CHUCK JARMAN – Retrospective

[Jerry Lee]

Chuck Jarman is an interesting link in a chain of great drivers and innovators in Colorado auto racing history. The chain starts with 1965 Figure 8 champion Arnie Kautz. Pitting for Arnie in the early days was a young man named Cliff Hudson, who quickly went on to become an innovator in the sport of Figure 8 racing. Getting his start in racing, Chuck Jarman began pitting for Hudson. Once Jarman started building and racing his own cars, he helped kick-start the career of another young beginner, Late Model multi-champion Roger Avants.

As a teenager, Chuck Jarman started out on the sweeper crew at Englewood Speedway before pitting for Cliff Hudson’s Crown 7 team. After mastering the 8 himself, Chuck went on to become a top 10 Late Model contender and later a flagman at the speedway.



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(J.L. McGuire collection) Chuck Jarman and his Figure Eighter from 1970.




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(Roger Avants collection) Here’s Chuck Jarman’s hot pink #74 Figure Eighter from 1971.
Roger Avants wheeled the twin #174 to this car. This was one of the first Figure 8’s at
Englewood to run a “kick-off bar” along the side of the car. Kent Moore had them as well.




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(J.L. McGuire collection) Chuck Jarman was a top ten contender in the Figure 8’s at Englewood in 1972.



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(J.L. McGuire collection) Chuck picks up a cutie in hot-pants and some more hardware in 1972.



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(J.L. McGuire collection) By 1974, Chuck Jarman had become a top ten Late Model driver.




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(Photo by Unique) In one of the most spectacular fires in Englewood Speedway history,
Evan Perago leapt to safety from his burning Late Model in 1976 only to have it crash
into a pick-up parked in the infield. Working as a flagman that evening, Chuck Jarman
is shown here jumping into the truck to move it to safety.

[lakeside #29]

Chuck Jarman is one of the those guys you can't help but like. He's an even tempered and just neat to be around. For those of you that don't know Chuck, but may be acquainted with Bruce Rhoades, their temperments and demeanors are very similar. I met Chuck I think through Terry Boyle or Chuck Kacin, I don't remember which. Years later Chuck worked with Mike Colitti and John Pickard at Kargo Service Center which was the vehicle repair division of U-Haul. The boss was Chuck's uncle (by marriage) no other than Mr. Joe Lehman.

After racing figure 8's for several years Chuck moved up to late models, purchasing the #20 Chevelle late model made famous by Pete Stringer. After racing the Chevelle for a couple of seasons he built a new Howe type 4 Camaro powered by a Ray Baker engine. Following the closing of Englewood Spedway Chuck ran CNS on the dirt until he was involved in the tragic accident that claimed the life of Tony Balzano. He retried from racing after that happened,

I owe Chuck a lot of thanks for the parts that he donated to the building of my #29 modified. He told Mike Colitti to come get the parts and we put them to use. I still have a Mallory distributor and the carburator on Peggy's #52 coupe came from Chuck. Thank you Chuck, you really helped us and we appreciate all of it.

As kind of an aside to Chuck jumping in the the pick-up next to the burning late model. The truck was owned by Steve Hartman and was brand new. It sustianed some collision damage but Chuck saved it from being burned. I was in the pits the night of the fire. I was watching the race with Roy Jackson (Roy's Dad) and he saw that the fuel cell broke a bracket and was dragging on the pavement. Within a second or two the gas ignited and the car was ingulfed in a fire ball. It scared the heck out of most of us that witnessed it.
As a tribute to determination, Evan Perago raced the same car at Lakeside the next night. Peggy and were sitting in the stands and amazed to see burned up #17 on the track.

[Jerry Lee]

Thanks for the added info Chris! I never knew that cool blue Chevelle that Chuck had was the old Stringer #20. As for the Evan Perago #17 car, that's truly amazing that they brought that "crispy critter" to race the next night. I remember seeing the accident unfold, people gasping, Evan tumbling out of the car in just a t-shirt and white pants....it seems to me that they never quite got the fire put out. The car smoldered for quite awhile while the races went on. I saw it in the pits later and it looked bad. What a great crew he must have had to get it out to Lakeside the next evening.