97 replies to this topic

[Peter Leversedge]

Anyone Interested in Sprintcars ?

[Allen Brown]

Explain yourself Peter. The US idea of sprint cars or the UK idea of sprint cars? The answer is probably yes to both but the yes will come from different people.

Allen

[David McKinney]

I suspect he means the US sort (as raced in New Zealand by people such as Peter Leversedge)

[Allen Brown]

Just shows how much I know. I'll back away quietly and hope nobody notices.

[SR781]

Interesting thing a friend of mind years ago did a motor which was about 2.5 litres Chev V8 but supercharged and with the penalty for being blown it was a Rocket but then it was banned for noise

[barrykm]

I think Sprint Cars are fantastic - pure racing spectacle!! Problem is that I've really been turned off by the huge wings that are used - does anyone know whether there is a series that caters for non-winged cars?

[wrighty]

Originally posted by barrykm
I think Sprint Cars are fantastic - pure racing spectacle!! Problem is that I've really been turned off by the huge wings that are used - does anyone know whether there is a series that caters for non-winged cars?

First post in TNF ......... Yes, Barry, USAC still operate non-winged sprint cars in the USA, see here for the Eldora gallery from Raceway Magazine News. I must admit i'm as happy to see a winged sprinter as a no-wing (non-winged?) but thats fairly moot given i'm usually drooling and murmuring incoherently whenever I stumble across almost anything sprintcar-related haha

the NZ and Aussie scenes seem to be developing well of late, despite most of the tracks being much smaller than the equivalent venues in the USA and this can't be a bad thing in the end........if only the UK tracks would dispense with post & wire fences

have a look also at HammerDown USA , edited currently (according to the small print) by Bob Gerould, esteemed circle-track commentator ...... check out the 'sites we frequent' at the bottom for some excellent links too

[Buford]

Used to race the beasts once upon a time.

[HDonaldCapps]

Sprint Cars (it is TWO words) are probably the only true link to the past still on the current racing scene. The cars seem to be just as nasty and ill-tempered as they ever were and the drivers remind us of the days when even Dick Tracy had the sense to not race in the things.....

[race4aliving]

Every motorsports fan should at least once in their live's attend The Knoxville Nationals sprint car races. the sounds,smells and tight high speed races. in general go to savouir the whole culture of racing and soon you'll start to remember everything about motorsports you love.
I try to catch at least sprint car race a year.

[Cris]

We've owned a couple...a Hillegas car with a "full" HAL 220, and a Miller-engined car. Used to hill climb the HAL a bit. Oh, and I have a little circle track in the back yard, too.



Cris

[simonlewisbooks]

Originally posted by barrykm
I think Sprint Cars are fantastic - pure racing spectacle!! Problem is that I've really been turned off by the huge wings that are used - does anyone know whether there is a series that caters for non-winged cars?

The USAC style of non-winged sprint car can be seen in action on some free downloadable clips - many are actually highlights of feature races- at http://racewayvideo.com (look under Video Clips)

By God, are they spectacular to watch! IMHO more spectacular than the winged World Of Outlaws variety but then that's just my view.

Certainly the un-winged cars slide around , wheelie and lift wheels under power and 'bicycle' a lot more.

It makes for compulsive viewing.

[David McKinney]

Call me old-fashioned, but I just can't get used to all that scaffolding...

[martyk]

Big Sprint Car fan here. I agree with the big wings they're a little too "hooked up". I liked it when the wings were smaller and there was less technology (I guess that analogy works for any racing series)

[Jim Thurman]

Marty, "The Dragon From Galt" in the Bailey Brothers 01. Good photo. I'll see if some of our other members can dig around and name the driver ;) ...let alone where the photo was taken.

I'll echo race4aliving's post and recommend anyone go and check out a Sprint Car race.

I attended my first Sprint Car race in far too many years this past June at Perris, California and it did exactly what race4aliving mentions, it reminded me of everything about motorsports that I fell in love with.

The USAC/CRA series is non-winged as well. I have mixed feelings, as the wings have clearly proved a great safety feature, but do take away a lot of what Simon mentions. Despite a vehement anti-wing camp, I have to disagree on one of their claims in that I've seen some outstanding winged Sprint races as well.

Not only is it a link to the past (Midgets can pass to a degree as well), but dare I say that those two forms of short track open wheel racing, perhaps along with dirt track Late Model racing are the last bastions of "real" racing left.

[brickyard]

I like Sprint Cars, but I prefer their big brothers "Dirt Champ Cars" ...

well, I used to, as the actual Dirt Champ Cars are one of the ugliest racing machines I know... and racing them on asphalt, good Lord, only in the minds of USAC guys...

[barrykm]

Thanks to all for the interesting replies and links - glad to see that I'm not alone in preferring the non-winged variety, not that I'm vehemently against the winged cars though.

I haven't seen a live race in over thirty years My vivid memories go back to the late 60's/early 70's in South Africa when there was a weekly circus travelling between Johannesburg and Durban, featuring our local drivers and at least one of a series visiting US drivers - Don Hamilton is the only name I can recall at the moment. Local stars at that time were Boet Eckhout and my absolute favourite, Harry van der Spuy, a really spectacular and aggressive driver - he did some racing in the US as well I believe.

I lived in Durban at that time and the races were held at the Alan Ford Stadium, an old speedway track, approx. 1/4 mile long, if that, and macadamised. The stadium was right next to the beachfront residential area - unsilenced methanol-burning V8s were the cause of many complaints over the years which I think led to the ultimate demise of the venue.

The atmosphere was magic - balmy warm nights, the smell of fuel and rubber, the tension building as the cars were push-started until the whole field was running and formed up, and then absolute noisy mayhem when a small track full of cars was unleashed. Hard to beat!

I have promised myself that sometime and somehow I will get back to a Sprint Car meet.

[barrykm]

There must be some other TNF members who watched the Buddy Fuller "Hot Rod" circus in South Africa..?

Interesting too that Lucky Strike sponsorship was prominent then

[barrykm]

...me again...!!

This looks interesting http://www.scrafan.com/index.html

(The things we do when we should be working...!!)

[Bob Riebe]

Originally posted by barrykm
There must be some other TNF members who watched the Buddy Fuller "Hot Rod" circus in South Africa..?

Interesting too that Lucky Strike sponsorship was prominent then

How big are the tracks down in South Africa?

I once checked the web on the Aussies and the biggest I could find was about a third of a mile give or take.

Do you have an half mile or bigger tracks down there or are they also mostly bull-rings?
Bob

[Bob Riebe]

This is probably as good a thread as any to ask this; are there any true outlaw races left in either sprints or midgets?
The kinda-sorta run what you brung, with engine displacement being what ever one could shoe-horn between the rails.

The Copper World Classic (everyone, take your cap off, bow your head and put your hand over your heart for a moment) is gone.

Is that the end of true outlaw races or are there some still out there.
Bob

[Peter Leversedge]

Allen Brown - David McKinney is correct I am talking about US sprint cars and have to admitt I do not know any thing about " UK type Sprint Cars ". I am interseted in all types of open wheel race cars but sprint cars are my favourite are sprint cars [ must be, race them for about 25 years in New Zealand ]. Watched them racing in Australia and the US [ Ascot, Knoxville Nationals etc ]. I ran wing and non wing but prefer non wing cars. Still got a Ozcar Chassis in my shed [ ex John Bickford / Jeff Gordon ] which I ran for a number of years. Thanks for the relplies to the thread.

[barrykm]

Originally posted by Peter Leversedge
Allen Brown - David McKinney is correct I am talking about US sprint cars and have to admitt I do not know any thing about " UK type Sprint Cars ". I am interseted in all types of open wheel race cars but sprint cars are my favourite are sprint cars [ must be, race them for about 25 years in New Zealand ]. Watched them racing in Australia and the US [ Ascot, Knoxville Nationals etc ]. I ran wing and non wing but prefer non wing cars. Still got a Ozcar Chassis in my shed [ ex John Bickford / Jeff Gordon ] which I ran for a number of years. Thanks for the relplies to the thread.

How about some pictures Peter?

And Buford too?

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by barrykm
How about some pictures.....

And Buford too?

You've done it now...

"Don Capps came and took all my pictures away!" he'll reply.

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by barrykm

My vivid memories go back to the late 60's/early 70's in South Africa when there was a weekly circus travelling between Johannesburg and Durban, featuring our local drivers and at least one of a series visiting US drivers - Don Hamilton is the only name I can recall at the moment. Local stars at that time were Boet Eckhout and my absolute favourite, Harry van der Spuy, a really spectacular and aggressive driver - he did some racing in the US as well I believe.

How about these names for you - Carl Adams and Dick Zimmerman?

Growing up in San Diego, I remember these two and Don Hamilton quite well as they raced weekly at Cajon Speedway in SDRA (San Diego Racing Association) events. I remember when they went to South Africa and we got some updates through the San Diego paper and the efforts of their motorsports writer Johnny McDonald.

The touring Americans (usually Southern Californians) were impressed with van der Spuy, particularly Zimmerman IIRC, and he finally got to race at least at Ascot Park in the mid-1970's.

[martyk]

Dick Zimmerman:

[Peter Leversedge]

Will put some photos up as soon as I work out how to

[simonlewisbooks]

For anyone interested in Sprint car history there are a number of good books that you could look out for

DUSTY HEROES by Sawyer & STAND ON THE GAS By Scalzo are both very entertaining personal recollections of sprint car drivers from the 50s-70s by two somewhat lurid writers. Neither of these guys holds anything back in their opinions, good or bad.In some cases both books get a little gruesome as so many of the 'Heroes' died at the wheel during this era but they are both very very interesting to read and have some great photos of Opperman, Bettenhausen, Branson, White and their ilk.Neither book is easily located or very cheap however.Both around £50-60 each

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SPRINT CAR RACING. I have seen volume 1 which covers the pre war era but wonder if Vol 2 was ever printed? Again lots of great photos of many very familiar names from the Indy 500. Again not easy to find and into three figures.

USAC SPRINT CAR HISTORY 1956-80 by Hungness is a little cheaper but still very hard to find and about £50

and finally WINGLESS WARRIORS- CALIFORNIA HOT SHOES CRA SPRINT CARS, which is in 3 or maybe 4 volumes and traces this history of the series in 15 approximately 15 year segments. Again not easy to find and about £30 a volume.

[Bob Riebe]

Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
For anyone interested in Sprint car history there are a number of good books that you could look out for

DUSTY HEROES by Sawyer & STAND ON THE GAS By Scalzo are both very entertaining personal recollections of sprint car drivers from the 50s-70s by two somewhat lurid writers. Neither of these guys holds anything back in their opinions, good or bad.In some cases both books get a little gruesome as so many of the 'Heroes' died at the wheel during this era but they are both very very interesting to read and have some great photos of Opperman, Bettenhausen, Branson, White and their ilk.Neither book is easily located or very cheap however.Both around £50-60 each

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SPRINT CAR RACING. I have seen volume 1 which covers the pre war era but wonder if Vol 2 was ever printed? Again lots of great photos of many very familiar names from the Indy 500. Again not easy to find and into three figures.

USAC SPRINT CAR HISTORY 1956-80 by Hungness is a little cheaper but still very hard to find and about £50

and finally WINGLESS WARRIORS- CALIFORNIA HOT SHOES CRA SPRINT CARS, which is in 3 or maybe 4 volumes and traces this history of the series in 15 approximately 15 year segments. Again not easy to find and about £30 a volume.

I will add John Gerber's - Outlaw Sprint Car Racer.

For those who have that ghoulish fascination with dead race car drivers, this book mentions that aspect also.

Bob

[HDonaldCapps]

Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SPRINT CAR RACING. I have seen volume 1 which covers the pre war era but wonder if Vol 2 was ever printed? Again lots of great photos of many very familiar names from the Indy 500. Again not easy to find and into three figures.

The volume 2 project seems to have gone to the grave with Fox.

Most of the Buzz Rose books on Sprint Car racing, which have already been mentioned, are still available; while not perfect, they do give you a good idea of what Sprint Car racing was like back in the day....

[barrykm]

Originally posted by Bob Riebe


How big are the tracks down in South Africa?

I once checked the web on the Aussies and the biggest I could find was about a third of a mile give or take.

Do you have an half mile or bigger tracks down there or are they also mostly bull-rings?
Bob

Hi Bob - whatever SA tracks are still being used are likely to be bull-rings as you call them. I've totally lost touch with whatever sprint car racing is still taking place - there is some, but nowhere near the scale I described earlier, and not in the major centres. I would love to be contradicted though.

The alternate track to Durban's Alan Ford Stadium was Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg, which was longer than Alan Ford, and possibly closer to 1/2 mile, but I'm not sure. Unfortunately I never watched any racing there.

Thanks as well to Jim and Marty for their postings - I should of course have remembered Dick Zimmerman and while I know the name Carl Adams, it is more for his cars (CAE?), I don't recall seeing him race here. I think there was another American driver in SA but I cannot recall a name....perhaps it was Carl Adams - Google will be put to the test and I will revert.

Cheers for now.

[wrighty]

Originally posted by simonlewisbooks


The USAC style of non-winged sprint car can be seen in action on some free downloadable clips - many are actually highlights of feature races- at http://racewayvideo.com (look under Video Clips)

By God, are they spectacular to watch! IMHO more spectacular than the winged World Of Outlaws variety but then that's just my view.

Certainly the un-winged cars slide around , wheelie and lift wheels under power and 'bicycle' a lot more.

It makes for compulsive viewing.

Fabulous link, thank you (for those of you who haven't tried it yet, there's some big 2007 clips there too, full race highlights at 70-100mb, but well worth the download)......Interesting to watch the non-winged racing, i'm so used to watching Outlaws (on tv/pc unfortunately , they don't do UK lol) which are much more nervous, I hadn't realised the wing had that much effect but there you go, a picture paints a thousand words

oh, @ barrykm, I need to have a look about but u may have better access to Harry van der Spuy's history, did he race a couple of times in the UK in the 70s at Brisca stock cars? The name rang a bell as soon as I saw it, i'm sure he's in 'our' history books somewhere....if I can find a pic i'll post it up.

Finally @ Peter Leversedge, do you cross paths and share meetings with the stock car boys? I'm just watching the results for the build-up night in the Brisca F1s, and a guy called Peter Rees is a sensation over here atm, talk of the town He's blagged a ride in one of the support formula cars, a saloon stox, and he's apparently dishing the bumper out in the true NZ style

All in all, it's safe to report that from Sprint cars to saloons to stock cars, oval racing has many forms and they all seem to be fairly spectacular

oh I nearly forgot, but I wanted to share with you that Sprint cars do race in the UK (and Europe)......It's on an independent-ish series called 'Rolling Thunder show', follow the link for pics (with acknowledgements to) Rolling Start

[/ramble]

[David McKinney]

Originally posted by wrighty
Sprint cars do race in the UK

Why do the Britis run dirt-track cars on tarmac?

[wrighty]

Originally posted by David McKinney

Why do the Britis run dirt-track cars on tarmac?

I know, seemingly bizarre and tragic at the same time, but i think it's due to the fact that the promoting body are based in the south-east of England where the tracks are almost all tarmac (there are lots of dirt tracks but they're speedway-only, big fields of cars tend to cut the track up a lot and the tracks are narrow with a safety fence designed for a jockey and a light bike....). I agree it dilutes the spectacle, I always thought midgets would be better for the tracks here (90% are 1/4 mile or less) but with the large spread of home-grown formulae, things like midgets and sprint cars are expensive toys compared to the domestic series.

[barrykm]

Originally posted by wrighty



oh, @ barrykm, I need to have a look about but u may have better access to Harry van der Spuy's history, did he race a couple of times in the UK in the 70s at Brisca stock cars? The name rang a bell as soon as I saw it, i'm sure he's in 'our' history books somewhere....if I can find a pic i'll post it up.

[/ramble]

Thanks Wrighty, I would be most interested to see wha you turn up on Harry van der Spuy. BTW, what are BriscaStock Cars/F1s? British Stock Car something or other I guess? Any pics?

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by simonlewisbooks
For anyone interested in Sprint car history there are a number of good books that you could look out for

DUSTY HEROES by Sawyer & STAND ON THE GAS By Scalzo are both very entertaining personal recollections of sprint car drivers from the 50s-70s by two somewhat lurid writers. Neither of these guys holds anything back in their opinions, good or bad.In some cases both books get a little gruesome as so many of the 'Heroes' died at the wheel during this era but they are both very very interesting to read and have some great photos of Opperman, Bettenhausen, Branson, White and their ilk.Neither book is easily located or very cheap however.Both around £50-60 each

ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF SPRINT CAR RACING. I have seen volume 1 which covers the pre war era but wonder if Vol 2 was ever printed? Again lots of great photos of many very familiar names from the Indy 500. Again not easy to find and into three figures.

USAC SPRINT CAR HISTORY 1956-80 by Hungness is a little cheaper but still very hard to find and about £50

and finally WINGLESS WARRIORS- CALIFORNIA HOT SHOES CRA SPRINT CARS, which is in 3 or maybe 4 volumes and traces this history of the series in 15 approximately 15 year segments. Again not easy to find and about £30 a volume.

simon, very good suggestions. I've been very vocal about Scalzo's ever increasing embellishments and stretchting of tales in his recent work, so perhaps I would view it different now, but I know as a teenager I loved "Stand On The Gas" (which I found at, of all the places, the local library in the suburban part of San Diego I lived in at the time). Even without seeing the book for many years, and being far less knowledgable on racing, I recall it featured the best quality of Scalzo's writing as well - namely his ability to vividly convey the men, machines and tracks. Sawyer, a lot of people go on about, but I've found him very Hemingway-esque. If you're a fan of Hemingway and motorsports, you'll love his writing. If you're not a fan of both, your mileage may vary. I'm not that big on Hemingway, so...

Hungness' USAC SPRINT CAR HISTORY 1956-1980 was reprinted a few years ago and I've seen it various places.

As Don mentions, Buzz Rose's series on various regions around the U.S. are all worthwhile. He's done books on IMCA, CSRA, CRA, AAA and URC. Rose's CRA WINGLESS WARRIORS books is two volumes.

I got to chat a bit with Buzz at the annual gathering of the clan at Pomona (So Cal SAH). He said he's done with books, that that much time and that many years was enough. He covered all the major organizations and told me "What's left?...maybe NARC (the Northern California group), but past that..."

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by barrykm
Thanks as well to Jim and Marty for their postings - I should of course have remembered Dick Zimmerman and while I know the name Carl Adams, it is more for his cars (CAE?), I don't recall seeing him race here. I think there was another American driver in SA but I cannot recall a name....perhaps it was Carl Adams - Google will be put to the test and I will revert.

First, thanks Marty for posting the Dick Zimmerman photo

IIRC, Zimmerman was the one who tried to get van der Spuy to the U.S., he was very impressed with Harry.

While Carl Adams was a fabricator, CAE was Jim Culbert, also based in San Diego. Carl was a remarkably versatile driver, winning on dirt and pavement in both Sprint Cars and Stock Cars and eventually getting to NASCAR's top division in the 70's.

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by David McKinney

Why do the Britis run dirt-track cars on tarmac?

Do you mean "now" or "still" or "yet"?

There are several pavement Sprint Car groups here in the U.S.

Through the 1970's, it was quite common for a driver to run the same car on one surface one night, make changes and run the same chassis on the other surface the next night. Both open wheel and Stock Cars.

Finally, more specialized equipment came to the fore and it became less and less common and then pretty much died out altogether.

[Peter Leversedge]

I remember talking with Mike Shaw of CRA fame at the JFK Co and he told me he had raced in Sth Africa in the 70's, I have an idea that Jimmy Oskie who was driving the JFK car at the time also raced there. Mike had an idea of taking four car from the US/Canada/Australia/NZ and SA [ the five countries that had Sprint cars at the time ] to Europe for a show. He said he knew a promoter there he thought would be interested in the idea. Unfortunately Mike got killed at Ascot and that was the end of that.

[David McKinney]

Jim
I was being slightly facetious. It just seemed odd to see cars designed for one purpose being used for something else. I know little of the British oval-racing scene, but as far as I know sprintcars don't regularly race on the dirt anywhere in the UK

[paulhooft]

A nice and easy to find book is Joe Scalzo's
The American Dirt Track Racer
published by MBI.
PcH

[Peter Leversedge]

I have said in the past " dirt is for racing on and pavement is for getting there " but I have raced on pavement but not in sprint cars. My pavement racing was on road type circuit tracks and in other types of cars [ including a Lotus 18 ]. I did watch two sprint cars shows on pavement at Bakersfield in 77' and enjoyed it as something different BUT I belive the correct place for a sprint car to race is on DIRT. As has already been said inthe 70's one could run dirt one day, make a few changes and run pavement the next day. Now with special pavement cars in most cases if you want to run pavement and dirt you would need two cars [ more expense and as racing gets more expensive the car count usually goes down . We do not run Sprint Cars on any paved tracks in New Zealand, only 1/4 mile dirt tracks [ " Bull Rings " ] and one 1/3 mile track. We have about 18 " Bull Rings ' in N Z a country about 2/3 the size of Cal. I do not expect every one to agree with me !. As of 2000 our rule book said no off set engines

[simonlewisbooks]

Originally posted by wrighty


I know, seemingly bizarre and tragic at the same time, but i think it's due to the fact that the promoting body are based in the south-east of England where the tracks are almost all tarmac (there are lots of dirt tracks but they're speedway-only, big fields of cars tend to cut the track up a lot and the tracks are narrow with a safety fence designed for a jockey and a light bike....). I agree it dilutes the spectacle, I always thought midgets would be better for the tracks here (90% are 1/4 mile or less) but with the large spread of home-grown formulae, things like midgets and sprint cars are expensive toys compared to the domestic series.

Sprint cars ran for a season on the shale at Coventry about 10 years ago as the support formula for Brisa F1s . However despite being rather good to watch IMHO they suffered from a lack of cars and a general lack of enthusiasm from the very partisan crowd , many of whom will head for the bar when anything other than an F1 is on track.
On a few occasions Frankie Wainman Jr, the Brisca F1 star, was a guest driver and proved a cut above the regulars with both his speed and car control. If a few more of the F1 top names could have been involved and some more cars had appeared on track I think the class would have worked out well. However very soon it was replaced by the pay-to-race Rebels (Reliant Robin engined LEGENDS lookalikes with almost no suspension) which cleared the terraces faster than a bomb scare but obviously made the promoter some money.... which is probably the real reason why Sprint Cars didn't continue.

The biggest problem with oval racing in Britain is simply having way too many classes and formula fighting against one another for drivers and fans. It dilutes interest in the whole scene and only seems to get worse as time passes.

[wrighty]

Originally posted by barrykm


Thanks Wrighty, I would be most interested to see wha you turn up on Harry van der Spuy. BTW, what are BriscaStock Cars/F1s? British Stock Car something or other I guess? Any pics?

Hi Barry,
Sorry it's took a while, but we have progress on the HVDS front - according to my good friends at Stoxnet Harry ran in the BriSCA world finals in 1971 and 1976 as well as competing in the 'rival' SCOTA (Spedeworth) series in 1975.... Colin C writes;

'South African sprint car driver Harry van de Spuij came over a few times and won a final at Harringay in one of Stuart Smith's cars in 1971. He also wrecked one in a big crash at Brafield.

Harry came back in 76 and raced at White City and brought with him Dick Zimmerman, who was a CRA sprint car champion. The CRA at the time was one of the most prestigious championships to win. Zimmerman married a South African girl but sadly died following a road crash there several years ago.

Harry also raced in the SCOTA world final of 1975.'

A picture of the car (post-wreck at Brafield) can be seen at this gallery, courtesy of Mike_F1 (also of Stoxnet).

I'll post up some more info as/when it arrives, and more general stuff on the 'progress' (i use the word advisedly ;) SimonLewisBooks'll know what I mean) of F1s when I get an hour tonight......you'll see from the gallery pics that, during the early-mid '70s F1s were fairly agricultural beasts, but they have 'grown up' a little since then ;)

best wishes, speak soon ...... Wrighty

[Peter Leversedge]

I have not yet worked out how to post photos on the forum but if any members would like to see some shots of sprint cars from New Zealand I would be happy to email them some if they send me there own email address
peterleversedge@clear.net.nz

[wrighty]

Originally posted by Peter Leversedge
I have not yet worked out how to post photos on the forum but if any members would like to see some shots of sprint cars from New Zealand I would be happy to email them some if they send me there own email address
peterleversedge@clear.net.nz

you have mail (well, a pm but who's counting) ...... more snippets on HVDS tonight, i have a night off

[Huw Jadvantich]

Never thought it was real racing till I went to see some at Western Springs (NZ) -they hooked me!
With wings they create a sort of whirl wind around the stadium that you can feel as a spectator (as well as being hit by clumps of clay), without them the spectacle would suffer IMHO. Until I went to see them I had no idea how technical they were. They are really clever pieces of kit. Alan Wakelin and Kerry Jones put on a fantastic show the first time I went - I can take or leave midget racing, but sprint cars take it to a really spectacular level. Watching Steve Kinser at Parramatta was my highlight.

[Peter Leversedge]

Huw - Yes great Sprint Car racing at Western Springs, raced there myself in the 80's, one meeting on the "old track" with the cycle track on the outside and three meetings on the present set up. Raced with Kerry Jones and Allan Wakelin mainly at Ruapuna Speedway which was my home track.Both as you say put on a great show and must be two of the most successful New Zealand sprint car drivers in the last twenty years. I remember one night getting into a tangle with Allan and I can still remember seeing the whole underside of his car above my hood. Fortunately he came back to earth on all four wheels and carried on and all I suffered was a tyre mark on the side panel of my cockpit and a broken front wing mount. Allen staightened a frame for me once and it came back better than it was before I bent it!!. Both have about fifteen New Zealand Championships between them.
Steve Kinser is perhaps the greatest sprint car racer ever [ saw he racing in the US in 81 ]

[Walter Zoomie]

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[Peter Leversedge]

Champ Dirt Cars?