The Thirty-Aught-6

[Jim Fenton]

O.K. all you Sunshine Speedway history aficionados out there.

Talk to me about this great Late Model from back in the day.

Who was the primary wheel-man for the Thirty-Aught-6 shown here?

While you’re at it; give me the owner of the car as well.






Clues:

1. The year is 1984.

2. Both the owner and one of his sons were competing
and winning matches at the time in Precision Rifle Shooting
Competition, hence the car number.

I have more shots of this racer but they
would give away the primary wheel man

[crobinson76]

ward blazer owner shorty stewart driver

[Jim Fenton]

WOW Craig you’re all over that one man!

Right on both counts.

Here are a few more shots of Shorty and the Thirty-Aught-6.







Shorty and I go back quite a ways and
are good friends to this day.

Unfortunately Shorty and his wife Leslie were
involved in a horrible motorcycle accident just
outside of Leesburg back in October of last year
(coincidentally the same day as Larry MacMillan’s funeral)
and are still struggling to recover from that incident.

I’ll post more pics and narrative about Shorty and
my history with him as I have time.

In the meantime, WTG Craig!

[ancrdave]

I love the pit shots with all of the Meyers' Mustangs in a row!!

[crobinson76]

seem like just yesterday shorty was one of the largo gang when i was just a kid

[Trash Inturn4]

Shorty and I were good friends back in the day at Seminole High School. Sure hope his recovery from his accident is going well, keep us posted Big Jim.

[Jimmy McKinley]

In the third pic, that's our car to the left of the .30-'06, on the right side of the picture (you can barely see the M&D Landscaping on the rear spoiler), and that's definitely my dad's left leg in the jeans there ;-) Childers was driving for us.

Ward built our motors in '81 and '82.

When I saw "30-aught-six", and was gonna say Scarborough, because I know he drove the later version of that car (the more wedge-type car). Shorty also drove our car for a short time there at St. Pete and DeSoto.

Cool pics, Fenton! Thanks!

[Jim Fenton]

I love the pit shots with all of the Meyers' Mustangs in a row!!

Yep, with matching white utility-bodied tow trucks to boot!

seem like just yesterday shorty was one of the largo gang when i was just a kid

Shorty and I were good friends back in the day at Seminole High School. Sure hope his recovery from his accident is going well, keep us posted Big Jim.

Stay tuned guys, more to come about Shorty in this thread….

In the third pic, that's our car to the left of the .30-'06, on the right side of the picture (you can barely see the M&D Landscaping on the rear spoiler), and that's definitely my dad's left leg in the jeans there ;-) Childers was driving for us.

Good catch Jimmy, I missed that.

Following along with more ID in these pics, I assume
that’s Dave Dunkin in the 71 to the right of the .30-’06?

Also, who’s that in the #28 Late Model (painted the old
Hardees Hamburgers colors) across the way from the .30-’06?

Is that Junior Purcell out of Tampa/Winter Haven?

I remember that was his number back then but
I don’t remember him using that color combo.

84’ was the first year after I quit in 83’ so I wasn’t
as personally up-front and familiar with these rides
as I was in prior years.

Ward built our motors in '81 and '82.
When I saw "30-aught-six", and was gonna say Scarborough, because I know he drove the later version of that car (the more wedge-type car). Shorty also drove our car for a short time there at St. Pete and DeSoto.

Just one more piece of amazing trivia
about the Thirty-Aught-6.

As Craig mentions in his post in the other thread,
Ward eventually got tired of supporting the cost
of the effort with this racer and actually converted
it to street legal!

Imagine my surprise when he came rumbling up to
my office that day in Largo with this thing sporting
headlights, taillights, windshield wipers and a current
Florida license tag!

As I said, more to come here later on Shorty guys…..

DAMN I hate it when work interferes with the fun stuff!

[ancrdave]

Golden Gate - 1975

[Jimmy McKinley]

Hey Fenton, that 28 on the other side behind Dunkin and Shorty is Billy Betchtelheimer.

The red Late Model just above Dunkin's windshield looks like maybe Butch Smith. I know that's where he parked for years The black car next to Butch is the Nelson Brothers #75, maybe Breakfield driving that car that year? Pletcher was in Mitton's #21.

[Jim Fenton]

Golden Gate - 1975

A little better image of the same car (same year & racetrack):

[Jim Fenton]

To give you some idea of how horrific the motorcycle
accident was for Shorty and his wife this past
October, you can click HERE for the news article.

After you open the article, there is a link to a video clip of the
aftermath titled; VIDEO: Woman, SUV plunge into water.

Shorty and Leslie were returning home from something
they do often which was volunteering their time to a
charity in Leesburg when the accident occurred.

[Jim Fenton]

I first met Shorty back in 1967 right after my Brother-in-Law
(Kenny Faircloth) and I rented an old closed-up Service Station
in Largo on the corner of Ridge Road & 110th Ave. and turned
it into a race shop.

Shorty lived just a few blocks away and started hanging around
every day after school sorta being a pain in the azz at first so
I put him to work.

Shorty was a great kid, a hard worker and caught on fast.

Not too long after he started hanging around he was
breaking down tires, yanking axles & transmissions and
learning how to cut with a torch and stick weld.

Here are some shots of Shorty and me with my first racer,
the 4-Jr. Tornado, at the shop when he first started helping me.

This was the car I bought just a few weeks after getting married
with our Wedding Dowry cash without giving my new bride a vote
on the decision so needless to say I ended up staying at the shop
for a while until she came to her senses.

I figured if I did good with the car she would cool down a
little faster but wrong again.

I won the Tornado Feature at the Gate the first night out with
this jewel but nada, I still had to bunk out at the shop for a while.

Shorty was 12-yrs old here and I was 19.

BTW, that 1958 Ford Styleside Pickup shown that I was towing
my racer with there had a 1957 Pontiac 347 V-8 with a Tri-Power
that I stuck in the previous year while in still in HS.

I remember spending more time keeping that damn
thing hitting on all eight cylinders than I did the racer.







This is the first win with the car at the Gate in 67’. (minus the LF Fender)



This next shot is a 1961 Chevy “Bubble Top” Late Model #4 with a
427 Big Block of Kenny’s that Shorty helped us build at the old shop.

This car was a looker compared to how it shows here.

It was metallic blue on the bottom with a metal-flake silver top.



More Shorty related stuff to come……

[Trash Inturn4]

Jim, was Shorty injured in the crash, what is the actual result of her leg injury, did she lose her leg?

[TINYTIMDSS]

does anyone have pictures from the old collier county speedway