lay down and take a nap in that thing, and no power steering. Here's a couple more photo's, the #1 car is a recreation of A.J. Foyt's 1964 "Sheraton Thompson Spl." it has wide tires. And a Kurtis midget. Another shot of my son in the seat, look how much room you had to work in those days, the upholstery has a pocket where the driver could store spare goggles, or a rag to wipe his face and goggles, during the race.

[indybigjohn]

Thanks for the picture of Mac's Boyle Valve Special. He's quite a builder.

Must have been some kind of experience. And I agree about the cars. That was real racing. No reason at all that we couldn't adapt today's safety features to those cars, put the engines back where they belong, and race 'em again. Just like my suggestion that NASCAR take the CoT chassis and put it under stock bodies.

[Quick Time]

Mitch,

Very nice photos, I'll bet you had a blast. I too like the vintage shows. They hold one at Roseville CA around Sept for early stock, midget and sprints. I'm always fond of viewing the excellent cars and work that has been done to restore them.

Thanks for sharing !

Chuck

[Olen McGuire]

Thanks for the great pics and stories Mitch, I think most of us envy you being so close to the Speedway. It's too bad they don't have major races there anymore, but I understand that they have many great events there.According to my google maps, you are only a couple of hours away from there. Also it looks like you have a future sprinter growing up in your family.:bow: :bow:

[Mitch G.]

Chuck, they have a huge vintage deal at California Speedway in March, or February, during the NASCAR race weekend. Most the cars I saw at Texas World show up at California, check it out, you probably already knew that. Olen, it would take some work to get that facility ready of a real major league auto race. The pits aren't too bad, but the grand stands and tower are run down, and the track is rough, it's a weird layout the banking in the turns is constantly changing. In other words as you scan the top of the cement guardrail from the infield you notice many changes in elevation. It's only 75 miles or so from my house, if they have the event again, I'll go for sure however as it was fun. Here are some more shots. The #1 Hilton/Hyper lube roadster was built by Chris Paulson of CR radiator fame, with advice from A.J. Watson, it's a real Offy but it never raced, it's a recreation. But the current owner ran it pretty hard, it was fast!! and it's beautiful, very close to a genuine Watson. The old sprint/roadster is owned by Steve Bonesteel, a old CRA racer Don Thomas originally owned it. And the photo of the four roadsters is unique, it could never happen as the blue #2 roadster ( in the center ) is a re-creation of a Watson, however it's painted as the "Dowgard Spl", which is how the "Siminoz Spl", was painted in 1960 when Tony Bettenhausen drove it. So essentially the #16 and #2 would be the same car!! The Red #28 is a real Indy roadster, the Edgar Elder "Stearly Motor Freight Spl" which ran Indy in 1961, and the Simoniz which ran Indy in 59, 60, 61, 62, 63. And the beautiful #1 Hilton Watson clone. Hey Mike, I couldn't agree more, I'd give just about anything to see front engine roadsters run and Indianapolis again.