1983 CART drivers

I found a video at my local video hire shop called 'Indycar CART Racing', which showed a couple of races from the 1983 season. Two drivers seemed to be very competitive that season, John Paul Jr and Mike Mosley, but i've not heard much about them. any help?

Mike Mosely died in a van accident. John Paul Jr. went to jail as part of his father's drug running operation. He got out but never got another quality ride. Got stuck in the IRL. Still tries to qualify for the IRL 500.

Mosley sadly died in road accident early in 1984. John Paul Jr had a great IMSA career before and after his CART years. He won the first 500 Mile race at Michigan that year didn't he ? He came back to open-wheel via the IRL 15 years later, and even won a race (or two ?). His career suffered a bit from troubles his father (long time partner in IMSA Endurance races) had with justice (he did some time for I forgot which reason).

Ooops... and Buford wins the race by a car length

About 3 minutes. But you gave a little more detail. Paul Jr. was 19 and many have tried to dismiss his involvement in the drug operation, but he was knee deep in it. He would have never even gotten into a race car in the first place had it not been for drug money. Drug money was all over racing in the 1970s and 1980s. The ones who got caught, the Pauls, Whittingtons, Lanier, Kenny Weld, a stock car driver whose name I forget, and many of the offshore powerboat racers, were just the tip of the iceberg.

Drug money was the fuel that ran racing in the 70's and 80's before corporate sponsorships. I used to race Porsches in IMSA for three South American guys who carried around bags with $100 bills and paid for everything (including me) in cash. I could write a very interesting book on all this. But I value living.

Gary Ballough was the Nascar driver I was trying to remember.

Originally posted by racer69
I found a video at my local video hire shop called 'Indycar CART Racing', which showed a couple of races from the 1983 season. Two drivers seemed to be very competitive that season, John Paul Jr and Mike Mosley, but i've not heard much about them. any help?

Mike Mosley died (along with one of his sons* correction, Mike Mosley Jr. was not seriously injured in the accident) when his van went off a mountain road in San Diego County, California while he was driving back to his home in Fallbrook, California (San Diego County) after he and the son had spent the day riding motorcycles in the desert. IIRC, there were skid marks and speculation was Mosley was trying to avoid an animal on the roadway. IIRC, without checking, this was 1985 or 1986.

He came up through the CRA (California Racing Association) Sprint Cars where he was somewhat of a pavement wunderkind. He won something like 6 straight races at Whiteman Stadium in 1966, which was an unusual track in that it had one banked turn and one flat turn.

Mosley was leading the Indy 500 in both '71 & '72 when he crashed, at almost the same point of the track. He pretty much had one wrapped up when he crashed. I remember him driving for A.J. Watson, J.C. Agajanian and Dan Gurney (Gurney in the early 80's).

Long time Champ Car writer Robin Miller speaks highly of Mosley and called him the most underrated driver he's ever seen. Mosley rarely had high caliber equipment, yet still was very competitive.

My best memory was seeing him in the '72 California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway. He was driving a four year old Eagle for J.C. Agajanian. Aerodynamics had been added...IOW, wings. He was gaining on the leader and putting in a great drive when the engine started sounding rough. He still gained ground. Then it was obvious he'd dropped a cylinder...he still gained!. Eventually, the motor packed it in, but not before he'd nearly run down and caught the leader. And he was gaining much more than a second a lap for several laps.

Robin Miller's best quote on Mosley was that if he'd have been in a top flight car, no one would have been able to catch him.

John Paul Jr. was covered well.

Thanks Jim! I'd heard of Mike Mosely a couple of years ago (and even found a website by IIRC his son), but I hadn't managed to find any more info about him. Didn't he drive for Mory Kraines (sp?) and win in Millwaukee? How many races did he win?

Mosely went from starting last to win one year at Milwaukee. He had an incredible flip in a USAC Sprint Car in the late 1960s at Dayton. It had a Ford Indy car engine in it and it was a beast. There were pictures in National Speed Sport News. His head was bouncing all along the track. No roll cage in those days. They took him off to the hospital but he wanted to go back to the track. So when he got back they were interviewing him on the PA system. They were asking him questions and he was answering and all seemed fine until they asked about the accident. He responded, "What accident?" So they took him back to the hospital.

In 1971 my family spent the night at Methodist Hospital where we were there for our friend Dr Vicente Alvarez, the Argentine journalist critically injured in the pace car accident. Also there was Alice Mosely and as the night went along, the majority of the racers and wives showed up to support her. Mike was very critically injured and not expected to live. Much worse than ever reported in the press. But he recovered and was very badly injured in the very same place the following year.

Bufford wrote:

quote:

Paul Jr. was 19 and many have tried to dismiss his involvement in the drug operation, but he was knee deep in it. He would have never even gotten into a race car in the first place had it not been for drug money. Drug money was all over racing in the 1970s and 1980s. The ones who got caught, the Pauls, Whittingtons, Lanier, Kenny Weld, a stock car driver whose name I forget, and many of the offshore powerboat racers, were just the tip of the iceberg.

end quote.



Bufford, I don't dispute that drug money was all around the US scene in this time period, and drug money indeed did pay for his start in racing. But you can count me among those who are more prone to dismiss Paul Jr.s involvement. He was more the victim of an abusive father. The version I have always held as truth is that his father, Paul Sr., was a real scoundrel. John Jr. had no involment in the drugs, but did come to discover these facts about his father, but never blew the whistle. A tough situation for a teenage kid who pined for a better relationship with dad.

John Paul Jr. did not go to prison for direct involvment in drugs. He went for 2 years, I think, because he refused to testify against his Dad. He was in contempt of court. It was proven that he had knowledge of the drug business, but would not admit it under oath because he was being loyal to the old man, who had built a legal strategy around maintaining his innocence.

BTW, I think Paul Sr. was later tried and convicted, while imprisoned, of even more serious crimes. Attempted murder for hire, if memory serves correct. He was real ****.

IIRC, there were three Whittingtons, Don, Bill and Dale.

Again, IIRC, two of them were actually on a "hit list" at one point in time. Also, I think two of them are stiil in prison.

From racelink.com : [after John Paul Jr's win at the 1998 IRL Texas 500K]
"It was his first win since he took the 1983 Michigan 500 in the rival CART series. "It's been a long 15 years," said an emotional Paul, who spent 28 months in a federal prison from 1986-88 after pleading guilty to a charge of racketeering for the unloading of a boat containing marijuana and helping in preparations to use the boat to haul marijuana from Colombia to Louisiana. People who knew Paul placed the blame on his father, John Paul Sr., a two-time world endurance driving champion currently serving a 25-year term for drug trafficking and attempted murder of a witness in a federal drug case."
Other sources say that JP Sr was arrested in Geneva by the FBI after running away. Other charges include false passeport and financial fraudes.

Paul Jr paid his debt to society and I have always liked the guy. But he was far more involved than just not squealing on his father. Some of my racing came from drug money. Not that I ran drugs myself, but you know damn well if you race for guys from South America who buy everything carrying suitcases full of $100 bills, where the money came from. There was a lot more than that.

I was offered a "Sponsorship" when I was racing in Florida. Had ten $100 bills in my hand. Then they put a box in my hand and told me to call a number when we got to Cairo, Illinois and somebody would be there in 5 minutes. Then there would be a lot more money in the future. I chickened out. Not because I was so moral or anything. Because I was afraid to get caught and stupidly thought I had enough talent to make it without doing that. Many racers on all levels were carrying boxes around in their race equipment. Not running the organizations themselves. Just serving as mules who had a good excuse to be travelling around so attracted no attention. Most never got caught. Some made it to Indy because they had the funding. It was much bigger than ever came out in the press, and only a handlful got caught and they were the stupid ones who ran massive operations, and were so arrogant that they knew everybody knew, and they did not care.

After they put Randy Lanier in jail for life with no parole, and it was clear the Feds were onto what the racing people were up to, it slowed down a lot and today is not so big a factor as it was 20 years ago. But a lot of race cars are financed by "dirty money" of one kind or another, and always have been.

I've learned a bunch of stuff reading through this forum and occasionally posting but this is something I never expected to learn. Wow.

Makes me feel very naive.

Well think about it. What do rich people want to do with their money? Play with it right? And people who run drugs, embezzle, or have other types of criminal money need to launder cash, and need somewhere to spend their money. Racing cars are a bottomless pit to throw money into.

Then there is the “legal” scams. People in high tax brackets (legally gotten or illegally) might as well spend money they don’t really need, most of which would go to taxes anyway. The tax system finances cool toys for rich people. One famous owner named his cars after a kind of oil well and charged them off to a government incentive program that encouraged drilling for oil and gas. One famous midget and Indy Car owner in the 30s, 40s and 50s named Tuffanelli (spelling?) ran the south side of Chicago for Al Capone. My dad knew him. Had grown up in the same neighborhood with many of the guys who joined Capone or the rival mob and a lot of them had race cars.

As for the Whittingtons, the only reason they bought and owned Road Atlanta was to have a place to launder cash, and a landing drop zone close to the coast where they could drop their cargo from low flying planes coming in from South America. I remember about 1982 I heard on the radio in LA that a large quantity of drugs had been found in a farmer’s field near Gainesville, Georgia. Police were at a loss to explain why it was there or how it got there. I was laughing. Obviously, the Whittingtons had missed their drop zone!

Originally posted by William Dale Jr
Thanks Jim! I'd heard of Mike Mosely a couple of years ago (and even found a website by IIRC his son), but I hadn't managed to find any more info about him. Didn't he drive for Mory Kraines (sp?) and win in Millwaukee? How many races did he win?

You're welcome William. Mosley won 5 races in Champ Car:

Trenton, April 25, 1971
Phoenix, March 17, 1974
Milwaukee, August 17, 1975
Milwaukee, June 13, 1976
Milwaukee, June 7, 1981

As far as driving for Maury Kraines...I'm not sure, I don't have all the records. I have no doubt he drove for other owners, but I recall him spending a few years with Watson and then Agajanian and then the latter part of his career with Gurney. If I run across anything (which might take a bit), I'll post it to this thread. I'm especially thinking of the mid-70's when Agajanian had another driver, so obviously Mosley was driving elsewhere.

Five wins might not seem that impressive over the course of a 17 year career, but considering he twice missed a good portion of the season with injuries ('71 & '72) and generally drove for mediocre teams, it's pretty good.

The 1981 win is the one Buford referred to where he started last in Gurney's Eagle. IIRC, the car had been disqualified for some violation after qualifying (too low?) and placed at the back of the field. What is even more remarkable about Mosley's career, is he had already accomplished the feat of starting last and winning, having done the same in the Phoenix win in March of 1974 (the only real difference was a smaller starting field at Phoenix, something like 17 or 18 instead of the 21 or 22 at Milwaukee in 1981). Now, that's pretty impressive.

And the van crash happened on March 3rd, 1984, I was off by a year or two and FEV (as usual) was right. Good job on the info FEV


Jim Thurman

Originally posted by Jim Thurman
The 1981 win is the one Buford referred to where he started last in Gurney's Eagle. IIRC, the car had been disqualified for some violation after qualifying (too low?) and placed at the back of the field. What is even more remarkable about Mosley's career, is he had already accomplished the feat of starting last and winning, having done the same in the Phoenix win in March of 1974 (the only real difference was a smaller starting field at Phoenix, something like 17 or 18 instead of the 21 or 22 at Milwaukee in 1981). Now, that's pretty impressive.

I had to look it up, Mosley started 19th at Phoenix in 1974 and 25th at Milwaukee in 1981.


Jim Thurman

I saw the Milwaukee last to first. Did not realize he had done it twice!

Originally posted by Buford
I remember about 1982 I heard on the radio in LA that a large quantity of drugs had been found in a farmer’s field near Gainesville, Georgia. Police were at a loss to explain why it was there or how it got there. I was laughing. Obviously, the Whittingtons had missed their drop zone!

'I was amazed. All those drugs in my field! I never seen anything like it', said the farmer, Mr. Lanier.

George Tuffanelli's 1951 Deidt-Offy was up for sale at Lime Rock in 1991 - I have the auction catalogue, it was co-owned with James Derrico. Apparently the '51 500 (Mack Hellings up) was its only race.

RE William Dale Jr 's question: I think Mosley raced for Kraco (owned by Kraines IIRC) in 1982 and 1983.

Gert, you're correct. Mosley did indeed race for Kraco in 1982 (5 oval tracks only) and 1983 (almost entire season).

Originally posted by stevew
IIRC, there were three Whittingtons, Don, Bill and Dale.

Again, IIRC, two of them were actually on a "hit list" at one point in time. Also, I think two of them are stiil in prison.

Don and Dale teamed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2001, so that leaves Bill.


Jim Thurman

They are both out as far as I know and are racing planes now.

Didnt Dale Whittington cause a big pile up at the 82 Indy 500? As I recall Mario confronted the other brothers and said he wouldnt race against a guy who was high on coke or something. Brave guy!

Originally posted by ghinzani
Didnt Dale Whittington cause a big pile up at the 82 Indy 500? As I recall Mario confronted the other brothers and said he wouldnt race against a guy who was high on coke or something. Brave guy!

That was Kevin Cogan. As the cars came down to take the green flag for the start, Cogan's car snapped sideways and collected Mario and A.J. Foyt. Cogan said something broke but Gordon Johncock (IIRC) said he thought Cogan just lost it when the turbo kicked in.

Dale Whittington was involved in a collision near the back of the field due to not paying attention to what was happening at the front.

Don and Bill were not drug users, just importers. But Dale was. Yes Dale did not cause the initial crash but he was high on coke and so hyped up for the start he ran into the back of slowing cars. Mario did go to Don and say "If you ever bring that kid back here, I am going public with what you guys are up to". Dale never returned to Indy.

For what it's worth, Mike Mosley's Indycar Top 6 results:

1968-06-23  USAC  Langhorne 150		  Langhorne IMS		4   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1968-10-13  USAC  Michigan 250		   Brooklyn Mi IS	   3-  Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1969-03-30  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   6   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1969-06-08  USAC  Milwaukee 150		  West Allis Wi SFP	6   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1969-07-19  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   3   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1969-08-24  USAC  Delaware 200		   Dover Downs IS	   4   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1969-09-14  USAC  Brainerd 200 (1)	   Donnybrooke S		5   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1969-10-19  USAC  Kent 200 (1)		   Seattle IR		   6   Watson/Offenhauser	90  Leader Cards

1970-03-28  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   5   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-04-26  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   5   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-06-14  USAC  Langhorne 150		  Langhorne IMS		3   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-07-04  USAC  Michigan 200		   Brooklyn Mi IS	   4   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-08-23  USAC  Milwaukee 200		  West Allis Wi SFP	5   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-09-12  USAC  Hoosier 100			Indianapolis In SF   5   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-09-19  USAC  Sedalia 100			Sedalia Mo SF		4   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1970-10-03  USAC  Trenton 300			Trenton IS		   3   Watson/Offenhauser	 9  Leader Cards

1971-02-28  USAC  Rafaela Indy 300 (1)   Rafaela			  3   Watson/Ford			4  Leader Cards

1971-04-25  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   1   Watson/Ford			4  Leader Cards

1972-03-18  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   3   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1972-09-03  USAC  California 500		 Ontario MS		   5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1972-09-24  USAC  Trenton 300			Trenton IS		   5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1972-11-04  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   2   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1973-04-07  USAC  Texas 200			  College Station	  3   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1973-07-01  USAC  Pocono 500			 Pocono IR			4   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1973-08-12  USAC  Milwaukee 200		  West Allis Wi SFP	2   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1973-08-26  USAC  California 500 Heat 2  Ontario MS		   5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1973-09-02  USAC  California 500		 Ontario MS		   3   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1974-03-03  USAC  California 500 Heat 1  Ontario MS		   6   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1974-03-17  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   1   Eagle/Offenhauser	 98  Agajanian/Leader Cards

1975-04-06  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   3   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1975-06-08  USAC  Milwaukee 150		  West Allis Wi SFP	5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1975-08-17  USAC  Milwaukee 200		  West Allis Wi SFP	1   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-03-14  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-05-02  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-06-13  USAC  Milwaukee 150		  West Allis Wi SFP	1   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-06-27  USAC  Pocono 500			 Pocono IR			2   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-08-01  USAC  Texas 150			  College Station	  4   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-08-15  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1976-08-22  USAC  Milwaukee 200		  West Allis Wi SFP	5   Eagle/Offenhauser	 12  Jerry O'Connell

1977-03-27  USAC  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   6   Eagle/Offenhauser	  5  Jerry O'Connell

1977-04-02  USAC  Texas 200			  College Station	  5   Eagle/Offenhauser	  5  Jerry O'Connell

1977-04-30  USAC  Trenton 200			Trenton IS		   3   Eagle/Offenhauser	  5  Jerry O'Connell

1977-06-12  USAC  Milwaukee 150		  West Allis Wi SFP	4   Lightning/Offenhauser  5  Jerry O'Connell

1979-05-27  USAC  Indianapolis 500	   Indianapolis MS	  3   Eagle/Cosworth		36  All American Racers

1979-03-11  CART  Phoenix 150			Phoenix IR		   6   Eagle/Cosworth		36  All American Racers

1979-05-27  USAC  Indianapolis 500	   Indianapolis MS	  3   Eagle/Cosworth		36  All American Racers

1979-07-15  CART  Michigan 250 (1)	   Brooklyn MIS		 2   Eagle/Cosworth		36  All American Racers

1981-06-07  CART  Milwaukee 150		  West Allis Wi SFP	1   Eagle/Chevrolet	   48  All American Racers

1983-06-12  CART  Milwaukee 150		  West Allis Wi SFP	5   March/Cosworth		18  Kraco Enterprises

1983-07-03  CART  Cleveland 500k		 Cleveland BLAC	   4   March/Cosworth		18  Kraco Enterprises

1983-08-14  CART  Pocono 500			 Pocono IR			4   March/Cosworth		18  Kraco Enterprises

Originally posted by Jim Thurman


Mike Mosley died (along with one of his sons) when his van went off a mountain road in San Diego County, California while he was driving back to his home in Fallbrook, California (San Diego County) after he and the son had spent the day riding motorcycles in the desert. IIRC, there were skid marks and speculation was Mosley was trying to avoid an animal on the roadway. IIRC, without checking, this was 1985 or 1986.

I have to make a correction here. Mike Mosely's son, Mike Mosley Jr., was in the van with his father, but not badly injured. I just ran across this item while doing research for another project. Since Mike Jr. has raced for the last decade or so, the error is even more obvious.

Terribly sorry about my error. My recall is usually quite good, but let me down horribly on this one.

As I found later (and mentioned earlier in the thread), the van accident happened March 3, 1984. The rest of it I was correct.


Jim Thurman

The late J.Frank Harrison told me once that Andy Granatelli started out as a driver for Al Capone. Is there any truth to this story?

WINO

Originally posted by WINO
The late J.Frank Harrison told me once that Andy Granatelli started out as a driver for Al Capone. Is there any truth to this story?

It's a distinct possibility. There were definitely some mob connections in Chicago in oval racing circles.

Fred Lorenzen has told a good story about who helped "finance" his car.

It's too bad Buford isn't here to comment on Bob Pronger and Henry Pens (search for those names and see what turns up).

Did Mike Mosley have a ride lined up for 1984? Geoff Brabham replaced him at Kraco, but I'm wondering if Mosley had already left the team at the end of the '83 season or if Geoff was a last-minute replacement. Mosley's death was only four weeks before the first race of the season at Long Beach.

Originally posted by Buford
Don and Bill were not drug users, just importers. But Dale was. Yes Dale did not cause the initial crash but he was high on coke and so hyped up for the start he ran into the back of slowing cars. Mario did go to Don and say "If you ever bring that kid back here, I am going public with what you guys are up to". Dale never returned to Indy.

Wow! Never heard that one before. That's pretty wild.....

My man, for someone who said they wouldn't write a book (talk) because they value living, you sure are talking a lot......

Originally posted by Buford
Drug money was the fuel that ran racing in the 70's and 80's before corporate sponsorships. I used to race Porsches in IMSA for three South American guys who carried around bags with $100 bills and paid for everything (including me) in cash. I could write a very interesting book on all this. But I value living.

Originally posted by Rob G
Did Mike Mosley have a ride lined up for 1984? Geoff Brabham replaced him at Kraco, but I'm wondering if Mosley had already left the team at the end of the '83 season or if Geoff was a last-minute replacement. Mosley's death was only four weeks before the first race of the season at Long Beach.

The Jerry Miller article in the '84 Hungness 500 Yearbook (as noted in the Mosley thread) indicated he had been "unceremoniously" dumped at the end of '83 and gave no indication he had gotten anything lined up since then.

The Jerry Miller article in the '84 Hungness 500 Yearbook (as noted in the Mosley thread) indicated he had been "unceremoniously" dumped at the end of '83 and gave no indication he had gotten anything lined up since then.

Maybe because the series was going more to road courses?

J Paul Jr.

http://www.flickr.co...N03/4513545794/

http://www.flickr.co...N03/4513546058/

Mike Mosley

http://www.flickr.co...N03/4513586866/

http://www.flickr.co...N03/4513587070/

http://www.flickr.co...N03/4512944633/

some of new additions of Al Jr., Ongais, Howdy and Ganassi too....all from Road America '83

http://www.flickr.co...os/46681980@N03