SOCIETY OF LAND SPEED RACING HISTORIANS
NEWSLETTER 117 - June 24, 2009
Editor: Richard Parks [email protected]
President's Corner: By Jim Miller (1-818-846-5139)

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Some Names To Look For In This Newsletter:
 President's Corner, Editorials, Will Scott has taken a turn for the worse and is in Cedars/Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, My mom Vi Arnett and I appreciate your phone call and question about my dad Joaquin Arnett's health, Just wanted to let everyone know that Ron had a stent put in his right renal artery today at UCLA and he did just great, Good job on the list the '08 boys will be posted in the '09 program, I wanted to contact her regarding a movie script that was written about her dad back in 1996 (I believe), The SoCal Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians presents 27th Literature Faire and Exchange Sunday June 28, George Barris will be at Autobooks/Aerobooks on July 11, I have been meaning to contact you about Jack Peters then Don Coonan cc'd me on his/your emails, Have Thom Taylor call Louie Senter, I'm trying to get some history about a car I bought, Running as car #513 in Class C Modified Roadster at Bonneville in 1951 Robert Hamke from Indianapolis drove the Ralphs Muffler Special, As a general rule I do not add any support to unfounded rumors but rather just identify it as a rumor with no creditability at that point, Moldy Marvin's "Doin' it in the Dirt Camp N' Cruize June 27-28, Editor's notes: The following email comes from Lenny Schaeffer at Chop Shop Customs, Here is a list by year of the honorees and cars of the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame from Evelyn's website, I'm working on an article about stock car road racing in So Cal during the 1950's, Santa Maria Speedway, We're the new public relations firm for the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, We are coming along fine with the Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster and so exciting to have all the families coming to Ventura on July 12th to the Ventura Motorsports Gathering, The biggest problem we have is finding color shots of the early race cars, Random Pictures and info.

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President's Corner:  
   The land speed community has been maligned this week and I am concerned about it. It started innocently with a press release about a TV show personality going out to El Mirage with a car and running faster than an established record. Before you know it his PR guys are saying it's a world record. To top it off it was inferred that that the runs were sanctioned by the S.C.T.A. Both are false. Then the fun began. The S.C.T.A. President sent out a reply that they weren't involved with the runs. Then more emails started flying about saying that the rules don't matter and that running over the record makes him king of the hill. What's even sadder is some of our contributors are going along with the hype. I probably got 10 emails within an hour from different parties at odds with each other over the happening. To add insult to injury, name calling has taken place. What's embarrassing is that it's all taking place in our public forum called the internet. The S.C.T.A. prides itself in being a family sport and the name calling makes us all look like a bunch of children and once again contributes to the hot rodders image of being bad boys. A photograph is circulating showing said car and crew celebrating their run. Instead of pointing their index finger in the air to signify being number one they're all flipping the bird. Maybe I am out of touch, but I think this brings a bad image to land speed racing. I for one, will in the future decline to even go near the car as an S.C.T.A. worker.

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Editorial:
Today I received three phone calls and they were critically important to our mandate as a Society to preserve the history and heritage of land speed racing, hot rodding and early drag racing. The first came from a man who has raced on the dry lakes and has built many cars for racing. He purchased the equipment, tooling, dyes, molds and name of a famous engine builder and mechanic and produces parts on demand. More importantly, he helps to keep the history of this company alive. It came as quite a shock when someone trademarked his property rights and began to produce an apparel line of clothing. I wrote an affidavit for him and directed him to other members of our group and he will discuss the issue with the man's attorney. Perhaps it will end well and perhaps it won't. Many times there are individuals who find lapsed trademarks and logos and register them with the state and thus take ownership. The Society neither encourages nor discourages such actions. We only state for the record that we want a legitimate and honest transaction, one where the parties agree on the issues. Case in point is where Pete Chapouris contacted Alex Xydias and asked to use the old So-Cal Speed Shop name and brand. They both agreed on the details, what kind of ownership issue was at stake and what the duties and remunerations would be. This business deal worked out so well that Pete and Alex have a thriving business and both of them are pleased.
Now in some situations there are no heirs and thus a person researching the old trademark and logo finds that there is no one to negotiate with. In that case we are given two choices; support the new owner or have no brand at all brought back to life. Isn't it better to have a new owner come in and resurrect the brand and keep the history of the company alive? Here's another situation; the prospective businessman finds that there are old owners or their heirs alive and in contacting them, finds that they have no interest in the old trademark. In that case, and with the signed authorization of the old owners, isn't it better to have a new owner than none at all? Let's look at another scenario; those owners of trademarks and logos who don't keep the registration current. Aren't they setting themselves up for grief? Our members and the general public who have a trademarked company that hasn't been in operation for a long time, should consider updating the legal registration. Or at least send us a notice to be posted in the newsletter that you own the rights. Some of those rights do not have to be registered. My brother and I apparently own the rights to the name "Wally Parks." We had it checked with an attorney. We don't have to register it, it's automatically covered under the law of the state of California. My brother wants to use it as the name of a library and call it the Wally Parks Foundation and maintain written records in an archive under a non-profit status. We may not have to go and register our father's name, but you may not be so lucky if it was a commercial business. Act now to keep what is yours secure and safe.
The next phone call was in regards to Will Scott, a member of the Gold Coast Roadster and Racing Club. Evelyn Roth let me know that Will is in serious shape at Cedars/Sinai Hospital in West Los Angeles. At this point I cannot tell you his status, as he has been this sick before and pulled through. Will is a trooper and a fighter. He was with us at Black Rock Desert in 1997 when Breedlove and Noble went after the ultimate land speed record. Scott stayed 12 weeks on the playa, longer than any of us and his health went downhill from there. It was a grueling affair. One of my jobs was to look after the welfare of the volunteers and more than one of us had serious health problems. I was delirious for two days at the end due to heat and sun stroke and missed the big record, though I felt the sonic boom in town. Will later bought my brother's Camaro and was hoping to break my brother's record at Bonneville with Teal, his son, as his partner. Will was Jack Mendenhall's close friend and assistant, checking on Jack's health and welfare constantly and volunteering to build and maintain Jack's beloved Gas Pump Museum. If you get a chance, go and see Will asap.
A whole slew of emails, phone calls and personal face-to-face questions concern the closing of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. It's a tidal wave of concern, angst and frustration. I want to tell you that I know nothing about this issue. I've heard from credible sources on both sides of the issue and I wouldn't say for a minute that they aren't reliable. Some say yes and some say no. Officially the SLSRH takes no stand and does not know the answer to this series of rumors. Some have said that we shouldn't mention the subject at all and others have said that an open discussion should always be the rule. I won't castigate either viewpoint. My viewpoint, and I have talked to Jim Miller and others, is that the situation in all motorsports, not just the museum, is difficult. We can't help the situation by protests, discord or division. We can only help the current situation by being patient and yet, concerned. If we are asked to help, we stand ready to do so, but it is counterproductive to add more stress to the people who are trying to keep the museum in good health. Let me add one thing; the museum has a board of directors separate from the NHRA. They work together, but the legal structure is separated. Certainly the current board of directors of the museum, and that of the NHRA, have different objectives, but all of them are honorable and dedicated men whom I have known for many years and I trust them. So while the current recession is difficult, we have lived through many recessions and we will get through this one as well.
Addendum: My brother, David Parks and I visited the Petersen Automotive Museum (PAM) on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 and spoke to Dick Messer, the Director of the PAM for over three hours. Here is the information on the rumor concerning the merging of the PAM with the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. The PAM and the Motorsports Museum have board of directors and officers who often discuss matters of mutual benefit, including loaning cars and memorabilia between the two museums. The officers of the two museums often discuss various business proposals that would benefit both places. As a matter of course, unification of the facilities has been discussed, just as creating regional museums has been proposed. In these difficult recessionary times, the two boards have discussed more than one proposal, including the merger of the two museums on an exploratory basis only. No further contractual unification has occurred at this time and it may never come to pass. It would be a dereliction of their duties if they did not discuss all possible options. Sponsorship by the Auto Club of Southern California and the NHRA is still forthcoming at this time. The PAM is doing several things to insure their survivability, including opening up a restaurant in their lobby and creating a brand new exhibit in their basement with about 30,000 feet of space. That was the source of the rumors. However, this increased exhibition space has been in the planning stages for a long time and the PAM intended to use it for their own exhibits. However, Dick Messer told us that if it ever comes to the decision to merge the two museum, this space would be allotted to the Motorsports Museum. The PAM would also continue the Twi-light cruise night at the Motorsports Museum in Pomona and continue all the activities that the Motorsports Museum is committed to. At this point, no proposals have been acted upon and may never be acted upon.
One last point; if you send something to me to include in the newsletter and it is written in a 2007 Word Program that truncates or lops in two, I won't run it. It takes too much of my time to try and run it through filters to make it conform. If I merge the two together, then all the material truncates and the website operator will not publish the newsletter. Send me a normal email. If you put it into a Word Doc, or a PDF file, the chances that I will reject it is quite high. I will make one attempt to filter the information and if that doesn't work, I don't have the time anymore to work on it.

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Will Scott has taken a turn for the worse and is in Cedars/Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. This information is according to Evelyn Roth. My brother, David Parks, and I visited Will today, Tuesday, at the hospital and his situation is serious. We also visited with Teal Scott, Will's son, Evelyn Roth, owner of www.oilstick.com and Vickie Mendenhall, wife of Mark Mendenhall.

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My mom, Vi Arnett, and I appreciate your phone call and question about my dad, Joaquin Arnett's, health. He is currently at Kindred Hospital in San Diego, California. He is suffering from bilateral pneumonia and is in ICU. For more than 3 years dad has Alzheimer's disease, yet he has been active and walking about in the Lakeside, California center where he is living. Then on May 23, 2009, he was hospitalized on 2 different occasions for respiratory problems. He is currently very sleepy and receiving antibiotic treatments. Hopefully he will recover from this, and get rehab and go back to the center. However, pneumonia for anyone is a hard thing to combat, especially an 82 year old with Alzheimer's disease. The disease is progressive and yet he continues to fight and has a strong will to live. I will keep you posted. Thanks again for your concern. Jackie Arnett Sonka

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Just wanted to let everyone know that Ron had a stent put in his right renal artery today at UCLA and he did just great. He will be home tomorrow. Doctor said he was fantastic as he asked for just a local instead of the "put me out completely." So when came through it he wasn't groggy or out of it. The doctor did say the closer in the artery was more severe than it showed on the scan. Anyway, it's all fixed and hopefully this will help his blood pressure and the swelling in his legs that he was having. I'm sure he'll be on the golf course in 2 or 3 more days. Marilyn Lachman
   Readers: Ron Lachman is the patient and Marilyn Lachman the patient patient's nurse at home. Marilyn was the secretary to my father at NHRA for many years and the first secretary of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. We have asked for her biography and look forward to publishing it. Our wishes go to Ron for a speedy recovery.

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Good job on the list. The '08 boys will be posted in the '09 program. If you have an '08 program it lists these guys; Don Ferguson III, Jim Jensen, Mike Manghelli, Steve Toller, Dennis Varni, Bob Webb. From the past; Quin Epperly, Jim Feuling. MFG of the year; Rick Gold from ERC. Historian; John Thawley. Hope this helps. Your revision on the what constitutes a Hall of Fame was right on.  Jim Miller
  Jim: The credit for the lists goes to Evelyn Roth at www.oilstick.com, or to the person who typed it up and posted it to the website. Evelyn's website has been a boon to land speed and dry lakes racing. She spends a great deal of time promoting the sport and the Mendenhall Gas Pump Museum, Dry Lakes Hall of Fame and the Gas-Up Party. Every year she volunteers her time, along with the other dedicated members of the Gold Coast Roadster and Racing Club, to make this the premier event of the land speed racing reunion scene. One of Evelyn's projects was to make a silver pin, pure silver, honoring the event. I have one and cherish it. Evelyn was at Black Rock in 1997 to volunteer to do security with Jack Mendenhall, Will Scott, Fred Iaia, Glen Laabs, Don Edwards, myself and other friends and members of the GCR&R club. Congratulations to the class of '08 to be honored in '09.

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I wanted to contact her regarding a movie script that was written about her dad back in 1996 (I believe), and there is some interest in it again and we would like to see if she would be interested in such a project. Thank you again for your help. Norma Leonard and Mario Simon 
   Norma: It helps to provide a short background so that I can help you get to the right source. In this case you are looking for a particular party, but since I'm unfamiliar with who you are, I have to contact your party first to get their permission. Where I have had contact, there is no problem in giving out an email address.  A movie script written properly has great cross over appeal. There are fascinating characters and real potential for multiple movies. Go to www.hotrodhotline.com, guest columnist, Richard Parks and look up the biographies that we are doing. The following groups have great movie potential; Bean Bandits, Motor Monarchs and the Gophers. I suggest if you do such a project that you focus on the early years.

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The SoCal Chapter of the Society of Automotive Historians presents: 27th Literature Faire and Exchange, Sunday June 28, 2009 8AM - 3PM, at the NHRA Wally Parks Motorsports Museum, Los Angeles County Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave, Gate #1, Pomona. There is free admission and parking for spectators and buyers. Vendors and sellers pay a small fee for their space rental. This is Southern California's largest venue for automotive paper: owner's manuals, books, advertising, posters, automotive art, magazine back issues, photographs, current magazines, pins, badges, event programs, sales brochures, models, small collectibles and memorabilia. If it is paper, you may find it here! No car or car parts allowed, this is not a car swap meet. Plan on visiting the NHRA Museum while you are there. Bob Falcon

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George Barris will be at Autobooks/Aerobooks on July 11, 2009 and not in June as previously announced. Tina Van Curen, Autobooks-Aerobooks, 3524 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91505. 818 845-0707

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I have been meaning to contact you about Jack Peters, then Don Coonan cc'd me on his/your emails. Attached is the draft of the article I'm doing about Throttle for Rodders Journal and the front of the book reprinting all 12 issues of Throttle. There may be some inaccuracies in it at this point--it's just a draft. I talked to your father a couple of times about Throttle and one time he was with Alex Xydias so it was great history--but not much they remembered. Your father was amazing because the first time I met him he knew all about me which was beyond flattering. I held him up very high but he was always very easy to approach and talk to. One of the last times I saw him was at the graduation of your niece (Mari Parks Bell) at Pepperdine--my niece graduated in the same class and the two were room mates for a time. We talked for a bit--he didn't seem surprised to see somebody from the car world at a place like Pepperdine--I got the feeling he would bump into people who knew him wherever he happened to be. Anyway, we're on the hunt for Peters. I have talked to Louie Senter, Phil Remington, Bill Burke and others. We have gotten almost nowhere. Steve Coonan and I went to visit with Bill Burke...he just doesn't remember anything about Peters. They were good friends and he has mentioned him in articles in the past. I quoted you from the Land Speed Record site where you posted origins of Hot Rod magazine info. Thanks for all of your help. Thom Taylor
Thom: We are excited that you are doing research on Jack Peters. I have learned a great deal from your article, especially on sources to try and reach who might have known Peters personally. I am not surprised that Burke doesn't remember much. Every person that I talked to can't remember Jack Peters. But if you mention Ak Miller, Tony Capanna or Karl Orr, they all remember. Peters, evidently, had a much softer personality. This is one of those enigmas that drive historians to unprecedented research. Peters had a huge impact at the time, but World War II simply overwhelmed everybody. We do a lot of biographies and it is very evident that the war altered lives and destinies. As for Jack Peters and Throttle Magazine, even I get confused on the issues, especially this one, where we have to fill in the gaps in our knowledge with supposition and I find myself doing retractions and apologies to the members. But that's what makes the Society of Land Speed Racing Historians different, we continually find out new facts and correct the old assumptions. Please send us updates on what you are doing and what the Rodders Journal is doing, so that we can keep our members up to date. The RJ is a great magazine and my father treasured all of the copies that RJ produced over the years. My brother and I have our father's archives and it will take us years to work through it. It is a treasure trove of mid-twentieth century racing history that we are determined to see published.

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Have Thom Taylor call Louie Senter. Since he wrote for Peters and might have some additional information on him or the Throttle magazine. About the late 1945 meet at Rosamond. The big stink was a lot of guys weren't back from the service yet. Also the S.C.T.A. hadn't re-incorporated so that was a problem. Also there was no election of officers and Bozzie and the group kinda elected themselves and that got a lot of folks "steaming" mad if I could use that word as a pun. The S.C.T.A Racing News for 11/45 and especially December 1945 (Volume II, no. 14) will enlighten you more on this subject. The Jan '46 issue talks about electing officers and being incorporated. Also the boys were kicked off Muroc. Somehow Bill Warth negotiated with the Army and got them back there. I'd have to do a little research to get the exact dates. It was all published in S.C.T.A. Racing News before WWII. Jim Miller
Jim: Jack Peters had an eclectic magazine. Many people gave him articles, my father being one of them, and yet for all that, most of these writers for Throttle magazine can't remember what happened to Peters after his magazine folded in 1941. This is only my supposition and no one has told me this, but Throttle magazine and the first issues of Hot Rod magazine look almost identical and the structure of the two are very close. That does not mean that Petersen and Lindsay copied the format of Throttle magazine, as other magazines of the era looked like that. However, to assume that Petersen and Lindsay didn't know of the existence of Throttle magazine is a stretch. Petersen was a hot rodder and hung around the scene. The Throttle magazines that survived were treasured mementos and the hot rodders, like my father, who kept their copies, prized them and showed them around to their friends. Bozzie was the past President of the SCTA when it disbanded and Thatcher Darwin was the secretary. Their view was that they were the men in charge in the past and therefore should be the temporary guardians of the SCTA until it could reform itself. Ed Adams opposed that, saying that his name was on the old state incorporation title and that put him at risk legally. Most of the previous club reps and board officials were in the service and their concern was that without everyone back and in control, a weakened SCTA might not control an accident, which could lead to public condemnation and the banning on future land speed efforts. The public was really incensed by needless highway deaths due to "hot rodding" and bills were introduced in Sacramento around 1945 to outlaw "any modifications of a standard stock car" as produced by Detroit. Thatcher Darwin, as has been published in the SLSRH, went to Sacramento on his own money and time, and spoke to the legislature on behalf of the SCTA. He was later reimbursed by the board. When the SCTA was reconstituted and reincorporated in late 1945 and a new board was elected, with my father as president, one of the major goals of the board was to push for road safety and you saw individual club members stop on the road and help stranded motorists, then leave specially made business cards that said, "My name is Ak Miller and I'm a member of the Road Runners car club. It has been my pleasure to help you today," or words to that effect. The SCTA was in a class of its own. I've talked to members of the other Timing Associations and their reasons, they often told me, was to "avoid the rules and regulations that the SCTA imposed" and simply go out and race. The SCTA had a hospital fund second to no one and that can be attributed to Mel Leighton, a stocky and coarse black man with a heart of gold and a loyalty to the SCTA that so endeared him to the SCTA and my father that Mel was elected and re-elected over and over again as the treasurer. This was at a time when whites and blacks did not intermix, but in the SCTA they treated Mel with the utmost respect. The safety crews developed by the SCTA was of such a high level that my father simply copied the formula, much of which he was responsible for in the SCTA, and used it for the NHRA Safety Safari system. The SCTA was everywhere, in the press, at City Hall, meeting with the police and fire chiefs, making friends with mayors and city council members and fighting for the rights of hot rodders. In old movies, they used the SCTA as a reward for street racers. The dialog would go like this; "Do you wanna race tonight?" "No, if I do they won't let me race at the dry lakes." All across the nation the young kids knew of the Southern California dry lakes and the times that they ran and Throttle magazine, while for only one year, helped to popularize the SCTA. The other timing associations were important too, but all of them together did not have the organization and drawing power that the SCTA had, though talented racers often belonged to more than one group. I asked Ak Miller if the SCTA felt threatened and he said no, everyone knew that the other associations posed no threat, except that they worried about inferior safety protocols in the other timing associations causing problems with the public feelings towards hot rodding.

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I'm trying to get some history about a car I bought. The SCTA timing tag is missing from the dash. I think it ran Bonnieville in 1951 or '52. Do you have Jack Underwood's Email Address? The car was built by Bob Hamke in 1950. Thanks for any help. Steve Carrasas, Eaton Ohio, [email protected].

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KPBS speedweek show. Our treasurer (Sidewinders) just informed me that at 10 PM tonite (June 22, 24, 28) on KPBS (check your local listings) there is a show called Inside Tonite. They have an hour long show from speedweek.  Happy viewing. Ron Main

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Running as car #513 in Class C Modified Roadster at Bonneville in 1951 Robert Hamke from Indianapolis drove the Ralphs Muffler Special. Power was a 306" '50 Ford flattie. Bob drove the car 149.253 mph for a ninth in class. This is the info I have on the car. In '52 another Ralph's Muffler car appeared. It was Fred Carillo's rear engined car from '51. Don't know who drove it. Jim Miller, www.AHRF.com.

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As a general rule I do not add any support to unfounded rumors but rather just identify it as a rumor, with no creditability at that point. I will be sending you a short blurb about the story I did for The Alternate. The first installment was in the June issue which I just received last Thursday. And I received some good feedback from a reader. How about that? Just to let you know the first installment of the Ted Halibrand story written by yours truly has been published by The Alternate. It appears on page one of issue number 246 dated June 2009. The balance will follow in the July issue but, since it is very long, may kick over into the August issue also. A sample single issue can be obtained by contacting the publisher, Phyllis Devine, by phone at 717-469-0777, mail at PO Box 239, Grantville PA 17028-0239 or by logging on to the web site to E-mail www.racepaper.com. Many of the dry lakes and drag racers are familiar with the equipment manufactured at Halibrand Engineering. Bob Falcon

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Moldy Marvin's "Doin' it in the Dirt Camp N' Cruize, June 27-28, see www.moldyshows.com. Moldy Marvin

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Editor's notes: The following email comes from Lenny Schaeffer at Chop Shop Customs. I write a column for his newsletter, which gets a short exclusive and then I republish it in the SLSRH Newsletter.
"I just wanted to remind you that the newsletter for May is going out about the 15th. If you haven't sent something over yet for May- I just wanted to give you a heads up. Thanks again, Lenny Schaeffer"
My column today is about a topic close to the heart of my father and myself; volunteering. Sometimes we do what we always dreamed of in our jobs, just as Lenny Schaeffer does at Chop Shop Customs. Sometimes a job is just a job, something we force ourselves to do until we are able to do other things that make our lives interesting. My father found that to be true. He had several jobs as he was growing up during the Great Depression. One of the jobs he had was delivering laundry to homes and businesses. Then he went to General Motors, and unlike today, working for GM meant job security and a good wage. He promoted up to test driver and when the war came, the plant produced tanks instead of cars and he got to test the tanks on the proving grounds. After the war the unions walked out and GM closed down for awhile. The Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) hired him to be their General Manager, but this was to be a supplementary job, not a full time position. In that position he directed the work of a young Robert "Pete" Petersen, who was a member of a PR firm for the SCTA, on a project which became Hot Rod Magazine. That later turned into a job as Pete asked my dad to become the first "professional" editor of the magazine. The relationship between the two men was based on mutual respect, but dad was thirteen years older than Petersen. While working as the editor of Hot Rod magazine, and then later as editorial director of Trend Publications, my father conceived of the idea for making the SCTA concept of local racing car clubs into a national car club association in order to combat the rising problem of illegal street racing. He had a friend mail a letter that he had actually written himself, stating that a national car club would benefit youth and keep them from using the streets as race tracks.
The response to that letter was phenomenal and in 1951 he formed the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) with Ak Miller, Bob Gottlieb and Marvin Lee. Notice that it wasn't called the National Drag Racing Association and the membership cards and literature indicated that the first intent was to form a hot rodding car club association. The NHRA evolved quickly, because the car club era was ending and the new sport of drag racing was exploding in size and enthusiasm. Drag racing is simply a shortened version of land speed racing, nothing more, nothing less. The purpose of land speed racing, and eventually drag racing, was to pit man and machine against time and the elements. They had raced side by side on the dry lakes in the 1930's and '40's, but gave that idea up. It's true that in drag racing there is an element of competition, because one entrant is normally eliminated, but the core focus is on one object, get from point A to point B in the shortest length of time possible. Now my father had two jobs, as an editor and an administrator, that he had never envisioned having. Many of the staff were part-time workers or volunteers. It's very difficult to run the races with only full time employees; and volunteers have always been vital to the health of all racing, straight line, road course or oval track. Many volunteers started out very young, like my brother, learning to work the gates, in the time slip booth, souvenir trailers and doing whatever was needed. Today, the types of jobs have evolved, but they still have much in common with the past. I can't say that if you find a racing group, club, track or other outlet, that volunteering your time and labor will lead to your dream job. You may even find out that a career in racing may not be what you want to do. The important thing is to try. There are a number of fields where young people can help; like the track, PR, media, on-line newsletter reporters. Find something that you like and do it. You may find a career, but even if you don't, you will always be thankful that you tried and your help may keep racing strong and prosperous in your area.

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The following list is courtesy of www.oilstick.com, owned and operated by Evelyn Roth. Here is a list, by year, of the honorees and cars of the Dry Lakes Racing Hall of Fame, from Evelyn's website.
1992-Tony Capanna, Tom Spalding
1993-Bob Joehnck, Jack Mendenhall, Tim Rochlitzer, Al Teague, Paul Vanderley
1994-Art Chrisman, Vic Edelbrock, Sr., Bob Higbee, Ed Iskenderian, Bob Pierson, Dick Pierson, Bob Rufi.
1995-Art Arfons. Dean Batchelor, Craig Breedlove, Don Cummins, Jim Deist, Don Francisco, Fred Larsen, Bruce Meyer, Wally Parks, Bob Summers, Mickey Thompson, Ed Winfield, Alex Xydias.
1996-Nick Arias Jr, Bill Burke, Earl Evans, Bobby Meeks, Ak Miller, Barney Navarro, Don Vesco, John Vesco, Rick Vesco.
1997-Joaquin Arnett, Ron Benham, Don Blair, Gary Cagle, J. Otto Crocker, Vic Edelbrock, Jr., Emil Grissotti, Stu Hilborn, Howard Johansen, Jim Lindsley, Charlie Markley, Bob Markley, Dean Moon, Chuck Salmen, Tex Smith, Bill Summers.
1998-Multy Aldrich, George Bentley, Ray Brock, Fred Carrillo, Mike Cook, Mark Dees, Bruce Geisler, Bob Herda, Les Leggitt, Burke LeSage, Gene Mooneyham, Al Thayer, Leroy Neumayer, Jim Travis, Karl & Veda Orr, Earl Wooden..
1999-Glen Barrett, George Callaway, Lee Chapel, Wes Cooper, Julian Doty, Andy Granatelli, Kenny Harman, Kong Jackson, Bruce Johnston, Tom Medley, Karl & Veda Orr, Louie Senter, Mike Waters, Seth Hammond.
2000-Tom Beatty II, Racer Brown, Clark Cagle, Fred Dannenfelzer, Bill Edwards, Jack Lufkin, Don Montgomery, Paula Murphy, Gene Ohly, Eric Rickman, Clyde Sturdy, Bill Temple, Marlo Treit, Verlin Marshall, Mary West, Sam Wheeler, Rick White, Nolan White.
2001-Gale Banks, Bob Brissette, Frank Coons, Don Ferguson, Elmo Gillette, Ernie Hashim, Chet Herbert, Ernie McAfee, Moose McCaulley, Louise Ann Noeth, Bob Noise, Chuck Potvin, Charles Scott, Clay Smith, Dana Wilson, Ted Worobieff.
2002-Don Anderson, Tom Bryant, Mel Chastain, Doug Cook, Dennis Dalton, Glenn Deeds, Gary Gabelich, Jerry Kugel, Joe Mondello, Terry Nish, Joe Pisano, Otto Ryssman, Jack Underwood, Monte Wolf.
2003-Don Clark, Chauvin Emmons, Ted Frye, Ermie Immerso, Joe Law, Ed and Chris Shearer, Gary Baskerville, Keith Black, Noel Black, Pete Dean, Ed Donovan, Bob McGrath, Bert Peterson. Manufacture of the Year: Kent Enderle. Historian of the Year: Glenn Freudenberger.
2004-Dan Warner, Warren Bullis, Penny Cook, Bob Sykes Sr, Levan Prothero, Roy Richter, Tom Senter, Jonny Moore, Cal Rayborn, Romero Palamides. Manufacture of the Year: Dick Williams. Historian of the Year: J.D. Tone.
2005-Chuck Abbott, Keith Allen, Steve Batchelor, Harold Johansen, Dave McDonald, Lionel Pitts, Mike Stewart. People from Past Who Have Achieved: Ernie Bennett, Jim Culbert, Duke Hallock, Phyllis Lindsley, Paul Schiefer, Chuck Spurgin. Manufacturer of the Year: Ross Pistons (Moe Mills and Ken Ruble). Historian of the Year: Jim Miller.
2006-Roy Creel, Larry Lindsley, Tom Evans, Jack Costella, Jim Dunn, Russ Eyres, Wes Hutchens, Neil Thompson, Matt Williams, Bob Hedman, Eddie Miller, Rosco Turner, Phil Weiand, Bruce Crower, Greg Sharp.
2007-Don Ferguson, Cec McCray, Bob Morton, Ron Cohan, Gus Somerfield, Bill Baldwin, Eddy Meyer, Gene Scott. Manufacture; Zig Magnetos. Historian; Wendy Jeffries.
2008- Don Ferguson III, Jim Jensen, Mike Manghelli, Steve Toller, Dennis Varni, Bob Webb. From the past; Quin Epperly, Jim Feuling. MFG of the year; Rick Gold from ERC. Historian; John Thawley.
CARS
1993 Mendenhall/Vanderley Roadster.
1994 Chrisman's Lakester, Pierson Brothers Coupe.
1995 Larsen-Cummins Streamliner, So-Cal Special Lakester.
1996 Don Vesco's Motorcycle Streamliner, Vesco Family Streamliner.
1997 Markley Brother Tanks, Sum Fun Roadster.
1998 Bruce Geisler's Studebaker, Mike Cook's T-Bird, Earl Wooden's Crosley.
1999 Kenz and Leslie Streamliner, Seth Hammond Lakester.
2000 Verlin Marshall's Crosley Coupe, Sam Wheeler's EZ Hook, Nolan & Rick White's Streamliner.
2001 Carr & Kaplan Lakester, Doug Robinson BMR Coupe, Bert Munro Indian Motorcycle.
2002 Tom Beatty's Belly Tank, Carl Heap's Phoenix Diesel, Dave Campos/Easy Rider Motorcycle Streamliner.
2003 Redhead Streamliner, Sundowner Corvette, Eric Vaughn's Indian.
2004 George Field's Competition Coupe, Fred Lobello's Ladybug Lakester, Ed Mabry's Big "D" Motorcycle.
2005 Sadd-Teague-Bentley Roadster, Phil Freudiger Roadster, Bud Greenleaf's Harley Davidson.
2006 Not available.
2007 Larry Buford Roadster, Ron Mains Flat/EcoFire, Dennis Manning Motorcycle.
2008 Not available.

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I'm working on an article about stock car road racing in So Cal during the 1950's. There were two races at Paramount Ranch and one at another location, I think perhaps Pomona. I have dates on the two Paramount's, but not the other, also promoted by JC Agajanian, I think. Do you have any info? Do you have any photos? Thanks, Art Evans, [email protected]

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Santa Maria Speedway, www.racesantamariaspeedway.com

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We're the new public relations firm for the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. We're asking your permission to submit their news releases to this e-mail address. Will this be ok? And when your travels take you to the Phoenix area, we'd like to invite you to visit. Thank you for your review and consideration. Shari McCullough-Arfons, McCullough Public Relations, Inc. 3570 Executive Dr., Ste. 104 Uniontown, OH 44685. 330-244-9980. fax: 330-244-9981. email: [email protected], web site: www.mcculloughpr.com.
Shari: We are glad to take all news releases, but I prefer regular emails rather than PDF or Word files. We are a weekly emailed newsletter
reaching about 500 professional and amateur historians on the subject of land speed racing, hot rodding and early drag racing prior to 1960. Send us a regular email weekly about the activities that you are having, about the people working for your organization and any other topic of interest. The notices that we run are not ads, but items of interest. You should mention contact points and what you wish to accomplish, varying your topics weekly. We will be glad to run all your notices and we hope that it will help promote your activities.

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We are coming along fine with the Spurgin/Giovanine Roadster and so exciting to have all the families coming to Ventura on July 12th to the Ventura Motorsports Gathering (automobile Concours- 2nd year) ...as we will un-veil the S-G Roadster at that time for the families- Spurgin-
Giovanine & Rufi. There was a question today about the color of the Chevy 4 motor and they asked me if you would know... and the interior cockpit color appears to be gray from the old wood bracing and very old metal brackets ... we just had a few missing wood bracing inside the cockpit replaced by a wood expert craftsman who works on boats... See you, Ernie Nagamatsu
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Ernie: Congrats on getting the car ready to show. Sorry I couldn't be there as I was at the S.C.T.A. event at El Mirage officiating. Hope to get up to Ventura/Oxnard soon and will try to get by the shop to see it. Thanks for the update. Jim Miller
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Jim: Thanks and the Ventura Motorsports Gathering this year (http://www.venturamotorsportsgathering.com/pages/2009registered.html) is on July 12th - Sunday in the park in downtown Ventura... a good Concours and Curt Giovanine is bringing out his "Tribute" Bonneville Car (built with his dad) from Bishop CA as it will be next to the original Spurgin Giovanine Roadster. As mentioned, all of the families will be there such as Karin Spurgin from Oregon... Curt Giovanine and his sister ...and Rufi's son so there will be a wealth of "oral history" that we should capture... we will be filming so I hope we can get some new information for you... that Richard Parks always stresses... and that is so vital to recording the history for the archives. See you- Ernie

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Hi Ernie: The biggest problem we have is finding color shots of the early race cars. My gut says since the car was a stocker when first built the exterior and interior would of been stock colors. The front cowl panels were pulled out and modified to fit over the frame rails so they were probably repainted inside. The dash was probably its original production color as insides didn't matter to the go-fast guys. By finding a color paint code for Chevy's of this period you may be able to work from that. The site below is what I found on Chevy colors. From what I can deduct the body came in 2 shades of grey and one in green.
http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1927-Chevrolet-pg01.jpg
This is from '28 and has color chips. Has the same names of colors as '27.
http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1928-Chevrolet-pg02.jpg
This page from '28 describes colors for that year. Also gives rim colors. Don't know if there is one for earlier years.
http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1928-Chevrolet-pg03.jpg
The four pix attached will give you a start. The first is a stock unrestored engine. The second is a restored one. I then converted a color shot to B&W to give you a tone to work from. The last is a restored driveline. They were always black. The S&G engine were talking about was rebuilt after the war. It may have been brush painted. Most likely in black. That's all I have for now. Jim Miller
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Jim: Thanks for the historical "paint" information. You are right about colors... as the photographs we have ...and we have an incredible amount from all the families... they were in B & W. Yesterday I spoke to the older sister of the well known and well liked Danny Sakai as she lives in the neighborhood. She is 93 years old. We had a discussion about Danny and his love for cars since a young age. We spoke briefly and we will meet soon I hope to get more historical information. She did mention that Danny's first love was to go to Indy and the family told him to wait. We spoke briefly about the tragic motorcycle accident that took Danny's life and she did mention that the motorcycle was "too big for him" that he was borrowing and the sun was in his eyes ... and near Forest Lawn... but I will check further. I mentioned that Danny had one of the most beautiful Dry Lakes cars and it was very fast as well. I told her that I had rented a garage in Glendale for 20 years when I was racing SCCA FF from Fum Okamura (known as Oka in racing ...as Yam and Fum were famous for their legendary"8 Ball Special" at all the tracks in Southern California) and Fum started with Weiand and he helped Phil Weiand with some of the most innovative manifolds in the speed industry. Andy Granatelli bought the 8 Ball Special from Yam and Fum. The Sakai family had a Flower Shop; Tokio Florists in the Los Feliz area. More later I hope... Ernie Nagamatsu

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Random Pictures and info. Click images for larger views!.

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Captions:
The track pix are with Larry Dixon Sr. getting a practice pass.  Photographs courtesy of Roy Steffey

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Caption:
Some photos of your system with Mike making the new modifications of your header exhaust shields. I hope this will give you a fare view of the process. If you would like to do something more professional please feel free to come on over and we'll do what we can to make it happen. I think it shows a sequence of events of how we do it. Looking forward to having you pick them up on Monday I understand. Please let us know if we can do anything else. Photos courtesy of Tim Thompson/President (re-sent by Ron Main)

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Captions:
4th Annual Dragster/Speed Expo & Car Show in Bixby Knolls. See http://www.bixbyknollsinfo.com/DECS.html
 Photographs courtesy of Rae Gabelich and John Ewald

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Land Speed Racing Websites:
www.hotrodhotline.com, www.landspeedracing.com

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Members:

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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