This message was edited on
July 27, 2008 at
02:25:52 PM by cmpvideo2go
The Johnny Key Classic has been held each Year since 1954(with a pause when San Jose Fairgrounds Speedway closed until held at Ocean in 2007) to Honor the Late Driver from Salinas,JohnnyKey,orignally from Texas,moved to Salinas in 1926. After Serving in The Navy in World War Two He began Driving Race Cars, first in His Hometown of Salinas and later all over the State. 1952 was His Year as He Scored 54 Feature Race Victories including a 500 Lap Race at The San Jose Speedway. At one point He scored an incredible 8 Feature Wins in 7 Days. Key's Goal was to run the Indianapolis 500, so He and His Best Friend Elmer George headed back to The Midwest. Johnny had a Ride for The 1954 Indy 500, but it was damaged in Practice by Another Driver. On May 26 1954 Key beat Eddie Sachs to Win a Big Car Race at Winchester, Indiania. It was His 30th Birthday. The Future looked bright for Johnny Key, He was well Liked by all His Competitors and He had Enormous Driving Skills. On June 30th 1954 He and Elmer George
traveled to Cincinati,Ohio for a Midget Race.Johnny was running 3rd, Elmer 4th when Johnny's front end collapsed. The Car began flipping then the seat broke. Up until that time Johnny had never been injured in His Life. On June 24th, He died of His injurys.
(Courtesy Golden State Racing News)
1986 Classic posted at:
http://cmpvideo2go.com/SANJOSE.html
86 Dash Winner Mike Sargent
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