ENGLEWOOD SPEEDWAY – The Figure 8 Revolution

[Jerry Lee]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjr

I hope you never run out Jerry Lee!!!! Keep'em coming

Bobby, I'm kicking off this next batch with one of my favorite Figure Eighters that your Dad drove.....


(J.L. McGuire collection) From 1971, this beautiful orange and white Eighter driven by
the great Bobby Jackson was lettered up by Pete Brandenburg. I wish a color pic of this car
would someday surface. You can't really see it in this photo, but what looks like some
pinstriping inside the "2" is really a cartoon of a slithering snake. Very cool!




(J.L. McGuire collection) 1970 Figure 8's lined up and ready to go! On the front row is
Chuck Jarman #74 and the black with white striped #75 of Benny 'Skunkie' Garcia. Also in
this race is Jack Voorhis #32, Butch Chase #20, Pete Brandenburg #39, Cliff Hudson #7,
Eddie Baldwin #87 and others.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Crunch time! This one looks like it hurt.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Mel Roby's Buick from 1969. I wonder what the "Pop Ups"
message was all about??




(J.L. McGuire collection) Some 1970 Figure 8 hot lap action. Check out the driver of the
#215 crawling out the front window of the car.




(Kent Moore collection) Kent Moore always had his cars in tip-top shape for Greg Higgins
to wheel. From 1970, this is another Pete Brandenburg lettering job.




(Unique Photo) Looks like this car hit a guy, but it's just Loren Cantrell checking out the
damage in 1976.




(Unique Photo) Gary Disher #30 and Dick Gastineau #13 tangled in the corner during
1976 action.




(Mel Keller Photo) "Cowboy" Bob Warner (left) and crew in 1970.

[Bobbyjr]

Ha ha Jerry lee that is sweet. His helmet was actually painted to match this car with the slithering snake in the "2" on the side... Thanks Jerry

[Jerry Lee]

Hey Bobby, I know this isn't your Dad, but I just couldn't resist posting this.
Here's an old R&B record label I found that totally sums up his racing career.......



I don't know how many times we watched the late, great Bobby Jackson
do his thing on the track and keep us on the edge of our seats leaving us
amazed and just saying "WOW, MAN!".

[Bobbyjr]

ha ha, that is NICE!! Jerry, I have very fond memories, but I wished he would have raced more when I was older. I know there were times he was offered different rides, but he was committed to his family and his business. Man I miss him!!!

[Jerry Lee]

(J.L. McGuire collection) The Eighters lining up for time trials in 1974 are Tony Ratliff #11,
Jim Bedore #22, Dave Tansey #2, John Curran #101 and others.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Steve Hartman's "Sir Speedy" car looks to have some
"X-perience" in 1975.




(J.L. McGuire collection) 1970 Figure 8 action.




(Unique Photo) Mike Richardson #10 took the first flip of the season during this April 1977
race. That's John Hafemeister #84 speeding by in a car he had just bought from Terry Boyle.




(Photo by Jerry Lee McGuire) Frank Young's Cottage Inn #21 has just been towed to the
pits after nailing someone in the X during a 1977 semi main.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Vern Overholt (second from right) and crew with their maroon &
silver Chevy from 1970.




(J.L. McGuire collection) A Ray Slife win from about 1967. Check out the ad for the
"Englewood Speedway Saturday Races" painted on the side.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Lee Stogsdill rounds the corner in 1970. Man, that Plymouth
was huge!




(J.L. McGuire collection) I bet Bert Brasz was still feeling this the next day after this 1969 hit.

[Jerry Lee]

Man, this thread's getting long! Hope you Figure Eight fans are enjoying it. One of the reasons I've ended up with so many pics of these kind of cars is not only because I've grown up watching and loving this type of stock car racing, but I've always been searching for a pic of one car in particular.

During the '60's my Mom & Dad used to always trade at the D & D Standard Service station on S. Federal Blvd., just South of Evans Ave. During '68 and '69 they always had a blue '56 Chevy Figure Eighter sitting out front of the gas station that I got to crawl around in as a kid when we went in for service. There were some photos of the car hanging on the walls of the station and I got to watch it run the Englewood 8 every summer Sunday night. It was the #82 driven by Jim Keller and ever since I can remember, I've been searching for a pic of this car, or even just a glimpse of it in the background of an Englewood photo from the same time frame. 43 years of searching so far and nothing yet. If anyone runs across anything on this car, please post it here.

Meanwhile, here's more Englewood Figure 8 pics that don't feature Keller's #82 car.....


(J.L. McGuire collection) Tony Ratliff #11 leads the pack across the finish line in 1973.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Jim "Bear" Beckner from 1975.




(Pete Brandenburg collection) Pete Brandenburg was pretty shook up after this 1967 smack
at the X which sent the car up along the South end of the track.




(Jay Newton Collection) Another one of Jay Newton's fast Buicks. This one from 1970.
That's Bob Oldfield's orange #244 in the background.




(Photo by Jerry Lee McGuire) "Hot Rod Dave" Smith's beautiful '54 Ford during time trials
in 1977.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Rudy Marshall's red & white '54 Ford from 1968.




(Unique Photo) Gary Disher #30 spins in front of the pack featuring Dick Gastineau #13,
Jim Stevens #26, and Bobby Jackson #2 during 1976 Figure 8 action.




(Mel Keller Photo) Tom Sayhouse's Eighter from 1970. LeRoy's TV Service used to not only
sponsor this car, but ran an ad in the Englewood program for a few years. Located on
Larimer street downtown, the shop was probably long since demolished during Denver's
"Urban Renewal Project" during the mid-'70's.




(Kent Moore collection) Englewood Figure 8's comin' at ya in a still from one of Kent Moore's
old 1971 Super 8 films.

[Jerry Lee]

(J.L. McGuire collection) This looks like a mirror image, but it's really Roger Hilliard running
door handle-to-door handle in 1974 with one of the other identical green Martinez clan Eighters.
During the mid-to-late '70's it was hard to spot the difference between Roger's #70, Anthony
Martinez #71, Terry Martinez #110, and Jerry Martinez #111.




(Herb Fish collection) In 1967 STP was a pretty hefty sponsor for a Figure 8 car, but Herb
Fish sported "The Racer's Edge" proudly on his. At one time during the late '60's, Herb brought
out an Eighter that was completely covered in STP stickers. Anyone remember that car??




(J.L. McGuire collection) Eddie Floyd #07 battles John Cleveland #01 during a 1975 semi
main at Englewood. If you look close you can see that Eddie used a hunk of chain link
fence for a window net.




(Candy Codner photo) In 1974 there were still about 50 to 60 Figure Eighters lined up in
the pits each night out at Englewood.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Bob Stearns from the summer of '69. Check out how the roll bars
are protruding out the front windows of these three Figure Eighters.




(Jim Bedore collection) Jim Bedore picks up a win in his beautiful "Stars & Stripes" themed
race car in 1975. Unfortunately, this car didn't last long.




(Jim Bedore collection) Here's the end result of Jim Bedore's sweet looking ride after
flipping through the East turn at Englewood early on in the 1975 season.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Tommy Darrow from 1966 before becoming an 8 time
Figure Eight champion.




(Photo by Jerry Lee McGuire) Tom Regan times in on a hot afternoon in 1977. By this
season, the Figure 8 rules had changed to where mid-'60's cars were allowed to run.

[parrot]

I for one am not getting tired of these posts, Jerry Lee. Wasn't really an eighter fan back then, since I spent most of my Sundays at Lakeside, but enjoying these photos. Don't know how you find so many, but keep 'em comming. Large fields used up lots of mid fifties iron, but can't bemoan that, they were plentiful then. Always wondered if the '55 Ford or the '64 Chevelle I had in Denver back then ended up at Englewood. Pretty good chance, I'd say.

[Thomas E]

Originally Posted by parrot

I for one am not getting tired of these posts, Jerry Lee. Wasn't really an eighter fan back then, since I spent most of my Sundays at Lakeside, but enjoying these photos. Don't know how you find so many, but keep 'em comming. Large fields used up lots of mid fifties iron, but can't bemoan that, they were plentiful then. Always wondered if the '55 Ford or the '64 Chevelle I had in Denver back then ended up at Englewood. Pretty good chance, I'd say.

A bit of a side note...

I remember the mid-fifties fields of cars at CNS in the glorious 60's and 70's dirt track days. I used a few '57 Fords, the 2 door sedan, it had a shorter wheel base than the hard top. I think as we learned the quirks and the weak points of the 50's cars, we made adjustments to make them stronger. I think we great cars better, safer and a wee faster.

Both Englewood (I wasn't much of an F-8 fan, I liked watching Junior Reeder) and CNS provided some real racing thrills and excitement, and when I wasn't running a car at CNS I was thoroughly entertained by the guys who did.

[Jerry Lee]

Originally Posted by parrot

Large fields used up lots of mid fifties iron, but can't bemoan that, they were plentiful then. Always wondered if the '55 Ford or the '64 Chevelle I had in Denver back then ended up at Englewood. Pretty good chance, I'd say.

I had a couple family cars that ended up on the race track. My '72 Duster ended up running at Lakeside and then my '75 Cadillac Eldorado ended up at Rocky Mountain National.

In the Figure 8's at Englewood, the '54 - '56 Fords were most popular unless you were a Chevy guy and that would have been the '55 - '57's. There were some '57 Fords that were popular in the mid-'60's as well.

Here's a question maybe one of you could answer. One thing I noticed was that almost every Stock Car was a two door. Very few four doors were used. Does anyone know why?? Was it the fact that there was a roof pillar to deal with when crawling out?? (One of my dirt cars was a four door and I had to remove the pillar on the drivers side. But I'm 6-6 and the seat had to be moved back.) If you look at all the cars in this thread they are almost all two doors. I spotted only one four door.