Pic from Sunshine Speedway - 1975…
AAWWWWW…Now you’ve gone and done it Dave.
Got me all fired up takin me back down memory lane here.
Man that was a great year for us. And that ride you see there is what got me the nickname. That thing would stick like a tick on a dog’s back no matter how high or how hard you hit the corner.
Here’s a few more shots of the same car through-out the year along with some programs. Sorta had a target on my back this year but it was fun while it lasted!
Left to right: Kenny Faircloth, my Dad, Allen Seeds (flag man), your’s truly, Ward Blazer Sr., & of course the Easter Bunny.
Thanks for the memories.
Jim Fenton
thanks guys,
too kool to see stuff from back when I was a kid watching Uncle Kevin and Dad racing, not tto bad getting a top 5 in points!
For Pun33
Here’s a few things you may have some interest in seeing related to Kevin & Phil’s Late Model.
First is a short bio on your uncle Kevin, alongside of an ad for D & R Service, that appeared in the 1971 Sunshine Speedway Yearbook
Next is a collage of pictures of various Late Model drivers of the day that appeared in a SS program also in 1971. The 81 Late Model appears in the top right in the corner under Billy Gill and behind the 6 car driven by K. faircloth. The 81 also appears on the bottom left and a not-so flattering shot on the bottom right.
I’ve done the best I could in naming all the drivers I’m seeing in this collage but a few of them escapes me so anyone that can straighten me out here please jump in. Also, I think some of the pics were file shots taken prior to 1971 and some of the drivers did flip-flop around during that time period so not sure which was which on a few of them.
199 ? Dave Breakfield
33 - Tommy Holmes
24 - Billy Gill
02 - Jim Gray
9 - Aaron Coller
8 - Unknown (Bob Pennington?)
6 - Kenny Faircloth (Plymouth)
124 - Jim Alvis
12 - Ray Bontrager? (Ford Fairlane W/White top)
12 - Dale Alderman? (dark colored Chevelle)
97 - Will Cagle
99 - Steve Moore (1970 Late Model ROY)
123 - G.E. (Gordon) Lee
27 - Dale Alderman or Howard ?Red? Kleinatland, depending on when shot was taken.
76 - Phil Kessler
87 - Unknown (Bud Steinhoff?)
0jr. - Ray Bontrager or Tommy Holmes, depending on when the shot was taken (this looks like Ray Bontrager).
Then this last image is of an article I had from 1970 recounting a fairly fierce battle between Aden Erb, Dan Daughtry, your uncle and Gordon Lee in the Late Model feature event in July, 1970.
Geeeeez real bumpers on the front and back of a race car. Isn’t that against the rules?:sprachlos020:
Faircloth’s Plymouth
Jim do you know if the #6 was a torsion bar car? Man those things were hard to get right, but if you did, they would really get through the center of the corner and bite off. They would run the last lap as fast as the first lap, lots of fun.
Pun you a second jen. driver man
Yes, it was a torsion bar car.
That car was built, owned and maintained by Al Stageberg. Al was the Technical Director at Sunshine Speedway for many years.
Al had many different drivers in that car over it’s life time. However, according to Kenny Faircloth, no one could quite figure out how to make the suspension work until Sonny Alderman drove it. Story has it that Sonny drove it one time, came back in and advised Al that it was too tight and he needed to start turning the TB down in a lath a little at a time until it was right.
Al supposedly did that and the car came to life.
If memory serves, the only driver that did any winning in it though was Dave Scarborough.
Jim F.
Turning the TB was the trick for us as well.
We built a '69 Barracuda, and got the bars from Buddy Arrington. Buddy said the lightest car they ran the bars on was 4500# cup cars. he also said to cut the left side bar 1/8" smaller than the right side bar. Well we took the 2-1/4" bar down to 2" right side and 1-7/8" left side to start, that dude was tight as a drum. Then the real work begain. we took the left bar out and put it on the right side and cut the right side bar and cut another 1/4" off it for the left side. we did that four(no pun intended) times before we hit the sweet spot. It was will worth the work in the end.Thankx for the imfo Jim.