Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

     I think most nicknames for racers are made up by track announcers. A good exception might be Danny Lasoski. I've hear it explained that his grandmother gave him the name "Dude" at a young age. (Presumably he was young at the time, not her.)

     Probably the best racer nickname I've heard was The Yellow Phantom. In the mid-70's, my brother-in-law pitted for a guy named Morris Herber. He raced a spray painted orange, home-built modifed. When the cars started morphing into sprintcars, he upgraded to a bright yellow car. It was a mid-70's sprint car chassis with a fiberglass Ford coupe body- the kind with the little side window towards the back. Morris worked nights and had to be at work by 11:00. As soon as the races ended, he was outta there, Thus the nickname The Yellow Phantom.

     I bet every track had a Fast Fred or a Hurryin' Harry at one point. I wonder how many guys got pinned with a nickname they didn't particularly care for- like Horsethief Harry Johnson and Concrete John Slagle? In a similar vein, when's the last time you heard anyone say Donny "Tequila" Schatz?

The last time I heard anyone refer to Donny as "Tequila" was back when he was first starting out and driving for his dad.   It does go with his last name obviously.   The one I wouldn't care for is the "Pauls to the Walls" thing with McMahan.   He must be OK with it I reckon, otherwise he would ask the announcer to stop using it.    

My favorite has always been the one given to non wing driver Scotty Weir..."Stomp and Steer Scotty Weir".

I agree, the Paul's to the walls has to be the stupidest nickname out there and it sounds idiotic when the announcers say it. 

    Another popular sprint racer at Black Hills Speedway in the 70's was Jim "Buckin' Horse" Olson in the #15. His nemesis was Jack "Ye Olde Fox" Comer in the #66.

     In the A-Stock class it was a car that had the famous nickname. Butch Murner drove a Chevelle with a 454 cu big block Chevy  motor. It was called "The Earth Shaker" and it did.

     Was Black Bandit the nickname for Steve Smith, or the #19 car he drove?

     Somewhere I have a VCR tape from about 20 or so years back of a PA season highlights. In an interview, Fred Rahmer refers to Steve Smith as "Mr. Smith".

I've heard from a few people that he hates that name. 

Super Chuck thinks the whole "Pauls to the Wall" thing is a nod to the obscure, early 80s Accept song titled Balls to the Wall.  Accept was kinda like the poor man's version of AC/DC...check it out on the You Tubes.  You'll see white guitars, syncronized head banging, clinched fists, and undoubtedly the inspiration to the nickname.

Super Chuck

Ed Lynch the "Apollo Rocket" is such a classic nickname and one that just fits perfectly.  Ed was (still is) from Apollo, PA so hence the "Rocket" fitting perfectly. 

I know a few people, or maybe just Revjim, do not like it, but I enjoy "The Northpole Nightmare" for Bill Balog. 

I'm well aware of the Accept song since I was an 80s metal freak in high school.   Personally I wasn't all that impressed with Accept and the sychronized head banging thing is one of the dumbest things ever done.   I will give Accept credit though, at least they weren't all hair and makeup which is another thing some 80s bands did.    

     I gotta say that Bill Balog is a good racer and fun to watch. But when I hear Northpole Nightmare, it sounds like a name for a porno actor.

Its not that I don't like it, just think its funny & ridiculous....

Its older than that... better song, IMHO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobJl7rGzkM

Couldn't get that live link thing to work... copy & paste

The "crowd pleaser" is among the stupidest as well.

A

Yeah that one pretty much sucks too.   

Green Hornet has a nice ring to it. One of our local Late Model Street Stock (that's what they call them) legends was David "Quick Silver" Krueger. Needless to say, his cars were always silver. That also blended well with his longtime sponsor Hills Stainless Steel.

     A local racer nickname that falls way short of the goal line:  Kenny, "One of the boys from Nunda", Hansen. That sounds like a name for a Country, Reggae, Metal, Folk band. I do not want to buy that CD!

    What are some of the better racer nicknames in your area?

Personally, I could do without all these goofy nicknames.  At your local track its ok IMO, but big time racing, like WoO, NO.  You don't see that in Nascar or F1 or Indy Car ior NHRA, sure there are a few, but just a few.    Crowd Pleaser and Pauls to the Walls the worst ever and I'm a big fan of both guys. 

Lawlessness + liberalism = HELL -  NYC, Detroit, Chicago, 
Seattle, LA  Who the H runs those cities. 

I'd say that 75% of tracks have a "flying farmer".