Quote:
Originally Posted by rdzsprint
I really enjoyed your story about Cecil Beavers gassing it in 1960. I certainly didn't find it boring at all. Those days interest me more than todays' stuff anytime. Wish I would have copied it off before it went away! A lady friend of mine is a good friend of Cecil's daughter and I was going to get her a copy of your response as I'm sure she would have enjoyed it, but I was too slow on the draw. My bad. If you saved the original you could pm it to me if you would? I gave her copies of what few pictures I have of Cecil. Trying to find anything I can for my own scrapbooks and for her as well as she has very few momentos of her father.
Cecil was always colorful and exciting to watch. Fans usually perked up when he hit the track, nothing bland or boring about him. He reminded me a lot of Jim Hurtubise, pretty wild/wide open and didn't care much for pavement. I have 2 photos of Cecil at Terre Haute running a USAC show, in one he's side by side with Foyt and the other he's wheel to wheel with McCluskey. I wasn't there that day but a friend of mine was and said Cecil gave the big boys all they could handle until engine overheating took him out. I have Terre Haute race results from 6-15-1952 up to 5-5-1973. It only lists the top 3 from each race but Cecil's name shows up a few times. He won the USAC sprint car semi-feature over Johnny Thomson on 8-21-1960. On 6-11-1961 he was runner-up in the USAC semi. On 7-16-1961 in an IMCA race he ran second in his heat and second in the feature to Pete Folse who scored his 60th win on that day. On 8-13-1961 he ran 3rd to Don Branson and Bobby Marshman in the USAC semi. The last time his name appears in the top three was a USAC show on 8-12-1962 when ran 3rd in his heat behind Elmer George and Don Branson
I was just a kid then and not old enough to drive, only got to go when Dad could afford to take us. Wish I could have seen more than I got to but am thankful for the ones I did see. Wish they had video cameras back then, would be great to have films/sounds of those days including the famous F-800/Bobby Kinser duo..
I was standing right beside Cecil talking to him and helped push Calvin Gilstrap to the staging area to be pushed off for his final ride at Bloomington on July 30, 1976. Understandably,...Cecil was really upset and I can still vividly remember Bobby Black telling me 'don't go look at that car'. Bad day.
|
If you're looking for info on Cecil and Calvin, the pawn shop in Orleans used to have a lot of pictures from Mitchell speedway. Don't know if it's still open or not.
Posted via Mobile Device