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Topic: A Very Nice Super
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October 23, 2011 at
09:52:08 AM
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This message was edited on
October 23, 2011 at
09:56:13 AM by welder
One of the sweetest Supers ever Built
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October 23, 2011 at
09:58:04 AM
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October 23, 2011 at
09:59:06 AM
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October 23, 2011 at
10:00:01 AM
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October 23, 2011 at
10:01:21 AM
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October 24, 2011 at
01:18:45 AM
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DW,
Is this the last car Jim Harkness raced in 1975? It looks like it.
Ray C
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October 24, 2011 at
01:35:29 AM
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No, this car was being readied for Jim when he passed away. I understand it never competed.
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October 24, 2011 at
01:36:55 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: welder on October 23 2011 at 09:58:04 AM
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Welder,
You have a flip front end on your car! Wow.
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October 24, 2011 at
09:30:02 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on October 24 2011 at 01:35:29 AM
No, this car was being readied for Jim when he passed away. I understand it never competed.
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Brian, Do you know what happened to the last car Jim drove in 73-74? I had heard from someone that it was Benny Taylors super he drove for Bill Lewis that he almost won the '72 OKC championship in.
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October 24, 2011 at
11:20:54 AM
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Sure is a treasure! Would the tail section be made of fiberglass or formed aluminum?
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October 24, 2011 at
12:57:17 PM
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This message was edited on
October 24, 2011 at
12:59:50 PM by racee14
Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on October 24 2011 at 01:35:29 AM
No, this car was being readied for Jim when he passed away. I understand it never competed.
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Brian 26,
I remember the car from 1973-74 seasons vividly. This was the car he dominated
the 1973 season in. He won the Hutchinson Nationals, The Merrick Circuit,
5 State Fair title, the Enid Summer Nationals, and the Kansas State Fair Championship.
In 1974 they raced this same car, black with silver trim, but not nearly as much.
I have a picture of the car at the Kansas State Fair, the car must have been wrecked
before that, because they changed from the tail that looks like the ones in these
pictures, to one that had the sprint car tail thats cut off at the end look.
Similar to Larry Holman from OKC, and George Armstrong.
In 1975 the car he drove at Hutch was Black with Gold trim like this one.
It had that same offset look to the carburetors, the body work for the cockpit now came up on
the right side like this one, and had the tail once again that comes to a point. I have a picture
of this car as well at Hutch in 1975. If I had a scanner I would send both of these pictures.
Maybe someone else, (Like Warren), may have pictures from Hutch in 1973-74-75,
so you can see the differences.
The car he drove in 1975, looks almost like a twin to this one to me. Except, I only
have one picture, from one angle. In the NCRA yearbook in 1975, it says Jim will be out in a
New Car for 1975.
The 1976 NCRA yearbook talks about his passing in a car wreck on Feb. 28th 1976.
I believe Les Steinhart was his owner during the last years of his career, after
he drove for Larry Prather.
I wonder if this car was a newer version of that last car they built for Jim in 1975?
Regardless, Jim Harkness was as good a racer as any in the super ranks, and
if not for his farming, and his tragic death in 1976 at age 28, I believe he would
have had the race wins to prove it.
This car is awesome, and a fitting tribute to Jim Harkness.
Ray C
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October 24, 2011 at
02:01:24 PM
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Don Adams from Liberal ran the last car Jim drove. I had a phone call one night right after I had built this site and said that car is even still around. But didn't want to release any info. So is it or isn't it? I have also heard the Prather car or the Steinert car was from Tulsa. I heard it was the #1 that Emmett and even Jim drove and crashed?
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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October 24, 2011 at
05:00:44 PM
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This message was edited on
October 24, 2011 at
05:06:32 PM by racee14
Reply to:
Posted By: Racing From The Past on October 24 2011 at 02:01:24 PM
Don Adams from Liberal ran the last car Jim drove. I had a phone call one night right after I had built this site and said that car is even still around. But didn't want to release any info. So is it or isn't it? I have also heard the Prather car or the Steinert car was from Tulsa. I heard it was the #1 that Emmett and even Jim drove and crashed?
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Warren,
I remember Don Adams, that makes sense. He wasn't bad, just wasn't
quite as good as Dave Frusher, Herb Copeland, Davey Ross, Terry Euhling,
"Fast" Freddy Hembree, and Larry Dewell. When you think about it, has any area
in America, with such a small population, had so many good drivers.
There couldn't be much more than 15,000 people in Dodge City, Ness City, Fowler,
and Jetmore, combined. (Just checked census: in 1970 DC was 14,000, now
though its 27,000).
On the Prather # (97), I remember they debuted that car at mid-season, before that
Jim had been driving the Z-Transfer #69, finishing 2nd in a NCRA race at 81 Speedway
in 1971.
In the early 2000's I saw the car in the pictures, or a car just like it, at Ness City in a KAR
show. The car was the fastest in the super division that night.
I wasn't able to go the pits afterwards, but I thought at the time it sure looked like
the car Jimmy drove in 1975.
A side note: Warren remember how wild Jim was the first couple of years
he drove the supers? My Dad loved watching him at 81, he was very exciting!
He really was coming into his prime by 1973, and was such a likable guy.
Ray C
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October 24, 2011 at
06:03:05 PM
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I have word that Larry Dewell drove this car some, and there was a Benny Taylor connection.
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October 24, 2011 at
09:19:21 PM
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http://www.racingfromthepast.com/oklahomasuperslap23index5.html
I'm sure on this site someone said the prather 97 was this car. Now I wonder if the 1st Steinert #11 wasn't this car also. One of chassis experts will blow this photo and the others like around and figure this out.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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October 24, 2011 at
09:21:59 PM
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Ray C in those early days even Don would now probably say I was a lot squirrely.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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October 24, 2011 at
09:27:35 PM
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This message was edited on
October 24, 2011 at
09:30:34 PM by Racing From The Past
Don Adams Liberal in 1978 era.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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October 24, 2011 at
09:37:01 PM
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Ok I'm thinking the last year or two that Jim raced his car was owned by a guy from Hays, KS. He had a franchise of StrawHat Pizza Palaces?? No wait a minute it was another small chain. I will have to think but maybe someone will add to it now. This was after the Larry Prather and the Les Steinert years.
http://www.racingfromthepast.com/hutchnationalslap1index25.html It is the same person I think that owned the Coachlight Inn in Hays?? The pizza place was part of the motel?
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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October 24, 2011 at
09:52:16 PM
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I have told this story way back the beginning days of the site. But it was somewhere around10 years ago. I don't remember if I had this site or not?? I was pulling into WalMart in McPherson, KS. I got a glimpse of something I new was a race car. Low and behold it was a race car. I darn near tore our car up try to get it in reverse to see what it was . Cause it was leaving the parking lot. I knew what I had saw. But my eyes couldn't not believe what they saw. It was the #11 almost in one piece. It was enough that I knew what it was. The back part of the body was perfect. I don't think it had a rear end under it. I think I determined it had New Mexico plates on the trailer? Now that I think about it I think Jim sister has written me over the years and was from New Mexico. But don't know if this is anything. I think they let TJ Harkness Jim's son drive this car in a parade in Ness City. Which would been cool to see. At one time Jim's mother was going to send me a cd she had made of the life and time's of Jim T. Harkness. How many of them could we make. Brian are you reading? Your one of the best PR men this site has had. Of course I'm not one to bother anyone.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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October 24, 2011 at
10:22:02 PM
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Oh and by the way the guy that called me called me about the original #11. I think he was PO'd cause I had written something in RFTP Ramblings way back. I had said something to the effect that this was the super that Jim had torn up the dirt tracks across this area with. He began to tell me the story of this car and that it wasn't that car. He was tired of people parading this car around as that #11. When it had not even turned a lap on a track. He said he knew where the original car was and that this was no it. That turned into a couple hour telephone call after he settled down.
Let me tell you though he probably is a lurker out there and reading this. Oh well. I had hundreds of e-mails trying to tell me how to do things, or why isn't this car and driver on the site and over and over again. First of all the site started with my own photos. What I had was what I had left. Many boxes have been lost over the years. But I had enough of a couple of years to get the site going. Monte Cole and Rusty Manning came through with a ton of photos. Rusty even bought a negative scanner and by now maybe has all his photos digitalized? My problem is and was I didn't want to bother anyone and really wasn't person in the know. I was just a fan. Oh Ya back a few lines I said hundreds of e-mails. In the early years of the site as it was getting going it wasn't uncommon to have a couple dozen e-mails a day about the site. I have many of teary eyes reading some of those e-mails. But if you notice I only have my e-mail on one page anymore when it use to be on every page. It has been that way for years now. For a long time I didn't have any e-mail on the site.
One regret is loosing the 1979 Western World photos. I had several dozen rolls of film I shot. Every time I turned around that night someone was flipping into the junkyard, LOL. And I was in turn 3-4. I learn one thing on the trip. You miss so much racing taking pictures. I got back home and didn't even know Jerry Stone had crashed hard, LOL.
Oh wow I'm rambling again I said a long time ago I wouldn't get on my soap box. Just let everyone enjoy the photos and the memories and shut-up, Your know Donald Davidson so quit acting like it, LOL.
Warren Vincent
Cans 4 Kansas Heroes
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