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Topic: Lloyd Ruby 1960-1969- video tribute
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December 19, 2011 at
12:04:21 PM
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I'll add more later. Up til 5 am on this one.
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December 19, 2011 at
12:34:48 PM
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This message was edited on
December 19, 2011 at
12:36:53 PM by brian26
This is to cover his racing years between 1960-1969. I missed one maybe two clips and a few pics that should have been in it. I intend to remedy that in one of the 2 future pieces when I can.
This was a big one for me to do here, I have no idea as to how many hours it took to get ready over the last 2 years. And then actually go through the process of putting it together. Looong time to sit in a chair for sure. Hunting down Lloyd Ruby on the internet, and all the other places, is a lot harder than hunting for Foyt, or Andretti etc etc pieces.
There simply came a time to say 'good enough' and post it.
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December 20, 2011 at
01:23:13 PM
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wow that is soooooo neat. thanks for sharing that one.
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December 20, 2011 at
04:20:17 PM
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Lloyds first Indy ride, a brand new Watson- later to be known as 'Ol Calhoun, and it went on to win in 1963 with Parnelli Jones aboard.
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December 20, 2011 at
04:24:37 PM
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This message was edited on
December 20, 2011 at
04:25:08 PM by brian26
Tony Bettenhausen lost his life in a test run in the Steerly Motor Freight Special, shaking it down for Paul Russo.
The owners of the brand new laydown chassied Autolite #5, chose Ruby as replacement.
Had he not stalled on the front stretch after this crash, I wonder?
1961
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December 20, 2011 at
04:27:03 PM
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A win with Zink in 1961 at Milwaukee
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December 20, 2011 at
04:28:04 PM
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1966 was a great year for Lloyd, and he nearly won the 500
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December 20, 2011 at
04:31:16 PM
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Pair of Legends here, Lloyd with Gilbert Hutson
Mike Monatoboy photo
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December 20, 2011 at
04:34:25 PM
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Lloyd and Gilbert in less friendlier times
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December 20, 2011 at
04:38:54 PM
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Lloyd had a gift for dirt, but he also had a liking for survival. He had kids, and a wife to worry about, and the Fire Department in town wouldn't hire him
So he had to give up dirt track racing eventually and settle for Cobras, GT-40s, and Indy cars.
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December 20, 2011 at
04:44:43 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 20 2011 at 04:20:17 PM
Lloyds first Indy ride, a brand new Watson- later to be known as 'Ol Calhoun, and it went on to win in 1963 with Parnelli Jones aboard.
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What a race driver! Texas was such a hotbed for some of the greatest open wheel drivers of that era! Foyt,
Rutherford, McElreath, Farmer, Parkinson, Woolley, McWhorter,and many more.
Lloyd may not have won Indy, but he was one of the very best, and was a one of the all-time greats in the
Mighty Midgets as well! Thanks for Sharing Brian.
Ray C
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December 20, 2011 at
04:58:40 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 20 2011 at 04:38:54 PM
Lloyd had a gift for dirt, but he also had a liking for survival. He had kids, and a wife to worry about, and the Fire Department in town wouldn't hire him
So he had to give up dirt track racing eventually and settle for Cobras, GT-40s, and Indy cars.
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The book "Go Like Hell" is a history of the Ford-Ferrari sports car battles In 1965Ken Miles was teamed with Lloyd ruby to be his co driver at Daytona.The book goes something like Ken Miles had done all the testing and development work on this car and was worried that this cowpoke was going to mess the car up.When it was time for Lloyd to practise he ambled over to the GT 40wearing a helmet with a Texas Lone Star on the fron liket a sheriff's badge He moved so slowly that he seemed drunk. From the moment he took the Ford to track he was flat out, the crew stood and watched him and said Man he is some kind of driver. He and Ken Miles got along great, they won the Daytona sorts car race in 1965 & 1966 and the Sebring race in 1966. That book is a real good book about the sports car racing scene in the 60s if you are interested. I read a bout another time he was at the Lemans race in France and Bruce McLaren sat a track record after dark. Lloyd walked up to him and in hes drawl and " you just didn't wan to see all those big ole trees' around the tracks is why you waited till after dark to set the record.
Ray
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December 21, 2011 at
08:38:07 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: Bkcr on December 20 2011 at 04:58:40 PM
The book "Go Like Hell" is a history of the Ford-Ferrari sports car battles In 1965Ken Miles was teamed with Lloyd ruby to be his co driver at Daytona.The book goes something like Ken Miles had done all the testing and development work on this car and was worried that this cowpoke was going to mess the car up.When it was time for Lloyd to practise he ambled over to the GT 40wearing a helmet with a Texas Lone Star on the fron liket a sheriff's badge He moved so slowly that he seemed drunk. From the moment he took the Ford to track he was flat out, the crew stood and watched him and said Man he is some kind of driver. He and Ken Miles got along great, they won the Daytona sorts car race in 1965 & 1966 and the Sebring race in 1966. That book is a real good book about the sports car racing scene in the 60s if you are interested. I read a bout another time he was at the Lemans race in France and Bruce McLaren sat a track record after dark. Lloyd walked up to him and in hes drawl and " you just didn't wan to see all those big ole trees' around the tracks is why you waited till after dark to set the record.
Ray
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From what I gather, Lloyds first nighttime laps, in the Lemans race (not practice)--Lloyd discovered fog on the long straight (Mulsanne?). He was doing close to 200 mph, and the fog hits, and he knows he has to slow down at some point to make a right hand 30 mph turn. He figured out where he was at by a few land marks, slowed a bit and counted off until he got to the turn, kept working at it until he could get back up to speed and got better as time went on. All night long!
40 years later he was still upset that no one, no one, told him there 'might' be fog! LOL
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December 21, 2011 at
11:14:35 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 21 2011 at 08:38:07 AM
From what I gather, Lloyds first nighttime laps, in the Lemans race (not practice)--Lloyd discovered fog on the long straight (Mulsanne?). He was doing close to 200 mph, and the fog hits, and he knows he has to slow down at some point to make a right hand 30 mph turn. He figured out where he was at by a few land marks, slowed a bit and counted off until he got to the turn, kept working at it until he could get back up to speed and got better as time went on. All night long!
40 years later he was still upset that no one, no one, told him there 'might' be fog! LOL
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In 1985 I was playing music with the Texas Playboy's which some of the Bob Wills band were still alive. We were near the end of a short tour and ended up in Wichita Falls. I was rooming with a legendary guitarist Eldon Shamblin who was also an old family friend and one of my hero's too. We got unloaded to the room and soon got a phone call from a man named Eddie McElvain who idolized Eldon and we had a few hours before our gig, so Eddie was invited to our room. I turned on the tube and let those two have their chat, and I was happy to find the USAC Midgets at Indianapolis Park paved track on. Eddie noticed the races and adding to his tale of his enormous wealth and accomplishments (one was having many race horses) say's "I believe that's the track we raced at a year or two back". I'm thinking "this guy's a nut" and couldn't run horses on pavement. He continues to explain he took a friend there in his plane and sponsored in part those identical prepared Jaguars that were valued at a half million each. They had plans for 10 events over the country but after this second race, they cancelled the rest due to wiping out many of those cars. Eddie said his ol' bud Lloyd Ruby-------- Making me realize this guy was real and I explained how Ruby was a childhood hero of mine, reading anything I could find about his current racing at the time. Eddie made a call to Ruby, and he shows up to meet me. WOW! I think he was amazed at the early knowledge I had of his midget days and some names I knew due to my age. He hung out with us, and later told me he used to listen to Bob Wills and wish he could play in a band. WOW again! My playing just fell in place, but I would have given both legs to have the opportunities in racing. Seems like the same only reversed was Lloyd's desire as a kid.
He described the Leman's race as the most nerve racking time he ever was in. They ran several classes of cars together the slowest was the "Mini's" whose top speed might be 90 on the long straight which was as he described as a choppy 2 lane, ending with a sharp 90 degree first gear right turn. Running up on two Mini's near the end of the straight over twice their speed in fog made him lose it and he spun into some hay bales breaking a front wheel off, and ending that years race. He said he was never more relieved to get out of a race than that! He always impressed me with holding his temper when most everyone would blow their stack after getting a bad call or somebody wrecking him. RIP Lloyd, and thanks for that good evening in 1985
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December 21, 2011 at
04:03:36 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: studieman on December 21 2011 at 11:14:35 AM
In 1985 I was playing music with the Texas Playboy's which some of the Bob Wills band were still alive. We were near the end of a short tour and ended up in Wichita Falls. I was rooming with a legendary guitarist Eldon Shamblin who was also an old family friend and one of my hero's too. We got unloaded to the room and soon got a phone call from a man named Eddie McElvain who idolized Eldon and we had a few hours before our gig, so Eddie was invited to our room. I turned on the tube and let those two have their chat, and I was happy to find the USAC Midgets at Indianapolis Park paved track on. Eddie noticed the races and adding to his tale of his enormous wealth and accomplishments (one was having many race horses) say's "I believe that's the track we raced at a year or two back". I'm thinking "this guy's a nut" and couldn't run horses on pavement. He continues to explain he took a friend there in his plane and sponsored in part those identical prepared Jaguars that were valued at a half million each. They had plans for 10 events over the country but after this second race, they cancelled the rest due to wiping out many of those cars. Eddie said his ol' bud Lloyd Ruby-------- Making me realize this guy was real and I explained how Ruby was a childhood hero of mine, reading anything I could find about his current racing at the time. Eddie made a call to Ruby, and he shows up to meet me. WOW! I think he was amazed at the early knowledge I had of his midget days and some names I knew due to my age. He hung out with us, and later told me he used to listen to Bob Wills and wish he could play in a band. WOW again! My playing just fell in place, but I would have given both legs to have the opportunities in racing. Seems like the same only reversed was Lloyd's desire as a kid.
He described the Leman's race as the most nerve racking time he ever was in. They ran several classes of cars together the slowest was the "Mini's" whose top speed might be 90 on the long straight which was as he described as a choppy 2 lane, ending with a sharp 90 degree first gear right turn. Running up on two Mini's near the end of the straight over twice their speed in fog made him lose it and he spun into some hay bales breaking a front wheel off, and ending that years race. He said he was never more relieved to get out of a race than that! He always impressed me with holding his temper when most everyone would blow their stack after getting a bad call or somebody wrecking him. RIP Lloyd, and thanks for that good evening in 1985
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I need to talk to you Sir!
I am trying to fit a Bob Wills song into the next 2 installments on Lloyd. AT LEAST one Bob Wills song in each video. I have to wind my way through copyrights in order to get that done. That's one of the reasons we end up with some of the strangest song combinations on these videos! Yeah really! I was upset that I couldn't on this video. Basically I use what doesn't get flagged or blocked , and if it fits the general emotion I'm looking for, I go with it.
What was Lloyds favorite Bob Wills tune? I have gotten 2-3 cds on Wills, ---my favorite is the 1966 studio version Wills did with his friends. It opens with San Antonio Rose, then goes into Eighter from Decatur,Deep in the Heart of Texas, and so on. Silver Bells or Panhandle Rag would be good too. I'm listening to Milk Cow Blues right now! I've loved this album since 1983. We wore out 2-3 eight tracks of this compilation. I just now got a cd version, sometime last year to get ready for the Lloyd Ruby tribute.
Remember to shoot low, they might be riding shetlands.
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December 21, 2011 at
04:27:47 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 21 2011 at 04:03:36 PM
I need to talk to you Sir!
I am trying to fit a Bob Wills song into the next 2 installments on Lloyd. AT LEAST one Bob Wills song in each video. I have to wind my way through copyrights in order to get that done. That's one of the reasons we end up with some of the strangest song combinations on these videos! Yeah really! I was upset that I couldn't on this video. Basically I use what doesn't get flagged or blocked , and if it fits the general emotion I'm looking for, I go with it.
What was Lloyds favorite Bob Wills tune? I have gotten 2-3 cds on Wills, ---my favorite is the 1966 studio version Wills did with his friends. It opens with San Antonio Rose, then goes into Eighter from Decatur,Deep in the Heart of Texas, and so on. Silver Bells or Panhandle Rag would be good too. I'm listening to Milk Cow Blues right now! I've loved this album since 1983. We wore out 2-3 eight tracks of this compilation. I just now got a cd version, sometime last year to get ready for the Lloyd Ruby tribute.
Remember to shoot low, they might be riding shetlands.
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I've noticed you also know a lot about the local race scene I remember, and would love to talk about that sometime.
Let's start with email [email protected]
Jon
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December 21, 2011 at
04:29:33 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 19 2011 at 12:34:48 PM
This is to cover his racing years between 1960-1969. I missed one maybe two clips and a few pics that should have been in it. I intend to remedy that in one of the 2 future pieces when I can.
This was a big one for me to do here, I have no idea as to how many hours it took to get ready over the last 2 years. And then actually go through the process of putting it together. Looong time to sit in a chair for sure. Hunting down Lloyd Ruby on the internet, and all the other places, is a lot harder than hunting for Foyt, or Andretti etc etc pieces.
There simply came a time to say 'good enough' and post it.
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A very nice piece of work, thank you for a look back at another time.
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December 21, 2011 at
04:58:43 PM
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Reply to:
Posted By: brian26 on December 20 2011 at 04:38:54 PM
Lloyd had a gift for dirt, but he also had a liking for survival. He had kids, and a wife to worry about, and the Fire Department in town wouldn't hire him
So he had to give up dirt track racing eventually and settle for Cobras, GT-40s, and Indy cars.
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Had a strange thought today about hero's in general. Now really during this period of time, our freedom was paid for by veterans alive and dead, and they mostly didn't want praise or even bring it up. For that reason, we found sports figures sometimes to connect with to put ourselves into a fantasy and my fantasies were always involving "Brass Balled Throttle Jockey's" who many times had some issue to overcome to be successful at that level. I'm guessing this picture is from 62-64 judging the rear tire size, Offy, and unsafe guardrail. Look at the evidence of running in the pack to get the mud spray (probably 10 or so laps) with the rear wheel only in the marbles and full throttle crossed up. Now for the thought I had, my son was having wisdom teeth removed and was still sedated and talking way too much. He started telling me his hero's were pro wrestlers and hockey players. He mentioned some names and I thought of these guys and how big and strong they are, and made the comparison "what if these big guy's were to square off on Angelo Howerton"? Well he was everybody's hero in his day, and could probably outrun them all in a ring. But what if they were strapped in a two-seat racer to ride a lap or two with the master driver, and in competition. Does the term "scream like a school girl" come to mind?
Just a thought!
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December 23, 2011 at
12:01:26 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: studieman on December 21 2011 at 04:58:43 PM
Had a strange thought today about hero's in general. Now really during this period of time, our freedom was paid for by veterans alive and dead, and they mostly didn't want praise or even bring it up. For that reason, we found sports figures sometimes to connect with to put ourselves into a fantasy and my fantasies were always involving "Brass Balled Throttle Jockey's" who many times had some issue to overcome to be successful at that level. I'm guessing this picture is from 62-64 judging the rear tire size, Offy, and unsafe guardrail. Look at the evidence of running in the pack to get the mud spray (probably 10 or so laps) with the rear wheel only in the marbles and full throttle crossed up. Now for the thought I had, my son was having wisdom teeth removed and was still sedated and talking way too much. He started telling me his hero's were pro wrestlers and hockey players. He mentioned some names and I thought of these guys and how big and strong they are, and made the comparison "what if these big guy's were to square off on Angelo Howerton"? Well he was everybody's hero in his day, and could probably outrun them all in a ring. But what if they were strapped in a two-seat racer to ride a lap or two with the master driver, and in competition. Does the term "scream like a school girl" come to mind?
Just a thought!
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Mike Nazaruk was more worried about Langehorne than he was worried about Guadalcanal under battle conditions!
But it was what it was, and as close to living on the edge for a common man, and get paid for it. The smartest/luckiest survived.
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December 23, 2011 at
12:16:07 AM
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Reply to:
Posted By: studieman on December 21 2011 at 04:27:47 PM
I've noticed you also know a lot about the local race scene I remember, and would love to talk about that sometime.
Let's start with email [email protected]
Jon
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Sent a test email.
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