1978 CVM History

1978 Membership Card

OARC Membership
OARC Membership
Bryan Rashleigh Secretary Treasurer

 

1978 Rundown

1978 Stats
1978 Stats
A Good Year
     This may have been our best year yet in Hobby’s. We did everything in 78′. Rolled over, won a feature, the most exciting, that may never be matched as far as thrilling. We ended up 10th in both Flamboro and Gold Cup points. One of the high lites of 78 was not my battles on the track, but with the Township over parking my car in the garage.

 

Heading To Motion 78′

Car Show & Snow<br />
Car Show & Snow

Unfortunately I didn’t get any advertising promo on the car show, or the preparing of my car for 1978. Some years we take more pictures at different times….The only difference in the car for 78′ was the white roof from black. Ray and I were opposites on and off the track. He won and I didn’t, his car was always yllow and black and mine was different each year.

 

Motion 78′

Ray at the Show<br />
Ray at the Show

<div class=”maint”> One strange thing about this show was the presence of Ray Hughes. He didn’t always enter the shows, possibly he was in them before, I don’t know for sure, I just know he wasn’t a big fan of getting race ready this soon and going through the freezing cold, slushy roads and 5 hours to get out of the car show after it was over. Okay, I know it’s part of it, but if you haven’t entered a car show of this magnitude, getting your car ready and giving it the extra touch is a big commitment. We were thankfull for all the memembers who went in the show. There were 8.

 

Motion Car Show 78′

Motion<br />
Motion

<div class=”maint”> After winnning the Best Club Display in 1977 we wanted to give an extra effort to win again in 78′. A theme of a race with the pace car (courtesy of Gallinger Lincoln Mercury) and 8 cars lined up behind. Ray was on the pole (he would maintain that trend many times over the years for opening day draws and when we drew of the first Gold Cup race. In our display we put racing manicans in the cars, equipped with our own fire suits. We also put our annual trophies on display.

 

Motion Car Show 78′

Davey Jones<br />
Davey Jones

<div class=”maint”> Davey Jones #60 was one of the members who went into the show. If any other viewers have pictures of this show I would be glad to enter them into this sequence…or any other pics period.

 

Motion Car Show 78′

Motion<br />
Motion

<div class=”maint”> Don Cockburn worked at a Turkey Farm, or business, (like Maple Leaf Lodge) and in order to make our spot more authentic we wanted to put down what looked like asphault. Don brought about 30 bags of turkey feed. It was light gray in color and looked like kitty litter. A few of us grabbed bags and started shaking them on the floor. It was very effective, but very dusty. It didn’t take long for the guy with the immaculate black 55 Chev to go off the deep end. He started yelling at us and called us names insinuating that we didn’t show concern for the cars that were in the show for “show” reasons. We didn’t know what he was talking about until we seen his car and it was a light gray before we stopped shaking the feed. Needless to say we apologized and put the stuff down a lot more carefull…apparently there were a few show cars with a dusting of turkey feed.

 

Motion Car Show 78′

Motion<br />
Motion

<div class=”maint”> I meant to mention in the above picture that Brian Rashleighs car was in the show. That’s his brown coach #87. Also in the above picture you can barely see Ron Butts #88 at the back on the left. So of the 8 there were Ray, Davey, Brian, Ron and me.

 

No Snow and no Leaves

Heading to Flamboro<br />
Heading to Flamboro

 

Car and Tow Vehicle Ready To Go

Grenadier Ford<br />
Grenadier Ford

<div class=”maint”> Grenadier Ford sponsored Stewart Pitchford and me again in 1978.

 

In Front of Our Home,and Our Kids School

48 Chev 3 Ton<br />
48 Chev 3 Ton

 

Racer vs Government…handicapping system, no good

Parking Fine<br />
Parking Fine
    Step 1…On September 14th 1976 a by-law enforcement officer came by my house and asked me about my race car. I thought he was a race fan. A few weeks later I got this fine. I was upset, what kind of fan is that?

 

$115 Fine for Parking #36 in My Garage

Feature Pays $150<br />
Feature Pays $150
    Step 2….A fine for parking a race car in my garage? Not even for working on it. In fairness I asked, “where was I suppose to park, in my house”?…okay, that’s sarcastic, but it gets better, the story.

 

$10 to Appeal the Fine

Protest Form<br />
Protest Form
    Step 3…I appealed it on Feb 22nd 1977, the day after our 7th anniversary. This is the governments form of “a protest sheet”.

 

Judge Rules in My Favour…..Government Appeals!

We Win...Almost<br />
We Win…Almost
    Step 4…Almost a year later on January 31st 1978, Nonie and I went to court for my appeal. I took my scrap books and was anxious to speak, but Judge Hogg motioned me to sit still, he was upset more than we were about the charge. The Judge told the Crown Prosecutor the by-law was ridiculous, “do we not have more serious matters to deal with than this”?. The Judge asked them how parking a racing motor vehicle was braking the law. “It’s a by-law your Honour”. He asked them…”how did you know it was a race car”? The by-law enforcer said “it had numbers on it”! “what if it was a Taxi cab”? The man answered “it wasn’t”! “What if he had a Formula 1 in his living room, could he not do what he wants on his own property, especially park a car! Was it on jack stands?, maybe it was in the air and not on the ground”, the Judge continued? The man just shrugged. The Judge said “this is way to restrictive, not fair, and a waste of time”. He threw it out. We were so happy and celebrated the victory of David and Goliath……but it wasn’t over. A few weeks later, in late February, the same by-law man came to my house one evening. He was all smiles. I thought at first he came to apologize for giving us a hard time, but that wasn’t the purpose of his visit(why did I keep misreading this guy?). With a silly grin and a nerdy smile he said “I’m back, and this is for you”. Then he handed me this piece of paper, a Government appeal. The Government was appealing our victory, and taking it to the top, the Supreme Court of Ontario. What!!! Are you kidding me? The by-law guy said, “hey, the Judge shouldn’t have thrown it out”!… “Ya, well I should throw you out”! He then said “the Supreme Court is the guys with the white wigs and they won’t fool around”…I was in shock and mad again, and with his arrogant nerdy attitude, I told him to get off my property, and don’t come back. When he left Nonie asked “now what”?…our friends told me it would cost a fortune to fightg the governmetn and no way would I win against the Supreme Court. We investigated and found that we would need a Lawyer, and could look at a minimum of a $1000 fine plus court costs, as well as Lawyer fees. I called the township to check on my options. The problems of every week racing hadn’t even crept upon us yet and we were knee deep in township trouble…for parking! I talked to the Mayor of York. He asked me to come and see him very soon, he wanted to get personally involved with the matter….I got calls from poeple who heard it on the news, and on Kitchen TV,and this article was in the Globe and Mail. The only reason it was news was because it was going to the highest court in the land. All my buddies at work were cheering me on, saying..go get em’ Gary, fight the Governement, put them in their place”…I looked at them and said “are you guys NUTS”!

 

Notice of Goverment Appeal…no ones laughing now.

Serious Busniess<br />
Serious Busniess

 

Government Makes A Deal……..Withdraws Appeal

Agreed to Move Car<br />
Agreed to Move Car
    Step 5…With the blessings of my boss at work, I met the Mayor on March 17th and this time I did bring my scrap books. Nonie and I showed him we were regular people with a healthy hobby. He agreed, but showed us the seriousness of going to the Supreme Court of Ontario. He warned that for every remand, or any other reasons it was delayed would be charged to me when I was found guilty, and certainly I wouldn’t win because Judge Hogg used emotion instead of knowing the by-law. The Mayor asked me if I could park my car at another location for at least a year or two. I said I thought I could. He said that if I promised not to park my car at home, and did not take it near my house he would withdraw Her Majesty’s appeal. In about a millionth of a second I made the toughest promise I ever had to keep in racing, a promise that was impossible to keep, even though the intent was real. We shook hands and he gave us this letter. Later that day my boss said I could park the car at work for the remainder of the 78′ race season…..the key to keeping the promise would unravel in a less than 4 months and I would no longer be able to hold out our end of the bargain. We would have no choice but to sneak back to our house….go to the next picture for that story…but meanwhile we avoided disaster, and for the next few months the Italian community celebrated knowing that our race car was excomunicated from the neighbourhood.

 

Staying Away Lasted Only A Short Time

Fired for Racing<br />
Fired for Racing
    Things went well at first. We did move our race car and obeyed the wishes of the Mayor. However some things happened that I had no control over, well I did sort of but what a series of events. First, Flamboro started racing on Wednesday nights beginning on June 21st. I raced on the 21st and then again on the 28th of June,both Wednesday’s, while I worked as a service Advisor for Grenadier Ford. Now here’s where things go wrong. On July 2nd we raced at Sauble Beach for the long week end, after racing the night before at Flamboro. So we raced June 21st, June 24th, June 28th, July 1st and now July 2nd with Wednesday July 5th coming, that’s 6 times in 15 days (no problem)…anyway while at Sauble our family went to a Mini Bike road course during the day on Sunday. The kids had a blast but I messed up on the Bike and smashed my leg. It was swollen badly and very painfull. We ran that night, I finished 8th in the heat, 3rd in the consi and 17th in the feature. Monday was a holiday. I went to work on Tuesday but at noon I couldn’t walk. I showed my boss my leg and he reluctantly sent me home. Here’s the bad part. I was better but not really ready to go back to work on Wednesday. I called in sick. At about 2:30 I almost had a heart attack because I knew we were racing that night and not only had I called in sick, but my car was at Grenadier Ford. What a mess. I called Stewart Pitchford who picked up my car with the ramp truck. We reasoned that if I was okay by 5 pm, techically I could go racing and then go to work the next day. Well we made it to the races and I felt great. That night I finsihed 3rd in my heat and 4th in the feature. I went to work the next day and the service manager asked me if I raced the night before, he noticed my car was missing. I said I did, and he said (here it is, what we knew could or would happen) “you were to hurt to come in to work but you could race”? I said yes, but I was ok yesterday afternoon and it was no sense to come in late in the day but I came in this morning, and you saw my leg Ted, you know how swolen it was. He said, you’re fired. Oh boy, not good. A few things went through my head immediately, I was out of a job, and no place to park the race car…but I could still race. Shock went through the Italian community as word got out that I was bringing the race car back….what should have I done? a) For sure I should have went in to work at least in the afternoon, even though I was still limping b) I could have missed the race (that wasn’t an option, I put it down for those who would possible consider it) but I know I would have been sicker if I had done that. So I did the what I had to do and paid the consequences. I appealed to the owner (lot’s of appeals in 78′), it was true Ted didn’t like me, the owner did sypathize with me but said “Gary, if I have a problem do I get rid of the horse or the saddle”? I had no idea what that meant so I left.

 

Cayuga Victoria Day Week End

Cayuga Ad<br />
Cayuga Ad
    This was the 2nd annual Victoria Week End Classic. 1978 was a wet one for the first few weeks. Flamboro rained out on May 6th, May 13th, and the feature on May 20th rained out, however we did get the heats and qualifying in for Flamboro night on the 20th..plus!!..during the day on the 20th was qualifying for Cayuga. The feature would run on Sunday.

 

Cayuga Pits

Cayuga<br />
Cayuga

 

Cayuga…. Taylor Flips In Warm Ups

Wipe Out<br />
Wipe Out
    You had to be very careful at Cayuga coming off turn 2. The wall jumped out pretty quick, and still does. Sammy let his brother drive his car in the warm ups this day (can’t remember his name) and he hit the and climbed the wall coming off turn 2 mangling the fence and his race car. A few of us were watching when he crashed and rolled over. He was okay but Sammy’s car was badly wrecked. Some on lookers standing by the fence were not so lucky…unnecesssary expanation on the next photo.

 

Ray Inspects The Damage…After He Was Bandaged

Ray Hughes<br />
Ray Hughes
    Looking like a warrior from the Civil War, Ray checks out Sammy Taylors damaged coupe. Here’s Ray’s explanation of how he got hurt….”I was standing by the fence and Sammy’s brother was driving the car in practice. He touched wheels with anohter car and hit the wall and fence. A steel ring that holds the fence together came off like a bullet and hit me in the forehead”. Ray was able to race the next day and him and I would touch slightly in the feature at about the same place.

 

Cayuga…Warm Ups

Back Chute Gate<br />
Back Chute Gate
    We ran very good this day. It was our first time on the track all season. The Flamboro shows had been rained out so far and this day was cloudy but dry. I’m just passing the pit gate on the back chute.

 

Cayuga…Heat

Ready to Qualify<br />
Ready to Qualify
    I started 2nd row inside. Tim Funk #76 was pole, Don Ramage #74 outside pole. Beside me was #71 Don MacDonald with Herb Erb #68 benid me and #51 Ralph Farraway beside him.

 

Cayuga…Tim Funk Holds The Lead

Tim leads lap one<br />
Tim leads lap one

 

Cayuga…Follow Ramage

Ramage Leads<br />
Ramage Leads
    I followed Tim at first but Don got by him so I went outside.

 

Cayuga…Catching Ramage

Ramage Leads<br />
Ramage Leads
    My car ran great and I slowly caught up to Don. We were fairly close on the straights and I would gain a little in the corners.

 

Cayuga…Caution Takes Away Win

Passing Ramage<br />
Passing Ramage
    I passed Don with 2 laps to go but the caution came out. He went on to win, making sure he didn’t let me under him again.

 

Cayuga…Feature Racing Ron Butts

Feature<br />
Feature
    I started near the front in the feature. I thought I had a good chance to win. Here I’m getting by Ron Butts #88.

 

Cayuga…Scarry Feature Crash

Feature Spin<br />
Feature Spin
    Early in the feature I was running with a pack of casr. Coming off turn 2 I just barely tapped Ray Hughes left rear wheel and spun towards the infield. When I hit the grass it was wet from heavy rain the night before. I was going fast as it was and when I spun I hit the rail way ties around the light standard. I remember watching those big 10 X 10 ties looking at me as I was flying toward them. I slammed into the embankment (you can see the mud nad ties a little uprooted) and spun 3 times ending up at the pit exit. This picture doesen’t show it, but that skid would be a few hundred feet. The cars go by under caution, Harry Nicholson #14 and Ray Hughes #24….on the back of Ray’s Coupe is a huge Valvoline sticker. Bob Slack asked us if we would run them for that day and we agreed.

 

Cayuga…Time To Go Home

Pits for Us<br />
Pits for Us
    We parked just outside the track opposite the back grandstand and the pit gate.

 

Butch The Butter Dog

But he's cute<br />
But he’s cute
    We got Butch in the late spring. As he grew up he became more and more crazy, not mad crazy, but goofy crazy. I was out of work (remember the July week end at Sauble?) and I spent time during the day convincing my neighbours I didn’t bring my car back home. Anyway Butch one day decided to eat all the food I had put out for dinner and when I went to pick up Nonie after work we came in and found a mess in the kitchen. We followed the trail out to the front hallway and there was Butch with his nose jammed under the heater radiator (remember the steel hot water rads that we used to heat our house, and some of us still do) going nuts trying to get what was left in the tupper wear container. I reached down and pulled it out and there was a few drips left from a pound of butter. Naturally the dog was sick for the next 3 days, all over the house. But he was cute.

 

Butch The Butter Dog

But he's cute<br />
But he’s cute
    We got Butch in the late spring. As he grew up he became more and more crazy, not mad crazy, but goofy crazy. I was out of work (remember the July week end at Sauble?) and I spent time during the day convincing my neighbours I didn’t bring my car back home. Anyway Butch one day decided to eat all the food I had put out for dinner and when I went to pick up Nonie after work we came in and found a mess in the kitchen. We followed the trail out to the front hallway and there was Butch with his nose jammed under the heater radiator (remember the steel hot water rads that we used to heat our house, and some of us still do) going nuts trying to get what was left in the tupper wear container. I reached down and pulled it out and there was a few drips left from a pound of butter. Naturally the dog was sick for the next 3 days, all over the house. But he was cute.

 

A Night To Remember…July 15th

Heat Win<br />
Heat Win
    This would be a very special night for many reasons. It was my first win of the season. In this heat we won my quite a margin, starting up front and taking off. It was also a relief after so many DNF’s and losing my job. The car was spotless and the grand stands were packed…no wonder we would be alarmed or disappointed when we would go to a track and there was very few fans in the stands. We were use to packed stands in the 70’s and 80’s….you can see Shirley on the left and David on the right of the starters stand entrance as they wait to get the signal to come out and get their pictures taken with me. Kids absolutely loved that. I think tracks that don’t allow kids out for a picture miss a great positive public relations opportunity.

 

Feature Win..Maybe Most Spectacular Ever

3rd Ever Feature Win<br />
3rd Ever Feature Win
    It was an amazing race. I started 6th and got the lead in a few laps. We didn’t have mirrors any more but I knew the fast cars would be coming. With 2 laps left I could hear Dave McKee behind me. He pulled outside on the white flag lap. This was my 7th season with the Hobby’s and I had only won 2 features before tonight. I had struggled this year in many ways, and I really wanted this win. We took the white flag and I was ahead going into turn one. I coud see him outside of me by the reflection off the inside of my windshield. Sometimes the light hits at just the right angle, but only for a split second, and when it does you can catch images beside you, I caught a huge image of the blue and white #37. We went down the back chute and I was still ahead. Battling in front of us were Ron Butts #88 and #19 Bob Hosford. They were side by side. Dave pulled beside me going into 3, I could see the edge of his hood. I could also see the starters stand a quarter track ahead, I knew I only had a short distance to go, and we would catch the lapped cars well before that. Dave tried boxing me in so I couldn’t get out. There wasn’t a lot of room for any of us. Coming off turn 4 I went outside of the 2 cars making it 3 abreast. I was hoping not to stuff Dave, but when you’re this close and feature wins are as rare as New York Ranger Stanley Cups, you have to tramp the gas pedal as hard as you can and I did. I kept close to the lapped cars, trying just to squeeze by. But!!! as I got beside Bob’s car I was a little too close, I left Dave more room than I should have and I went over Bob’s outside rear wheel. My car went up on 2 wheels and for a split second I though I was going to roll over, or slam into the front straight wall…so let’s do a freeze frame right now, let’s stop all the action….okay, I get out of my car while it’s on it’s side and McKee walks up from behind. Dave says “man, I was going to let you go Gary, you didn’t have to leave me so much room, there’s no way we could have made it 4 abreast”..”ya, I know but I saw you there Dave and you’ve beaten me so many times I just figured you would be going for it and I didn’t want to wreck you, so I left room and now look!”..”I appreciate it Gary, but carry on and I hope you make it to the finsih line”…”no kidding McKee, imagine how my crew, my kids, my wife, my fans and me are going to feel if I don’t make it”….”well ya better keep that hammer down”….”okay, I will”……now we get back into our cars and in an instant we’re back to ACTION!!!…bang, my car comes down off Hosford and goes into a wild slide but with enough momentum that I manage to get past the start finish line with Harry Clark waving the checker and my heart in a blurr. My car slides towards the infield just past the start finish line where I tangle with Bob who drives up the side of my car and over my hood and he spins into the infield. I was going to do another freeze frame with Bob Hosford, who would rightly ask me “can’t you win a race like normal people?”…sorry Bob…anyway, Dave backed off seeing that he might get caught up in it. When the dust settled there was a long pause, and I didn’t know how they were going to call it. Dave McKee had time to go all the way around again after the race and slowly head towards the finish line, also not sure who won, but I know he wanted it to be me. Before Dave got near the start finish line, Harry Clark pointed to me. I went nuts and Dave gave me the thumbs up as he drove by. What a night it was for us. We were so pumped we never noticed how much damage there was until Sunday. We also didn’t really care because it would be a lot easier working on it after winning the feature.

 

Damage Revealled…But We’re Too Pumped

Call for a Bodyman<br />
Call for a Bodyman
    Most people have a victory dance when they win, we had a victory crash and the daylight showed us how bad it really was, but we’re still pumped. We had hoped for a quiet few days, why? because we’re running Barrie Speedway on Wednesday night, just 3 days away, now we had to get working…Shirley checks out the extent of the work we will need to do.

 

Tire Marks to the Window

The Body Was So Nice<br />
The Body Was So Nice
    You can see how far up Bob Hosford #19 climbed on me just past the start finish line. He couldn’t help it. After all a car went over top his wheel then slid right in front of him (that would be me).

 

Tire Marks to the Window

The Body Was So Nice<br />
The Body Was So Nice
    You can see how far up Bob Hosford #19 climbed on me just past the start finish line. He couldn’t help it. After all a car went over top his wheel then slid right in front of him (that would be me).

 

Danny to the Rescue

Fixable<br />
Fixable

 

Danny Helps…Kids Look On

Precise Repairs<br />
Precise Repairs
    Here’s an oxy-moron, perhaps spelled wrong, but the point is that Danny lived right on the corner of the street and it was his parents who often (always) called the Green Hornets and the By-Law Police. When he came over to tell me he could fix my car, I said “I thought all you could do was call the cops”! He said “not me, it’s my parents. They hate you and anyone that looks like you”! So why did he fix my car? Maybe it was piece offering, maybe he liked me and or racing. He was the only one in his house who would talk to us and his parents would yell at him for coming over. Anyway, things would get worse over the summer for us race wise, and Danny would be called on again to help. He did a great job and surprised me how well he worked with barely any tools…like me! (barely any tools).

 

Body Work Almost Complete

Making it Right<br />
Making it Right

 

Work Done…Barrie Speedway Calls

Ready<br />
Ready

 

Loading Up…Watch The Clutch

Neighbours Love This<br />
Neighbours Love This
    This was the tough part, well not after 2 years of it, but getting up those ramps was hard on the clutch and the neighbours. They watched from their windows. I could hear them say “he’s going down honey, he’s going down!..no he made it”. What’s a guy suppose to do. No normal trailer, no normal neighbourhood. We survived. I hope they did too…We loved our ramp truck. Nonie and the kids would go with me. We’d play punch buggy all the way up. On the way back they were asleep in 10 minutes.

 

Loaded Up..The Main Cargo Is The Family

No lettering<br />
No lettering
    I felt bad not having my car lettered but I would have felt a lot worse if we weren’t going. We we’re allowed (and still are) 2 weeks to get it painted properly.

 

No You’re Not Driving

Too Young<br />
Too Young
    The garage to the right was my neighbour who complained. He eventually put 4 steel pipes in the ground to make sure my wheels wouldn’t go on his property. I tried not to. My property was 25′ wide. Imagine, 25′ from the far side of the house to the far side of the driveway. Some peoples bathrooms are wider than that. Anyway we made do but no way could our truck or trailer go up the driveway.

 

Barrie Pits

Wednesday?<br />
Wednesday?
    July 19th was this scheduled OARC event. I loved racing plus I was out of work which meant I had the time to get to the track, although it could have meant I couldn’t afford to go racing. Well, whatever it meant we were happy to be here.

 

Barrie Pits

Stew, Ray and Alfy<br />
Stew, Ray and Alfy
    Stewart Pitchford #47, Ray Hughes #24 and Alfy Rykman #5 can be seen. The guy to the left, I’m not sure what’s going on with him, I don’t know if he’s up for the races but his hair sure is. I know, I know maybe it’s me, but it’s not, and it’s not Ray either. Hey, today people wear pants 9 sizes to big, so maybe it’s a fad….time to move on.

 

Barrie Pits

The Competition<br />
The Competition
    Here’s another shot of the pits with #74 Don Ramage and #39 Dave Mogford.

 

Mike Middlebrook

Crew<br />
Crew
    Mike lived right across the street from me. His parents use to let him help whenever he could. He was a lot of fun.

 

Dad Always Wanted Me To Do Good

Flamboro<br />
Flamboro
    It was very tough for my dad to watch me race. He always wanted me to do good and got frustrated knowing that many cars were way ahead of us. We also didn’t know how to set up the chassis and even it we did get it close we would wreck the next race out, in fact I even wrecked winning the feature, so that should show how tough it was for us to be competitive. We always tried and dad wanted me to get the best, but I didn’t have the funds to get all the right stuff, so I settled for the best I could do with what I had. Dad was always a big help to me, he was an awesome welder and none of his welds ever broke even though I tried hard to test them. One thing for sure, we were never a top runner in the 70’s, but we could never be accused of not trying. Also though Grenadier Ford fired me, I honored the sponsorship and left their name on my car. Sure I was hurt, upset at me, embarrassed and maybe ashamed but I needed to keep my commitment to them for painting my car and truck. Plus I should have went in to work.(I just forgot we were racing that night).

 

Heat Win July 29th and 2nd In The Feature

Heat Win<br />
Heat Win
    We ran excellent this night. We won the heat with Ding DeLeeuw hounding me all the way. I got the lead in the feature but this time Dave McKee got by. It moved me to 7th in the points.

 

David’s Soap Box

Soap Box<br />
Soap Box
    The kids looked forward to this once a year opporunity to shine on their own. They had a lot of fun.

 

We Ran 17 Nights From June 17 to Aug 6

Another Wreck<br />
Another Wreck
    We ran double week ends and mid week races throughout the summer. It’s a good thing Satellite Speedway was closed. From Saturday June 17th at Flamboro until Sunday August 6th at Sauble we ran 17 race events. Ray and I were use to running over 30 times a season…..Things would change in the future when the club would run that many nights in a season more than once….The amazing thing about this run is that I had some terrible bad luck including this wreck that happened on Wednesday August 2nd, the last wednesday night race of the season. The problem with a mid week wreck is that you only have 3 days to get ready for Saturday and we were also running on the Sunday. Talk about testing the dedicated.

 

This Coupe Was Immaculate Just 3 months Ago

Where's Danny<br />
Where’s Danny
    Our drivers seat was in the middle away from the windows, so even though it looks close to me getting hurt, it really wasn’t. This was my 3rd roll over but not very serious. The damage was bad, it always is on a roll over. That’s the worst thing, especially if you want to keep your car looking good and we were fanatical about that, and still are about having good looking race cars. The problem here is we were running for points, not the Championship, but trying to beat the year before, trying to finish in the top 10 a challenge when you consider there were 40 plus cars. You know it’s a tough year when you crash at the finsih line not once but twice. The first time was winning the feature on July 15th and the next time on September 4th in a Gold Cup race at Flamboro, a battle for 5th. In that race Lee Jerome lost it and as I went under him. He tried correcting but came down hitting my back wheel. I spun and went into the starters stand back wards on an angle. The impact bent the rear end housing. We would bend suspension parts, we would also finish 5th ahead of Lee, so another motivator to make it all seem not so bad. The scariest part of all was seeing the rest of field coming off four trying to get down out of the way. We survivied.

 

We Have A Shopping List To Fix

Two Days Left<br />
Two Days Left

 

This Is No Picnic..and The Head’s Messed Up To!

Head Ache<br />
Head Ache

 

Come-Along Attached To The Neighbours Post

Crude<br />
Crude
    It was summer, the trees were full and the neighbours couldn’t see too good. Danny (being one of the neighbours sons) knew how much he could get away with in helping me. I got away with as much as I could until I ended up in a battle with the Supreme Court of Ontario..oh ya, and I’m not suppose to be here, never mind using their pole as a frame/body press…it was tough most times. Maybe a few more feature wins and coming home to some easy simple routine maintenance would be nice, but that wouldn’t be my lot…so we did what we had to do so we could get to the next race, it just seemed like we did it every week.

 

Danny Manipulates The Chains Side ways

It's Coming<br />
It’s Coming

 

Danny’s Almost Got It Back To Normal

It's Coming<br />
It’s Coming

 

Dent’s Gone, Bondo and Primer On…We’re Happy

Danny The Artist<br />
Danny The Artist

 

Final Touches By The Sculpturer

Danny The Artist<br />
Danny The Artist

 

David and Shirley Make Sure The Wheels Are Ok

Paint Ready<br />
Paint Ready
    Once all the body work was done, the kids made sure the mechanical aspect was covered, they were covered to. You can see 4 cans of white trem-clad spray paint ready to finish Danny’s master piece. The engine is ready and once it’s painted we look like it never happened…and how about the bushy trees helping hide our little work shop from the neighbours. They should have made a TV series called Survivor…referring to the neighbours of course.

 

Shirley and Butch Certify The Work Is Complete

Ready<br />
Ready
    Our driveway was very narrow, but it was always exciting pushing the car down to the trailer to load up and go racing, especially on a beautiful suuny Saturday….Danny said “are you going wrecking’, I mean racing this week-end?”….”Danny, thank you for making it look like it never rolled over, and yes we are going racing and yes we may wreck, so keep the bondo at the ready”.

 

Dave Mogford #39 and Dick Remus #44

Back At It<br />
Back At It

 

The Gallinger Family Sponsor

Pace Car<br />
Pace Car
    Both Tom and Dave Gallinger were active members and drivers in the Hobby division. They started out sponsoring the club by providing a pace car from their Ford Dealership in Milton. Mr.Gallinger also came to many races. Dave McKee was a salesman there, his brother was a mechanic, Dave Mogford was in the parts and so a whole host of drivers and members filtered through our great sponsor Gallinger Ford.

 

Points Standing Early

Gallinger Points<br />
Gallinger Points

 

Binghman’s Hall…Our Banquet Trophy Table

O.A.R.C.<br />
O.A.R.C.

 

We Finished 10th In Gallinger and Flamboro Points

O.A.R.C. Banquet<br />
O.A.R.C. Banquet