Welcome to the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of
Fame Website
This Page was last Updated:
05/25/2009 07:08 PM
MILLER: Saying
Goodbye To Larry Rice
Written by: Robin Miller
05/20/2009 - 09:01 PM
Indianapolis, IN
The usual formula for success as a
race driver is a mix of aggression,
selfishness, no fear, some ruthlessness, a
healthy ego and an unfailing belief that
nobody is better.
But let me tell you about a guy who
didn’t fit that template.
He was as clean on the track as he
was off it. He always seemed thankful for
the opportunity to earn a living as a race
driver. He admitted when a car or a track
scared him. He respected his competition as
well as the people who helped him get going.
He was smooth, smart and seldom crashed. He
never bragged about his wins or ever ragged
about his luck.
To my knowledge, and I lived, raced,
dined and laughed with him on and off for 40
years, he was liked by everyone and that’s
not rare in racing -- it’s unheard of.
Most of us became a Larry Rice fan
the first time you met him and that
perpetual smile and infectious laugh made
friends from Williams Grove to Ascot Park
all the way to Perth.
He went from a farm boy in Linden,
Ind. to USAC champion to rookie of the year
at the Indianapolis 500 to the television
booth and his demeanor never changed.
He was always a prince of a person.
Rice, who died Wednesday in his
Brownsburg home of cancer at age 63, packed
that pleasant attitude along with his helmet
from 1968-91 and it almost masked the fact
he excelled as a racer in the rough and
tumble midget and sprint circuits of USAC’s
heydays.
“He was the most quiet, unassuming
bad ass race driver who ever sat in a car,”
said Steve Chassey, who battled with Rice
all through the 1970s and 1980s.
It’s almost hard to believe that
such a nice guy could capture the 1973 USAC
midget title, be a two-time USAC Silver
Crown champion (1977-1981) and win 23 times
(15 midgets, 5 dirt, 3 sprint) during his
career.
Make no mistake, Larry’s likeable
nature vanished when he strapped in and
nobody was more focused or any grittier
behind the wheel. He was fair and clean but
he was tough.
Pancho Carter, as fierce and as fast
as anybody who ever sat in a sprinter or
midget, isn’t in the habit of throwing
around compliments but always respected his
Brownsburg neighbor.
“Larry was a tough competitor, in
everything, and I’d rank him right up there
with the guys who I thought were tough,
(Tom) Bigelow, (Larry) Dickson and (Gary)
Bettenhausen,” said Carter, a four-time USAC
champ in a recent issue of Sprint Car &
Midget Magazine. “He was always right there
in the top five, no matter what we were
running.
“And he was a good, clean race
driver who respected the fact you could get
hurt in these things. I think that’s one of
the reasons we got along
so well.”
Starting out in his dad’s midget
(named ‘Ol Blue) in the late ‘60s, Larry
quickly caught on and was hooked up with
legendary owner Bob Higman’s by 1972. They
towed and worked on that midget all over the
country as Carter clipped them for the USAC
title but Rice came back to win the
championship in 1973.
A Ball State grad, Larry was
teaching school in Crawfordsville while
learning the ropes of racing and had to make
a decision: stay in the real world and be a
weekend warrior or try to make it as a
professional race driver.
Obviously, he opted for the latter
and upon that decision, moved to
Indianapolis where he bought a home about a
mile east of the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. That’s where his generous side
really surfaced.
I rented me one of the bedrooms.
Soon to be USAC star Chuck Gurney came back
from California and occupied the basement.
Indy driver Larry McCoy nested upstairs and
aspiring racer Mark Alderson lived in the
driveway in his motor home.
As you might imagine, we didn’t lack
for fun and 1917 Goodlet became a
combination of a YMCA, poker club, speed
shop, tavern and nightly stop for the racing
crowd. Our first May party drew 400 people,
singer Marty Robbins, two blocks of unhappy
neighbors and the Indianapolis Police
Department.
Larry The Landlord only had one
rule: no working on engines in the basement
but his house was always open and sometimes
he wasn’t even sure who that was sleeping on
his floor. When Gurney stepped out with a
married woman and was tailed home by her
rather large and angry husband, Rice put up
signs pointing to Larry’s Room, Robin’s Room
and Chuck’s Room so he and I wouldn’t get
shot.
Rice’s first date with a pretty
redhead (Bev) who would become his wife was
at Eldora Speedway but that almost seemed
romantic compared to the first time she saw
his living conditions.
His initial Indy car ride in 1974
didn’t show up (thankfully) in time for him
to take his rookie test and he finally
returned to IMS in 1978, where he qualified
an older car, ran all day, finished 11th and
shared rookie honors with some guy named
Mears. He also made the show in 1979.
In both of those Mays, Larry had no
teammate, no backup car and nothing
approaching a budget so he proceeded with
care. He’d run a couple corners hard to feel
out his chassis and, if it hinted at
stepping out, he’d bring it right into the
pits.
In 1979, after blowing an engine on
the morning of the final day of qualifying,
owner Pat Santello mortgaged the farm for
another motor and Rice, with no practice
laps, went out and stuck it in the show
during the closing minutes.
Despite his prowess, that was Rice’s
last hurrah at Indy but naturally he never
voiced any bitterness about being a
three-time USAC champ and not being able to
get a ride without bringing money. He always
seemed to appreciate the fact he got hired
to run there twice.
Some of his most memorable and
enjoyable times were the winters he spent
racing midgets in Australia and New Zealand.
He and Gary Patterson barnstormed those
countries with the moniker “The Teacher and
The Preacher” and GP nearly got them killed
on several occasions. Like the time
Patterson suggested Australia needed handles
at each end of the country because it was
the biggest garbage can in the world. They
needed a police escort out of that track.
Larry’s driving days were over by
1991 and that’s when he embarked on a new
career in television. Now if you’d have told
his friends from the ‘70s this soft-spoken
guy who never promoted himself or raised his
voice would become an animated color analyst
on ESPN’s Thursday Night Thunder, we’d have
laughed you out of Indiana.
But Rice came out of his shell and
blossomed into a fine compliment to Gary Lee
and Dave Despain. And then he landed in the
ABC booth calling the Indy 500. Once again,
the old teacher had given us an education.
After ESPN dropped Thunder, he
stayed in racing by going into the track
insurance business and helping oldest son,
Robbie, get into sprint cars <http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif>
. Youngest son Zach opted for politics.
A tongue cancer scare in 2000 went
into remission but then he was diagnosed
with lung cancer in 2005. Typical Rice, he
told very few people and instructed his
family to always give the party line he was
feeling fine.
The past year he took as many
radiation and chemo treatments as
any human could stomach but he never
complained and never volunteered any
information at our bi-weekly lunches at
Charlie Brown’s.
Just two weeks ago, in between
coughing fits, he was laughing and telling
stories with Bill Vukovich, Johnny Parsons,
Lee Kunzman, Bubby Jones, Jerry Sneva, Gary
Irvin and Chassey. He’d confided to Vuky and
Pancho about his condition but none of the
rest of us had a clue how bad things were
until he went in the hospital a week ago.
And that’s just how he wanted it.
Larry said he didn’t want anybody feeling
sorry for him and he’ll have a wake but no
funeral. He lived life to the fullest and
faced death with amazing courage and
dignity.
Now I just spent 1,400 words trying
to describe his impact on us but my story
can’t do him justice. You had to know Larry
Rice to realize how special he was and how
lucky you were.
View Jeff Gordon's Acceptance
Speech as he get inducted into the National
Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.
Danny Kladis,
whose auto racing career dated back
to the pre-World War II days of
dusty race tracks and little driver
safety equipment, passed away on
April 26, at the age of 92. Kladis
competed in the 1946 Indianapolis
500 and, prior to this death, was
believed to be the oldest surviving
“500” veteran.
Born in Crystal
City, Mo., on February 10, 1917,
Kladis had become a Chicago area
resident when he got behind the
wheel of a midget racing car for the
first time around 1935. Kladis’
debut took place at Chicago ’s 124th
Field Artillery Armory—a hot bed of
indoor racing during the pre-war
years. With some 30-plus years of
racing experience, Kladis’
career included
his “500” participation, countless
wins and championships in midgets,
“big car” and sprint car battles and
some stock car racing during that
sport’s infancy in the Chicago area.
A 29-year-old
Kladis drove for Andy Granatelli in
the ’46 “500” classic, wheeling
Granatelli’s rather old Grancor V8
Miller/Ford, but only completing 46
laps. Kladis was credited with a
21st place finish after starting in
last place (33rd). Kladis’ first and
only start in the “500”
was a rather brief
one as he was disqualified after the
car was towed after it had stalled
on the track. A quick inspection by
his crew found that the fuel valve
had been simply turned off.
Kladis returned to
Indianapolis on and off for a period
of about 10 years, but never made
the starting field again. He did
drive relief for Travis “Spider”
Webb in 1954, but the team could do
no better than a 30th place finish
in Webb’s Advance Muffler entry. In
1957, Kladis made a qualifying
attempt in the Morgan Engineering
Special Maserati, but his time of
124.412 miles per hour was much too
slow to make the race.
Earlier in his
career, Kladis wheeled “big cars” on
the old Central States Racing
Association circuit in 1939 and 1940
and the following year tried his
luck in AAA big cars. Competing in
IMCA’s annual season-opening sprint
car events in Tampa , Fla. in
February of 1963, Kladis flipped and
suffered a broken arm, a broken
collarbone and a concussion. It was
Kladis’ most serious injury since
suffering a broken arm in an indoor
crash at Chicago ’s International
Amphitheatre and a broken back in a
midget spill at Chicago ’s Raceway
Park .
Most of Kladis’
success in racing came behind the
wheel of a midget racing car. During
the early part of his career, Kladis
would just about drive anything,
always looking to improve as far as
equipment went. He teamed with
Springfield ’s Joe Shaheen and won
his first midget feature race,
piloting Shaheen’s Offenhauser-powered
midget to the victory at Greenup ,
Ill. in 1940.
After World War
II, Kladis joined forces with
Wisconsin car owner Eric Lund and
the combo enjoyed great success
throughout the Midwest, especially
in Iowa . Lund had both a Ford
V8-powered midget and an Offy midget
with Kladis often using the Ford V8
to beat some of the country’s best
Offy-powered cars. The Kladis/Lund
team garnered numerous wins and
track championships. Kladis was
named the Mississippi Valley Midget
Racing Association champion in 1946,
1947 and again in 1948.
Raceway Park ,
located in the south suburbs of
Chicago , was a short trek from
Kladis’ home. On September 27,
Kladis, behind the wheel of the Lund
Offy, whistled around the speedway’s
short quarter mile clay and brick
dust surface in 14.40 seconds to set
a new qualifying track record.
During the late
40’s, Kladis entertained crowds at
Raceway Park by putting on an
exhibition of driving blindfolded
around the racing oval.
Kladis would tape
silver dollars to his eyes and then
cover them with a blindfold. Kladis
would then power around the track at
speeds just shy of a pure racing
effort. Racing into the 1970’s,
Kladis was the United Auto Racing
Association (UARA) driving champion
in 1962. Wheeling Bob Lockard’s
rapid-running Ford Falcon-powered
mount, Kladis won 11 or so features
racing during the ’62 season and
defeated former UARA champion Ray
Elliott and newcomer Henry Pens in
the final standings. During the
year, the UARA tour visited a number
of Chicago area tracks with weekly
Saturday night action taking place
at the Joliet Memorial Stadium.
Kladis captured
the 100-lap UARA season finale on
the dirt at Joliet in September of
his title-winning year.
With the
introduction of short track stock
car racing taking place in Chicago
in 1948, Kladis won the first-ever
300-lap stock car race at Raceway
Park in late October. “Borrowing” a
military Jeep from a local
recruiting station, Kladis used the
Jeep’s “four-wheel-drive” option to
get the job done.
In addition to his
racing career, Kladis also takes
credit for “fine tuning” the engines
for maverick billionaire and
eccentric extraordinaire Howard
Hughes’ famed “Spruce Goose” wooden
airplane. An employee of the Ford
Motor Company during the war, Kladis
was a supervisor at the Ford plant
on Chicago ’s southside that built
the powerful Pratt and Whitney Wasp
R-4360 engines. Eight engines
powered Hughes’ plane and Kladis
claims that Hughes’ engineers and,
sometimes, Hughes himself, would
call him on the assembly line floor
with questions about the mammoth
engines.
For many years,
Kladis was a pilot himself, doing
both commercial and charter work,
even flying jets for a number of
major corporate accounts.
In 2007, Kladis
was inducted into the National
Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.
Kladis and his
late wife, Mary Jean, raised a
family, which included a son,
George, who was the 1971 UARA
champion.
Reproduced with
permission of noted Chicagoland
Racing Historian Stan Kalwasinski
He may not
have known much about the mechanics
of a race car, but
Lloyd Ruby
damn sure could drive one.
The ol' Rube, who passed away Monday
night at age 81, never became a
household name like A.J., Mario,
Parnelli, Gurney, Rutherford or the
Unsers yet all those bad asses knew
the soft-spoken Texan was their
equal.
Lloyd Ruby (R) was one of the giants
of his time. (LAT)
» More
Photos
"You always
used Rube as your guideline," said
Bobby Unser.
"He never drove for any of the big
budget teams like my brother or
Mario or Rutherford or myself but he
was always fast and you would always
look at his times to see how you
stacked up.
"And he drove
sooooo hard. He knew where the
throttle was and I liked that about
him."
Mario Andretti agreed
with Uncle Bobby. "I don't know of
any driver in my lifetime who could
get up to speed as fast as Lloyd
Ruby. That was always so impressive
to me and the fact that he was such
a versatile racer."
A.J. Foyt remembered
his fellow Texan for several
reasons. "First off, he was a
helluva race car
driver who should have
won a lot more races than he did. He
was clean and fair and you could run
next to him all day. And he never
got mad and he never complained
about all his bad luck."
Of
course it was
Indianapolis where
Lloyd's luck was the worst. In 1966,
he led 68 laps and had victory in
hand when his engine expired 34 laps
from the finish. In 1969, he came
into the pits on Lap 105 in the lead
but never made it
out -- pulling away
before the fuel hose was unplugged
and ripping a hole in the tank as
well as his heart.
"Lloyd
should be remembered as the greatest
driver never to win the
Indianapolis 500,"
said three-time Indy champ
Johnny
Rutherford. "He was
like Mario in that he could have won
it so many times but something
always seemed to happen.
"I'm
not sure if it was his fault in '69
or the crew's fault for waving him
out too quick but Rube took the
blame. He always accepted his fate
and moved on."
Parnelli
Jones, who only
claimed one Indy win despite his
dominance, reckons Rube "should have
won two or three Indy 500s with just
a little luck. He was cursed at the
place, he really was, but he was
such a good racer."
Ruby's name was built upon his
numerous starring roles at the 500.
(LAT)
» More
Photos
Considering
how fast and tenacious he was, it's
amazing Ruby only won seven Indy-car
races during his 18-year career
(1960-1977). He and mechanic Dave
Laycock formed a chemistry in the
mid-60s as they triumphed at
Trenton, Langhorne, Phoenix and
Milwaukee.
What people might
not recall was his road racing
prowess. He teamed with Ken Miles to
win Daytona and Sebring and they
were also to be paired at
Le Mans.
"Lloyd could run anything,
midgets, sprints, stock cars but he
was excellent in sports cars and
long-distance racing too," said
Rutherford. "He and Ken Miles were
on their way to becoming one of the
greatest teams in
endurance
racing before Ken was
killed."
Andretti
chuckles at one Le Mans moment in
the mid-60s. "We were both driving
for Ford and they had just put sand
pits in the corners for runoff areas
so they put a little shovel in
everybody's car so the driver could
dig himself out. Well, Rube went off
at Indianapolis corner and everytime
I came past him, for five or six
laps, he was shoveling like hell so
I would honk my horn. He's digging
and digging and he finally gives
up."
Ruby also starred in Stock Cars and
in endurance racing with Ford, both
at Daytona and Le Mans. (LAT)
» More
Photos
Unser and
Rutherford recall being Ruby fans in
the late 1940s.
"I hadn't
started racing yet but we went to
the midget races in Albuquerque and
Lloyd was one of my heroes. He
showed up when he was 18 or 19 and
beat everybody."
Added
Rutherford: "I was 9 and my dad took
me to the midget races and the
announcer said, 'Now going out to
qualify, the young sensation from
Wichita Falls, 19-year-old Lloyd
Ruby.' I was so impressed."
As was Foyt when he began racing
midgets in the mid-1950s. "He (Ruby)
helped me a lot when I first started
and I always wanted to be like him
because was so smooth."
One
of the last drivers to wheel a
roadster and rear-engined car at
Indy (eight remain), Ruby qualified
for his initial Indy 500 in 1960 at
144 mph and his last one (in 1977)
at 190 mph. In between, he led a lot
of laps, thrilled a lot of fans and
consumed a bunch of alcohol.
Everyone always joked that Rube's
liver was even tougher than he was.
Yet his quiet demeanor belied his
immense racing savvy.
"He
helped me make my first Indy 500,"
said Rutherford of his 1963 debut.
"I had hopped into a car that Lloyd
ran
a few days before and
after a few practice laps they
wheeled into qualifying line. I was
sitting in my car and Rube comes up.
"R----u---t---h----e----r----f----o---r-----d,
this thing is gonna take one helluva
a set in the corner and when you
feel it hit that curb, you stand on
it. Trust me, I know how it feels.
Now go out there and don't let us
Texans down. That fired me up and I
went out and qualified for my first
Indy 500."
Of course when you
understand how little Ruby knew
about a chassis, it really made you
appreciate his talents. "We did a
lot of tire testing together and he
would never have an opinion about
the tires, he just ran as hard as
possible," recalled Unser. "He and
(Gordy) Johncock were like two peas
in a pod. Neither one of them knew
anything about a race car but they
drove the wheels off it."
Ruby was honored in recent years at
Indy for his contributions to the
race and to the sport. (LAT)
» More
Photos
With that
slow Texas drawl, cowboy hat and aw
shucks attitude, Ruby endeared
himself to competitors and fans for
five decades. "He was a great
oval-track racer and a great road
racer," said
Dan Gurney,
equally adept himself at both
disciplines. "Lloyd was humble, one
of those old-fashioned racers who
let the results speak for
themselves."
Foyt said it
best when asked to describe his old
friend. "He's been suffering for the
last couple years but he never
complained once. He was honest and
fair and never screwed people
around. If he liked you, you were
friends forever and, if he didn't,
he just had nothing to do with you.
He didn't say much but when he
talked, you'd better listen.
"I thought the world of Lloyd Ruby.
He was a real racer and a true
friend."
Four drivers
have been elected to the National Midget
Auto Racing Hall of Fame and will be
enshrined at the annual induction ceremonies
scheduled January 16 in Tulsa, Okla. as part
of the pre-race buildup to the “Chili Bowl
Nationals” at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Jeff Gordon,
Kevin Doty, Ted Tappett and Dave Humphrey
are the newest members of the Hall of Fame.
They received the most votes in the recent
balloting and will have a distinctive place
of honor in the Hall of Fame display,
located at Angell Park Speedway in Sun
Prairie, Wisc.
Gordon, who
scored a dozen victories during his USAC
National Midget racing career and earned the
1990 USAC National Midget Championship,
captured wins in four of America’s most
revered Midget races. In 1989 and 1990 he
won the “Night Before the 500” classic in
Indianapolis, Ind. In 1990 he also won the
“Hut Hundred” in Terre Haute, Ind. and the
“Belleville Midget Nationals” in Kansas and
in 1991 he won the “4-Crown Nationals” at
Rossburg, Ohio. He and car owner Rollie
Helmling formed a formidable USAC Midget
team for three USAC seasons and Gordon
landed “podium” finishes in 22 out of 40
Midget races between
1989 and 1992. He’s
a four-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion,
having won nearly every major stock car race
in America and in 1991 won USAC’s Silver
Crown championship.
Doty, who
won the 1994 Badger Midget Auto Racing
Association Championship in dominating
fashion with 11 victories in a single year,
was one of America’s most accomplished
Midget racers. In 1994 Kevin also won the
famed Belleville Midget Nationals in Kansas
and the Hut Hundred at Terre Haute, Ind. and
added the Pepsi Midget Nationals at his
beloved Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie,
Wisc., the fourth of his five Pepsi
Nationals triumphs! He will also be
remembered for his sensational second-place
finish behind Tony Stewart in the 2002 Chili
Bowl at Tulsa, Okla. An accomplished Sprint
car racer, he won the 1994 “4-Crown
Nationals” Sprint race at Rossburg, Ohio. He
succumbed to injuries suffered in a 2005
Midget race at Sun Prairie.
Tappett, AKA
Phil Walters, was one of America’s first
real racing heroes. A native of New York
City, Tappett was born in 1916 and started
racing midgets as a teenager. In his rookie
year he won 11 features. His legend
continued after turning to stock cars where
in 1949 he literally obliterated the
competition as the first-ever track champion
at Riverside Park in Agawam, Mass. He
competed in a D-Type Jaguar at LeMans in
1955 and shared the winning car at the 12
Hours of Sebring in 1953 and 1955. In
Midgets he won over 100 pre-war and post-war
main events on the East coast and claimed
track titles at Yellow Jacket Speedway in
1940 and Freeport Speedway in 1947. In 1941
he finished second to Henry Banks in the
final ARDC standings and in 1940 he was
third. He passed away of natural causes in
2000 at the age of 83 and was posthumously
inducted into the New England Auto Racers
Hall of Fame in 2002.
Humphrey is
a six-time Northeastern Midget Auto Racing
Champion, winning five straight titles from
1967-1971, then again in 1978. The 1970
title was shared with Lou Fray. Humphrey’s
Midget career actually started in 1946,
although he switched to stock cars and
sprint cars for a number of years before
returning to Midgets in 1964. Under NEMA
sanction he posted 72 feature wins, second
only to Drew Fornoro on the all-time NEMA
winners list. In addition Humphrey owns
numerous track championships and his Sprint
racing also netted him 10 feature wins.
Like Tappett,
Humphrey is also a member of the New England
Auto Racers Hall of Fame.
--NMARHoF--
Congratulations to the new Hall of Fame
Members
Tulsa Inductions Draw Large Crowd for
National Midget Hall of Fame Ceremony
by Dick Jordan
TULSA, Ok. -- Friday’s 24th Annual National
Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Induction
Ceremony in Tulsa, Okla. drew a large
audience for the first presentation held in
conjunction with the annual Chili Bowl
Midget Nationals.
Posed at the January 11 National Midget Auto
Racing Hall of Fame Induction ceremonies are
recipients and acceptors, along with emcees
Pat Sullivan (l) and Dave Argabright ® as
well as NMARHoF President Bill Engelhart
(5th from left). Pictured (l-r) are
Sullivan, Jack Housby, Ken Brenn, Ron
Canterbury, Engelhart, Judy Fuss, Ken Brenn
Sr., Lloyd Ruby, Duane Gerhardt and
Argabright. Housby accepted for inductee
Dick Ritchie, while Brenn accepted for
Curley Mills, Canterbury accepted for Danny
Klaids, Fuss accepted for Pappy Hough and
Gerhardt for his grandfather Fred. Bill
Marvel (not pictured) accepted for Walt
Faulkner and Ed Watson, and Ralph WIlke
(also not pictured) accepted for Carl
Marchese. (Jim Haines Photo)
“We were extremely pleased with the turnout
and the results of today’s event,” said Hall
of Fame President Bill Engelhart. “The Chili
Bowl organizers were very supportive of our
efforts and we look forward to returning
next year and for the foreseeable future.”
Held in the Livestock Complex of the Ford
Truck Arena on the Tulsa Fairgrounds, the
event honored 10 individuals for their
contributions to the sport of Midget Auto
Racing and they will be enshrined in the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame at
Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisc.
The 10 honored included the four
“traditional” inductees as well as six
additional from the 1934-1955 era. Six
drivers, two car owners, a promoter and an
official comprised the “Class of 2007.” They
are Jack “Curley” Mills, Roscoe “Pappy”
Hough, Danny Kladis, Lloyd Ruby, Walt
Faulkner, Dick Ritchie, Ken Brenn Sr., Fred
Gerhardt, Ed Watson and Carl Marchese.
Brenn and Ruby were present for their
inductions, while acceptors on behalf of the
others were: Ralph WIlke (for Marchese),
Judy Fuss (for Hough), Ken Clapp (for
Mills), Duane Gerhardt (for his grandfather
Fred), Ron Canterbury (for Kladis), Jack
Housby (for Ritchie) and Bill Marvel (for
Faulkner and Watson). Johnny Rutherford
assisted in the presentation to his longtime
racing friend and fellow Texan Ruby.
Emcees Pat Sullivan and Dave Argabright
meticulously detailed each inductee’s career
and orchestrated the presentations. A screen
also displayed images of the inductees and
other memorable Hall of Fame members and
vintage Midgets were on display on both
sides of the stage.
Distinctive shadow box plaques were
distributed to the acceptors who spoke
briefly and posed for photos following the
event.
Attendees included 2007 USAC National Midget
Champion Jerry Coons Jr., USAC National
Sprint Car Champion Levi Jones, former USAC
champion Gary Bettenhausen, Hall of Fame
member Jason Leffler, Badger Midget Champion
Brad Kuhn, and other Chili Bowl participants
and Hall of Fame members.
Luncheon was served to the attendees who
participated in “bench racing” both before
and after the affair.
Billy Wood Badger Midget's most
prolific driving Champion dead at 79
Kenosha, Wis.,
Nov. 11---Billy
Wood, the only driver to win Badger
Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA)
Driver Championship eight times,
died Sunday morning at his home,
after battling throat cancer. Born
on January 26, 1928 in Marrietta,
Mississippi, he was the son of the
late General and Alice (Thornton)
Wood. He attended schools in
Mississippi before moving to Kenosha
looking for work. He was employed at
American Motors Company for over 38
years – retiring on July 29, 1987.
Wood began his career racing in the
Badger Midget Series in 1953,
finishing third in series points.
The next season Wood outdistanced
defending series champion Billy
Johnson for his first Badger crown.
His 1955 title was aided by eight
feature wins at Angell Park Speedway
(Sun Prairie,Wis.). His third and
fourth titles in 1957, and '58 were
won by narrow margins of twenty-five
and six points.
His finest season came in 1959 when
he won 18 Badger features and set
fast time 17 times in the 24-race
series. His fourth consecutive title
came the next season, after which
Wood ran only a few Badger events
over the next six years, instead
spending time on his career at AMC,
with his family and running various
other events. He finished tenth in
the 1962 USAC National Midget Car
Series point standings.
Car owner Paul Krueger convinced
Wood to run his car for the 1966
Badger campaign. Wood edged his
teammate Keith Thomas for his
seventh championship. Wood's final
Badger title came in 1968 in a
season plagued by rainouts, Wood
edged second-year driver Bill
Engelhart for the title by eight
points. Wood ran a handful of races
the next two years before retiring.
His eight Badger titles came driving
for four different car owners: Herb
King ('54, '55), Frank Farchione
('57, '58, '60), Irv Paulsen ('59),
and Krueger ('66, '68). Wood's 52
career Angell Park Speedway feature
wins rank him second all-time
trailing only Dan Boorse. Wood also
scored feature wins in USAC
National, UARA, Midwest, and open
competition sanctioned events.
Wood remained a spectator attending
most Badger events over the next
35-plus seasons, including the 2007
season finale on Sept.1 at Angell
Park. Wood was inducted in the
National Midget Auto Racing Hall of
Fame in August 2002.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly;
three sons: Dr. Thomas (Rae) Wood of
Franksville, Jerald (Jodie) Wood,
and B.G. Wood – both of Kenosha; two
brothers, Travis Wood of
Wrightsville, GA, and Wayne
(Maureen) Wood of Fulton, MS; and a
sister, Carolyn (Ray) Underwood of
Iuka, MS. Billy is also survived by
six loving grandchildren: Abbigail
(Paul) Hampton, Jennifer, Lauren,
Mackenzie, Jarrett and Jordan. Along
with his parents, he was preceded in
death by two brothers, Tramel and
Cratis Wood.
A visitation for Billy will be
hosted on Tuesday from 4:00 until
8:00 PM at the funeral home. In lieu
of flowers, the family asks that you
consider memorial remembrances to
the National Midget Auto Racing Hall
of Fame, C/O Bill Engelhart,
Treasurer, 13930 W. Northridge Dr.,
Evansville, WI 53536; or Hospice
Alliance. 10220 Prairie Ridge Blvd.,
Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158.
Piasecki-Althaus Funeral Home, 3720
39th Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin
53144, 262-658-4101.
Funeral Services will be held on
Wednesday, November 14, 2007. A Mass
of Christian Burial will be
celebrated at 10:00 AM at St. Mary
Catholic Church, 7400 – 39th Avenue.
Interment will follow in St. James
Cemetery.
Les
Kimbrell age 82 passed away on Tuesday 9-11-07
in Lafayette, Indiana.
He served in
the Army during WWII and was in Japan when the
war ended.
Les
graduated from Purdue University with a degree
in Mechanical Engineering in 1953 and operated
Kimball's Garage in Lafayette, Indiana for 36
years until he retired.
Les began
his long association with motor-sports when he
began scoring for the racing division of AAA in
1950. He was a Charter Member of the United
States Auto Club that was formed in 1956 and
scored their historical first event at Ft.
Wayne, Indiana. He continued a long relationship
with USAC that included scoring the Indianapolis
500 for many years until his retirement. He was
also a long-time member of the Indianapolis 500
Old-timers Association.
Les was one
of the original officers of the National Midget
Auto Racing Hall of Fame where he served as the
Director of Finance. He also served for many
years as a Board of Director until recent years
when his health began to fail. The Board then
honored his long and valuable service by
appointing him "Director Emeritus".
Les is
survived by his wife Kay, a son Bud and three
daughters Susie, Sarah and Debra.
The family
has asked that in lieu of flowers donations be
made to the Indianapolis 500 Old-timers, Inc.
P.O. Box 24404 Speedway, Indiana 46224 or to the
American Diabetes Association P.O. Box 11454
Alexandria, VA 22312.
Funeral
Services will be held at the Soller-Baker
Funeral Home 400 Twyckenham Blvd. Lafayette,
Indiana 47909 (800 292-0673) with visitation at
3 pm until 7 pm on Friday and a memorial service
beginning at 7 pm.
The
Hall of Fame Classic Weekend
Sunday August 26th
Michael Pickens wins
the second night of the Hall of Fame Classic
Fifty cars, representing the best of Badger
and USAC crammed the makeshift outfield pit
area for the second night of racing in the
Hall of Fame Classic. Brad Loyet started the
night by circling the track the fastest in
qualifying with a time of 14.99, almost a
half a second slower than the quick time the
previous night.
Chris Windom started the night out by
winning the last chance race. Heat victories
went to Ryan Durst, Joe Wipperfurth, Bubba
Altig and Mike Hess. For the second night in
a row Danny Stratton found himself in the
semi. This time he came away with the win by
about three lengths over Levi Jones.
The track was very different for night two,
as the cushion was almost to the wall and
there was actually a bit of dust flying by
the end of the night. But if the track was
slower, the action from it did not let on.
Handicappers had to be concerned as picking
a winner would not be easy. Last night’s
winner, Jerry Coons Jr. was slated to start
in the ninth position with previous Angell
Park winners Michael Pickens, Danny
Stratton, Brad Kuhn and Scott Hatton all
ahead of him.
Pickens, in the black Hans Lien car, took
the early lead running the high groove as
were most of the racers. Chasing him were
fellow Kiwi Brad Mosen, Stratton and Doug
Schenck. Coons was on the prowl as he was in
sixth by lap three, running the low line.
Meanwhile Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was the
hard charger of the race the night before,
was wallowing in twelfth spot, having
started thirteenth. "They just wouldn’t let
me do what I wanted," he noted of his fellow
competitors.
By lap ten of the 30 lapper, Pickens had a
comfortable lead of about a half
straightaway over Monsen. At lap 15 Pickens
found the back of the field and worked the
lappers easily. Two circuits later the field
was bunched for a yellow and two laps after
that, it was stopped for a large crash in
turn three. The restart saw Pickens ahead of
Mosen, Startton, Coons and Kuhn. From hear
Pickens sailed to his first USAC win
followed by Mosen, Coons, Kuhn and Loyet.
Coons won the overall points championship
for the weekend. For their efforts, Pickens
and Coons were awarded special plaques by
the Hall of Fame complete with the hall’s
logo and a vintage midget pictured on it.
Saturday August 25th
Jerry Coons Jr Wins the
first night of the Hall of Fame Classic
It was like
days of old at Angell Park Speedway last
weekend as 50 midgets graced the makeshift
pit area for the Hall of Fame weekend
doubleheader. The Badger/USAC co-sanctioned
event drew most of the best midget pilots in
the world.
Dane county
suffered record rainfall for the month of
August with the bulk of that precipitation
starting the previous weekend. That
basically washed out the famed Sun Prairie
Sweet Corn Festival including the races and
the rain didn’t completely stop until the
eve of the Hall of Fame race. In between
that time, there was little sun to help dry
the facility and large puddles nearing pond
status were observed on the grounds. While
the track, to many fans’ surprise was fairly
dry, the infield was saturated and pitting
would have to occur outside the track. While
this offers some logistical issues and
disrupts the flow of a normal race program
at the speedway, staff, drivers, crew
members and officials alike adapted and
helped to make both nights smooth running
and entertaining shows.
Saturday
night started with Kevin Swindell besting 49
other takers in qualifying, in his Kasey
Kahne Mopar.
Brad Moson
won the qualifying race. The top eight from
this go were tacked onto the back of a heat.
Those not making the cut were done for the
night.
The 8 lap
heats were won by Dan Mecum, Brian Ramstack,
Brad Kuhn and AJ Fike. Of note, each winner
started on the outside pole and lead wire to
wire. In the first heat, Badger rookies
Mecum and second place Tim Noble beat a
field that included open wheel ace Dave
Darland who was running a midget owned by
Hall of Famer Steve Lewis. Brian Ramstack
set the track record for an 8 lap event.
The semi saw
Swindell on the pole, after failing to
transfer out of his heat. At the start, Matt
Sherrill charged into turn one from the
outside pole and bicycled, fought hard to
save it, but lost in the end flipping his
mount. Swindell went on to win the race.
Darland on
the inside with Danny Stratton (in the Terry
Klatt car) on the outside, lead the field to
the green for the start of the 30 lap
feature. Darland got the jump on the field,
while Chuck Gurney Jr. subbing for Levi
Jones in one of Hall of Fame inductee Tony
Stewart’s cars, snuck by Stratton for
second. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in the other
Stewart car, brought out a lap two caution
and was sent to the back of the pack after
enjoying a starting spot of seventh.
On the
restart Darland took command. Running the
high groove, (which for Angell Park was not
all that high) he smoothly sailed around the
oval. By the fourteenth circuit Darland met
lapped traffic and lost the five car lead he
had over fifth place starter Jerry Coons Jr.
The half-way point saw Coons overtake
Darland at the line. As they charged into
turn one and through the entire lap the two
traded slide jobs where Darland got the
lead, but gave it up again at the line. He
tried again for slider in turn one but it
didn’t work and Coons, in the Wilke Pak car
maintained the lead.
The action
stopped for a red flag flew due to a flip in
turn four. In assessing the field, of major
note was Stenhouse’s charge from the back of
the pack to eighth place. The restart saw a
running order of Coons, Darland, Gruney,
Stratton, Mike Hess and Fike.
From here
Coons survived another restart and never
looked back as he took the win over Darland.
Stenhouse thrilled the crowd with a third
place finish that included a bicycle ride in
turn one where he never seemed to miss a
beat as he kept his foot on the gas and
maintained his position. Stratton was fourth
and Gurney rounded out the top five. Both of
those drivers transferred to this race from
the semi.
Hall of Fame
member Bob Higman was on hand to present the
winning trophy to Coons.
Indianapolis,
IN (May
19, 2007)
– The latest inductees into the National Midget
Auto Racing Hall of Fame have been announced and
include a driver, two car owners and an
official.
Jack “Curley” Mills, Roscoe “Pappy”
Hough, Kenny Brenn and Ed Watson will be honored
as the new inductees, although the date and site
of the inductions are still being finalized.
These four individuals received the
most votes cast by a panel of Midget racing
experts from across the country who comprise the
induction committee. Ten additional 2006
candidates received sufficient votes to be
listed as “carry-overs” on the 2007 ballot.
Jack "Curley" Mills was one of the
true pioneers of midget auto racing. His career
was brief and started in 1934. He won the
inaugural event at the famed Gilmore Stadium and
later won four events in a row there when it was
one of the most highly competitive racing venues
in the nation. He would win many events in
California
with the Offenhauser powered car dominating
competition at Gilmore Stadium and the L.A.
County Fairgrounds in
Pomona,
California.
His early success caused him to be "lured" out
East for some "big money" races where he won at
Long Island,
NY
and
Philadelphia,
PA.
On
August 18, 1936
he was badly injured in a midget race at
Madison
Square
Garden
in
New York.
As a result of those injuries, one of the true
stars of early midget auto racing, "Curley"
Mills, passed away on
December 24, 1936.
Roscoe "Pappy" Hough started driving
"big cars" in the late1920's. He switched to the
midget cars in the middle 1930's racing
primarily in the
Midwest
before moving out East where he raced at places
like the dreaded "Nutley Velodrome". As a
driver, who was also his own mechanic, he became
one of the most successful pre-war drivers
winning 44 events in 1941 and with career total
victory estimates running as high as 1,000
races. His career as a car owner would be
equally successful but his unparalleled
innovations were even more impressive. He built
dozens of cars over a 30 year period and built
some of the first tube frame midget race cars
even before the Kurtis-Kraft design was
conceived. As a team owner, he employed over 40
drivers and some of the best in the business
including the likes of Bill Schindler and Art
Cross. Over the years he reportedly raced at
over 560 tracks. It was not unusual for him to
transport his multi-car team and drivers by air
cargo to enable them to race twice in the same
day, a task hard to duplicate even by today's
standards.
Ken Brenn Sr. remains one of the
most respected car owners in midget auto racing.
His incredible victory as the winning car owner
at Lime Rock, Connecticut on July 25, 1959 with
Indy 500 winner Rodger Ward driving, remains one
of midget auto racing’s greatest stories. With
his Offy midget they raced against and beat some
of the top cars and drivers from the Formula 1
and
Le Mans
series on a road course. Over the years his
impeccably prepared cars, nearly always carrying
#24, were much sought after and attracted some
of midget racing's top drivers including Ward,
Len Duncan, Bobby Unser, Larry Dickson, Don
Branson, Johnny Coy Sr., Jimmy Caruthers and a
host of other top drivers from the east coast.
The five-time ARDC Championship car owner, who
served in nearly every official capacity for
that club, was also the mayor of
Warren,
New Jersey.
He provided a great deal of business acumen and
professionalism to the sport which clearly
elevated the image of midget auto racing over
the years.
One of midget auto racing's greatest
fans, promoters and workers, Ed Watson spent
five decades immersed in the sport. Born not far
from legendary
Jungle
Park
in
Marshall,
Ind.,
Watson did everything from serving as a mascot
to scoring midget races to writing and
publishing books about the cars that used to be
a stepping stone to the
Indianapolis
500. During his final 15 years, his company,
Witness Productions, had also published books on
Jim Hurtubise, Jan Opperman, Lloyd Ruby and Bill
Vukovich as well as the history of midget racing
in the
United States,
the Dirt Road to a Silver Crown and Full Tilt, a
pictorial history filled with breathtaking shots
by photographer John Mahoney. But Watson's
proudest accomplishment was being instrumental
in the founding of the National Midget Hall of
Fame in Sun Prairie,
Wis.
Would you like to nominate someone for the National Midget Auto Racing
Hall of Fame?
INCLUDE
PRESENTATION OF RICH VOGLER’S “GOLDEN DRILLER”
Five new members of the National
Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame were formally
inducted into the shrine during Sunday
afternoon’s ceremonies in Sun Prairie, Wis. The
proceedings also included a special presentation
to the Hall by inductees Lanny Edwards and
Emmett Hahn.
Edwards, Hahn, Foster Campbell, Jack
Fox and Ron Hoettels joined the list of
inductees which now number 119 as the inductions
were held in the upstairs pavilion outside turn
one at Angell Park Speedway. The track hosted
the annual “Hall of Fame Midget Classic”
weekend, featuring Saturday night’s USAC race
won by Ryan Durst and Sunday night’s Badger race
won by Jerry Coons Jr. Scott Hatton won the
overall “Hall of Fame” Midget title for the
second straight year.
Following their inductions, Edwards
and Hahn, who traveled from
Oklahoma for the
ceremonies, presented Hall of Fame President Les
McBurney a distinctive “Golden Driller” trophy,
emblematic of Rich Vogler’s victory in the
inaugural Chili Bowl Midget race, a race
conducted annually in Tulsa,
Okla. by the two
inductees. The trophy, which was not instituted
at the event until several years after Vogler’s
1987 victory, will reside permanently in the
Hall of Fame.
Orchestrated by emcee Dick Jordan
and co-emcee Bill Hill of Little Rock, Ar., the
inductions followed a luncheon and display of
vintage race cars, plus a productive morning
Hall of Fame Board Meeting.
Hoettels, Campbell, Edwards and Hahn
were all present for their inductions, while
longtime photographer Jim Chini of
Palm Springs, Calif.
accepted for the late Jack Fox.
AngellPark
announcer Dave Shannon introduced several
dignitaries, including former drivers, while
former Hall of Fame inductees Mel Kenyon, Billy
Wood, Frank Burany, Crocky Wright, HoF Treasurer
Bill Engelhart and past Presidents Bob Higman
and Bill Hill were all present.
Hill conducted a special
long-distance telephone interview with Hall of
Famer and Wisconsin’s
own Tom Bigelow.
Hall of Fame President Les McBurney
unveiled a brand-new Founders Plaque bearing the
likenesses of John Stiles, Donald Davidson, Ed
Watson and Larry Wright, whose immense
contributions were responsible for laying the
foundation for the Hall of Fame. Davidson, the
Historian for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
accepted the honors on behalf of the four
founders and explained to the audience the early
organization of the Hall of Fame.
- NMARHoF -
Congratulations to
Ron Hoettels
(Left to Right ) Dick
Jordan, Bill Engelhart, Ron Hoettels, Les McBurney
Congratulations to
Emmett Hahn and Lanny
Edwards
(Left to Right ) Bill
Hill, Bill Engelhart, Emmett Hahn, Lanny Edwards, Dick
Jordan, Les Mcburney
Congratulations to Jack Fox
(Left to Right ) Dick
Jordan, Bill Hill, Jim Chini (accepting for Jack Fox)
Les McBurney
Congratulations to Foster Campbell
(Left to Right )
Foster's Grandson, Foster Campbell, Foster's Son, Bill
Hill,
Les McBurney, Dick Jordan
Crocky Wright was in
attendance. Wearing a shirt with a picture of Tony
Stewart inducting him into the Hall of Fame.
