Retired Los Angeles Times motorsports writer Shav Glick dies at 87
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shav Glick, who covered the Indianapolis 500 and a variety of other races during 37 years writing about motorsports for the Los Angeles Times, has died. He was 87.
Glick died Saturday at his Pasadena home of complications from melanoma, the newspaper confirmed Sunday. He retired at 85 last year.
By the time he was assigned the auto racing beat at the Times, Glick was 48 and had already spent 34 years covering other sports.
In 1994, Glick was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in Novi, Mich., becoming the first writer for a general circulation daily newspaper to earn that honor.
"He was the authority. You wanted to be noticed by Shav Glick," former Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti told the Times. "He certainly had my respect."
Glick served in the Army during World War II. After that, he went to work for the Pasadena Star-News and stayed until 1954, when future Times publisher Otis Chandler hired him as sports editor of the Los Angeles Mirror, a sister paper of the Times.
When the Mirror was merged into the Times, Glick made the transition as well. Before covering racing, he was the golf beat writer and for a time, he covered both sports until scheduling conflicts made it impossible.
Glick covered short tracks and super speedways, road racing and drag racing and midget cars.
"He was a true friend of mine, a friend of the sporting world and someone with high integrity," car owner Roger Penske told the Times. "I have a lot to thank him for, and so does the entire motor racing industry."
Born Shavenau Glick on Sept. 16, 1920, he grew up in Pasadena. Glick was a classmate and friend of Jackie Robinson at what was then Pasadena Junior College before Robinson became the first black to play major league baseball.
Glick is survived by companion Doris Syme, son Michael of Santa Barbara, three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His wife of 41 years, Florence, died in 1991. His stepson, Jeffrey Hale, died in 1997.
A memorial was being planned.
Bob Beadle, age 73, passed away Sunday August 12, 2007.
Dorothy, his wife of 45 years, was instrumental in his adventure into auto racing. They met at Sunshine Dairy in Ballard and when Bob saw her he was stricken. "I asked her out of course" says Bob. Dorothy may have had some doubts but "She wasn't having anything to do with me paying her way. She agreed to a "Dutch-Treat", no strings attached and took me to the old Sea-Tac Speedway." Bob would go onto say, " I guess I passed the test because we were together from then on." That was when Bob took on racing as one of his main hobbies and later one of his businesses.
Bob started drag racing at the Puyallup Drag Strip when a close friend, Chuck Evans, convinced him to buy a modified from Worth Skinner with urging from Dorothy to race at Sky Valley Speedway in the mid -1960's. Bob continued to race around the Northwest including Skagit Speedway, Evergreen, Elma, Port Angles, Yakima and the brand new Tri-City Raceway where he christened the track with a tremendous wreck coming out of turn 4. Losing a right front wheel on his modified racecar, he hurdled full throttle into the railroad ties at the end sending one right through the modified barely missing him. The accident slowed his career with a lot of torn muscles.
Bob then turned to help to promote and announce at Sky Valley Race Track partnering up with Marv Larson. Bob continued to race at Skagit Speedway on Friday nights.
Bob helped to bring in super star California racer, Jimmy Gordon, to begin a two-day dirt championship between Sky Valley and Skagit Speedway attracting the best northwest open wheel drivers. This event was the ceremonial start of the annual Dirt Cup.
With his experience at Sky Valley he came together with Reg Midgley from Victoria BC to start an open wheel series called the International Drivers Challenge Series (IDC). The series included both asphalt and dirt tracks with seven races in ten days drawing the top open wheel drivers including Roy Smith.
Bob and Reg used the same format and started a stock car series and that is when his interest in NASCAR racing began. Bob became a car owner with Roy Smith driving. After winning many open competition races and NASCAR sanctioned races, Bob partnered in the Vice President position with Dick Midgley to run what was then known as the Winston West Grand National Series. With Roy Smith at the helm Bob went on to purchase his own team winning multiple Grand National Championships as a car owner.
During the period of 1978 Bob, with brother John, Terry Forsyth and Reg Midgley won the lease at Evergreen Speedway with his son Mickey helping with the operations. In 1980 Bob arranged for Cup superstar David Pearson to race at Evergreen. Pearson quipped that Evergreen was the "Super Speedway of the West" and the phrase is still used today. 1985 became a catalyst year for Bob, John and Mickey negotiating with Dennis Huth and Brian France to help with the beginning of NASCAR'S Northwest Tour. Evergreen sanctioned as a NASCAR Weekly Series Track and hosted the first ever NASCAR Northwest Tour race. By the time the tour ended in 2006, Evergreen Speedway had hosted more Tour races than any other track in the Northwest.
Bob's biggest achievement was to announce with Brian France that Evergreen Speedway would be holding the first ever NASCAR 500 lap race in the Northwest. The first Washington 500 was in 1985 and a huge success being won by Derrick Cope who went on to win the Daytona 500. After the first year of the Washington 500, Motorcraft became the sponsor.
Bill Elliott became the first Cup driver to participate in the Washington 500 winning it in 1987 starting a series of Cup drivers to participate in the race including; Junior Johnson's Dream Team of Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin, and Geoff Bodine. Geoff Bodine won in the now famous Bud Light car, winning the race from the back after a little miscommunication, starting with the NASCAR Officials. Other Cup drivers participating would include Davey Allison, Dave Marcus, and Kenny Schrader. Chad Little and Derrick Cope started their careers in the Northwest and went on to be very successful cup drivers. Bob also made the race the richest race on the West Coast by announcing a $50,000.00 purse to win, which at that time was more than the Winston Cup race at Phoenix.
Bob became a legend in the auto racing industry spanning over 50 years. He was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2003. Bob was a kind-hearted soul whose life revolved around youth, sports, family and friends. A celebration of Bobs life will be held Friday August 24th 1:30pm at the Mill Creek Country Club. Remembrances may be made to Seattle Junior Hockey or a charity of your choice.
Hall Of Fame Inductee Tom Hamilton Passes
4/22/07Sad News: Tom Hamilton: Tom Hamilton, a local Southern passed away recently. The California racer saw that need and started a small company called “Stock Car Products.” The company opened for business in 1969 in Santa Fe Springs, Calif., Soon the majority of NASCAR Grand National Series regulars were running his spindles, hubs, steering arms and rear end housings. The company later added brakes, shocks and steering components to it's catalog. Virginia racer, Emanuel Zervakis. Zervakis, who was Stock Car Products biggest customer, became the East Coast distributor in the spring of 1973. Hamilton was also a successful car owner fielding rides for the likes of Hershel McGriff, Jimmy Insolo, Timmy Williamson, Follmer, Ivan Baldwin, Tom Maier, Terry Bivens, Ron Esau, Jim Cook, Rusty Sanders and Vince Giamformaggio. Hamilton ran the Daytona 500 two times with drivers Timmy Williamson and Rusty Sanders. By 1988 Hamilton was ready to retire. What had as a hobby had turned into a multi-million dollar business, and Tom's son Steve spun off a division of SCP and continues to supply racers with high quality race car dry sump systems. Emanuel Zervakis purchased Stock Car Products from Hamilton and moved the company to the east coast. Since the purchase, SCP has steadily added to its inventory and now stocks over 7500 racing parts and components. Hamilton was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame. Services are not finalized.(4-23-2007)
Memorial Service for John Soares, Sr.
88 year-old John P. Soares, Sr. succumbed to pneumonia in Ohio a little over one month ago. John was an auto racing icon in Northern California and, at one time or another, successfully competed in just about every type of race car. In his early years he raced roadsters and midgets and he was a two-time Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) hardtop champion. Later, he raced late model stocks cars on the West Coast and scored a victory in the NASCAR Grand National division (which later became the Winston Cup Series and is now the Nextel Cup Series.) After retiring as a driver, John and his late wife, Gladys, successfully promoted weekly auto racing at the Antioch Speedway and, later, at the Petaluma Speedway. Over the years John Soares, Sr. was inducted into the BCRA Hall of Fame, the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, the West Capital Raceway Alumni Association Hall of Fame and the Motor Sports Press Association Hall of Fame.
Shortly after his passing, a small family funeral was held back in Ohio and his remains were cremated. A Northern California memorial service and celebration of John Soares, Sr.'s life is now scheduled in Oakland later this month. The 11:00 AM service is set for Monday morning, April 23, 2007, at the St. Paschal Baylon Church, 3700 Dorisa Avenue, Oakland, CA 94605-4941. All are cordially invited to attend.
Len Sutton
West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame inductee and Legendary racer Len Sutton, 81, dies from cancer complications
Former Indianapolis 500 racer Len Sutton, one of the greatest drivers from the state of Oregon, died Sunday from complications from cancer. He was 81.
Sutton started his racing career at Portland Speedway in 1946 shortly after getting out of the Navy and was soon a winner in track roadsters, midgets and stock cars on tracks throughout the Northwest. He won four midget races at the Hollywood Bowl in Salem, countless more track roadster races at the track and numerous championships until he left the Northwest in 1956 to race in the big time. Among the championships he won were the 1950, '54 and '55 Oregon Midget Racing Association titles and 1954 and 55 Northwest midget championships. Sutton first made the Indy 500 field in 1958 and would race five times, including a runner-up finish to teammate Roger Ward in the 1962 Indy 500. He had three wins in AAA and USAC champ car races in 76 career starts. Sutton retired from driving in 1965 after a USAC champ car race at Langhorne, Pa. "We had a real, real bad accident, a midget driver, whose name is Mel Kenyon, got severely burned," Sutton said, "and I got out of the race car that day and said to myself, 'I think my family's too important. I've got to hang it up.' " Sutton, was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame in 2005 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. He is one of three racers so enshrined: Hershel McGriff and Monte Shelton are the others. Sutton lived in Lake Oswego in his later years and remained active in the vintage racing community, racing as recently as August at Cottage Grove Speedway in his replica track roadster.
MARV PORTER
Born in Redlands, California in 1924, Marvin Porter served four years in the Air Force during World War II. He returned to California and took a job as the door-to-door milk delivery man. At age 25, Porter began racing in the Jalopy events on the local tracks of southern California at places like Lincoln Park in Los Angeles, Culver City, Carrell Speedway in Gardena, San Diego, Bakersfield, and The Orange Show Stadium in San Bernardino.
Porter’s close friend Rufus “Parnelli” Jones suggested that he get himself a stock car and begin racing with the Pacific Coast Stock Cars and with NASCAR. Porter took Jones’s advice and drove Jack Chatenay’s No. 30 Plymouth in the NASCAR Grand National Division event at Portland Speedway starting 16th and finishing 9th. He drove Chatenay’s Plymouth in two more events before entering the Southern 500 at Darlington driving Oscar Maples’ No. 12 Ford finishing 26th after the engine expired.
Porter competed at the California State Fairgrounds driving the No. 12 Ford finishing second. At the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose, he qualified 12th and won on the ½-mile dirt track. The event was scheduled for 200 laps, but after a horrendous crash on lap 116 left only five cars in the event and only the cars of Porter and Eddie Pagan on the lead lap, NASCAR declared the event concluded.
In 1958, Porter competed in six NASCAR Grand National events. He recorded a 9th place finish on the 2.85-mile road course at Bridgehampton Raceway in Bridgehampton, New York driving Howard Phillippi’s No.17 Ford.
Porter campaigned his own No. 12 Ford in seven NASCAR Grand National events in 1959. He recorded a 3rd place finish in the 500-lap event on the 4/10-mile dirt track at Ascot Stadium in Los Angeles and a 4th in the 200-lap event on the ¼-mile dirt track at Heidelberg Raceway in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In 1960, Porter drove Mel Miletich’s No. 98 Ford in three NASCAR Grand National events and scored a win in the California 250 on the 1.4-mile asphalt Marchbanks Speedway in Hanford, California after leading 50 laps. He led the first 11 laps of the Copper Cup 100 at Phoenix, but an oil line failure put him out of the event.
Porter made eight Grand National starts in 1961 with his best finish being a 13th in the Festival 250 at Atlanta International Raceway.
In 1963, Porter drove Miletich’s No. 77 Ford in the 2 NASCAR Grand National events at Riverside, California. A rearend failure in the first event dropped him from competition and relegated him to a 38th place finish. In the second event, Porter finished 15th. In 1964, He drove Miletich’s No. 77W at Riverside finishing 7th in the Motor Trend 500.
Porter’s final event in NASCAR Grand National Division competition came in the Motor Trend 500 at Riverside in 1967. He qualified 25th for the event, but broke a swaybar on the 15th lap and finished a disappointing 38th driving Carl Dane’s No. 1 Ford.
In his eight-year NASCAR Grand National Division career, Porter recorded 34 starts, 2 wins, 6 top-5s, and 12 top-10s. Marvin Porter passed away in November 2002.
Parker "Parky" Nall
Parker "Parky" Nall February 25, 1929-January 3, 2005
IT'S A MATTER OF LIFE... He built engines, full life
Midland man was a popular mechanic in NASCAR, other circles By GERRY HOSTETLER/Charlotte Observer
He built engines that won races on land or water. He crafted them for customers such as Sterling Marlin, Parnelli Jones, Marvin Porter, A.J. Foyt, David Pearson, Ron Hutcherson and Janet Guthrie, the first woman NASCAR (Modern era)driver.
Parker "Parky" Nall Jr. of Midland, known for his ability to wring extra power from a stock engine, died Jan. 3 at home of cancer. He was 75 and had retired in 2000.
His knack for increasing horsepower made him a popular mechanic in many circles. His talent contributed heavily to NASCAR wins for Porter in 1960, a second place in 1962, and more wins in 1963 and 1964 for the Ford team of Eddie Gray and Ron Hornaday.
He moved to Portland, Ore., and built engines for speedboats. He piloted one boat to victory in a Columbia River race from Portland to Astoria when he was quite young, said Barbara Nall, his second wife.
Parky served aboard the USS Forrest B. Royal on his Korean War hitch in the Navy, then opened a machine shop on the West Coast. An early marriage produced son David and daughter Carrie (Oliver). He later married Barbara and added daughter Linda (Silwedel) and son Vance.
`Basically a Ford man'
In 1975, he came to Charlotte and set up shop next door to Hutcherson-Pagan Enterprises on Statesville Road. Ron Hutcherson met Parky that year when he bought his first racing engine from him."He always built good, strong motors," Ron said. It was Parky's engine that powered the Chevrolet Laguna No. 36 to a 1977 win at Talladega. "He took a Chevy 358 cubic-inch motor, and it outran a Chrysler 426 and we won the race. He was basically a Ford man, and we teased him that he had `Ford' written on his shorts."
"He was a very, very gifted mechanic and was very particular. He was a little on the hard-headed side and wanted to do it his way," said Ron.
"But his was usually the best way."
`Always had a backup' That hard-headedness was "probably the most prominent feature of his personality," said son Vance.
Parky's inflexible focus on quality and preparedness caused "the guys to tease him because he always had a backup for a backup and if that broke, he had a backup for that." His dad was a self-taught mechanic and "never went to (mechanic) school that I know of," said Vance.
In 1989, Parky met Susie Cecil at the February Daytona 500 race; they started dating in November. "We had a nice life, a fun one," Susie said.
The couple enjoyed Parky's Navy reunions and attended those in Newport, R.I., New Orleans and Charleston.
"Parky loved the Navy reunions," Susie said of her silver-haired, tattooed companion. "He talked to all of his old friends and liked to relive those days. The first one we went to, they stayed up all night and he came home laughing."
Parky liked fishing at Southport and held many fish cookouts. "It was a big thing," Susie said.
A bigger thing was his induction into California's West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in October. The induction program noted that he started in the sport as a young boy by sneaking into races. His reputation for building engines spread, and in 1959 he got a job with the winning Vels Ford team.
In all, Parky had a career to be envied. He got paid for doing what he wanted to do -- and it's a good bet that he did it exactly the way he wanted
Carl Dane (l) and sons at the 2002 HoF Induction
WEST COAST STOCK CAR HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE CARL DANE DIES AT AGE 84
Carl Dane December 16, 1920 - December 25, 2004
Carl Dane one of the leading car owners and crew chiefs during the early years of west coast stock car racing past away on Saturday, December 25, 2004 at his sons home in Newport Beach, California.
He was an early pioneer in the development of stock cars in both the NASCAR and USAC series and won many races with drivers Parnelli Jones, Danny Letner, Al Pombo, Marvin Porter, Mario Andretti and his brother Lloyd Dane.
Walt Falkner was killed in one of his cars in 1956 in a USAC race at Vallejo Speedway in Vallejo, California.
His younger brother Lloyd lives in Harrisburg, NC and his older brother preceded Jim in death.
All three brothers were inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame in 2002.
Tim Meyer West Coast Stock Car hall Of Fame
I received this note reguarding the passing of Carl from his son and thought I would pass it on.
Tim, Thanks for the fax. Dad passed away peacefully.
The OC Register published a small article re Dad and brothers Jim and Lloyd. Lloyd has now moved back to Concord N.C.
I will try to make the induction ceremonies this year--we just couldn't while Dad struggled.
The gathering for Dad will be for immediate family on Saturday. Too far for many to come, and so many have moved on. These guys are of the generation of the WW II Vets. Many of the articles I looked at regarding Dad were 40 to 50 years old. Time flies.
I wanted to tell you that the venue "West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame," has had great meaning for all of us. It is a fine idea and it meant a lot to Dad and to the children and grandchildren. Congratulations on your success with this. It will continue to mean a lot to future families.
I truly believe that these were some of the best racers in the nation--from the west. They held their own with the east coast and southerners. I always felt that when Troy, Parnelli, Mario, Insolo, Proctor, many others were in Dad's ride, they could compete with anyone. Our drivers passed the good old boys with frequency at Riverside.
My father was a great man in so many ways. Many of these men you honor were good fathers and friends as I was growing up.
Best Wishes, Carl D. Dane
NASCAR
Winston West
Series
West Coast Drivers Continue A Decades-Long Tradition Of Speed
By Scott Keyes; Stock Car Racing December 2001
When the NASCAR Winston West Series... was first put on the map way back in 1954, no one could deny the talent level of West Coast drivers. Although NASCAR's roots, for the most part, are traced back to the Southeast, with the likes of the Pettys, the Earnhardts and the Allisons, the West Coast provided its share of top-notch talent that was almost comparable. However, back then no one really knew about the West Coast racers. Now, with the emergence of Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday and Kurt Busch, the West Coast and the Winston West Series could be all active participant in the growth of NASCAR for many years to come.
Even before Harvick and Hornaday came East, the likes of Derrike Cope, Ernie Irvan and Chad Little moved toward their own NASCAR dreams and made a splash in NASCAR Winston Cup racing. None of this could have been possible without the generations before them who paved the way For West Coast talent. Guys like Hershel McGriff, Jack McCoy, Ray Elder, Ron Hornaday Sr., Bill Amick, Jimmy Insolo and Parnelli Jones proved to the rest of the racing world that they could drive against the best drivers in the world ... and beat them.
NASCAR Winston West Series
Origin:
* Born when NASCAR went to the West Coast and began sanctioning the Pacific Coast Late Model circuit in 1954. The series has since been known as Grand National West and Winston West Grand National.
Cars:
* Series cars are virtually the same as those raced in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. However, a major difference is under the hood. Winston West Series cars are powered by 358ci V-8 engines with a maximum compression ratio of 9.5to 1.
Point Fund:
* Series sponsor R.J. Reynolds contributed $350,000 to the 2001 point fund.
Tracks:
* Series visits tracks ranging in size from a 1/8-mile paved oval to a 2-mile superspeedway. Major Western markets targeted include Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.
The Starting Point
Early on, West Coast drivers had few optioins. They had the opportunity to move South and race, but the money wasn't what it is today. Chasing the dream of becoming a top-notch race car driver back East didn't take precedent over putting food on the table and feeding the family. Once the realization came that it wasn't too practical for the West Coast's elite to race back East, the racers began sanctioning the Pacific Coast Late Model circuit. The series visited historic tracks such as Oakland (California) Speedway, Balboa Stadium in San Diego, Ray Meadows Race Course in San Mateo, California, and Carrell Speedway in Gardena, California.
Stock Car Racing
The 1954 series schedule featured nine races, with the first event taking place at the 3/8-mile Oakland Speedway. The track was known as "The Oakland Wall" because of incredible 65-degree banking used for some events. While McGriff won the pole position, it was Dick Rathmann who drove through the field to win the 250-lap race in a 1952 Hudson. The series quickly began to grow, fueled by support from Detroit automakers. Thirteen races were held in 1955, followed by 27 events in 1956 and 32 in 1957. As the series expanded, the number of tracks on the schedule grew. The complexion of the series changed drastically in 1957, however, after the automakers pulled their financial support. In 1958, the schedule again contained only nine races.
The popularity of the series began to rebound in the '60s with the help of premier racetracks such as Riverside (California) International Raceway. Drivers such as McCoy and Elder hit the scene, and things took off like gangbusters. "I spent 10 outstanding years of my life in the NASCAR Winston West Series, and I loved every minute of it," McCoy says. He holds the all-time series record for victories with 54. "At the time when I came up through the ranks people thought all of the action was back East, but let me tell you the drivers on the West Coast could also drive their tails off. You look at what I did with 54 victories in the series. I think it's a record that will definitely stay intact. Nowadays, if a driver from the West Coast is any good, he is going to North Carolina. With the money that is out there, who could blame them." Elder is second on the all-time win list with 47 wins, followed by McGriff, who has 35. When it comes to championships, Elder leads with six (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974 and 1975), followed by Bill Schmitt (1977, 1979,1989 and 1990) and Roy Smith (1980, 1981, 1982 and 1988).
Elder's team also made a significant mark in racing by becoming the only West Coast team in the modern era to win a NASCAR Winston Cup (then Grand National) race. Elder won the Motor Trend Riverside 500 on January 10, 1971, at Riverside International Raceway. He also won the Golden State 400 on June 18, 1972, at Riverside. "When Ray won those races it proved to a lot of people that the West Coast could definitely keep up with the major players in stock car racing," McCoy says. "Being out on the West Coast nobody really knew a whole lot about us, but all of a sudden we were getting the respect we deserved."
What's Ahead
Through the '60s and '70s, meanwhile, the series visited fewer and fewer dirt tracks. The final Winston West Series race on dirt was in 1978. Once Riverside closed at the end of the 1983 season, the series was in a whirlwind once again. However, the series continued to evolve, with various changes taking place during the '80s and early '90s. The construction of beautiful speedways - such as California and Las Vegas - sparked a resurgence in the series.
Meanwhile, competition for Winston West Series drivers has stretched beyond the United States with racers from the West Coast participating in NASCAR events in Australia in 1988 and in Japan in 1996, 1997 and 1998. And in 1999 the series became the first in NASCAR to hold a championship race outside of North America - with the season finale at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan.
With the success of its drivers in recent years, the sky's the limit on how far the Winston West Series could go. "As a driver, you couldn't ask for a better learning tool than the NASCAR Winston West Series," says Mark Reed, a rookie this season in the series. "I couldn't ask for a better training ground than what I'm currently going through. The exposure definitely helps you get your name out there, and if you want to make the move up it's definitely a plus."
Speedy Senior
When you look at Hershel McGriff, you see a man who has 8,000rpms running through his veins every second of the day. You also see the spirit of a racer - the spirit that still drives a 73-year-old man to go racing. McGriff won a race in the initial year of the NASCAR Winston West Series back in 1954 when it was known as the Pacific Coast Late Model Series. He returned to the series to run the full schedule in 2001. Why does this superman from Portland, Oregon, continue to slide behind the wheel of a stock car? "It is the love of the sport and the love of the life," McGriff says. "As long as the good Lord allows me to race, I am going to race. It is something I love, and it is something I am going to do."
The 2001 season brought McGriff to one of the most respected car owners in the series, as owner Bill McAnally expanded to two teams. McAnally's other driver is Brendan Gaughan, the 2000 series
champion. "Don't let his age fool you, because he still is able to drive a car and kick a lot of people's butt out here," Gaughan says. "The man's knowledge of the sport is second to none, and he's been a tremendous help to me this season." McGriff started racing in 1945 at the tender age of 17. He drove his father's 1940 Hudson at Portland Speedway. By 1950 he was ready to make his mark on the NASCAR Grand National Series, the predecessor to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. McGriff's best Winston Cup season came in 1954 when he recorded four wins, 13 Top-5 finishes and 17 Top 10s in 24 starts. He finished sixth in points.
McGriff was voted the Winston West Series' most popular driver for 12 straight years, and won the series championship in 1986. "Winning that championship has to be one on the high points of my career," McGriff says. "Everything just seemed to go my way that year."
THIS IS THE SOUTHERN VERSION OF NASCAR HISTORY AND THE STORY OF STOCK CAR RACING. NO MENTION OF THE IMPORTANT ROLL THAT WEST COAST DRIVERS, TEAMS, SPONSORS, PROMOTERS AND BUILDERS PLAYED. THE WEST COAST STOCK CAR HALL OF FAME'S GOAL IS TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT IN THE MEMORY OF THOSE EARLY WEST COAST PIONEERS.
PART TWO . . . France was finally able to convince local restaurateur Charlie Reese, rich and well known, to post a $1,000.00 purse and let France recruit drivers and spread the word. Danny Murphy beat France in the 150-miler that generated just enough profit to convince the co-promoter to do it again. They managed another successful stock car promotion on Labor Day weekend of 1938. France beat Lloyd Moody and Pig Ridings in that race and then organized and promoted three more races in March, July, and September of 1939. They did it again in March , July 4, and September of 1940 France fared well in those three races of 1940 finishing fourth in March, first in July, and sixth in September. France was able to promote two races in March, one each in July and August of 1941 prior to the war breaking out. The war brought a stop to motor sport racing and France went to work for the Daytona Boat Works while his wife handled the family filling station.
Shortly after the war ended and things started returning to normal, Bill France left the boat works. France was obsessed with the idea that a single, firmly governed sanctioning body was necessary if stock car was to be a success. He was well aware, as a driver and promoter, that the minor-league sanctioning bodies reeked of inconsistency. France wanted an organization that would sanction and promote races, bring uniformity to race procedures plus technical rules. He wanted an association that would oversee a membership benefit and insurance fund, and one that would promise to pay postseason awards, and crown a single national champion using a clearly defined points system.
At that time there were several organizations who claimed to sanction national championship races. One was the American Automobile Association (AAA), but they were more concerned with open-wheel, open-cockpit, champ car racing. The A.A.A eventually became known as the USAC/CART league (Indy-car racing). The other groups were the United Stock Car Racing Association, National Auto Racing league, and American Stock Car Racing Association. The Georgia based National Stock Car Racing Association was only interested with-in the state and so they didn't crown a national champion. The Daytona Beach Racing Association only promoted within the city so they made no claim to a national champion either. France was so devoted to creating a racing association that would adhere to the rules mentioned above. With that in 1947 he retired from racing so he could concentrate all his time and attention to organize that body.
The first meeting of the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing was held on December 12, 1947 at the Streamline Inn Motel in Daytona Beach, Florida. The organization named Bill France Sr. as its first president. William Henry Getty France, aka, Big Bill France, gathered together a group of racing promoters, drivers, and mechanics with the dream of establishing an organization to set a standard set of rules and regulations to help promote stock car racing.
Incorporated on February 21, 1948, the organization hired Erwin "Cannonball" Baker to be the first Commissioner of Racing. The new organization sanctioned its first race on the Daytona Beach road/beach course in February of 1948, several days before it was legally incorporated. More than 14,000 fans watched that first event, a 150-miler that Red Byron won ahead of Teague, Raymond Parks, Buddy Shuman, and Wayne Pritchett.
France's original plan was for NASCAR to oversee three separate and distinct classes of cars: Strictly Stock, Modified, and Roadsters. Perhaps surprisingly, the Modified and Roadster classes were seen as more attractive to fans than Strictly Stock. As things turned out, though, the audience NASCAR attracted wanted nothing to do with Roadsters, a "Yankee" series more popular in the Midwest and Northeast. It didn't take long for France to recognize that he didn't need the Roadster.
After the war was over the big automakers had to switch production from Tanks and Jeeps back to their makes of cars. This got France to thinking that the fans would want to purchase cars when they see them winning at the races and he knew that productions were going to be slow for a while. He decided that NASCAR would run pre '40s Fords and Chevrolets plus a handful of new Buick's were allowed. The 1948 schedule covered 52 dirt-track races for modified's and Red Byron was the national champion that year.
Part Three
PART THREE . . . In February of 1949, France staged a 20 mile exhibition race near Miami for his Strictly Stock division. Fearing he would lose out to a promoter in North Carolina, France decided to stage a Strictly Stock points race. This race took place in June and was scheduled as a 200-lap, 150 mile race around a 3/4-mile dirt track in Charlotte, North Carolina. It carried a purse of $5,000. for 33 street-legal family sedans that had been built since 1946. Pole sitter Bob Flock led the first five laps in a 46 Hudson, Bill Blair led laps 6 thru 150 in a 1949 Lincoln, and Glen Dunnaway led the remaining laps in a 1947 Ford. After the race Dunnaway's car was inspected and failed because he had altered the rear springs. He was disqualified and moved to the back of the field and stripped him of the win and money. This moved Roper to the first place spot followed by Fonty Flock in second, Byron in third, Sam Rice in fourth, and Tim Flock finished out the top five. Hubert Westmoreland owner of Dunnaway's car sued the new sanctioning body for $10,000. however a North Carolina Judge ruled that the officials had the right to make and enforce their rules without outside interference and dismissed the suit. That mid-summer race attracted 13,000 plus fans, far more than was expected. NASCAR promoted seven more Strictly Stock races that year: two each in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, one each in Florida, New York, and Virginia. Byron won the Strictly Stock class that year in what was to become the Grand Nationals and Winston Cup series. Lee Petty finished 2nd in points followed by Bob Flock, Curtis Turner, and Jack Smith. Fifty drivers raced in at least one race each that year and between 16 and 45 drivers showed up for each race.
France wondered what was missing from his Strictly Stock division. He had to come up with a blockbuster event to draw more attention to his Strictly Stock cars. The USAC champ car circuit had the Indy 500, and NASCAR Modified and Sportsman division had their annual beach/road races in February at Daytona Beach. In 1950 Harold Brasington built a 1.25 mile, high-banked, egg shaped speedway just west of his hometown of Darlington. He stunned the racing world by paving it and saying that he wanted to someday host a 500-mile stock car race. Brasington himself a retired racer had known France from their old racing days at Daytona and other dirt tracks throughout the Southeast and Midwest. He was aware that France's new organization wanted to expand their image and he figured a 500-mile race would be the answer.
In the fall of 1949 Brasington bought a 70 acre farm from Sherman Ramsey and he began carving a superspeedway out of what had been a cotton and peanut field. Instead of developing his track into a true oval, he was forced to create an egg-shaped facility with one end tighter, more steeply-banked and narrower than the other end. You see he promised Ramsey when he purchased the land that the track wouldn't disturb the minnow pond on the property's western fringe. So that meant that Barrington could make the eastern end as wide, sweeping, and flat as he wanted but the western end had to be just the opposite because of the minnow pond.
It took almost a year to build and pave the new track. In the summer of 1950 as Sam Nunis spoke of promoting a 500-mile NASCAR race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Barrington and France were making the final arrangements to run a 500-miler at Darlington on Labor-day. The inaugural Southern 500 carried a stock-car record purse of $25,000. and was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and the rival Central States Racing Association. Over 80 cars showed up and it took two weeks to get them all qualified. The race started with a 75 car field aligned in 25 rows and three abreast.
After filling all 9,000 seats fans were directed to the infield where a sea of over 6,000 people watched the race. It took Johnny Mantz (West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame Inductee)more than six hours to cover the full 500 miles. He drove a 1950 Plymouth owned by France, Westmoreland, and a couple more guys. Fireball Roberts finished second, Red Byron was third, and Bill Rexford was fourth. The Southern 500 was NASCAR's only paved track event in 1950. There were only four paved events in 1951 and they were two at Dayton, Ohio and one each at Darlington, and Thompson, Connecticut. Paved tracks didn't begin to gain acceptance until the late '50s. Darlington and the half-miler at Dayton each had two races in 1952. In 1953 Darlington and the new 1-mile asphalt track at Raleigh, North Carolina each had a Grand National race. In 1954 Darlington, Raleigh, and the paved road course at Linden, New Jersey Airport had a race each. In 1955 Martinsville, Virginia had one race, Darlington one race, and Raleigh had two races.
NASCAR's future began to come in focus in 1956. NASCAR sanctioned 11 paved-track races among 56 events. They had 14 out of 53 venues in 1957, and 24 out of 51 venues in 1958. Not only were they racing on oval tracks France also scheduled road course races at Watkins Glen, New York, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and Bridgehampton, New York. Suddenly, almost overnight, it seemed NASCAR racing was becoming a national series rather than a regional series, Bill France's dream was heading toward the future. *****
Rodger Ward and Parnelli Jones
RACING SCENE
By Tim Kennedy
LOS ANGELES, CA. - Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rodger Ward passed away Monday, July 5 at a hospice in Anaheim after battling ailments and diabetes in recent years. The 83-year old racing icon will be remembered as one of the all-time legends in Indy 500 racing history. The oldest living winner of the Indy 500 and one of the most revered open-wheel champions was the subject of a
25-inch obituary by Shav Glick in the July 6 Los Angeles Times. A photo of Rodger sitting in his Indy 500 winning Leader Card roadster was included in the tribute on page B.9.
Ward won the Indy 500 in 1959 during his initial season with Milwaukee-based car owner Bob Wilke and car builder/chief mechanic A. J. Watson. They comprised the famous three Ws racing team that was a major force in champ car racing for many years. In addition to his '59 Indy 500 triumph, Ward finished second in '60 (recognized as one of the best 500 races in history), third in
'61, first in '62, fourth in '63 and second in '64. For decades historians recalled that record as the most successful six-year finishing record in Indy history.
My personal memories of Ward go back to the mid-1950s when I read Bob Russo's stories in Speed Age magazine about him and other AAA Championship Trail drivers. Ward was a journeyman driver with limited success in mid or back of the pack cars until he hooked up with car owner Roger Wolcott in the mid-50s. That collaboration led to his becoming part of the front-line Wilke-Watson
operation in 1959. My first chance to see Ward race in person came in October 1957 when I watched him race the Wolcott # 8 champ dirt car to victory at the California State Fairgrounds dirt mile. His wife Jo and their small dog also appeared in Victory Lane photos. My first trip to see the Indy 500 in person wasin 1959 and Ward won that exciting roadster-era race. His on-track duels with Jim Rathmann, Pat Flaherty and Johnny Thomson made it memorable.
Hours after the race our charter group waited at the Indianapolis Airport to board our DC-6B pro/jet airplane. We were surprised to see Ward, winner of the 500 earlier that day, come through the airport escorting an attractive young lady to her flight. Ward was quite the ladies man. Several years ago Ward attended a race at Irwindale Speedway and came to the press box early to visit. I sat next to Rodger in the first row and talked one-on-one as we watched activities below on the track. I related the 1959 Indy Airport story to Rodger, but he did not recall it with memory-loss over the decades.
Born on Jan. 10, 1921 in Beloit, KS, 5'8", 170-pound Ward grew up as ayoungster in the north Los Angeles community of Highland Park and attended Franklin High. He built a hot rod from spare parts at his father's wrecking yard. During Word War II Ward piloted the distinctive P-38 fighter and also flew the B-17 bomber. He was such a skilled pilot he was retained after the war as a pilot instructor at Wichita Falls, TX. While serving in the military Rodger attended a midget race in Texas and later bought and raced an older midget. He received the life-long scar on his chin as a result of backing his midget into a wall.
Ward left the military service in the late 1940s and returned to Southern California. He raced the popular midgets, which competed as various tracks almost every night of the week. Rodger won one of his most memorable victories in 1950 at Gilmore Stadium in the final year of racing at the Los Angeles Fairfax District current site of CBS Television City. Rodger won the main event
in a Ford V8-60 Kurtis-midget against a field of the more powerful Offenhauser-powered midgets. He made his debut at the Indy 500 in 1951 and drovein 14 successive Indy 500s from 1951-64. (Hall Of Fame Note: Ward also won the 1951 AAA Stock Car Championship as well as many stock car races up and down the west coast.) His best finish in eight years before his 1959 victory was an eighth place in a roadster in the 1956 500.
Ward's racing career was marred by crashes that claimed the lives of two racing legends. During 1954 at Du Quoin, IL an accident on the front straight with Chuck Stevenson sent Rodger's car spinning into the pits where it hit and killed Clay Smith, his friend, mentor and former crew chief. Ward almost quit racing. During the 1955 Indy 500 Ward's dirt track car broke an axle, hit the wall and flipped to mid-track leaving turn two. It resulted in a five-car crash that claimed the life of race leader and two-time winner Bill Vukovich.The 1953-54 Indy winner swerved right, hit the wall and flipped many times outside the backstretch. Officials revealed his fatality during the race.
That crash also hit Rodger hard and led to a down period in his racing fortunes. Although some people criticized Ward for the crash, the Vukovich family in Fresno, CA absolved him of blame. The 1955 season was devastating in racing worldwide. Fatalities led to the AAA withdrawal from race sanctioning and the birth of USAC in 1956. Ward's belief in his abilities led him to continue his racing career and his perseverance was rewarded shortly. Ward said Indy 500 victories made his career. Four-time winner A.J. Foyt often says the same thing to this day.
Ward was an avid gin rummy player and golfer who shot in the low 80s when he and wife Diane lived in Indianapolis. He loved home-made ice cream. Rodger considered his best season to be 1963 when he won five of 12 USAC National Championship races, including three of the last four. Foyt also won five. Rodger won the USAC National Championship in 1959 and 1962 when the circuit had point races on both dirt and paved tracks. He won 26 National Championship races, second only to Foyt at the time. Ward also raced sports cars and stocks cars and was the AAA 1951 National Stock Car champion.
The year 1959 was memorable for Ward in addition to his Indy 500 victory. Two months after his 500 triumph Rodger drove Ken Brenn's 11-year old Kurtis midget in a USAC Formula Libre race at the Lime Rock, CT road circuit. No specifications or displacement rules were required. Cars just had to be
registered somewhere. Sports and stock cars, Grand Prix cars, midgets, super-modifieds and modifieds raced together in a pair of 20-lap races and a 60-lap finale. Ward's midget won the pole by a second and finished second to George Constantine's Aston-Martin in the first 20. Ward won the second 20 after dueling Constantine. Then Ward won the 60-lap race in a battle with the sports cars of Constantine and Chuck Daigh, in a Maserati. Rodger ran third early and after Constantine dropped out he passed Daigh with 10 laps to go and won convincingly.Ward's upset shocked the racing world. During December 1959, Rodger took the midget, fitted with a clutch, to the first Formula One US Grand Prix at the Sebring, FL road course. He ran eighth for awhile but a clutch failure caused him to exit the race.
Rodger failed to qualify his rear-engine Watson/Ford for the 1965 Indy 500 and was 34th fastest. He made his final Indy 500 in 1966 aboard the John Mecom-owned, rear-engine Lola/Offy and finished 15th, dropping out with poor handling after 74 laps. Rodger announced his retirement from competition the next night at the Indy 500 awards banquet because racing wasn't fun for him any
longer. When he retired, Ward led the Active and All-Time Drivers Championship Point Standings with 16,524.4 points. He also was the only Indianapolis Motor Speedway driver listed in the top ten in all divisions of All-Time IMS records. He was the top money winner, third in lap prize money, fifthin total points, sixth in mileage led, tied for seventh in number of races and ninth in laps
led. He also led the number of championship races driven with 150.
Following his retirement at age 45, Ward became a motor racing goodwill ambassador and visited military servicemen, showed racing films and talked racing. He was a vice president and national safety director for USAC. He became director of public relations for Ontario Motor Speedway when that IMS replica opened in 1970. In 1974 Ward resumed racing in short track stock car to help an
injured friend. Rodger raced at the long-gone Speedway 605 half-mile paved track in Irwindale, CA. He qualified second and finished fourth in his first race. He had fun but never won another feature before retiring for good. He also operated a tire business in the San Gabriel Valley.
The last time I saw Ward in person was Friday night, July 25, 2003 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Monrovia, CA, where he was inducted with other drivers and racers into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame at a banquet. Tuxedo-clad Ward walked to the stage for his award assisted by a respectful Parnelli Jones, his 1960s Indy Car and stock car racing rival. Rodger spoke some words of appreciation and clearly enjoyed receiving the honor.
Ward eventually retired to the San Diego area and was active with the San Diego Automotive Museum at Balboa Park, where his memorial service was held Sunday, July 11 at 5:00 p.m. Survivorsinclude wife Sherrie, sons Rodger, Jr, 62, David, 58, Rick, 40 and daughter Robin, 39. His son David raced CRA sprint cars briefly as a 1972 CRA rookie in the # 46 sprint car. Ward's death now leaves Jim Rathmann, his long-time friendly rival and winner of the 1960 Indy 500, as the oldest living Indy 500 winner at age 75. Rodger leaves us all richer for the way he lived his life and contributed to the history of auto racing at the highest level.
West Coast Drivers Lead NASCAR List Of Best Finishes
Interesting many have asked if #9-Kasey Kahne's three top-five finishes was the best record by a driver in their first four races. The following was revealed upon a query of the database by Charlie Vass. Obviously, being just one of seven drivers in NASCAR history to accomplish this is still quite remarkable! Drivers records after four races....
Adkins, Allen 4 Top 5s 8/1/54 Oakland Stadium 3 8/22/54 Bay Meadows Race Course 4 5/8/55 Arizona State Fairgrounds 5 5/15/55 Tucson Rodeo Grounds 2
Minter, Clyde 4 Top 5s 9/25/49 Martinsville Speedway 4 10/16/49 North Wilkesboro Speedway 4 4/2/50 Charlotte Speedway 3 5/21/50 Martinsville Speedway 5
Gurney, Dan 3 Top 5s 2/16/62 Daytona International Speedway 4 2/18/62 Daytona International Speedway 27 1/20/63 Riverside International Raceway 1 2/22/63 Daytona International Speedway 5
Kahne, Kasey 3 Top 5s 2/15/04 Daytona International Speedway 41 2/22/04 North Carolina Speedway 2 3/7/04 Las Vegas Motor Speedway 2 3/14/04 Atlanta Motor Speedway 3 (NASCAR Statistical Services)(3-19-2004)
Dan Gurney and Erick Erickson were inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall Of Fame in 2003.
The hard packed sand between Daytona Beach and its northern neighbor Ormond Beach was the site of the world-record automobile speed trials. They started in 1902 and picked up speed right up to the '30s. By then the speeds were approaching 300 miles per hour along the firm and smooth inviting sand. In the spring of 1935 Sir Malcolm Campbell was taking his Bluebird rocket car to Daytona Beach in hopes of running at 300 miles per hour for yet another land-speed-record. Along with this and the weather and the smaller hospitable and more affordable area maybe this is the reason behind the Frances staying in Daytona Beach. Campbell never did get his record of 300 mph at Daytona, instead his best he could do was 276.82mph and on March 7, 1935 Campbell announced that he was moving the speed trials to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It was the shifting winds and changing tides that made Campbell realize that he would not reach his goal of 300 mph if he kept working out of Daytona Beach. Campbell did beat the 300mph speed at Bonneville in late 1935.
Daytona Beach area officials were determined to bring in speed-related events after Campbell left and this was how Bill France Sr. got his start in race promotions in late 1935. City officials asked championship dirt track racer and local resident Sig Haugdahl to organize and promote an automobile race along a 3.2 mile course which included Highway A1A southbound from Daytona Beach and the same beach that had been used for the land speed record runs. The 78-lap, 250 mile event for street-legal family sedans was sanctioned but the American Automobile Association for cars built in 1935 and 1936. Daytona Beach posted a $5,000.00 purse, with $1,700.00 for the winner. The biggest problem was that people arrived there earlier than the ticket-takers and established their spots on the beach. The turns at each end very virtually impassable, leading to stuck and stalled cars which created scoring disputes and technical protests. Then the race was called after 75 laps with Milt Marion declared the winner. France finished fifth behind Marion, Shaw, Elmore, and Sam Purvis. Ben Shaw and Tommy Elmore both protested the race but their appeals were squashed. That was the first and last race the City of Daytona Beach ever promoted. Well how would you feel if your City lost $22,000.00 from one race promotion?
The first meeting of the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing was held on December 12, 1947 at the Streamline Inn Motel in Daytona Beach, Florida. The organization named Bill France Sr. as its first president. William Henry Getty France, aka, Big Bill France, gathered together a group of racing promoters, drivers, and mechanics with the dream of establishing an organization to set a standard set of rules and regulations to help promote stock car racing.
Incorporated on February 21, 1948, the organization hired Erwin "Cannonball" Baker to be the first Commissioner of Racing. The new organization sanctioned its first race on the Daytona Beach road/beach course in February of 1948, several days before it was legally incorporated. More than 14,000 fans watched that first event, a 150-miler that Red Byron won ahead of Teague, Raymond Parks, Buddy Shuman, and Wayne Pritchett. 
France's original plan was for NASCAR to oversee three separate and distinct classes of cars: Strictly Stock, Modified, and Roadsters. Perhaps surprisingly, the Modified and Roadster classes were seen as more attractive to fans than Strictly Stock. As things turned out, though, the audience NASCAR attracted wanted nothing to do with Roadsters, a "Yankee" series more popular in the Midwest and Northeast. It didn't take long for France to recognize that he didn't need the Roadster.
Glen Dunnaway led the remaining laps in a 1947 Ford. After the race Dunnaway's car was inspected and failed because he had altered the rear springs. He was disqualified and moved to the back of the field and stripped him of the win and money. This moved Roper to the first place spot followed by Fonty Flock in second, Byron in third, Sam Rice in fourth, and Tim Flock finished out the top five. Hubert Westmoreland owner of Dunnaway's car sued the new sanctioning body for $10,000. however a North Carolina Judge ruled that the officials had the right to make and enforce their rules without outside interference and dismissed the suit. That mid-summer race attracted 13,000 plus fans, far more than was expected. NASCAR promoted seven more Strictly Stock races that year: two each in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, one each in Florida, New York, and Virginia. Byron won the Strictly Stock class that year in what was to become the Grand Nationals and Winston Cup series. Lee Petty finished 2nd in points followed by Bob Flock, Curtis Turner, and Jack Smith. Fifty drivers raced in at least one race each that year and between 16 and 45 drivers showed up for each race.
In the fall of 1949 Brasington bought a 70 acre farm from Sherman Ramsey and he began carving a superspeedway out of what had been a cotton and peanut field. Instead of developing his track into a true oval, he was forced to create an egg-shaped facility with one end tighter, more steeply-banked and narrower than the other end. You see he promised Ramsey when he purchased the land that the track wouldn't disturb the minnow pond on the property's western fringe. So that meant that Barrington could make the eastern end as wide, sweeping, and flat as he wanted but the western end had to be just the opposite because of the minnow pond.
It took almost a year to build and pave the new track. In the summer of 1950 as Sam Nunis spoke of promoting a 500-mile NASCAR race at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Barrington and France were making the final arrangements to run a 500-miler at Darlington on Labor-day. The inaugural Southern 500 carried a stock-car record purse of $25,000. and was co-sanctioned by NASCAR and the rival Central States Racing Association. Over 80 cars showed up and it took two weeks to get them all qualified. The race started with a 75 car field aligned in 25 rows and three abreast.
