69 replies to this topic

[fines]

Thanks, very handy!

Palmer was about 34, Bob Cross 26 and Bill Anderson 31 (b. 1917-08-07). Interestingly, I have different dates for Mattson (b. 1917) and Mel Hansen (b. 1911-06-11), don't recall the source!

If you want to research Tex Peterson, his real name was Clarence Peterson, and he must've been around 40 by 1948.

[fines]

Originally posted by ensign14
I've just noticed Lou Figaro. I take it that was the same Lou Figaro who won an NASCAR race before he was killed racing?

I don't know, I have very little on the man. He raced CRA Track Roadsters in 1948, and was second in points behind Troy Ruttman - that's all I have.

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by ensign14
I've just noticed Lou Figaro. I take it that was the same Lou Figaro who won an NASCAR race before he was killed racing?

ensign14, yes it is. While known for his early Stock Car racing, Figaro raced Roadsters and dabbled in other open wheel racing. Recent research turned up a newspaper item listing Figaro as an entrant in a "Junk Car Derby" race at Colton, CA in March 1940. No evidence he actually competed, but it does place him in those cars, which were actually pre-WWII versions of what became Track Roadsters.

[Jim Thurman]

First, Michael thanks for your work and the points listing

Several of these names are quite familiar as they raced in the San Bernardino area in the immediate pre and post WWII era, and that's the area I've concentrated my recent research on.

A good blend of drivers - "Big Car" veterans, Track Roadster grads, drivers better known for their Midget racing (like Garson, Hansen and Dickey)...

Erling "Chick" Barbo began racing in the Pacific Northwest (he was living in Seattle) and had success there before racing in Southern California.

Tommy Mattson was from Delaware and came West to race.

Reinhard,

Some other info per the source (1949 West Coast Annual), though as we've come to realize, all published dates must be taken with a grain of salt:

Ed Barnett, 42 years old (referred to as "The Silver Fox")
Corky Benson, b. July 4, 1914 in Texas
Clarence "Tex" Petersen, b. Nebraska 1908

Hansen was b. July 7, 1911.

[fines]

You sure Petersen is not a typo? I don't think I have ever seen it spelled that way!

[JimInSoCalif]

Way back in post #18, P. Hill driving a MG-TC at the Foreign Car Races at Carrell Speedway was mentioned. I went to a foreign car race at Carrells, but alas, I don't remember much about it except that car and a J2-X Allard or two as the Allards were my favorite car at the time.

I do remember Phil Hill driving a '2 Jr.' at the Torrey Pines road races. It was a MG-TC with a Ford V8-60 engine and 16 inch wire wheels instead of the standard 19 (?) inch wheels.

Considering the wealth of information at this site, I expect that information on that car is old news, but I thought I would mention it in case someone did not know about it, or more likely, if someone has more information to add.

Cheers, Jim.

[ReWind]

Originally posted by fines
You sure Petersen is not a typo? I don't think I have ever seen it spelled that way!

Don’t look no further than post # 2 of this thread.

The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame uses the spelling „Petersen“, too: In the list of inductees click on „Charlie Curryer“ (1997) or „Paul Weirick“ (1996).

And at the SSDI you’ll find a certain Clarence Petersen, b. 14 July 1908, d. 14 January 2005 (96 years old!), with West Point, Nebraska, as last residence. Our man?

The SSDI also produces a candidate for Bill Anderson. Does Lake Mills, Iowa, ring a bell?

And finally:

Originally posted by fines
Interestingly, I have different dates for Mattson (b. 1917)...

Just recently Richie Jenkins referred to findings on Motorsport Memorial.

BTW, Motorsport Memorial gives a birth date for Chick Barbo, too: 28 August 1916.

[Jim Thurman]

Originally posted by fines
You sure Petersen is not a typo? I don't think I have ever seen it spelled that way!

What!?, you haven't looked at the scans from the annual that I sent you?;)

That is a name that, if misspelled, would be likely as Peterson instead of Petersen.

As Reinhard points out...

I think that is a good possibility for "Tex" Petersen. I don't know about Anderson as it is such a common name.

[fines]

Originally posted by Jim Thurman

What!?, you haven't looked at the scans from the annual that I sent you?

Woewoewoe, now I'm in big trouble!

Seriously, I am usually very diligent in noting different spellings of names, but at some point you simply stop because you damn well know that it's not George Connors, Hank Rodgers or Mel Keneally (even the end credits of "The Crowd Roars" get that wrong!). Checking again, I have "Tex Petersen" just once, incidentally the very last entry that I have for him, January 1949. I may have glanced over previous correct spellings many times, who knows?

Thanks for that, and the other info, guys! Appreciated, as usual! As for Bill Anderson, I already posted his birthdate, August 7 in 1917, but I don't recall the source. Real name William Terry Anderson, and I have him from Indiana, originally. Hometown variously given as Long Beach, Bellflower, Portland (OR) or even Tulsa (OK), but the latter is almost certainly one of those cases when a driver is listed with the hometown of his car owner (Peaches Campbell).

[ReWind]

Well, Michael, that's all we need.
Voilà!
And it would have been so easy since everything was already there at the Motorsport Memorial.

[fines]

I also wonder if Dom Distarce (starter) and Dr. Sidney Senter (ambulance service) were related to PeeWee Distarce and Louis Senter?

Dom and "PeeWee" were one in the same...so, yes, very closely related ;)

What's your source for that, Jim? According to what I have found in the meantime, Midget driver Pedro "PeeWee" Distarce and Midget official Dominic "Dom" Distarce were brothers!!!?

[Jim Thurman]

What's your source for that, Jim? According to what I have found in the meantime, Midget driver Pedro "PeeWee" Distarce and Midget official Dominic "Dom" Distarce were brothers!!!?

An erroneous one, and thank you for bringing it up as I was planning on addressing it.

Research I did just a couple of weeks ago turned up items mentioning "Pee Wee" being Dom's brother. So, the original source was wrong and they were two different men.

The research turned up even more on Banning and Colton, which I could post...that is, if you're interested ;)

Edited by Jim Thurman, 10 May 2009 - 21:56.

[Tracy Figaro]

That's one of the reasons why I post these things, to get the names out into the public domain. Drivers like Barbo, Palmer, Prosser or Garson are all but forgotten because they never got a break at Indy, but they were just as good as many who did, and better than some!

Hi was reading your post about lou figaro. Yes that is the same Lou Figaro Fron Nascar. He drove Midgets, Roadsters, stock and anything else he could get his hands on. When he was in Germany in ww2 he even raced the military vehicles. Just being Lou. He is my Grandfather and we have heard the stories and seen the photos. Good look in your search. I really think that it is sad that the California drivers back then really don't get the same recognition as the other drivers throught racing.

Tracy

[Tracy Figaro]

I've just noticed Lou Figaro. I take it that was the same Lou Figaro who won an NASCAR race before he was killed racing?

Hi was reading your post about lou figaro. Yes that is the same Lou Figaro Fron Nascar. He drove Midgets, Roadsters, stock and anything else he could get his hands on. When he was in Germany in ww2 he even raced the military vehicles. Just being Lou. He is my Grandfather and we have heard the stories and seen the photos. Good look in your search. I really think that it is sad that the California drivers back then really don't get the same recognition as the other drivers throught racing.

Tracy

[Frank S]

Very good, Tracy!

I'm sure there are many here who would like to see the photos ...


For any who have joined lately, and who have run into some broken links in my post #18, the disruption was due to Mr RoadRunner (Time Warner Cable) moving from one server to another, and my decision to follow them.

The one link that allows access to the other "fsheff" pages is (in repaired form) :
http://home.roadrunn...f/coverst01.htm

A later one, still good, is to FotoTime and "The first few albums are mixed and perhaps repetitive in some cases; remainder are labeled by location and date."
http://www.fototime....8E4976B3CB4F9F2

Edited by Frank S, 28 May 2009 - 22:20.

[ChrisHolt]

Thanks, very handy!

Palmer was about 34, Bob Cross 26 and Bill Anderson 31 (b. 1917-08-07). Interestingly, I have different dates for Mattson (b. 1917) and Mel Hansen (b. 1911-06-11), don't recall the source!

If you want to research Tex Peterson, his real name was Clarence Peterson, and he must've been around 40 by 1948.

Howdy, I'm looking for help, I'm trying to put together a history of the early CRA days, and right now am working on the 1946 to 1965 time table. I have most of it and also am including any AAA history I can find (and noting that it is AAA not CRA) I have a few sources but am not too sure they are reliable so am looking for reliable info only, any help would be welcome. When I'm done I will add the newer years and am very willing to share the results when I'm done.
I'm also looking for pictures from that era if it has the info regarding the date/driver/owner...

[Michael Ferner]

Welcome Chris!

Do you have the book "California Hot Shoes" by Buzz Rose? It details the 1955-70 CRA seasons, and most of my info comes from that, but I have also found some more details from my own research, albeit mainly about the Sprint Car years, from the late fifties onwards. Are you looking for race dates earlier than 1955? I have come across a few mentions, but never collected the info since it is outside of my core interest area. I may find it again, but don't want to duplicate your efforts, so maybe it's best if you post what you already have, so that I can fill in.

[ChrisHolt]

[quote name='Michael Ferner' date='Feb 1 2010, 02:14' post='4107967']
Welcome Chris!

Do you have the book "California Hot Shoes" by Buzz Rose? It details the 1955-70 CRA seasons, ====I may find it again, but don't want to duplicate your efforts,
I do have the book, my interest right now is the earlier years going back to 1946, with 46, 47, 48, 49 & 50 results hard to find right now, once I get to 1951 I'm doing pretty good and have typed up a pretty good history from 51-55, way to much to post on here, but when I'm all done I will want to share it with the world and will probably put it on a DVD for the cost of a blank DVD. At the rate I'm going it will be a few years from now, it took almost a year to put 1951 together !! Since Buzz did such a good job I will stick with 46-55 for now and then my newer results later, the difference being I'm putting the more boring details of fast time trophy dash and heat race winners with out all the bling bling, pictures and more interesting stuff that Buzz did, my reason is just to have it all in one place for anyone that wants to look it up for whatever reason and do it fast and easy.

[alfredaustria]

Perhaps you can help me with further information about the following US-drivers from the 1940s: Big Car, Dirt-Car, Sprint-Car.

I would need birth-date and date of death.

 

Ed BARNETT

 

Jimmy AHEARN

 

Both drivers where driving the Pacific Coast AAA Championship 1949 and both are in the entry list of the Oakland Stadium-race (CA) on July, 21 1949

 

Thank you in advance for your kind help.

Best wishes

Alfred

[Jim Thurman]

Unfortunately, Alfred, I cannot be of much assistance aside from reposting that in a 1949 Racing Annual, Ed Barnett was described as "42 years old." Which would put his date of birth as likely 1906 (with the pre-season publication date).

 

I have no further information on him, owing to being such a common name.