[cecil98]

Originally Posted by Al Consoli 19......Well you did mean my age when the race happened, didn't you?

I love your pix, Al. Some of the greatest race pix I've seen, including that pic of Sammy in the GAPCO car.....

[kinser]

I recall in the 90s, when Mike Bliss had won two in a row, I told Glen Niebel that he could be the first car owner since Harlan Fike to win three sprint car races in a row at IRP. He did it.
[/QUOTE]. Not only did we win 3 in a row we won 4 breaking Parnelli's record

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[mc/rider]

I met Tom Bigelow last week at Salem and Jim Bob Luebbert at Indy.He owns the race souviner store across the street from the south tunnel on 16th

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[jim goerge]

Marv Once again my friend thanks for posting these I just wish my dad and his buddies would have liked pavement all they wanted to see was sprints and midgets on dirt course they made me suffer with them watching all that dirt fly

[Racerrob]

Don't know how I missed this post in January. I believe this might be the first race that I remember attending. I would've been 3 1/2 years old at the time but I do remember Dee Jones driving for us at Dayton speedway.

Thanks for bringing back a great memory Marv!!

Rob Hoffman

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[elvis334]

Here is the Dayton Daily News coverage of this race.

[Pat O'Connor Fan]

Originally Posted by Danny Burton I'm curious as to the avergage age of the guys who liked Marv's post.

OLD, like me !!

I remember hearing (back then) that this car: 98 Tom Bigelow................18.02 Mackintosh Spl. was a rebuilt, shortened dirt champ car that Pat O'Connor had driven in the mid-1950s

[DRC II]

73 yrs old. I was there that day helping Weld and Leffler on the Doc's car.
Mike Devin

[openwheelfan1]

I'm 58 (59 in Feb. 2014) and LOVE these posts. I started attending USAC races in 1967 at Salem Speedway. I am VERY fortunate in that I have had the honor of attending sprint car races at Salem, Winchester and Dayton. We were living in Dayton in the late 1970' when the Dayton Speedway was re-opened for a couple of years. I cannot remember who had purchased and promoted the speedway, but I do remember attending about 3 races there, the last one in (I believe) 1979.

The three tracks, although very similar, each had their own unique characteristics. My perception (I have no scientific evidence to support this!) is that Salem and Dayton were very close in configuration and set-up. Winchester had slightly longer straights and tighter corners and required a somewhat different set-up.

I certainly miss the glory days of sprint car racing, when 35-40 car fields were the norm for pavement and dirt races. I know we cannot go back and time marches on, but while the cars are certainly safer today (THANK GOD!!) I wish we could see the drivers like we could back then and today's racing was less of business and more of a hobby