Jerry Lee
12-07-2009, 12:31 PM
This week's TMI is a 1994 video interview with Midget driver Bob Hartman. Although Bob only drove for 3 years with the R.M.M.R.A. at Lakeside in the early '60's, he's been a lifelong supporter of the sport, and runs a sweeping company that did many years of service at Lakeside Speedway.
Unlike most guys who could tell me stories for hours on end, Bob hilariously couldn't wait to get this chat over with.
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JL: "How did you get interested in racing?"
BH: "I got interested because I'd seen the cars going up and down 38th and 44th, so one Sunday we rode our bicycles out to Brighton Fairgrounds where they were racing the Roaring Roadsters. And a guy recognized me from the neighborhood. It was Forrest Fisher who had a filling station on the corner of 32nd and Speer. In those days he drove the car back and forth from the station to the race track. Anyway, he gave us a ride home in his Roaring Roadster as they called 'em then, and that's when I got hooked."
JL: "Then as a kid you started going out to Lakeside?"
BH: "Yeah, then Lakeside was three nights a week, Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. If we couldn't sneak in, we'd go and sell programs or popcorn, do whatever to watch them guys race. I had been going since 1946."
JL: "Then eventually you started racing Midgets out there?"
BH: "Yeah."
JL: "Tell me about your first car."
BH: "Well, me and a friend of mine went in together and bought a car through the Speed Sport News in Louisville, Texas. We drove all the way out there to pick it up, and it was half finished, and we drug it back home in a blizzard. Had to leave it at a filling station at 37th and Federal to defrost for a few days before we could work on it."
JL: "So you started driving then?"
BH: "No, he drove it the first year and got burnt pretty bad, and got scared of it, so I bought him out. Then I tried driving for a few years. I had a lot of fun and didn't go very fast (laughs), but it was something I always wanted to do."
JL: "And you continued to follow the Midgets once you quit driving."
BH: "Even the Stock Cars, I went out to watch Blu (Plemons) and all them on Sunday nights 'cause I could hear 'em from my house. Lakeside was a neat place."
JL: "What do you think when you see the place now?"
BH: "It still tears me up to see it not being used today. I drive by it 10 or 12 times a week 'cause I live close by and it's kind of sad to see what's happened to it. It brings back memories both good and bad, but it was a neat place. I really miss it. What else you gonna ask me?"
JL: "Any last words?"
BH: "Boy, I hope you're done!" (laughs)
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My thanks again to Mitch G. for the helping hand!:bow:
Unlike most guys who could tell me stories for hours on end, Bob hilariously couldn't wait to get this chat over with.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
JL: "How did you get interested in racing?"
BH: "I got interested because I'd seen the cars going up and down 38th and 44th, so one Sunday we rode our bicycles out to Brighton Fairgrounds where they were racing the Roaring Roadsters. And a guy recognized me from the neighborhood. It was Forrest Fisher who had a filling station on the corner of 32nd and Speer. In those days he drove the car back and forth from the station to the race track. Anyway, he gave us a ride home in his Roaring Roadster as they called 'em then, and that's when I got hooked."
JL: "Then as a kid you started going out to Lakeside?"
BH: "Yeah, then Lakeside was three nights a week, Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. If we couldn't sneak in, we'd go and sell programs or popcorn, do whatever to watch them guys race. I had been going since 1946."
JL: "Then eventually you started racing Midgets out there?"
BH: "Yeah."
JL: "Tell me about your first car."
BH: "Well, me and a friend of mine went in together and bought a car through the Speed Sport News in Louisville, Texas. We drove all the way out there to pick it up, and it was half finished, and we drug it back home in a blizzard. Had to leave it at a filling station at 37th and Federal to defrost for a few days before we could work on it."
JL: "So you started driving then?"
BH: "No, he drove it the first year and got burnt pretty bad, and got scared of it, so I bought him out. Then I tried driving for a few years. I had a lot of fun and didn't go very fast (laughs), but it was something I always wanted to do."
JL: "And you continued to follow the Midgets once you quit driving."
BH: "Even the Stock Cars, I went out to watch Blu (Plemons) and all them on Sunday nights 'cause I could hear 'em from my house. Lakeside was a neat place."
JL: "What do you think when you see the place now?"
BH: "It still tears me up to see it not being used today. I drive by it 10 or 12 times a week 'cause I live close by and it's kind of sad to see what's happened to it. It brings back memories both good and bad, but it was a neat place. I really miss it. What else you gonna ask me?"
JL: "Any last words?"
BH: "Boy, I hope you're done!" (laughs)
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My thanks again to Mitch G. for the helping hand!:bow: