Why Not!

I have nothing particular to say today, so why not show a few pix. As is normal they are selected from the small group of images that I made in 2003-2007. These were my only years photographing races in the digital format. They were all made at the same six tracks, both dirt and asphalt, open wheel cars and stock cars. None of these photos have been shown before. I still search for old film images including b&w and color negatives, b&w and color prints, as well as slides. Those were made from 1971-2002 and if I locate any in good enough condition to copy into digital files, they will appear on these pages,
The Outsider

Pavement Late Model

Lake Geneva raceway

MARS Pavement Limited Late Models

Lake Geneva Raceway

Dirt Late Model

Hales Corners Speedway

USAC Pavement Midget

The Milwaukee Mile

 

 

Badger Dirt Midget

Sun Prairie

 

 

MSA Sprint Car

Sun Prairie

 

 

 

Some of the possibilities I am looking at for future articles include early Formula 1, California mods/supermods, Pacific Northwest stock car racing and more.

 

Thanks for stopping,

The Outsider



The 1966-1972 Trans-Am Series

My personal memories of the Sports Car Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series was from 1968-1972 and again in the 1980s.  I spectated a Trans-Am race at Elkart Lake Wisconsin, at Road America in 1969 and photographed one in the mid 80s at the same track. The info below is from Wikipedia.  Please forgive the odd paragraph breaks and spacing but doing a copy and paste from Wiki does not work very well.

The Trans-Am was essentially a stock car series on road courses.

The Trans-Am Series is an automobile racing series which was created in 1966 by
Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) President John Bishop. Originally known as the Trans-American Sedan Championship it has evolved over time from its original format as a manufacturers championship for modified racing sedans to its current form as a drivers championship open to GT style cars.
The series was formed at the dawn of the pony car era and was derived from the SCCA's A & B Sedan amateur Club Racing classes,[1] based upon commercially produced cars which had been modified for racing competition. Originally the series was open to FIA Group 2 Touring Cars[2] and it featured two classes, Over 2.0 Liter and Under 2.0 Liter, with both classes running together. The series was best known for competition among American V8 sedans such as the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda, Mercury Cougar, AMC Javelin, Pontiac Firebird, and Dodge Challenger in the 1960s and early 1970s. Marques such as Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Datsun, Mini Cooper, Saab, and Volkswagen competed in the series' Under 2.0 Liter category.

Beginnings (1966–1967)
Kwech/Andrey 1966 Trans-Am Championship Alfa Romeo GTA
At first, the Trans-Am cars were modified versions of their road version. The competition was divided into two classes- an "Under 2-Liter" class (predominantly European sedans) and the "Over 2 Liter" class, 111 inch wheel base or less and displacement limited to 5.0 liters (primarily American pony cars).
The first race was in 1966 at Sebring International Raceway. The overall win went to Jochen Rindt driving an Alfa Romeo GTA (an Under 2-Liter entry), with Bob Tullius (driving a Dodge Dart) taking second overall and first in the Over 2-Liter class.
Allan Moffat in a 1600 cc Lotus Cortina won the third race at Bryar. Ford of Britain had full factory effort with the Alan Mann Lotus Cortinas. In 1966 the Over 2-Liter manufacturers' champion was Ford and the Under 2 Liter manufacturers' champion was Alfa Romeo, with Horst Kwech and Gaston Andrey's GTA scoring 39 of the 57 manufacturers' points for Alfa.
In 1967 Porsche lobbied the SCCA to reclassify the 911 as a sedan. Then dominated the Under 2-Liter field winning the manufacturers' championship over Alfa Romeo. In Over 2-Liter, Ford edged out Mercury to win the manufacturers' championship.

Golden era (1968–1972)


The Ford Mustang driven by George Follmer in the 1970 Trans-Am series.
Penske Racing campaigned Chevrolet Camaro Z28s through 1969, when he signed with American Motors to race the Javelin in 1970 and 1971. Mark Donohue would chalk up 20 race victories between 1967 and 1970.
In 1970, all of the American pony car manufacturers were represented with a factory team and top driving talent: Chevrolet had the Chaparral Team Camaro Z28 driven by Jim Hall, Ed Leslie, and Vic Elford. Ford's factory team was run by Bud Moore Engineering with Parnelli Jones and George Follmer the drivers. Plymouth hired All American Racers for their team, driven by Dan Gurney and Swede Savage. Dodge used Ray Caldwell's Autodynamics team; Sam Posey and occasionally Tony Adamowicz drove. Jerry Titus ran the Pontiac Team Firebird Trans Am. Penske Racing ran the effort for AMC Javelin, driven by Mark Donohue and Peter Revson. In 1971 all the American manufactures pulled out of the series except for AMC.

Below you see the Bud Moore owned,Parnelli Jones driven,Boss 302 1970 Ford Mustang. The image came from Hot Rod Magazine.

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What do the three pictures below have to do with this? Absolutely nothing. I just decided to share some images from the now gone Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Raceway. 2007 I believe. Tim Sauter of the famous Wisconsin racing family drives the #52, and I have lost track of the other two chauffeurs.

USAC Championship Dirt Cars (Silvercrown)

It was hard to beat the thrills of the old USAC Championship Dirt Cars of the 1960s-80s. They raced exclusively on one mile dirt tracks and were a part of the same points championship (through the mid 70s) as the rear engine (roadsters before that) asphalt cars that ran the Indy 500. Even after they put cages on the cars they remained a part of the Indy Car series. Eventually they became a series of their own, and that began the slide into what is left today the “odd” looking mostly asphalt cars

I photographed them in 100 mile events on the one mile dirt tracks in the fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Springfield, Missouri in the early 1980s. In the early 1990s and again in around 2004 and 2006 I photographed them on the blacktop at the Milwaukee Mile. A good show anywhere, but they were special on the mile dirt tracks.

You will find some good vintage pictures on the Auto Racing Memories site. Mitch G made the post including the photos.

Auto Racing Memories, USAC Championship Dirt Cars of the 1960s Photos by Mitch G

The photos below are mine from the Milwaukee Mile. They have not been shown before. The lone b&w dirt shot was from Springfield in 1987.

Current USAC Silvercrown Series

A Few From Wilmot, May 24, 2003

Wilmot Speedway is located in southeastern Wisconsin in Kenosha, county.  It is a 1/3rd mile dirt oval.

Qualifying….sprint car

Outside pass for the IMCA Modified Feature

The winner

A mess in the sprint car feature

#11 Darrell Dodd and friend in the sprint car feature.

Poster Child