| Author | Post |
|---|
drtfan46
Member
| Joined: | Sunday Dec 30th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 3 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 01:18 AM |
|
I grew up in Klamath Falls in 70's and 80's and have fond memories of the races. Also spent many nights at old medford speedway and yreka. Some of my old favorites growing up were tom wyatt, ric singler, bruce rayburn, chuck beasley, don harper, lorenzini, markey james at the medford track. Steve"sneaky snake" Neves, joe bowers, tim tyree, , gene gamble, steve warner, beck, hardesty, guy who drove el gringos sponsored car, from the klamath track and of course Dan Menne from Yreka track.
Dan gave me my first ride ever in a car when the still let kids climb on and take a ride, will never forget that. To this day, he is still my favorite sprint car driver.
There are so many more that I can picture in my mind but cant put a name to them. There is absolutly nothing on the internet of Klamaths existance, so if anyone has pics / stories, I would love to hear/see them.
drtfan46
|
drtonfire
Member
| Joined: | Tuesday May 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 03:54 AM |
|
I grew up in Klamath Falls and started attending races there in the 80's up until the track closed after the earthquake. My favorite driver was Joe Bowers, I remeber the promoter put a bounty out on him and some sideboard car's showed up and Joe still beat them. I remember Skaggs coming over from Medford in the 99 pink car!
I remember guy's like, Canadian Johnny,Jay "earth quake Owen,Willie Howe, Bobby Tyree, Steve "bulldog" Burig, Jenny Warrner also raced with Steve, Jenny was the siter of Joe Bowers,Scott Flowers, Eddie Jo Madden, Curt Hamilton,Jonny Miles, Jack Charlton,Gary Lane, Randy Hirschboc in the 57 chevy K9 car.. And many many more,
I have some photo's somewhere and I even have an old video! My brother inlaw Sean Solus raced there for a number of year's too.
|
drtfan46
Member
| Joined: | Sunday Dec 30th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 3 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 04:09 AM |
|
thanks for the reply, you seem to be about the same age as myself, mid 30's. I was there with all those guys, I pited for brad loomis #99 the last couple of years that it was open. I grew up at the track, before it re-opened it mid 80's our family friend worked at the track and helped run it. I can remember painting some of the back signs when I was little and my brother letting me sit in his lap and drive around the track. Also going under the grandstands looking for money...:-) Racing was going good there for a couple seasons during bowers and after he left and went and drove on the winston west series. I liked tyree and gene gamble jr, jack charlton was close friends with steve neves, who happened to be brad loomis's uncle.
|
drtonfire
Member
| Joined: | Tuesday May 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 04:16 AM |
|
My uncle chuck worked the front gate and the snack bar so we used to get in cheap, My cousin lived behind the track and we would ride our bikes down when they would hotlap during the week. I remember Brad Loomis well!, Mky cousin Kevin loved Gene Gamble Jr! So we used to argue who was better, My aunt's boyfriend purchased one of Joe Bower's old cars a 67or68 Camaro, It was red and the # 70 he ran it as a sportsman a couple of times.
Remeber Anton Suty flipping hard in the back stretch or Brad Spires pounding the front wall? Or Brent Brown losing a tire and it went into the stands and hit a lady!!
A friend of mine purchased Steve Neves's last car from his Widow and we turned it into a dirt car..
|
drtfan46
Member
| Joined: | Sunday Dec 30th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 3 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 04:30 AM |
|
| I do remember anton flipping. and remember the red 70, wow amazing what you can recall with a little help. what high school did you go to ? Where you there the race, I was a big one with alot of out of towners and decko duke got spun a bit from one guy and when he came back out on the track , he back up in the pits and waited for him to come around and floored it and tboned the guy coming out of 4. Steve warner was good driver but Jenny could hold her own. wonder what ever happened to them. Dan thomas also grew up and ran there, and runs in medford and yreka now, not sure if anyone else is left running, its too bad that it all fell thru after the earthquake, he was better off taking the money and running. what is your last name if you don't mind me asking
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 06:37 AM |
|
drtfan46,
I grew up in Medford at that same time and spent a lot of time at those tracks also. I graduated from Oregon Tech in 1986. I remember the Klamath stars coming to Medford on several occasions. Steve Neves had an absolutely beautiful Chevelle, number 30 I think. I remember Jack Jacobs, Tim Tyree, Joe Bowers, Gene Gamble and a few others who's names I can't remember.
I did see a few races there. I remember a Sunday afternoon race in 1977 that I went to that several of the Medford regulars attended. Grants Pass driver Dave Machado won that race in a Don Hood built Camaro and Dane Smith finished 3rd in his new Camaro. I have some photos from that race somewhere, although they are probably buried in all my stuff.
I also remember in 1986 (I think), an open comp special that drew some cars from up north. That race came down to Jay Bugbee, Mark Howard and Robert Sprague dueling for several laps for the win. Sprague was the fastest, but he couldn't get by Bugbee for the win. I think the finish was Bugbee, Sprague and Howard.
It's great talking to people from that area that loved the racing as much as I did.
|
drtonfire
Member
| Joined: | Tuesday May 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Monday Dec 31st, 2007 04:36 PM |
|
I do remember that, Remember "Dirty Dick" Dick Dahl? They just dont give names like that any more!! I wish I could remember everything but I do remember alot. I was a kid and those guy's where my idol's I remember building models and painting them to look like my favorite car's.
I raced against Steve Warner and his son at the now defunct Worden Speedway.
I do remember the big open show in 86 i fell in LOVE with the sideboard cars!! I drew them for year's to come. I never got a chance to go to medford and see racing at the Posse Grounds and was totally against dirt until I started racing dirt in 2002!
Remember "Moose" Wubenhurst? My dad still tells storys about Don Hood's Camaro coming and cleaning house in the 70's. My grandfather actually raced a car at the Klamath Fairgrounds in the 40's
I went to Mazama Class of 96
|
alexalexander2000
Member
| Joined: | Tuesday Feb 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 89 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Tuesday Jan 1st, 2008 09:41 AM |
|
I was there one time back in the late 80s, I think it was. Shortly before the earthquake shut it down.
I was visiting my sister, had nothing to do that evening, so I went out to the track. I was initaially dismayed at the lack of passing because the track was so narrow. But the more I watched, the more I was impressed by how skillful the guys were who did some passing. You could have the fastest car, but it took those guys 5 laps to set up the car in front to make a pass. It was truly incredible watching those guys.
The other thing I remember was how friendly the other fans sitting around me were. I've been to many tracks, but the fans I was sitting with at K-Falls were so nice. I was a total stranger, and these folks went out of their way to make me feel welcome.
|
al 14
Member
| Joined: | Sunday May 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Tuesday Jan 1st, 2008 08:01 PM |
|
| I STARTED GOING TO KLAMATH SPEEDWAY IN ABOUT 1974 IWAS A PIT MAN FOR RON BOE STEVE WARNER BEFOR I STARTED DRIVING MY SELF IN 1977 I HAVE LOTS PHOTOS SOME WERE NEED TO LOOK FOR THEM BY THE WAY STEVE WARNER DROVE THE EL GRINGO CAR IT WAS A 55 OR 56 FORD I WAS PITING FOR HIM AT THAT TIME WE WERE RACING OLD MEDFORD SPEEDWAY I THINK HE HAD 3 MAIN WINS IN A ROW THERE TILL HE ROLD THE CAR ON THE FRONT STRIGHT GOOD OLD TIMES
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wednesday Jan 2nd, 2008 04:01 AM |
|
al 14,
Ron Boe, there's a name I haven't heard for a while!
If you have any photos, please let us see them when you have a chance.
HPD
|
al 14
Member
| Joined: | Sunday May 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sunday Jan 6th, 2008 06:11 PM |
|
Im going to get a scanner to day so I can send some pnotos when I figer out how it works
al14
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Jan 11th, 2008 06:43 AM |
|
al 14,
That would be awesome! I'm really nostalgic on the racing from the West coast and very much so towards Southern Oregon and Northern California. I know there are quite a few people out there that would love to see shots from the old "Alameda Park Speedway". I lived just around the corner from that track for several years while going to OIT. It's too bad it's gone now. It seems too many are gone now.
Scanner's are fairly straight forward. Plug it in, connect it to you PC, load the scanning software from CD and it should be ready to use. If I can help, let me know.
Looking forward to seeing some of your shots from KFalls.
HPD
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Tuesday Mar 4th, 2008 05:22 AM |
|
I found some photos from the old Alameda Park Speedway in Klamath Falls.
Here's Klamath Falls, Oregon's Chuck Birch in one of the coolest stock cars of that time.
Anyone know who was in the Mustang?
Attachment: chuck birch 1977.jpg (Downloaded 324 times) Last edited on Tuesday Mar 4th, 2008 06:02 AM by hiplainsdrifter
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Tuesday Mar 4th, 2008 05:46 AM |
|
| Here's another shot of Chuck Birch's awesome '66 Chevelle on the dirt at Medford in 1976. Attachment: chuck birch 1976.jpg (Downloaded 318 times)
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Tuesday Mar 4th, 2008 05:51 AM |
|
| Steve Neves very sharp '67 Chevelle at Medford in 1976. Attachment: steve neves 1976.jpg (Downloaded 315 times)
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Tuesday Mar 4th, 2008 05:59 AM |
|
| Last one for tonight, Dale Mullica's '64 Chevelle also at Medford in 1976. Attachment: dale mullica 1976.jpg (Downloaded 313 times)
|
al 14
Member
| Joined: | Sunday May 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 15th, 2008 09:03 PM |
|
| the mustang was tom hoppens ?
|
Fletch
Administrator
|
Posted: Sunday Mar 16th, 2008 03:12 AM |
|
Any of You Klamath Falls Raceway Fans know a guy named Steve Lee, from K-Falls ? Used to race there around late 80's, early 90's maybe ?
An Old Navy Buddy of mine & would Love to get in touch with Him again. Please PM me if anyone knows him !
Thanks,
Fletch
____________________
Here For The Fun Of It, And Doing Just That !
http://www.Photobucket.com/Fletch
http://www.graysharborraceway.net/
http://www.ascsnorthwest.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/FletcherMotorsports
|
al 14
Member
| Joined: | Sunday May 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 22nd, 2008 07:20 PM |
|
| Steve lee is a good frind of mine we watch nace car racing every weeked at his shop/bar I will get his E mail address for you
|
al 14
Member
| Joined: | Sunday May 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 22nd, 2008 07:45 PM |
|
| Fletch hear is steve's Email stevel@jeld-wen.com
|
Fletch
Administrator
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 22nd, 2008 08:48 PM |
|
 Thanks !
Fletch
____________________
Here For The Fun Of It, And Doing Just That !
http://www.Photobucket.com/Fletch
http://www.graysharborraceway.net/
http://www.ascsnorthwest.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/FletcherMotorsports
|
88SC
Member
| Joined: | Wednesday Mar 26th, 2008 |
| Location: | Wichita, Kansas |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wednesday Mar 26th, 2008 08:18 PM |
|
Hi, new member here.
I was searching "Klamath Raceway" on Google, which linked me to this topic. Didn't live in K-Falls for very long, but enjoying the races there has definitely stuck with me over the years. The first time I went, two drivers did a ceremonial lap in memory of Mark Donohue and Tiny Lund, both of whom died in racing accidents elsewhere the weekend before.
I distinctly remember the summer of 1976 when a driver named Don Delgado from Anderson brought a swoopy, black Camaro a number of weekends. He was very competitive, but I don't think he was a favorite of the local fans. I liked his car, though, because it was very low-slung and slippery-looking.
Those were the good old days when they raced stuff that started out as a real car, way before anyone could remotely imagine what it would bring on the floor of a Barrett-Jackson auction, LOL.
And there were no mufflers anywhere in sight. Thanks for the pics!
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 03:30 AM |
|
88sc,
Welcome to you. It's always great to talk with another racing fan.
It's very interesting that you would mention Don Delgado. The first time I saw that car was in Medford on the dirt and I too thought it was one of the coolest looking stock cars I had ever seen.
Late in 1976, my favorite driver, Dane Smith bought that car from Delgado and raced it in 1977. Here's a photo of that car when Delgado had it, although it's not a very good shot. Attachment: don delgado 1976.jpg (Downloaded 174 times) Last edited on Friday Mar 28th, 2008 03:31 AM by hiplainsdrifter
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 03:32 AM |
|
| Here's a shot of that same car after Dane bought it as it was raced in 1977. Attachment: dane smith 1977 .jpg (Downloaded 171 times)
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 03:54 AM |
|
| And here's a shot of Dane's Camaro at Klamath early in 1977... Attachment: dane smith 1977.jpg (Downloaded 164 times)
|
88SC
Member
| Joined: | Wednesday Mar 26th, 2008 |
| Location: | Wichita, Kansas |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 04:08 AM |
|
HPD, you've made my year! Thanks, it means a lot to me to see that car again.
Edit - Can you tell me who built it originally and what became of it after Dane Smith owned it? I was able to identify a couple of detail changes that he made after Delgado; looks like Smith rerouted the exhaust system (both banks used to exit thru the right door skin) and faired-over the openings that left the inside of the front tires exposed.
Last edited on Friday Mar 28th, 2008 05:29 AM by 88SC
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 06:44 AM |
|
88sc,
I think that Camaro was a Frank Deiny built Stock Car Products machine although I'm not completely sure of that. One other big change to the car from when Delgado raced it was the hood. Dane and crew put an L88 style hood on the car. Delgado had a drag racing pro stock style scoop on the hood. It was odd to see that on a stock car.
Dane sold the car to John Skinner for the 1978 season and John won with it too. It's pretty obvious that John reskinned it.
After that, Medford driver Loren Johnson bought it (either 1979 or 1980) and raced it at Medford for at least a season. That's the last time I saw that car run.
Here's a shot of it when John Skinner had it.
Attachment: john skinner 1978.jpg (Downloaded 159 times) Last edited on Friday Mar 28th, 2008 06:50 AM by hiplainsdrifter
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 06:52 AM |
|
| Here's a shot of that car from the driver's side racing with Jack Keck in 1977 at Medford. Attachment: dane smith and jack keck 1977.jpg (Downloaded 150 times)
|
rickt
Administrator
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 03:36 PM |
|
HPD......you are the man! Memories that I thought were long gone has resurfaced. I remember that 86 car from 30yrs ago. Your pictures show just how strong we were (and are) on the left coast when it came to racing. Thankyou for being a member of NWRaceTalk!
Rickt 
____________________
We need more Military Appreciation days at Speedways
Lifes tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid...John Wayne
FB/92
|
88SC
Member
| Joined: | Wednesday Mar 26th, 2008 |
| Location: | Wichita, Kansas |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Friday Mar 28th, 2008 04:26 PM |
|
rickt wrote: HPD......you are the man! Memories that I thought were long gone has resurfaced. I remember that 86 car from 30yrs ago. Your pictures show just how strong we were (and are) on the left coast when it came to racing. Thankyou for being a member of NWRaceTalk!
Rickt
What he said! I'm glad I found this place.
I was in my early teens back then and seeing those pictures has really stirred my memory. I remember several of those cars that ran at K-Falls, the black and white Nova driven by Jack Keck being one of them.
GM X-bodies were the rage back in the late 1970s on the short tracks, to the point that (by my recollection) there may have been more of them built than F-bodies for a while. What advantage did they have, other than that a Nova skin may have been less expensive?
One more q for HPD - did Delgado continue to race after 1976?
Many thanks for sharing this stuff, all of you.
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 29th, 2008 07:49 PM |
|
Rickt,
Thanks for the kind words. I love this website. Until I found this site last year, I really had no place to share my photos and memories of the racing that I grew up with. I'm glad some of you like seeing these shots and sharing the stories about that time as much as I do.
It really struck me when you commented on the photo of Dane and Jack Keck was taken over 30 years ago. It seems impossible that it's been that long. That was a great time to be a kid and a race fan.
Dane still had his old Nova and the Camaro at the start of the 77 season and originally they were going to run the Nova on the dirt and the Camaro only on asphalt. It only took a few weeks to realize that the Camaro was so good that they had to run it everywhere. They sold the Nova not too long after that.
HPD
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 29th, 2008 08:39 PM |
|
88SC,
I too was a teenager at that time and to this day I still love short-track racing as much as I ever have. I'm hoping someone out there has some photos of the Klamath stars like Jack Jacobs, Tim Tyree, Ron Boe, Joe Bowers and Steve Neves at Klamath during those days to share.
I see you live in Wichita. I've been to 81 Speedway a couple of times for NCRA dirt late model shows. I like that race track a lot, fast and multi-grooved when I was there. I'm a fan of Kelly Boen out of the Denver area and I got to see him win there a few years back.
I never saw Don Delgado race again after selling that Camaro to Dane. I've looked at some of my stuff from Shasta and he's not mentioned anywhere after 1976, so I think he must have quit racing.
The Nova/Ventura/Omega/Apollo x-body cars were very popular back then. I think it was probably a combination of cost and availability that made them popular. They were easy to locate and cheap to buy as a body for your race car. The car itself had a unibody chassis like the Camaro/Firebird, so it still needed a full frame built to race it. I remember a lot of Chevelle full frame chassis' being raced with all kinds of bodies on them in the late 70's before fabricated chassis started showing up. I know that some tracks also had wheelbase rules that the x-body cars fit when the f-body didn't.
Rickt, you built a lot of race cars at that time, why did you run a Nova?
HPD
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday Mar 29th, 2008 08:57 PM |
|
| Here's a shot from Klamath that I found in my stuff. Anyone know who the driver is? Attachment: 25 klamath 1977.jpg (Downloaded 109 times)
|
rickt
Administrator
|
Posted: Sunday Mar 30th, 2008 04:02 AM |
|
HPD... The Nova was just a natural car to run. It had all the basics to build a fast car and they were plentiful. The front stubs were great to set-up and I personally loved leaf spring rear suspension. It was so adaptable to asphalt and dirt both. One of the simplest cars I have ever ran and most consistant also along with being economical to build. We raced those basic Camaros and Novas for years before steppin up to custom chassis car that were way more money. But I will tell you one thing though, those expensive high tech racecars were not near the fun as the old leaf spring Novas were.
I think it is so cool when I go into a pit area today like Grays Harbor Raceway and look at the hobby/street stocks there and most all of em are still old Camaros and Novas. Somethings just never go out of style...
Rick
____________________
We need more Military Appreciation days at Speedways
Lifes tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid...John Wayne
FB/92
|
hiplainsdrifter
Member
| Joined: | Monday Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Denver |
| Posts: | 160 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wednesday Apr 2nd, 2008 02:55 AM |
|
| Here's a shot of a Chevelle at Klamath that I don't recognize. Anyone know who this is? Attachment: 5 klamath 1977.jpg (Downloaded 89 times)
|
al 14
Member
| Joined: | Sunday May 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 6 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Saturday May 17th, 2008 07:36 PM |
|
| I THINK IT MAY BE DICK FENTTNGER IN THE 25 CAR Last edited on Saturday May 17th, 2008 07:37 PM by al 14
|
Current time is 06:31 AM | |
|
