SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139) |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial: What to do with stuff... |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am sorry to send out this mass email but I just can't email each of you individually as I am just devastated. David Daniels was killed in a MC accident last night (August 6th). My daughter Diana flew down this morning to be with me. He was a donor so they did all of this today. We are having him cremated and then shipped to Marysville, OH where he always told me if something happened to him that was where he wanted to be and I have a open plot next to his grandmother up there. I plan on graveside services in Marysville on Saturday morning the 6th of September. I hope you all will include me in your thoughts and prayers as Diana and I really need them. Thanks, Eileen Daniels |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Richard: Do you have a BIO of Bud Meyer? Stokes |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Can you guys help Frank Oddo? Going to Bonneville? Karen Davis. "Does anybody recognize this Bonneville participant circa 1972-74? If so, please send me your best recollection of the entry and or owner name, class or number. Thanks, Frank Oddo" |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Members: Bill Groak sends invitations to the media every so often whenever the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum has an open house, a new exhibit or a twilight cruise night. |
If you are a historian, writer, free lance photographer and would like to cover the opening exhibit, let me know and I will contact Bill and ask him if you can attend. These events occur about every other month and are excellent opportunities to cover, write about or photograph interesting new exhibits and events. The photo shows Don Cameron and Raquel Tejada, later to become Raquel Welch. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I had a nice phone conversation with Bud Meyer. Bud's celebrating his 90th birthday this month and will have a birthday party at the Petersen Automotive Museum at the end of this month. Bud comes from a family of hot rodders and racers who were at the forefront of racing during the 20th century. It is pretty hard to find an area that the Meyer family did not involve themselves in. Bud's grandfather and father (Eddie) were born in Metz, in Alsace/Lorraine, which according to who won the wars at that time could have been in Germany or France. His two uncles were Lou and Harry. The three Meyer brothers raced cars and had their own shop, working on cars. Eddie raced cars and according to Bud, was racing out at Banning the day Lou won Indy for the first time. Bud was twelve and his uncle Harry was just 24 months older than he was and they grew up together, more as equals than as uncle and nephew. Bud and Harry were climbing in the trees when it was announced on the loudspeakers that Lou Meyer won the Indy 500. Things were much simpler then and everybody knew everybody else. There was none of this hoopla and star celebrity nonsense that we have today. Bud's uncles and father only made it to the 8th or 9th grades before they had to go to work. But in the 1930's, an 8th grade education would have been equivalent to a high school diploma today. Bud was born in 1918, in Redlands and lived in Huntington Park before moving to the Hollywood area. 90 years later his memory is still sharp. Around 1938 he joined the Throttler's car club and at the dry lakes he took the record that had belonged to Eldon Haws, running about 114 mph. An argument over that caused Bud to leave the Throttlers and join the Road Runners car club with Paul Schiefer, Wally Parks, the Miller Brothers and Vic Edelbrock Sr. He and his uncle Harry were injured in an accident at the dry lakes. Bud went through high school, but then went to work immediately afterwards. This was during the Great Depression and he remembers the despair, poverty and soup kitchens. The Meyers were fortunate in that they could make a living from their racing and their mechanical repair skills. Bud remembers going to the Twin Barrels Drive-In on Beverly Blvd, between La Brea and Fairfax. It was a favorite hangout for many of the racers who lived in the Hollywood area. He raced Tommy Lee, in Lee's swift roadster and beat him. He also hung out at Danny Oakes Shop, which was near another favorite hang-out for the kids, called Deloris' Drive-In, located near Spalding and La Cienega. Bud was friends with Robert Stack, the actor who played Eliot Ness in the TV series, The Untouchables. Bud remembers Stack as a quiet and personable young man, who loved to go racing at the dry lakes or go boat racing. The first race that he and Stack were at was at Murray Dam, in San Diego, in 1940. Stack came from a well-to-do family, but he was accepted as a typical hot rodder. Al Jepson built the race cars for Stack. Jepson was a real hot-head and crackerjack sprint car driver. Bud's father lived to be 89, his uncles lived to be 90 and 91. Happy birthday Bud and many more. |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bob Jennings really missed the mark in his piece about my late friend Quin Epperly. He also missed the fact that Quin was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in May of this year. He also missed the mark with his description of Quin's involvement with the Salih "Laydown" Roadster. George Salih developed the laydown engine placement and designed the car. George and Howard Gilbert built the chassis and fitted it with the full range of components made by Halibrand Engineering for Indy cars. Quin was contracted to build the body work. Sponsorship of the car was by Sandy Belond and the dollar amount quoted by Sandy and Sam Hanks had a vast difference. One stated $3,000 and the other $5,000. George Salih was the shop forman at the Meyer Drake engine plant. I never heard Quin take credit for the design and fabrication of the complete car. Race car construction was very different in the fifties as there were several small operations building cars as compared to today's cars that roll off of assembly lines! This car was the last car to win back-to-back 500's. The same car was entered in 1957 and 1958. The Al Unser driven Johnny Lightning cars of 1970 and 1971 were two very different cars. Quin did do the complete design and fabrication on the Lindsay Hopkins Autolite car which has been restored by, and still in the possession of, Bill Akin of Nashville. Bob Falcon |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There's an addition to the 11th annual Pebble Beach Tour d'Elegance, a special route for antiques (cars built before 1916). Click here to see the map of the route; http://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/img/pdfs/2008_Tour_and_Veteran_Tour_Maps_Combined.pdf. There will be great photo opportunities along Scenic Road and at the Carmel Mission. Jeff Green |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just posted on the "News" page on our Road Runners website: August Road Runners Meeting, 8/12/08 - (Follow up) - We had a great turn out for our Bonneville Bon Voyage dinner gathering at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Riverside. It was a very nice evening and great social event for Club members and their families. The food was good and no one left hungry. Attending were - Reese Adams, Bill and Veronica Anderson, Wendel Burns and daughter Sarah, Mark and Julie Cavender, Dave Consalvo, Jerry and Susan Cornelison, Mike Ferguson, Buddy Fitzgerel, Terry Geer, Bill and Dianne Harris, John and Nancy Julis, Jim and Susan Kitchen, Willie and Pam Martin, Jack and Pat Masson, (prospective member) Pat and Kat McSwain and their two children, Pat and Delia Riley and Mark and Gwen Saxlund. Many thanks to Jack Masson for organizing this event. Our Road Runners members racing at Speedweek this year are: Harris & Wester #675 XXO/FALT (Bill Harris, Dale Wester and Richard Ross), Jim Kitchen #3076 C/STR (Jim Kitchen) & Campbell Racing #7008 A/PP (Casey Campbell & Tim Campbell). A possible entry is the McRat Racing Diesel Truck (prospective member Pat McSwain) if the truck is ready by next week. Several members will be attending as event volunteers and spectators. Pat Riley will be working in Tech doing inspections and Delia Riley will be assisting Judy Sights (Gear Grinders) with driver safety gear checks. Club Members attending as spectators will be Buddy Fitzgerel, Mike Retzlaff and Ty O'Neal. (Sorry if I missed anyone - E-mail me and let me know if I did.) We wish all our racers the best of luck for a safe meet and new records! (posted Aug 13, 2008) http://www.ussarcherfish.com/roadrunners/news.htm. New addition to the "Weather Report" links on the Road Runners homepage: I have added a "48 hr Observation" link to the Bonneville Weather section, just like the link we have had for El Mirage. The Observations provide an almost "real time" read on weather conditions. At Bonneville, the readings are posted every 20 minutes and are read at the Wendover Airfield. At El Mirage, the reading are posted hourly and are read at the El Mirage Airfield just south of the lake. You can now look at Bonneville and El Mirage weather for "10 Day Forecasts," "Severe Weather" reports and "48 hr. Observations." Jerry Cornelison |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Editor: Burke LeSage sent me a nice program about the SEMA Hall of Fame. As I retyped it I noticed some names from the dry lakes and land speed racing that stand out. SEMA, or the Specialty Equipment Market Association was formed in the 1960's to protect the interest of speed equipment manufacturers from legislation and unfair press reports. They do a fantastic job, even today, in protecting the hot rodders, custom car, racing and street performance fans. At one time their name was Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association, but changed their name to give a more wholesome public image. Look at some of the names and you will see a land speed origin; Burke LeSage, Andy Granatelli, Pete Chapouris, Stuart Hilborn, Ray Brock, Lou Baney, Ray Brown, Carl Olson, Vic Edelbrock Jr, Dean Moon, Keith Black, Bill Stroppe, Jim Deist, Mickey Thompson, Ted Halibrand, Alex Xydias, Sandy Belond, Robert E. Petersen, Kenny Harman, Wally Parks, Ed Iskenderian, Louis Senter, Harry Weber, Vic Edelbrock, Sr, Phil Weiand, Roy Richter, Ed Winfield and Paul Schiefer. That's a pretty fair list. |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This note is to advise you of a new 36hp Challenge class for the upcoming year. Due to numerous requests, we are adding a Karmann Ghia category to the National 36hp Land Speed Record Challenge in 2009. All the basic guidelines for the Challenge will remain the same with only the word bug being changed to Ghia to differentiate any records set. Any speed recorded by Ghia bodied cars will "NOT" qualify as Bug records but will be seperate in all areas. I also hope this may help bring a few of you out off the fence and allow you to run the Ghias you already own without having to acquire another Volkswagen. Ghias are aerodynamically more efficient (I am still looking for Coefficient of Drag specs for Ghias should anyone have that information!) than bugs and should result in speeds at least 5 miles per hour faster than bugs with the same 36hp motor. The sanctioning bodies overseeing the events will not recognize seperate Ghia records! These categories will be for 36hp Challenge recognition only and I will provide a vintage trophy for the fastest 36hp Ghia bodied speed in 2009. |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I know, for a fact, that he (new Dry Lakes Hall of Famer Quin Epperly) did the body restoration of the Mormon Meteor a few years before he crossed the finish line. I was with him when he and Marvin Jenkins made the deal, after Marv had repossessed the car from the State of Utah. They (Utah) really did not care for it well and after a parade they parked it on the open trailer in a truck wash rack. The body work was very early aluminum and not very strong. It was full of dents from people leaning on it while it was on display in the State House. The header pipes were jammed with waste candy wrappers and everything else that was imaginable. Quin and Marv were friends from the Winfield V8 (now NOVI) days. Marv was Lew Welch's pilot. Quin also did a lot of the work on Breedlove's three wheel jet car. Bob Falcon |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Utah Salt Flats Racing Association - http://www.saltflats.com. This website shows the organization of the USFRA and the races that they hold at Bonneville. A first class site and newsletter. |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Bonneville 200 MPH Club - http://www.bonneville200mph.org. This website is well done and has a fine history of the 200 mph club, which for men and women in the 1930's, '40's and '50's was an unheard of speed. Based on those that have earned their way into the club, it still is an unheard of speed. To make it into this club, you have to set a record over 200mph. If the record is 700 mph, you can go 699mph and still not qualify for membership. Even the records in the classes close to 200mph are not easy to break. Those are often smaller engine displacements and it can take years, even a lifetime to break such a record. There are also 300 and 400 MPH clubs, but they are part of the 200 MPH Club. The following article was written by Greg Sharp, curator for the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, in Pomona, California. |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Gold Coast Roadster & Racing Club presents the 16th Annual Gas-Up Party and Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, to be held on September 27, 2008, from 9am to 5pm, at Mendenhall's Petroleum Museum, 24 Zaca Street, Buellton, California. For details, directions, motel accommodations and ticket prices call 805-245-8519 or 805-937-4617. Mailing address is P.O. Box 1234, Buellton, California 93427. (From a letter sent by the Gold Coast Roadster & Racing Club) |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Links to other land speed and hotrodding websites: |
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen Barrett, Mike Bastian, Lee Blaisdell, Jim Bremner, Warren Bullis, Burly Burlile, George Callaway, Gary Carmichael, John Backus, John Chambard, Jerry Cornelison, G. Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Bob Falcon, Rich Fox, Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt James, Wendy Jeffries, Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred Lobello, Eric Loe, Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre, Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don Montgomery, Bob Morton, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy, Landspeed Louise Ann Noeth, Frank Oddo, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally Parks (in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed Safarik, Frank Salzberg, Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach Suhr, Maggie Summers, Gary Svoboda, Pat Swanson, Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy Travis, Jack Underwood and Tina Van Curen, Richard Venza. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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