Mom and Mario

In the 1980s, long before he won a CART IndyCar race, long before he won a NASCAR Cup race, John Andretti was racing a stock car at Dorney Park, and one night, his uncle Mario showed up to watch.

It was a night that the ATQMRA was on the card as well, so it was a reunion of sorts – Mario Andretti won his first race of any significance with the ATQMRA in the Teaneck Armory, and went on to win at Pine Brook before climbing the racing ladder to the very top -- Daytona 500 winner, Indy 500 winner, Formula One World Champion.

In this snapshot from Dorney Park that day, Mario poses with driver Mark Pritchard’s mother, along with Pritchard (right) and Tim Adams (rear).

John Andretti’s father is Aldo Andretti, Mario Andretti’s twin brother.  Aldo also raced with the ATQMRA before retiring from driving following injuries suffered in a sprint car crash in 1969.

Who?

At Pine Brook in 1968 is this modestly-proportioned TQ with a somewhat generously-proportioned driver.

But there is no number on the car.

Who is it?  Do you recognize either the car or the driver?  (Click the photo for an enlarged view.)

Such simpler times, by the way.  No roll cage.  No gloves.  No way that Bardahl jacket is fire-resistant.

8-inch diameter wheels.  And tires that probably lasted a full season, instead of a single race.

Anyway, if you can fill us in on the car and or the driver, contact us here.

Smilin' Jack

In this photo from Pine Brook in the early 1970s, Jack Duffy enjoys a victory lap in the Zrinski #75, his regular ride and a combination that won plenty of races.  (Click the photo for an enlarged view.)

In the background, Bill Force has pulled up to the pit gate in his #26, and Alan Purdy has stopped behind Force, in his #4.

That’s Hank Force, Bill’s father, leaning into the cockpit of the #26, and Ed Enes, at the time an ATQMRA officer, standing with his arms folded.

Why have we chosen the above photo for this week?  So many reasons, beginning with this new photo:

When this past Saturday’s scheduled 2013 opener for the Vintage TQ Club was rained out, instead of there being racing there was a social gathering at Gary Mondschein’s Dimension Design shop in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania.  There, Jack Duffy, now some 40 years older but looking the same, took a seat in the very race car that was obscured by his checkered flag in the Pine Brook photo.

Duffy, who today resides in Florida, had traveled north for the occasion, and while he was disappointed to not get on the track with the Vintage Club, in the Purdy #4 he is smiling more than we recall him ever smiling after a race victory!

The restored #4 will be among the cars participating in the rescheduled season opener, now set for this Saturday, May 18.  So will the restored Force #26, with Bill Force himself on hand.

So we just had to use the old Pine Brook photo this week.  In that photo we see two of the cars and two of the drivers now participating with the Vintage Club.

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.