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Mike told me a story about Gary's car that was pretty crazy. They were racing at the old Lakeside track in Kansas City and Mike was having a really good night I think he said he was running in the top 5 and the track was really rough and with just a few laps to go the floor pan come off the car and Mike had to pull in because there was nothing under his feet. He told Gary you really need to get that fixed right that wasn't very fun with my feet hanging out of the bottom of the car.

The next night they went to Knoxville and they are having another good night running 3rd and the floor pan fell off again and Mike said there was no way he was pulling in again two nights in a row so he drove Gary's car for the last 5 or 6 laps at Knoxville with no floor and wedged his feet on the bottom frame rails and kept his foot on the throttle to finish 6th.

He pulled in the pits and told Gary I not sure what it's going to take to keep the floor pan on the car but you (REALLY) need to get that floor pan fixed. He said once was bad enough but 2 nights in row that is crazy to expect someone to drive a car with no floor pan at either one of those tracks.

Mike looks back as if that was one of the dumber thinks he done.

Mike really like Gary. Gary always tried to make sure Mike had a ride when he was in between rides or he had time in his schedule to race Gary's car.

Mike did say that it was not unusual for Gary's cars to have oil leaks or have parts failures but Gary would work as hard as anybody to get the car patched and repaired so they go back out for the next race and usally did pretty good.

I will try to add some more pictures tonight if I get time. Were getting go-karts ready to go race Saturday in Winfield and then next week I going with Mike to Jetmore for a NCRA show.

Mike is headed to Nebraska Saturday for a NCRA show. Never a dull moment for the Peters. Working and Racing

Mike turned 60 today.

Tony

i remember you racin the 4 cyl car at 81 in the 80s. seemed like it was always you or McWhorter at the front. i dont know why that class didnt catch on.

"its useless to put on the brakes when you are upside 
down"   -Paul Newman

Tony do you know the story how Mike started driving for Norman and how he did in his first race in the 17? I received as e-mail from Norman's widow and she is doing fine. She moved from Tulsa to Mason City IA to be close to family. She also said that Carol See, Norman's daughter and Gene See's wife was having some severe health problems.

Ray

I remember seeing the 4 Cyl. Sprints as well at 81, guess they were kind of like the V-6's at OKC , got very costly and hard to make them live or at least it was for those V-6's in OKC back in the 80's, had a friend who spent a lot of money trying to get those V-6's to live. Carbone had a pretty good formula for them running and surviving.

I will say this that this Non Wing Economy Sprint Class that has been formed this past season here in Okla. with some pay increase in the purse and keeping the rules the same (Sport Mod Motor) and teching/checking those rules, this class has some great potential to grow and be a great class. BUT only if those things happen.

I was going through a box and found a VCR tape that I recorded off ESPN in 1997. It was series that Dave Despain hosted called "Glory Days" it was a 30 minute show of racing in the '60's. I started watching it and on an episode of a race in 1965 from the Nassau. This must have been an important race in the day all the top drivers were there. Roger Penske was a driver for the Jim Hall Chapparal team and he and Hap Sharp won the race. The most interresting part for me was that A. J. Foyt was driving a car for John Mecom and his cheif mechanic was Jon Kalb, the same Jon that had the Firestone race car tire store here in Tulsa in the 70's. The tape also has champ car race from Langhorne when it was dirt and after it had been aspalted. I would be glad to send a copy of this tape to somebody who knows how to post it on this site. It has about 6 hours of racing from the 60's on it.

Ray

I'd be happy to do it!

Getting my video capabilities back up now.

I am just now working on placing the websites logo , and credit for the film collection owners name too. Also, any dates, names etc-placed in the lower corner of the clips.

If I can get quality clips up, without burning cds- that makes it even better for me.

I do have a vhs to dvd converter now as well.

580-465-8351

Brian I lost your address. Do you wasnt a copy of the whole tape, commercials and everthing else?

Ray

Saw a Walker Racing shirt at the racer night last week, anyone know where to get those?

John Stewart

Retro Racing Custom Model Cars
405.922.6163
[email protected]
Oklahoma City, OK

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Retro-
Racing-Custom-Model-Cars/235624429834292#!/pages/Retro-
Racing-Custom-Model-Cars/23562442983429

Yeah, the whole thing. might be some good commercials in there.

I keep all the film/tapes/dvds in fireproof/floodproof lockboxes now. I send a dvd copy back with the original film/vhs/dvd when I get it copied, so I can have room for more footage later. I have 3 boxes right now, and need 2-3 more before the years out.

The old footage like you have will help me keep things balanced from becoming too new on what I post. I want to keep it mostly before 1993 if I can, and your stuff will be greatly appreciated.

Address is

Brian Satterwhite

po box 391

Springer, OK 73458

David Hesstand has them. He is ordering two dozen more to meet the demand. He'll post on here when they're ready.

xl-2xl

I just got through watching the last show on the tape and it was Langhorn in 1963 when it was still dirt. Watching the USAC champ cars with AJ, Parnelli and the rest of those drivers in that day was great. Don Branson's car broke and he had to take over for Bobby Marshman and it took over 37 seconds to change drivers. I rember reading a story about Don, he was going to retire after the 1966 season and be a Goodyear tire rep, he was kiled in his last race at Ascot. The big track at Tulsa was compared to Langhorn, has anybody on this site seen both of the tracks? If there is what is your opinon?

Ray

Ray, I posted some new pictures last night . I spoke to Jerry Wilson about his 180 degree header car. He told me that Davey Moore and him built that car in 1974. Jerry e-mailed me a picture of the car to post on the site. He said the headers put off alot heat around the cockpit area and was very uncomfortable for the driver. He said Thad Doshier drove the car.

I also posted several pictures of Norman's cars on the Peters Family Gallery.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Tony

http://www.hoseheadforums.com/photoGallery/photoGalleryItems.cfm?GalleryKey=566

WOW!

One other unique feature about the 180 degree header car was that it had parallal torsion bars on the front and rear. Note on the under the front shocks the torsion bar stops and arms.

One thing about Jerry he always like to experiment with different ideas with his cars.

I believe that Jan Opperman and Roy Bryant also drove this car too.

Jerry told me when my brother Mike drove his car in 1973 that they ran the large right front tire and his car had no power steering and that was what cause my brother to get big blisters on his hands. He thought Mike only drove for him 3 or 4 times. I know he raced his car at Dodge City and Wichita at least once. I remember going to Dodge City to watch him race Jerry's car.

Mike did drive the 180 degree crank car in 1973. Jerry said he had issues with the crank making the engine shake and viabrate. If I remember correctly I think the crank finally broke and that was the end of the 180 degree crank idea.

Tony

http://www.hoseheadforums.com/photoGallery/photoGalleryItems.cfm?GalleryKey=566

Another thing I noticed is the 4 wheel brake system , kind of wonder if that would not be even a better deal today when tracks dry out, last time I seen someone use it was back in the 90's on the 1/4 mile at SFS.

I have some pics of Jan Opperman buckling in the car at OKC.

Curious how he got those 180 degree headers to clear the Magneto and keep heat off of it, maybe those header wraps???, gotta be a tight fit and no room for error on bends in the headers I would think.

I have a old super frame I found at riverside auto salvage. The frame has parall tortion bars. I was wondering how the front bars where set up. The picture of the 25 car of wilsons shows me how it works. Thanks for the post. Now I need to find a pair of front bars.

Tony I was looking through my NCRA yearboooks and they had the standings for the local tracks and in 1973 Mike finished in the top ten in both the supers and modifieds at Wichita. Did he drive any othe super besides Jerry's? There is a picture in theis site of him and Jerry's car at Hutch. That is the same car that I saw in Davids gaage in the winter of 75-76 and the same car that Jan won the opening night in 1978 at Tulsa. I think by then jerry had put a spring front on this car. Do you kow whe C. Ray Hall did not run supers in 1974 at 81? Tell Mike hello from me and that I remember one night in Tulsa in 1975 of changing the gears 7 times on the 71 for him. I think that I changed them 2 times before hot laps

Ray

Tony the pictures are great,the 3 cars together and the 71 by itself must have been taken in the last part of the 75 seasson. The 117 has 1 feature win sticker on it and Gene won that feature in August of 75. Mikes car has 6 stickers on it and I think that he won a total of 8 at Tulsa that year and one of them was the last night. The Stanton car looks good. I remember how mad Norman was when he and Mike picked it up and it had the Stanton body on it and Norman said it looked like a piece of ..... He had Bob and Billy McCuten put a didfferent body on it. Looking forward to any more of your pictures.

Ray