Some Greats From The Last Days of Golden Gate Speedway

[ancrdave]

I love these portraits taken by the late Bobby "5X5" Day at Golden Gate Speedway circa 1983:

1) One of the great announcers here in Florida and elsewhere, Jack Miller...
2) My old buddy John "Zee Mad Canadian" Darveau... Was the PR guy at The Gate on Friday, then did the same job at New Smyrna Speedway on Saturday... Was originally with the circus which is how he came to live in Riverview, FL...
3) The one and only Frank Riddle... Worked on the railroad by day, raced at night!
4) Donnie Tanner could drive and win in anything on both dirt and asphalt... Won track titles in Late Models, Early Models and Sprint Cars plus had a very successful racing business in Riverview...
5) Dave Breakfield started racing at Golden Gate as a teenager, joined the Air Force and would come home on leave to race a bit... Later raced on dirt at East Bay and the Fairgrounds... When this shot was taken he was racing the #75 Nelson Brothers LM that Dave Pletcher had been so successful with...

[Boneman]

Dave, what happened to Jack Miller?

[openwm53]

Awesome old pics

Do you have any pictures of that car Dave Breakfield was driving. I have heard story's about it but never seen it.

[OldSchool+]

I was not there, but I heard that Pletcher had a throttle hang in the #75 at Showtime and cleared the grandstands in turn 4 on the way to the parking lot back in the day...perhaps in the 90s.

[ancrdave]

Boney... We lost Jack a little over 5 years ago...

His obit:

Jack Miller, of Odessa, Florida passed away Friday, August 6, 2010 from pancreatic cancer.

Born in Danvers, Illinois on October 25, 1935, he spent 17 years in the USAF as a weather forecaster and trainer. He also received a BS degree while in the military. He spent the majority of his adult life residing in Florida.

For over 40 years, Jack was the voice of sprint car racing across the nation as both a track announcer and journalist, writing for Open Wheel Magazine, and Sprint Car & Midget Magazine.

Jack was inducted into three different Halls of Fame for his talents as a track announcer: The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2001; The Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame in 1998, and The Belleville High Banks Hall of Fame in 2005.

[ancrdave]

Here you go Doug...

[openwm53]

Thank you Sir

Thats awesome. James Nelson is a personal friend of mine and also my engine builder. he can talk for hours about his and his brothers old cars but never really seen the pics.

Old school.....that was Jimmy cope. He told me that the walls were plywood back in the day. he launched like it was a ramp. was told it snapped the frame in half after it flew like 80 or 150 feet....cant remember

[Jimmy McKinley]

I was not there, but I heard that Pletcher had a throttle hang in the #75 at Showtime and cleared the grandstands in turn 4 on the way to the parking lot back in the day...perhaps in the 90s.

Old school.....that was Jimmy cope. He told me that the walls were plywood back in the day. he launched like it was a ramp. was told it snapped the frame in half after it flew like 80 or 150 feet....cant remember

...And it was in about 1980-81 - nowhere near the '90s. Cope was driving the Mitton Electric #21. The "walls" were indeed plywood backed by sand mounds; he punched through the plywood, hit the dirt mound, and launched like the General Lee. He cleared 30-foot trees and landed out in the "swamp" off of turn three. I *know* there was a picture of Cope and the safety crew surveying the damage in the following week's race program.

[OldSchool+]

Thanks for the details, guys.

Still, a good story.

[Don Nerone]

...And it was in about 1980-81 - nowhere near the '90s. Cope was driving the Mitton Electric #21. The "walls" were indeed plywood backed by sand mounds; he punched through the plywood, hit the dirt mound, and launched like the General Lee. He cleared 30-foot trees and landed out in the "swamp" off of turn three. I *know* there was a picture of Cope and the safety crew surveying the damage in the following week's race program.

The wall there was boiler plate steel but it did fold down. Something did stick but not sure what it was...hint hint..lol
It was a cool ride to see.. talked to a few of the fans that were in the stands.
They got a show of a life time..

don62