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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| HOT LAPS WITH NORM BOGAN
#04H by Norm Bogan |
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As I was checking into my motel for the Barona Media Day, my cell
phone rang and it was Mike Cook, engine builder, Bonneville racer
and VRA Senior Sprint pilot. Mike
invited me to a little Sunday night get-together at John Richards'
(another VRA Senior Sprint racer) airplane hanger at the Santa Paula
Airport. The purpose of the event was to assemble a bunch of old
codgers to view old 16 mm films of the Indianapolis 500. Nearly all racing in Southern California on Saturday was
rained out, so I really needed a racing fix.
Since I now possess a Medicare Card, in addition to my AARP
ducat, I was considered old enough to remember much of the
information or had heard enough bench racing stories to relate to
the subject matter. About
fifty mostly gray-haired men attended, some with their wives.
This was a potluck affair with some really good eats and
snacks to go along with the movies. John Richards had cleared out his hanger, parking his two vintage
Ryan trainer aircraft outside along with his vintage sprint car and
the 2004 edition Sprint Car, a Stinger Coil-Over with Sway Bar.
Plastic stack chairs were set up for the film viewers and a
screen was hung from the rafters. Most of the film being shown tonight was from the collection of
driver, Harry Hartz, who ran at Indy from 1922 through 1927.
In his six starts, Hartz was a runner up three times, fourth
twice and finished 25th once.
Viewed tonight were the 500s from 1965, 1946 and 1927 along
with a 1926 Champ car race on the Culver City, California Board
Track, where speeds reached 136 mph, the approximate speed of the
field in the 1946 Indy 500. Terry
Baldwin, a retired film producer and former member of the P.R. staff
at the Ontario Motor Speedway acquired this extensive collection of
racing films from the Harry Hartz estate.
In addition, there was a film showing the birth of OMS from
the clearing of the vineyards to the inaugural race.
Baldwin has invested much of his time and money in vintage
cars and memorabilia, including a library of vintage films.
In attendance tonight were former racers Walt James, Donnie
Melton and Tony Simon, adding their input during the evening to make
the presentation more enjoyable.
A number of others, former crew members or involved in the
speed industry as manufacturers were on hand, as well as several of
the VRA Senior Sprint regulars like Jim Porter, Mike Cook, Jack
Erickson, Curtis Richards and Dale Harwood, who provided the film of
the 1965 Indy race. A
few of the younger generation also came to see what all this old
stuff was about, including current VRA and USAC/CRA driver, Ronnie
Case and his wife, Patti and of course, Lance Jennings of
scrafan.com website fame. This was a successful event and most wanted to see more and have
others join us. Mike Cook is making arrangements to schedule another film
event at a local speedway, hopefully, bringing in more old-timers to
relate experiences to enhance the evening’s entertainment. When the Saturday night show gets rained out, there are
always films on Sunday. |
