Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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The "Unlimited Starts" 500!!

I can't tell you how many times I have seen the push vehicles crash into each other while running the track in at Eldora.

First of all thanks to all who contributed your recollections to this thread. I've enjoyed reading each and every one of them. Here's another one I just remembered. I've discussed this a number of times with Bob & Dortha Trostle and we always end up with wide smiles. This crazy situation happened at the Wilmont Speedway in Wilmont, Wisconsin and it involved Max Dumesny driving the Trostle #20 wing sprint car--possibly a coil front end car. I think it was Max's first time at this track and he was doing awesome wheelies during hot laps. When (years later) I first discussed this with Bob (who has a photographic memory) he said he clearly remembered that night including their having their hauler parked near turn 3 allowing them a great view down the back straightaway--where Max was wheel standing at full song. Bob told me that after seeing Max's wheelstands his wife told him they would not be able to roll the car into the trailer at the end of that night. Those wheel stands were something else--very high and covering very long distances--they continued into the heat races while Max was racing side by side with other cars. Sadly Bob's wife was correct because before the night was over Max did one too many awesome wheelies coming out of turn four, lost control and smacked the judges/P.A. stand in the infield. Thankfully no one was hurt, except possibly Max's feelings & Bob's wallet and yes they weren not able to roll the car into the trailer.

If you have a rememberance of something concerning one of Bob's cars and you have the opportunity to meet him, please ask him about it because, chances are, he'll remember more about it than you do and he'll love discussing it with you. Bob is a real treasure and a great friend of Sprint Car Racing and the NSCHoF&M. Check out the "Trostle Garage" the next time you visit the NSCHoF&M in Knoxville.

How about the time they set the pace car on fire at the Chili Bowl? Around 1991 I think.

The Hooters girls were busy wiping the soot off, while they were pacing the cars.

at Indy 500 during time trial a car timed as first one out, they waved off of time after 3 laps. it started to rain. By rules Fastest car in time trails for that day would start on pole. He would have been on pole come race day. He timed again the next day and never made the show.

Jimmy Sills in a super mod at the Copper Classic sometime in the mid 90's, turned the thing to the right coming out of turn 2 and stood it up on the inside wheels... the car stood there like that, balanced on the LH side wheels. It was truly weird

during the ascs swing here in the NW last year the track at coos bay oregon was being packed (very wet still) when a beater tow truck careened off the wall and down into the side of a new F150 (still had temporary plates) and took the whole right side out...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Member of this message board since 1997

That unlucky driver was Leon "Jigger" Sirois. Two follow ups: (1) Jigger tried to qualify at Indy in 7 different years but never made it into the Indy 500. (2) Annually at the end of qualifying for the Indy 500 the "Jigger Award" to the hard luck driver in qualifying--generally to one of the drivers bumped from the starting lineup BUT one year it was awarded to none other than Roger Penske because none of his three normally top line cars qualified for that year's Indy 500. I've heard about and read that when qualifying ended that year an announcement was made for Dr. Kevorkian to please report to the Penske Garage--true or not I can't confirm-I wasn't there.

Ironies like that have happened more than a normal person would believe in this sport.

I saw a guys fuel cell fall out of his modified one night at moberly mo. I guess the worst part of it was that he was leading by a bunch when it happened.

Back in 1983? at a SOD race in Avilla Indiana it was either Hank Lower or Fred Linder got the car crossed up in between turns one and two. Jumped on it as it hit the infield tire and the car ended up standing straight up on it's tailtank. Looked like a sprint car on a lauch pad. People actually had to go over to drop the car back on the ground.

www.harleytrikes.com

I believe it was Don Hewitt standing up in what is now turn 2 "was turn 4 back then" at Limaland checking out the track, Another driver ran up to punch Hewitt, He turned around & seen it coming, ducked & grabbed the guy by the ankles & pulled his feet out from under him.

A few years back at Husets, John Labertz was leading the feature and holding off Terry McCarl before hitting a car under caution and getting a DNF. It was a such a bummer.

both of these at Knoxville-----a friend did not want to drive his pickup to track. He borrowed his girlfriends car. A car in 3 and 4 lost a rim and tire. Tire went over wall and hit his girlfrends car right in center of top then it hit a motorcycle and ended out by cowbarns.------A car going into turn 1 had a rim break on RR . It flew over wall and hit a car on the hiway. It then hit another car and the side of building. Woman said she was going to race late and did;nt known she was going to be involved with the races.

I saw a Sprinter go end over end at Lake County Speedway in Madison, SD. The fuel tank came out and barely cleared the flagstand and landed before it hit the seats.

In the 1975 I was at a dirt track in Colorado. During hot laps, a car broke down at the top of 3-4. A wrecker came. When the wrecker driver opened his door, 2 six paks of beer in a brown grocery bag fell out and rolled down the bank.

Later a driver lost it coming off of turn 2 and shithammered another car into the outside wall. The pits were behind the backstretch. It was a very hard hit, and the driver was knocked out. The ambulance just sat there, 100 yards away. Those of us behind the wall started chanting "Ambulance, Ambulance" and they finally came over. The driver was OK.

THEN, an hour later, a broken car had to be pushed into the pits. The wrecker driver thought he was Evel Knievel and pushed the car into another, breaking the leg of the car's driver, as he was climbing in for his heat. Another driver who raced at a nearby asphalt track jumped into the car and won the heat.

This was all at ONE track, in ONE night.

That was the first time I'd ever seen oil dry used to dry up water on a track. Woulda been uber pissed if they woulda cancelled after I drove 10 hrs there for the 360's to have it "rained" out by a water truck...lol

305's are the herpes of sprint cars