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

My dad was at the Sharon OH Nationals for an All Star sprint show in the early 90s. He always tells me stories about some old guy who used to bring a sprint car there every year for that show and the Officials would never let him race. He says the guy was a real character, he always used to sit on his trailer and play his guitar before the races. The car was front wheel drive with a wooden wing and a desk lamp inside the dash for lights. Does anybody know of the car im talking about or have pictures of it. Thanks!

I went to the Sharon Nats from 93 on and don't really remember that, but I was young. 

How about some pictures of wierd cars like the bullwinckle car from the 80's or so from the Devils Bowl.

Yes I do remember him showing up for several years with his homemade "Sprint Car".  He was a nutty professor type.  He'd unload the car out of a ratty trailer and tinker on it.  I think a couple times he may have drew a pill but it never hit the track.  No one really ever seemed to know anything about him. 

I wonder if what you call the "Bullwinkle Car" is what I called the "Computer Car" from the 85 or 86 Knoxville Nationals.   It had a carbon fiber wing that driver Tom Johnson destroyed in a flip,  but not before causing the officials to raise the string of lights over the frontstretch so he could fit under.  

That's a funny and fascinating story. I hope someone does have a picture because I'd like to see it. Sounds like an interesting deal to say the least

The #22 of Tommy Johnson was indeed an interesting creation from an engineering mind.    Most Devils Bowl old timers remember that Tommy also had an old roadster style sprint car that he competed with before he designed this car.    This car turned heads in more ways that one.   Tommy actually set fast time at a WoO show with that thing one night and was only .04 off of the track record, which was held by Bobby Allen at that time.    I believe Tommy still has this car and he was supposed to be transporting it up to the Hall of Fame for display at some point.    However, it's been a few years since my brother or I talked to Tommy or his son.   

I don't think it's the same guy but there used to be a driver from VA that raced a lot in central PA in the 80's and 90's named French Grimes. He always had an interesting home-made looking car #F1.

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Isn't he the same guy who started Race Savers?

Is this the French Grimes car you remember? Still not turning up anything from those early Sharon National races.

Most likely, as I know that French raced around PA for awhile.

Here is an exerpt from my interview with him " I raced 410’s; most of the time around Pennsylvania.". Not sure what # he drove though.

I am lucky enough to work at one of the best tracks 
anywhere.

Yep that's 1 of French's contraptions. We used to root for him because well, why wouldn't you root for a guy that drove a car like that? lol  I think he started the VSS 305 sprints which the PASS(racesavr's) originally were patterned after (same rules) but I'm not sure if he has/had anything to do with the PA 305's. I believe former 410 driver Rod Ort started that group.

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