181 replies to this topic

[tonyp]

The track was OK, there was just no air in the raceway to breathe. LOL. It was hot as hell.

[tonyp]

C&C in Coventry has an original surface King we used to race on all the time. The power was hot though. That is where Fred Strauss and I decided to come up with a way to change motors between heats on purpose and I set the blue king 40 minute record. Joel broke it the next time we were up there, so that track had the 40 minute record for quite awhile.

BIR's blue Bing, I believe, after Bob Emott sold it, was the fastest American King track for as long as it was open...

[tonyp]

Best American Kings I ever raced on that I remember on the East Coast were:

Nutley
BIR
Joel's These three are tied....

Buzzy's
C&C

Reading, PA, had a good King
Elyria
Wolcott, CT Smooth surface but fire breathing power

Pine Brook Odowds
Closter

[Ron Hershman]

I think the nicest King track I ever ran on that was pretty much "stock" was at M and M raceway in Plymouth, MI, in 1982/83ish

The story I remember was the track was originally set-up in Canada for a very short time back in the '60s and then the guy who owned M and M found it and set it up.

It was very fast and the race I was at Csaba broke the 3 second barrier going 2.9 something with a Gr 7 car that day.

I remember them announcing it was an "American King" World Record being there were Hasse Kings in Centerville, OH, and Momence/Bradley, IL, that were faster.

Swiss may remember.

Another nice King track was in Hartford, MI, at Fantom Raceway and it was purchased from Emott, but not the BIR King Tony speaks of.

[tonyp]

If Fantom's was a regular surface that was C&C's track... I believe.

[Ron Hershman]

Yep, it was a regular black surface.

[tonyp]

C&C then... I am 99.99% positive.

The BIR track came from Closter, I believe...

[Ron Hershman]

Emott owned both the C&C and Closter tracks at one time?

[tonyp]

Yes. The Closter track one of the guys we raced with had stored for a few years. I remember loading that thing on the truck. Those sections weighed at least half of what I did. LOL... I don't understand why I never had a heart attack.

[DOCinCanton]

Tony,

The Sanford King track is in storage somewhere in the Orlando area. It has been changing hands at no cost; maybe it can be picked up for free... then there are the storage costs.

The word is that when last run on, the track was in dreadful condition. It's probably gotten worse while in storage.

[TSR]

Quote

(Elyria) The track was OK, there was just no air in the raceway to breathe. LOL. It was hot as hell.

That, I recall!

[Ron Hershman]

Sounds just like Gran Prix in Cincy... LOL.

Hey, tell us about the Springfield, OH, King track... home of the famous "Coke" race.

[JohnnySlotcar]

The Fantom king was a real nice track in a cold Butler building. I have a video of USRA Midwest finals there where I won the International 15 championship in 1987.

You had to watch out for the dog that would grab wing cars as they went through the finger!! Lots of fun times, took the ferry boat from Milwaukee across Lake Michigan to get there!!

[Ron Hershman]

And you couldn't beat Mrs. Birmile's cooking either. She made the best Sloppy Joes... LOL.

[TSR]

Quote

Hey tell us about the Springfield, OH, King track... home of the famous "Coke"race.

That was, without a doubt, the worst pit I have ever attempted to race in. The place should have been burned to the ground then and there.

I don't recall the track being a King. Maybe it was...

[tonyp]

It was **** whatever it was. Wasn't a King. Red Maybe? Possibly the worst track I ever tried to race on, and the absolute worst run/fixed race.

The big race in Pittsburg Fred Wherl put on was also on a crap King track. Wasn't finished when we got there and the braid came up every couple of laps. John Gorski got his third place check cashed at the raceway. I hear those that waited until they got home were flat out of luck.

I just remembered another East coast King we used to race on: Rye, NY. It had nice launch ramps...

[Phil Hackett]

Just to throw another one in here: Victory Raceway, in Woodland Hills, CA, in the 1990s had a left-handed King (bank to the left of drivers panels) and a left-turn donut. Most of the racers disliked it. I liked it.

PdL was right about the condition of SoCal's tracks at the time. In some ways it was an advantage to be used to lumpy, bumpy, badly-powered tracks because when we (SoCal racers) went elsewhere, it was like "What's the problem with you guys? The track's just fine!" no matter how bad the locals said it was.

I learned to drive on an unmodified red Imperial track. Once mastered anything similar, like King tracks, was easy to go fast but more difficult to be competitive because everyone was going fast...

[Steve Deiters]

'Ron Hershman', on 30 Sept 2010 - 3:37 PM, said:

Hey, tell us about the Springfield, OH, King track... home of the famous "Coke" race.

The track was in downtown Springfield, OH, in a part of town that probably dated back to the turn of century... the 19th to the 20th century! It was a standard American King. I didn't hear any particular complaining about the track from the racers at the time. If there were problems everyone was in the same boat.

Don't forget there was unlimited gluing in this era and it could be used to cover many track-oriented issues. There was a lot of money at stake for the time - $1,000 for first place so the racers were really focused. I can't remember if the rest of the finishers paid or not.

Many of the racers stayed at a flop house style hotel next door, but those adventures have been documented previously on the blog.

All the luminaries were there - Steube, Gilbert, PdL, and others from the left coast. The East coast was well represented also. It was the race that put Pooch Power on the map and moved "Monty" (as he was called then) Joel Montague to the forefront as a major player both as a racer and arm winder/motor builder.

As with other tracks from that era I always wondered what happened to it.

[tonyp]

Hopefully is was put on the train tracks that ran outside the front door and run over. The track was horrible... launched badly. Power was different depending when you qualified as was the 2 minute timer... I timed it off by at least a minute to the plus. It was one of those races that made you say, why the hell do I want to do this...

[TSR]

Quote

Possibly the worst track I ever tried to race on, and the absolute worst run/fixed race.

That was the impression we got from the antics in qualifying and race running. Lee Gilbert and I were pretty disgusted.

[Phil Hackett]

'tonyp', on 30 Sept 2010 - 4:37 PM, said:

It was one of those races that made you say, why the hell do I want to do this...

And we all said this and kept racing anyway. What does that say about us?

[TSR]

It says that we are insane.

[Mr. Frank]

Yes, PdL... Big kids playing with toy cars...

Mr. Frank

[Noose]

'Phil Hackett', on 30 Sept 2010 - 5:33 PM, said:

And we all said this and kept racing anyways. What does that say about us?

That we never listened to Einstein when he said you keep doing the same things over and over again expecting different results.

[tonyp]

I have been reading the Model Car Journals Steve Okeefe has put on to DVD. (I personally recommend buying these!)

Mostly every big race was on a crap track either launch or power wise. Even the Arco at Don's, which was on the hot LA area King, was a mess. Emott and Steube who finished 1 and 2 launched as did several others in the A Main. I guess we were spoiled as our East coast tracks were so good.

Now this is something Gorski and I used to talk about. The West coasters always did better, especially Cukras on these disasters of tracks. The East coast was simply spoiled because Nutley was the main track and from day one the King was epoxied, billiard table smooth, and cleanly high-powered. If you launched it was always the car.