Photo From Harry A. Miller Meet

[Olen McGuire]

Here's a photo circulating by email that I recieved from Miss Peggy Ertler, and thought I should share it with everyone.
From Harry A. Miller Club Meet: Millers at Milwaukee - Vintage Indy Car Event
July 9-10, 2010


http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=307&pictureid=2591

[Thomas E]

Here's a photo circulating by email that I recieved from Miss Peggy Ertler, and thought I should share it with everyone.
From Harry A. Miller Club Meet: Millers at Milwaukee - Vintage Indy Car Event
July 9-10, 2010


http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=307&pictureid=2591

Front row pole . . . Miller Ford

It has been said the Miller #8 that Louis Meyer drove to his third Indy 500 in 1936 was best and most successful of all the front drive Millers.

[lakeside #29]

Hi Thomas,
A question has come to my attention...
Where was this picture taken?
Do you know?
Thank you,
Miss Peggy

[Thomas E]

Hi Thomas,
A question has come to my attention...
Where was this picture taken?
Do you know?
Thank you,
Miss Peggy

The Milwaukee Mile for the 16th Annual Millers at Milwaukee.
The event was held on Friday, July 9 and Saturday, July 10.

I wish I could have been there. I have some real favorite Millers. I always thought what Frank Kurtis was in midget racing, Harry Miller was to the 20's and 30's Championship Big Cars.

The 16th Annual Millers at Milwaukee ( http://www.racingnation.com/story.asp?aid=1692)

[lakeside #29]

Thank you Thomas,
I love to watch the Champ cars on dirt.
Olen and Joe Starr both thought of Millwaukee,
Chris agreed after thinking about it longer.

Thank you again,
Miss Peggy

[Olen McGuire]

Thanks to the link by Thomas, I will credit Larry Janicsek for that great photo I posted. ~Olen

[Thomas E]

When I saw the red and white Miller Ford, it always reminds a couple of items about Ted Horn.
1) In 1935 Ted drove number 43 Miller Ford, but didn’t finish the race, the steering box was to close to the exhaust manifold and it cooked the steering gear grease, and if can’t turn better to park it than wreck it. It is said that Henry Ford was embarrassed by the performance of his Miller Fords that he put them in storage.
2) AAA the auto racing sanctioning body decided to have an exhibit at the Chicago Automobile Exhibition, I think it was 1948. AAA’s choice was Ted Horn and his beautiful number 1 championship big car. So the exhibit is set-up very nicely done, Ted is his business suit. A lady and her son stopped for moment to look at the exhibit and Ted’s race car, the says to her son, "Oh look, a midget." To which Ted replied, "That, lady is a race car."

And so it is with old Millers - That is a race car.

If you all get a chance to read “The Life Story of Ted Horn” do it, it worth the read. It was published by Floyd Clymer Publications, I’ve seen on eBay and Alibis books, it is expensive. At one time the Downtown Denver Public Library had a copy.

[Thomas E]

Thanks to the link by Thomas, I will credit Larry Janicsek for that great photo I posted. ~Olen

And absolutely beautiful photo it is.

[Thomas E]

Thank you Thomas,
I love to watch the Champ cars on dirt.
Olen and Joe Starr both thought of Millwaukee,
Chris agreed after thinking about it longer.

Thank you again,
Miss Peggy

I love old dirt track racing. When I was a kid, in '51 and '52, with my dad I got a chance to see the AAA Big Cars run at Centennial Horse Racing Track in Littleton, Colorado, the track was at South Santa Fe and West Belleview Avenue. You talk about thunder. I know bill Vukovich won one of the events, I'll check the year. These events were 100 laps on a one mile track.

[Thomas E]

I love old dirt track racing. When I was a kid, in '51 and '52, with my dad I got a chance to see the AAA Big Cars run at Centennial Horse Racing Track in Littleton, Colorado, the track was at South Santa Fe and West Belleview Avenue. You talk about thunder. I know bill Vukovich won one of the events, I'll check the year. These events were 100 laps on a one mile track.


1) 9/23/1951, Denver 100, 100 miles, winner Tony Bettenhausen
2) 9/28/1952, Denver 100, 100 miles, winner Bill Vukovich

[Thomas E]

If you all get a chance to read “The Life Story of Ted Horn” do it, it worth the read. It was published by Floyd Clymer Publications, I’ve seen on eBay and Alibis books, it is expensive. At one time the Downtown Denver Public Library had a copy.


The Life of Ted Horn was written by Russ Catlin, Clymer Publications, 1949.

Russ Catlin did a good write on the life of Ted Horn.

There was a soft cover with a photo of Ted Horn on the cover, $50+; there are also hard cover books available, these books usually have a medium to dark re cover, $25-$100.

Another old school biography that is worth reading is Wilbur Shaw's "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!" Wilbur Shaw won the 1937, 1939 and 1940 Indianapolis 500.

[lakeside #29]

love old dirt track racing. When I was a kid, in '51 and '52, with my dad I got a chance to see the AAA Big Cars run at Centennial Horse Racing Track in Littleton, Colorado, the track was at South Santa Fe and West Belleview Avenue. You talk about thunder. I know bill Vukovich won one of the events, I'll check the year. These events were 100 laps on a one mile track.

Hi Thomas,
I've heard my parents talk about the car track at Merchants Park and the horse track at Overland (Golf Course). I remember seeing the horse track at Centennial as we went to that drive in theater in our pj's with pop corn in the '50's. Didn't realize they ran cars on the horse track. Thank you for sharing this with us.

(fyi..I was born in 1950 lived in the Brentwood area on Lowell between Jewell and Evans.)

Miss Peggy

[Thomas E]

Hi Thomas,
I've heard my parents talk about the car track at Merchants Park and the horse track at Overland (Golf Course). I remember seeing the horse track at Centennial as we went to that drive in theater in our pj's with pop corn in the '50's. Didn't realize they ran cars on the horse track. Thank you for sharing this with us.

(fyi..I was born in 1950 lived in the Brentwood area on Lowell between Jewell and Evans.)

Miss Peggy

Miss Peggy . . .

Merchant's Park was where the old Montgomery Ward's building was. It had been baseball park, until who ever owned it decided to start racing the midgets there.

Yes, Overland Park was an auto racing dirt track before it was a golf course, you know, progress and change.

As you see in my other post AAA on raced for two years at Centennial; from what I had heard some thought the Big cars did manage to make too much kindling wood out the wooden guard rail, and that makes tough to maintain a horse, even if it is just a once a year thing, maybe AAA just didn't like stopping off in Denver. Anyway dad took me to Centennial both years for those races, the roar of the deep throated Offy, the rooster tails of dirt coming up from the hard chruning rear wheels, and seeing the front wheels searching for the grove as the drivers of steel manhandled their steads of steel, chrome and paint around the one mile oval, what a sight. I think they may have started twenty-four cars.

There was another dirt track on the east side of Santa Fe it was on Belleview Avenue, the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds; I had seen a couple of midget races there, it was usually for one of the bigger midget events like 100 lap championship race, not sure if they did a mid-season for the midgets, they were racing at Englewood at the time, Englewood was a dirt track. Arapahoe was a half mile track.

We lived over on South Decatur, the Alameda Avenue and Federal Boulevard area.

[83x]

Hope these come through the first two are Merchants Park. The one looking
up Broadway looks like about where Griffs is best burgers in town. I try to go there when ever I get to Denver. The other two are early Lakeside the one
of the baseball Field makes you relize why you couldn't see anything from the seats on turn four. The other shows the track thats under I-70 I have heard two different stories one was it was a horse race track the other a dog race track. Tried to clean them up a little they were a little grainey.

[Mitch G.]

Merchants Park was a baseball field, as was Lakeside the 2nd to last photo in the series is Lakeside looks like an early photo, before it was a dedicated speedway, still a baseball diamond. Here's a neat shot of that Miller on the front row at the Miller meet at Milwaukee, it's the green #2, taken in March at Amelia Island in Florida.
http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=292&pictureid=2592

[Thomas E]

The Miller (Tucker) Fords

In 1935, Harry A. Miller, noted designer of race cars, joined with promoter Preston Tucker in persuading Edsel Ford to return to automobile competition for the first since before World War I by entering Ford-powered cars in the Indianapolis 500. Together they formed Miller-Tucker, Inc. and in a period of less six months build 10 special race cars, all powered by basically stock Ford Flathead V-8 engines, the engines were turned around in the chassis to accommodate front wheel drive.

The race cars were unique, the first front drive cars with four-wheel independent suspension ever seen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, however, all 10 cars experienced steering troubles and failed to finish the 1935 race. This was no disgrace to Harry Miller, since the first 12 finishers had Miller engines, but the failure soured Henry Ford on racing for many years afterward.

Specifications:
Miller-Tucker, Inc.
V-8 Ford , modified
220.4 cubic inches
9.5 to 1 compression ratio
150 hp at 5000 rpm
1980 lbs.




Preston Tucker would develop the 1948 Tucker Torpedo, and effort that failed. But Tucker did build 50 of his cars, but that was the end of Tucker’s car building effort.

[Thomas E]

1935. Ted Horn, #43 Miller-Tucker Ford. IMS.
From my photo collection of IMS cars and drivers.