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Topic: 7 July 1979
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Page 2 of 2 of 31 replies
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July 08, 2009 at
10:45:29 PM
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Note: When I say Nasty stuff I am referring to very viscious flips that just kind of surprise you when the driver crawls out pissed off rather than being injured.
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July 09, 2009 at
10:07:32 AM
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Dman, here's some pics of JT you might enjoy. Carlos Norblad took these. Your dad helped out with "Okoboji Night" at Jackson for many years. I will never forget the donut hole toss. I started helping your dad with "Okoboji Night" 5 or 6 years ago and have now basically taken over his duties keeping "Okoboji Night" alive. "University Of Okoboji Night" is the longest lasting special event night at the Jackson Speedway to date. I also remember my dad drag racing snowmobiles against your dad.
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July 09, 2009 at
10:39:01 AM
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My first Nationals trip was in '79. My dad and I drove my short bed p/u with a new topper and we slept in at at the fairgrounds camp sites. The "White Buffalo" trailer still remained in the race track infield. Robert Smith named his son after Darrell. Roger Larson was not related to Jud, unless very remotely. Jud was a friend of my dad's and he also knew Roger. Knoxville was a wonderful, albeit scary, place before the wings.
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July 09, 2009 at
03:41:50 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Paintboss on July 08 2009 at 10:41:16 PM
I've seen some real nasty stuff over the short 18 years I have been going to Knoxville and It's hard to imagine 2 drivers killed in the same accident. Were the cars just that unsafe at that time or was it just a fluke thing? The cars look basically the same accept for the seats have definately improved dramatically. And with the Stoneking accident which I've only heard about but have thought about it many times while at the races at Knoxville when watching the flagmen during a race, I could not imagine standing in a flagstand that hung out over the speedway at Knoxville. Our flagmen today (Clarks) have had a few scares sitting tucked behind the fence guarded by an I-beam & heavy fencing. It had to be very un-nerving to hang out over the track!
Was Roger Larson related to the driver Jud Larson that raced out East?
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I wasn't around back then, but looking at lap times and the safety equipment of the cars (helmets, belts, seats, etc) ... the cars were really fast (twenty second bracket) for the safety equipment they had. As a gauge, the lap times in 1979 were in the low to mid 20's. Ten years later in 1989 when the CRA had their midwest tour, the lap times were in the low to mid 19's. Ten years is a long time to pass, and the speeds weren't that much faster. But the safety equipment certainly was a lot better.
My personal opinion is that the speed of the cars had far exceeded the safety. I know it was unpopular with a lot of the fans, but one safety device (wings) no doubt saved a lot of lives in the 80's. Running nonwing cars on a big, fast, half-mile week after week is going to produce some dire consequences from time to time. I think that was the case in 1979... and I think that is still the case in 2009.
I'm completely with you on the flagstand issue too. My dad and I have talked about that... and those flagmen were nuts for standing on a plank out over the track like they were! It's too bad that it took a driver fatality and near flagman fatality to get the flagstand moved behind the fence.
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July 09, 2009 at
08:46:14 PM
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Flagman Gary Johnson was at the Knoxville Hall of Fame lunch last weekend. Every time I see him it reminds me of Stoney.
Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder!!!!
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September 18, 2010 at
04:05:07 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Dan D. Everetts on July 07 2009 at 01:07:32 PM
Dear Mr Johnson,
Thanks for remembering Darryl and Roger after 30 years. I worked and raced with Darryl and Richard Giadone and was with him on that night. Your photo of Darryl's car is not the car of July 7th 1979, that car was destroyed in Minneapolis Minnesota. Richard and I were there that night also. The car Darryl lost his life in was a Lloyd Shores race car. It was all white with a clear coat frame. Thanks for the photos anyway.
Dan D. Everetts / Richard Giadone.
P.S. That sure was a long ride home to Sioux Falls SD without our best friend in the truck with us.
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Dear Mr. Everetts,
Did you see the crash that night when you were there? I've heard a lot of things about that night and have been curious forever about it. I've talked to several people who saw the crash, who were there that night and every story is different. It's so different that I still don't know what part of the front stretch it happened on.
This might sound funny, but in a lot of ways it's like the Kennedy assassination to me. I'm not into gore, but I 'm curious what exactly happened. I don't watch that footage because I enjoy seeing a man get his head blown off. We were kids who all wanted to get into racing and it was always Dawley Larson, Dawley Larson, and the fact that those two were killed in the same crash blows me away.
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September 18, 2010 at
08:56:45 AM
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Doug Wolfgang tells the story of that night from his perspective in his book. Great read.
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July 31, 2018 at
12:39:16 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Graphix4u on July 09 2009 at 10:07:32 AM
Dman, here's some pics of JT you might enjoy. Carlos Norblad took these. Your dad helped out with "Okoboji Night" at Jackson for many years. I will never forget the donut hole toss. I started helping your dad with "Okoboji Night" 5 or 6 years ago and have now basically taken over his duties keeping "Okoboji Night" alive. "University Of Okoboji Night" is the longest lasting special event night at the Jackson Speedway to date. I also remember my dad drag racing snowmobiles against your dad.
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| GREAT photos of Joel Taylor Graphix4U!! |
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July 31, 2018 at
06:24:35 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: tseitz11 on July 07 2009 at 02:46:52 PM
I will never forget that Sunday morning. I was only 7 years old at the time but Roger Larson was my hero at that time. His business/shop was only 2 blocks from my house and I was always going there to see if they were working on his car.
Waking up that Sunday morning to have my mother tell me what happened the night before is something I will never forget.
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Right there with you and feeling the same that dreadful Morning. I remember vividly as my dad handed me the Sunday Argus Leader and seeing the right hand column with the story.
T2 Digital Inc.
The Cushion (thecushion.com)
http://twitter.com/WatchTheCushion
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“Official Internet Broadcast Partner of Knoxville Raceway”
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July 31, 2018 at
06:44:36 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: T2Media on July 31 2018 at 06:24:35 PM
Right there with you and feeling the same that dreadful Morning. I remember vividly as my dad handed me the Sunday Argus Leader and seeing the right hand column with the story.
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I had moved my family to Minneapolis the year before. We were looking forward to a sprint car race that was coming up at North Star Speedway in a couple weeks. I knew Dawley would be there. He became my favorite when he started racing at Jackson in the 60's. My father knew this from all the races we'd gone to together, and he called pretty early that Sunday morning with the bad news. Man that hurt! For several years after when I'd go to a race I'd look out at the pit gates and wished I would see that trailer rolling in with the #25 sitting on it. Sure did miss him. And I still think about him quite often.
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July 31, 2018 at
07:27:15 PM
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Never saw any of them race but I read about this tragedy in the Wolfgang book.
A
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July 31, 2018 at
09:40:22 PM
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heres a little more info for those...like me... who don't know the details...can't imagine sitting in the frontstretch stands and witnessing this...RIP Roger Larson,Darrel Dawley
http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=2831
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science
gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.”
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