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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| First Race Stories | |
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| Jim Kline | |
| One of my older brothers was the crew chief for Gordon Herring in Colorado in the 60s. He raced champ and sprint cars on dirt and pavement. All he ran were 255 and 270 Offys. My first race was in the 60s in Gurnsey, Wyoming on an old 1/2 mile track. It was great. It rained a lot so I was allowed to help pack the track in a guys pickup. What a thrill for a teenager! I have been hooked on dirt and Sprint cars ever since. Gordon liked to run on the cushion. He lost his life in a Sprint car in the 70s. | |
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| Josh J. Williams | |
| I think I was 8 or so. My Dad took me to Ascot to watch my rookie cousin drive these sprint car things. I had been to Ascot before to watch motocross but hardly remember that. This would be different... When us kids tore out of the station wagon the brutal sound of the un-muffled sprinters hot lapping rumbled through my chest and caused such a rush of adrenaline. I was hooked! Still hooked but I sure miss that rumble. | |
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| David Lawrence Mahar | |
| Went to ascot in 1984 and saw my first sprint car race. I'm from Mass. and only saw asphalt, midgets and stocks at Norwood arena, stocks at Pines speedway. When I saw these guys thunder down the straight and flip the car sideways I was amazed. Then Deano came out and into the corner faster and further than everybody else. I was hooked. | |
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| Scott Daloisio | |
| I grew up in Michigan and in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, pavement Late Model Stock Car Racing was the hot deal back there, so that is what we went to. I tried to talk my Dad into going to a Sprint Car race, but he didn't like sprints and said they were to dangerous. In 1970, we journeyed to Sandusky, Ohio for a Late Model/Super Modified doubleheader. Even though I had been going to the races since I was 6 months old (1957) it was my first open wheel race. As my Dad feared with open wheel cars, disaster struck that day. Nolan Johncock, the cousin of former Indy 500 winner Gordon
Johncock, flipped out of the ballpark in turn three and passed away. That was it for open wheel racing until I talked him into the USAC Sprint Cars on the half-mile high banks at Toledo Speedway. That was in 1972. In that one, Charlie Masters edged hometown hero Rollie Beale in the main event. I never saw another Sprint Car race until 1975 - after moving to California - at Speedway 605 Irwindale. It was also my first CRA race. Saw Sprint Cars on dirt for the first time two years after that at Ascot. |
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| jvan510 | |
| My parents took me to the races from the time I was just a baby so its in my blood. The one race that hooked me forever, though, was a NARC race at Calistoga in the late '70s. I remember being so impressed with Chuck Gurney and Gary Patterson that I couldn't hardly stand it. I don't remember who won the race but nevertheless, I will never forget that race.
I thought Gary Patterson looked cool, too. |
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| "Arizona" Dave | |
| I got hooked while I was still in my mothers tummy! I didn't get a good nights sleep for 9 stinkin' months with all those unmufflered monsters! Seriously, I wish I could remember my first race. We lived less than 30 miles from Eldora, Winchester and New Bremen speedways, and 90 miles from Indy. Needless to say, I was an infant when I was hauled to my first race. One of my favorite old "family photos" was a 6 year old me, sitting on a blanket in the infield at New Bremen, and in the background on the track is Gary Bettenhausen and Larry Dickson in sprinters with no cages. AHHHHH...it was a good childhood! | |
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| Joe Godoy | |
| I wanted to relate a story about my first sprint car race. A friend and I decided that we were going to go to Ascot and watch the Sprint Cars run for the first time. While I was in college I worked at a market in Huntington Beach. This guy came in to the store on the morning of the race wearing a Sprint Car T-Shirt and I asked him if the races were any good. His reply was that they are awesome and to come see him in the pits after the races. I asked him who he was and how would I find him? He said that his name was Brad Noffsinger and that he was a driver! Of course, I thought he was blowing smoke figuring I would never go look for him.
My friend and I showed up at the track and had no clue where was the best place to sit so we sat somewhere around the starters stand. During time trials they blare out over the PA this Brad Noffsingers name and the whole stands around me just went absolutely crazy. So I asked the girl sitting next to me who this Noffsinger guy was and she replied "He is my husband and this is his Mom next to me". He ended up winning that night and when I went to go see him in the pits he asked me if I enjoyed the races? Needless to say, it was an Omen and I became hooked to these cars! |
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| June M Clark-Lowitz | |
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My Daddy said my first race was when I was 6 mos. old. I really don't remember it. What I do remember was when my Dad was a crew chief for a USRC Midget for Pete
Bittrolf. Pete was a German man and he owned and drove the car. Pete lived in Las Vegas, so Daddy offered our garage to keep the race car in. This was when USRC ran El Toro most of the time and we lived in Capistrano Beach. |
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| Lance Jennings | |
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My first race was at Ascot in the late 1970's- at age 3 or
4. My dad was working for Continental Airlines and the
company sponsored Stan Lee's Midget. My dad knew some of the
race crew and they had success- not only at Ascot, but also
in Australia. Rick Goudy was the driver.
While enjoying the midget races, we also followed Rick's
sprint car racing. That year, he was driving the famous
Morales "Tamale Wagon." The races became a
family tradition- Dad and Mom would take me, my younger
sister Lori, as well as any friend that wanted to come
along. Lori was a little baby when she first heard the
thunder of CRA Sprint Cars. We went as often as possible
until Ascot closed in 1990.
We got lost in the shuffle and lost contact with the races. Sadly,
my dad would never see another sprint car race, when in late
1999 he died of cancer. He is buried at Riverside
National Cemetery, which is about 5 miles from the PAS.
While my dad was sick, I met SCRA driver John Scott
at my job and began to get interested in the races
again.
Now the family tradition is reborn. Lori and I take our Mom to as many races at possible. So before each PAS race, we stop by and pay our respects to not only our father, but to his parents who are also buried nearby. Then it is on to the track- to watch some of the best racing in the country. |
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