Photo by numbers....

[Frasson118]

P.S. - Looking at the background, there is the Turner Brother Vega, driven at the time by Gary Richert. I'm proud to say that Don Turner, half-owner, has been at the last 2 Reunions. I hope he knows how much I appreciate it!

[Frasson118]

On this one, I was actually looking for Dan Gurney in the Wood Brothers #121... but I found him in this one first. I've never seen him in this car, so it was a cool little find while I was digging!

This is one diversified racer... Can-Am's, Indy, F-1, IMSA, SCCA... if it went fast on an oval, OR a road course, Gurneys "All American Eagles" were some damn good equipment.

Cool side-by-shot with another hero of mine... Mark Donahue.

[ModelCarMan]

Here's 116 Carlie Mincey, 121 Speedy Reeves & 144 (?) all in one shot. It's again from the 75 Governor's Cup race at the Gate.

In the ZERO is Sonny Kocsis and Billy Gill on the outside of him.

[Frasson118]

This guy had a cool nickname (back then, the fans named the drivers, rather than Promoters who just have to make up a nickname for everyone).

This is "Screamin' Sammy" Reakes, a big winner in Central NY in the 60's and 70's.

[Frasson118]

When is the last time you saw a Sprint car pull the right front wheel off the ground?

This is Billy Steif in the Walt Dyer "Brickmobile". Dyer was a mason by trade and fielded cars in Central PA for at least a few decades. He always had a formidable car, but when he hired Lance DeWease, they were a dominating force for several years.

[Jim Fenton]

I spent some time in triple-digit iron back in my Tornado days at Sunshine and Golden Gate.

Here is the #327 owned by Bud McKee with Palmer’s Garage in Largo. This was the first decent ride I had after recovering from burns suffered in the Tornado Feature at the Gate back in March of this year (1969).

Coming up on the #56 of Dave Snavely in the corner at Golden Gate:



Sunshine Speedway win (panel #8), September 6, 1969:



Sunshine Speedway win (panel #7), October 18, 1969. My dear sister, Barbara Faircloth who was a member of the GRA at the time appears in panel #2 & #3 on this page:



Sunshine Speedway win (panel #1), November 8, 1969:

[Jim Fenton]

I also drove a few races in the #214. This car was normally driven by Art Alling.

Golden Gate Speedway win, date unknown.



Sunshine Speedway melee, date unknown.

[Jim Fenton]

I also spent some time in Bob Thomas’s #139 Tornado. This car was normally driven by Don Perryman.

Sunshine Speedway, Semi win, May 20, 1972.



This was the same night later in the feature. Lost a RR tire in the corner.

[Trash Inturn4]

Hey big Jim.....in regard to the #327 owned by Bud McKee, at that time in the Tornado class you could run up to a 1956 year model. Is it true that the #327 was actually a 1957 with '56' hood and quarter panels?

[Jim Fenton]

Sssshhhh...not too loud or you'll give away the secret to our Aero package back in the day. Hahaha...

Actually yes, but it was a matter of what was available around the shop more than anything else. Bud had a great mentor with working side-by-side for quite a while with Dave McInnis at Palmer's Garage before Bud took over the business. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it wasn't the sheet metal that made that car fly but more what was under it.

McInnis was one of the greatest innovators of the time in my opinion. Having the privilege of being around Dave a little in my 'yoot' and seeing what he could do with cobbled-up race cars I can't imagine what that guy could've done with the technology that's available today. Have you ever seen the movie Astronaut Farmer with Billy Bob Thornton? That's Dave McInnis. I do believe if McInnis put his mind to it, he could have built a rocket to the moon in his backyard with a pair of pliers and some duct tape.

I always jumped at the chance to drive the 327 for Bud because I knew it would always be a rocket also and it would be up to me to get it to the front. If you didn't win with that car, it wasn't the equipment’s fault. (BTW, while we’re at it, and as mentioned in the article below for Lu Ann, the ‘327’ wasn’t really a 327 either).

Both Bud & Dave’s innovations were also in evidence in the #327 Hurricane car driven by Bud’s wife, Lu Ann for two years, 1969 & 1970, which she was high-point champion for both years.

Here is a short bio for Lu Ann at the time. (This article has a typo for one of the high-point years. '1960 ' should read '1969'.)



Lu Ann was a great gal and a very aggressive racer. I liked her a lot.

RIP LuAnn.

[Trash Inturn4]

Great stuff!!!, I remember just how dominate you were in that car, a great combination of Driver and Car. When LuAnn McKee and Marilyn Blackwelder battled on the track, it may have been two ladies in the cars, but it was some of the hardest racing of the night.

[Jim Fenton]

Appreciate the compliments there T.

Yep, those two gals were fierce competitors and generally put the fans on their feet when they got together.

Before he opened his own transmission shop, Joe Blackwelder used to work for Bud at Palmer's Garage when their respective wives started to compete against each other at Sunshine so that made for a little bit of a tense work environment from time to time as you can imagine.

Here is a short bio for Marilyn from 1971;

[Jim Fenton]

A couple more.....

Here's a couple more shots of the #214 when I drove it at the Gate.

After a win:


Outside of Sonny Kocsis (BTW that #13 was green as a cord. So much for superstition!) with Emil trailing:

[Jim Fenton]

Another triple-digit car from my Tornado days.....

A shot of the #200 Tornado at the Gate. I only drove this car once or twice. How do you like that freash air vent through the windshield right in front of the driver? Pretty cool huh?

[BOB KRUPA]

The picture Modelcarman put on at Golden Gate, with #116, 121, and #144.
I was at Mt. Clemens race track in Michigan and Jr. Handley show up with car #44, it looks just like the one in the picture.
I took a picture of it. But i sold the my pictures to Jim Hehl, if he see's this maybe he can post it.