8930 replies to this topic

[D28]

Yes!!!

 

 

See what you mean by opposite to Denise's. and her's were smaller too. Never saw this guy before.

Edited by D28, 14 December 2024 - 21:28.

[GMiranda]

See what you mean by opposite to Denise's. and her's were smaller too. Never saw this guy before.

He was a top driver in the Far East and did well in the Tasman Series too.

[paulsenna1]

Sonny Rajah raced In UK F. Atlantic in 1972/73.

[Jim Thurman]

 

Happy to let Jim have this one.

Ok, taking my raincheck for a quiz question:

 

Four drivers that started out racing jalopies on Southern California short track dirt ovals advanced to USAC Championship (Indycar) racing, who were they?

Inevitably, there will be more clues  , but for now, let's go with this: only three of the four made starts in the Indianapolis 500, and two of them won USAC Championship races.

 

For a bonus, name a fifth driver, who also dabbled in jalopies on Southern California tracks, but began in track roadsters/hot rods. He made it to Indianapolis and the Championship earlier, in the AAA days.

[ensign14]

Parnelli?  Pat Flaherty?

 

I assume we are not counting Billy Coy?

[Collombin]

Troy Ruttman or Jack McGrath for the bonus one?

[WINO]

Jim Hurtubise was one of them. Did not come from California but that was not the criteria. He did race there.

[D28]

Bill Vukovich from So Cal raced dirt track cars very early in his career.

[WINO]

As for California residents [although not one of the criteria mentioned], I would say George Amick, Johnny Boyd, Sam Hanks and Rodger Ward.

[Jim Thurman]

I'll provide an update in the AM PST, along with a few more clues. Some very good guesses here 

So far, we have one correct. Which was Ensign14 with Parnelli.

 

Yes, Parnelli Jones started out in jalopies at Gardena Stadium, also racing them at Long Beach Veteran's Memorial Stadium, Carpinteria and even once at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.

 

Flaherty, Ruttman and McGrath started out in track roadsters/hot rods.

 

Hurtubise raced on Southern California tracks, but raced back East before relocating to So Cal.

 

Bill Vukovich did race on Southern California tracks, but that was in midgets. He started out in the pre-WWII version of track roadsters, known as semi-stocks, on tracks in Central California's San Joaquin Valley, near his home in Fresno.

 

And, no Ensign, Billy Coy doesn't count (he too, started out in track roadsters/hot rods) 

Edited by Jim Thurman, 16 December 2024 - 03:15.

[Jim Thurman]

Re: Parnelli. That was going to be the big giveaway clue, that one of the two that were USAC Championship race winners won the Indianapolis 500    

Edited by Jim Thurman, 16 December 2024 - 03:17.

[Jim Thurman]

Ok, so far we have Parnelli (Ensign). It's also worth noting that Parnelli was the last, the latest of the four So Cal jalopy drivers to make it to the USAC Championship.

 

One of the remaining three was a USAC Championship race winner, but never qualified for the '500'

 

One was a Rookie of the Year at Indianapolis.

 

The third driver arrived to the USAC series around the same time as Parnelli, but made 6 starts in the '500' and drove in a few USAC Championship races after Parnelli made his final start (which came in 1967).

 

The last driver has another clue or two, but I think they'd be dead giveaways. As would an additional one on the ROTY winner.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 16 December 2024 - 17:29.

[Collombin]

Van Johnson?

[Jim Thurman]

Van Johnson?

Yes! Van Johnson was the driver who won a USAC Championship race, but never drove in the '500'. Johnson won five jalopy feature races at Culver City Stadium (4 in 1952 and 1 in early 1953).

 

Two down.

 

EDIT: Good job. I fear the clues for the other two would be dead giveaways.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 16 December 2024 - 19:41.

[nexfast]

George Amick?

[Jim Thurman]

George Amick?

Not George Amick. While George dabbled in nearly everything, and settled in Venice, California, he was originally from Vernonia, Oregon and started out in roadsters/hot rods in Portland, Oregon.

[Jim Thurman]

Of the two remaining drivers...

 

One was Indianapolis '500' Rookie of The Year, but became better known in motorsports away from the driving (I'd say specifically what, but that would likely be a dead giveaway).

 

The other made 6 starts in the Indianapolis 500, but would've made two more save for being sidelined by injuries. This opened the door for a notable driver, who replaced him (the driver in question did return to make two more starts in the '500' as his replacement's career continued its ascent). So he had 4 starts in the '500', missed two years, then 2 more.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 17 December 2024 - 17:38.

[WINO]

Ruttman?

[Jim Thurman]

Nope, not Ruttman. He began in track roadsters/hot rods.

 

One driver was Indianapolis 500 Rookie of The Year, and became better known in racing circles as something other than being a driver.

 

The other missed two Indianapolis 500 races due to injuries received in a racing crash. Those injuries led to a replacement driver of some note, though this driver did return to make a few more USAC Championship starts, including two more '500' starts.

[Jim Thurman]

Ok, I've stumped everyone again. The fourth driver (the one who missed two '500's' due to injury) and Van Johnson were the two I thought would be most challenging, while I thought Parnelli and the other driver would be easy to fairly easy.

 

Last clues:

The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of The Year became better known as a chassis builder.

 

The driver who was injured was replaced by Mario Andretti (!)

Edited by Jim Thurman, 18 December 2024 - 18:18.

[ensign14]

ROTY: Don Edmunds? 

[WINO]

But at Indy Andretti ran a Dean Van lines in 1965, while Chuck Hulse ran one in1963.

[Jim Thurman]

ROTY: Don Edmunds? 

Correct! I thought the builder part would be a dead giveaway.

 

Despite the belief he quickly retired from racing to concentrate on chassis building, he continued racing short tracks in Southern California through 1967, and even made a brief comeback in midgets in 1971, which was later than the others on this list save for a one-off for Jones.

[Jim Thurman]

But at Indy Andretti ran a Dean Van lines in 1965, while Chuck Hulse ran one in1963.

Correct, and what does that mean? 

[WINO]

Well, since Hulse was from Los Angeles, he gets my vote [but only after your teasers].

Edited by WINO, 18 December 2024 - 20:22.

[Jim Thurman]

Well, since Hulse was from Los Angeles, he gets my vote [after your teasers].

Correct! I figured Hulse would be the forgotten man, despite a fairly lengthy career.

 

His injuries from an accident in a USAC sprint car race (IIRC, New Bremen) kept him out of the 1964 and 1965 Indianapolis 500, and the rest of the USAC series, which opened the door for Mario Andretti to replace him with the Dean team for the rest of 1964. Hulse did return to race in the 1966 and 1967 Indianapolis 500s and made 18 additional USAC Championship race starts.

 

Chuck Hulse raced jalopies at the relatively short-lived Lakeside Stadium in El Monte.

Edited by Jim Thurman, 18 December 2024 - 20:32.

[Jim Thurman]

Ok, Ensign14 got 1/2 of the question, so over to him.

 

I'll step aside from asking further questions, as I don't have F1 centric questions, and my questions on USAC Championship and NASCAR racing seem to fall flat, despite a few folks here that have decent knowledge of those series.

 

Hopefully, you've at least learned some interesting trivia from my questions.

[Jim Thurman]

Oh, and the fifth (bonus) driver who raced jalopies before moving on to the (then) AAA Championship...

 

Joe James. 1952 AAA Midwest sprint car champion and looked to be on his way to his first AAA Championship race win later that year when he tragically ran over the wheel of a slowing car and suffered what proved to be fatal injuries.

 

He had also raced roadsters, but was winning jalopy features at Culver City mere months before making his first attempt at Indianapolis. 

Edited by Jim Thurman, 18 December 2024 - 20:59.

[ensign14]

Let's stick with Indy.

 

Howdy Holmes was the second.

 

Who was the first?

[GMiranda]

Let's stick with Indy.

 

Howdy Holmes was the second.

 

Who was the first?

Only Rookie to qualify?

[Collombin]

Only Rookie to qualify?

Bah, I used to know this but have long forgotten who it was, only that it was pre-WW2.