New Vintage!

Shown almost ready for its debut with the Vintage Club on May 11 is this car, originally owned by Jerry Morese and now belonging to Tom Arntz, Jr.

Tom has chosen to restore the car not in its original white and red livery and numbered 31, but in the blue and white scheme seen here with the number to be 30.  Think of it as a “continuation” car – Tom’s father drove the blue and white number 30 TQs fielded by George Spafford.

Tom has been racing in the Slingshot class in recent years, but is truly excited about being able to participate with the Vintage Club in just over a week’s time.  Tom’s enthusiasm includes the fact that he will be able to share the track with one of his racing heroes, Stan Ploski, who will be driving with the Vintage Club this year.  Ploski may be most closely associated with dirt track Modifieds, but he has plenty of Sprint car and Midget experience as well.

This car raced -- and won -- at Pine Brook and elsewhere.

Open House!

This Sunday, April 28, the Eastern Auto Racing Historical Society is having its Spring Open House, one of two times per year that the racing public is invited to visit the EARHS showroom in Orefield, Pennsylvania.  [Posted 4/24/2013]

Among the many race cars on display are vintage ATQMRA cars like this red #25, a car which made its debut at Pine Brook in late 1967.  Also there is the former Fred Brink #54, which prior to Brink’s ownership was owned by Herb Sweeten.  On display also is the Sam Yoder/Jack Rabold #92, restored to its original configuration as a micro, #W2.

Quarter midgets, micros, TQs, midgets, sprints, big cars, stock cars, they are all part of what the EARHS showroom has on display, along with an incredible assortment of documents, photos, and memorabilia.

It is well worth the trip, and the organization deserves your support.  The hours for the open house are 10 AM through 5 PM this Sunday, April 28, 2013, and the showroom is located at 5080 Kernsville Road, Orefield, PA 18069.  To learn more, visit the EARHS web site.

Oswego, via Kansas

James Briery is resident of Kansas and a devoted racing fan.  When work-related travel took him east last summer he seized the opportunity to visit Oswego Speedway on Classic weekend, where he shot this great photo of Bill Fischer piloting the restored Alan Purdy TQ roadster during the Vintage TQ Club’s on-track activities.

(Click the photo for an enlarged view)

Bill Fischer is more than a driver with the Vintage Club.  He is also the organization’s assistant event director under Tom Berry.

And James Briery is more than just a racing fan.  He is a supporter of vintage racing, and he has established a Facebook group for the Belleville High Banks Vintage Nationals in Belleville, Kansas.  If you’re a Facebook member, check out “Belleville High Banks Vintage,” which has a fabulously evocative cover photo.

James Briery’s own Facebook page has dozens of photos from the Oswego Classic weekend, including all divisions.  We’ll be posting more of them here as time goes on.

Thanks, James!

Not a TQ!

This is not a TQ, it’s a midget.  A “full midget” in the parlance used around the track.  We feature it here this week because the driver (who also happened to be the car’s owner... and designer... and builder) was one of the best in the TQs before turning his attention to the midgets.

He’s Jerry Wall, and the car is his distinctive and very successful “Yellowjacket” Chevy V4 midget, not the first rear-engine midget but certainly the first successful one.  Jerry won a lot of races with this car.

During his racing career Jerry lived and worked in Little Falls, NJ, close to Pine Brook and Teaneck and other busy TQ racing venues at the time.  He was a TQ winner in conventional upright cars, roadsters, and even rear-engine TQs.

We confess: We loved the look of this car.   Still do.