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

Years ago on I believe Sportsworld on NBC if I'm not mistaken, they showed a WoO show from Devil's Bowl in Texas and there was a car there with a wing that would be far from legal nowadays. This big huge slotted looking thing that the driver, who was some sort of mathematician or scientist made himself. Kinda hung off the right side of the car or leaned off to the right. Ugly looking thing.

Anyone remember this guy?

Ron

This was brought up just three or four months ago with pictures posted. His name was Tom Johnson and set quick time one night during the Knoxville Nationals if I recall. I am sure whoever posted the picture of it then will post a picture of it again.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

There is a clip on you tube. World of Outlaws at Tulsa speedway.

Member of this message board since 1997

Here's the video from TNN's American Sports Cavalcade.

National Sprint Car & Midget Examiner
http://tinyurl.com/r4opgk

That car was supposedly designed by a computer, or so it was said.

I remember seeing this car race a few times. It was wicked fast but when it hit a hole or something rough on the track it would wash out and push to the fence. Seemed like this happened quite often.

The path that led to this car is unreal. Much as all this stuff tries to clog up my brain, I keep finding neat little tidbits about this car and it's predecessor. The science project started out with a rare car in itself, the Greg Weld dirt roadster, the ONLY one of a 4 car run (Don Brown design-known as the Mechanical Rabbit) the only one with an all aluminum body! The others had fiberglass.

This is when it was still wingless, the car before the crazy winged car

Then when Tommy and crew got their hands on it,

When the roadster was new

My favorite shot

I think this may be it under restoration recently, if it's not the very same car, it is a sister car.

The Greg Weld roadster has been bought up and is being restored, I do know that.

There was the myth that Tommy and crew cut up the roadster to build this car, but that is not true. they did however take what they learned from the rabbit, and use it towards this car.

The original wing was real long like an airplane wing.  It was outlawed.  This is what you get when an engineer designs something.

Not sure about the Knoxville Nationals quick time, but I do know for a fact that he set fast time at a Devils Bowl WoO show.   He turned a lap of 14.24, which was only .04 off of Bobby Allen's track record of that time (14.20).

My brother knows Tommy Johnson and used to race go karts against Tommy's son.   Pretty sure he's still hanging around go kart racing.   He had told my brother that the Hall of Fame wanted to display the car, but I'm not sure if that will actually happen.

According to the Knoxville website,  22T of Tom Johnson-Dallas TX set 5th fast time in Thursday time trials and won the E main on Saturday of 1985.   

I am pretty sure he was there in 1986 as well,  but the link is broken for that year on the track website.  

The car was black then and I am pretty sure he turned it over and destroyed the carbon fiber wing on Saturday of 1986.   He was pitted close to Brad Doty and Jeff Gordon....I remember watching people stomp on what was left of the wing so it could fit in the back of a pickup truck.   

None of those pictures are showing up... I see"Please Update Your Account to enable 3rd Party hosting"

that THING may have had speed. but, it was the ugliest car. can you imagine if that car actually did take off ? Myself i think with that roll cage built the way it was it left the driver really exposed after the wing would have come off in a flip. Hall of fame, i hope not, crusher is more like it.

Is there much if any areodynamic or computer or scientific design to todays standard wings? Or are they all exactly the same giving some advantage over no wing? Are they just a replica of something everyone agreed on at a meeting yrs ago? Is every wing at a woo race the same or is there room to tweek for an advantage with it also?

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!