03-29-2008
( Reply#: 1928 ) |
svea3 |
Was Illiana a drag strip? or dirt track. I am a John Force fan... groupie. I'll ask some of my car friends and see what they say. I raced sailboats against a Bruce Goldsmith who was from Chicago.[:I] |
03-29-2008
( Reply#: 1931 ) |
duane |
Whatever happened to US-30 drag strip? I can still remember the jingles from WCFL and WLS (and WJOB!). sunday...SUNDAY, at beautiful US-30 dragstrip, drag racing capitol of Chicagoland!
Then there was Santa Fe speedway, racing on a track of clay. That one was definitely stock cars. I'm not sure about Oswego raceway...seems like stocks, but I was never there.
Any remember Tommy Ivo's 4 engine dragster (used to have a plastic model of that) or Big Daddy Roth, or the Green Monster (land speed record holder) or the Little Red Wagon (Dodge van/with pickup box) |
03-29-2008
( Reply#: 1934 ) |
svea3 |
My very good friend who was a dragster here in Michigan with his '64 Plymouth told me that Paul just set a speed record and he was known for motorcycle racing. But then the car people wanted them all to race cars. So I looked him up. He indeed is famous. My friend is getting ready to do Power Tour.[;)]
Mar 15, 2008 AT 82!
"When I was racing and test driving, I couldn't get around to all the tracks and test sites across the nation,” Goldsmith said. “So I learned how to fly.”
When Goldsmith says flying is safer than driving, he has personal experience to back it up.
“I never had a problem up in the air, “ he said. “I even felt safer racing motorcycles. There are more things that can go wrong with a car.”
“I was racing in Riverside, Calif., and my brakes went out just as I approached a 90-degree turn. I crashed so hard that it knocked my kidney and liver out of place.”
But it didn’t knock him out of racing.
“I had no fear coming back,” Goldsmith said. “To me, racing was just like any other business. You’ve got to go back to work.” |
03-30-2008
( Reply#: 1935 ) |
joel smolen |
Goldsmith had an auto shop with a guy named Nichols just south of Rige Road on Cline Avenue. He did specialize in Pontiac. I believe he also had a business at the Griffith airport.
Joel Smolen - Morton 1960 |
04-01-2008
( Reply#: 1938 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by svea3
Was Illiana a drag strip? or dirt track. I am a John Force fan... groupie. I'll ask some of my car friends and see what they say. I raced sailboats against a Bruce Goldsmith who was from Chicago.[:I]
It was a half mile dirt track. My dad and I used to watch the late model stock car races.
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG] |
04-01-2008
( Reply#: 1939 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by duane
Whatever happened to US-30 drag strip? I can still remember the jingles from WCFL and WLS (and WJOB!). sunday...SUNDAY, at beautiful US-30 dragstrip, drag racing capitol of Chicagoland!
Then there was Santa Fe speedway, racing on a track of clay. That one was definitely stock cars. I'm not sure about Oswego raceway...seems like stocks, but I was never there.
Any remember Tommy Ivo's 4 engine dragster (used to have a plastic model of that) or Big Daddy Roth, or the Green Monster (land speed record holder) or the Little Red Wagon (Dodge van/with pickup box)
Don't remember ever going to US 30 Dragstrip, but I sure do remember the jingles. I remember the Little Red Wagon, too.
Unfortunately, US 30 Dragstrip met the same fate as most of the cool attractions of our childhood.
http://www.lostindiana.net/html/us_30_drag_strip.html
http://www.geocities.com/grc46250/us30.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP1VrE8dUuk
Tom
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG]
|
04-01-2008
( Reply#: 1940 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by joel smolen
Goldsmith had an auto shop with a guy named Nichols just south of Rige Road on Cline Avenue. He did specialize in Pontiac. I believe he also had a business at the Griffith airport.
Joel Smolen - Morton 1960
Joel:
It was Ray Nichels, not "Nichols."
Ray Nichels Engineering owned the Pontiacs that Paul Goldsmith drove. Actually, Goldsmith and Nichels were partners. I just learned all of this on the Internet.
http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/features/0411pon_paul_goldsmith_interview/index.html
Paul was kickin' butt in the early 60s at Illiana and elsewhere.
I learned that Goldsmith was a famous motor cycle racer before he made his career change to stock cars. He also got into Indy cars and competed in the Indianapolis 500 a few times. I believe he finished as high as 3rd once in the Indy 500.
Tom
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG] |
04-01-2008
( Reply#: 1941 ) |
duane |
Thanks Tom....Great memories of US-30 and what a great vintage clip of Jan Gabriel. He was a disc jockey on WJOB out of Hammond Indiana and he hosted "Dedication line" at nights, where kids could call in and give dedications to their friends. I had no idea he was the voice that was heard on the Radio, including WLS out of Chicago.
Thanks again. |
04-11-2008
( Reply#: 1953 ) |
svea3 |
[8D]
Thanks ditto for me too!
I especially enjoyed the links.[;)] |
04-13-2008
( Reply#: 1954 ) |
svea3 |
SMOLENS
I accidentally zapped your message. My msn service treated your message was a hostile one. We have a small drag way in Milan Michigan about 30 miles from me. I just got close to John Force when he was dragging at Norwalk, Ohio. I have his signature, but it was my friend , a dragster and power cruiser who obtained it for me, I collect the steel models of cars and display them in my mother's doll cabinet.
One of the best things about MI is that there are many lovers of autos.[:I] |
09-12-2008
( Reply#: 2332 ) |
dilligaf717 |
Tom,
This wasn't the track out off of U.S. 30 where they ran the quarter midgets was it? I remember going to watch them and the mosquito sprayer fogging up the whole place about midway through the evening. Wonder if that stuff has any effect on us not? Has any effect on us now? Has an--------- LOL
Jim
Still runnin against the wind. |
09-12-2008
( Reply#: 2334 ) |
Tom J |
quote:
Originally posted by dilligaf717
Tom,
This wasn't the track out off of U.S. 30 where they ran the quarter midgets was it? I remember going to watch them and the mosquito sprayer fogging up the whole place about midway through the evening. Wonder if that stuff has any effect on us not? Has any effect on us now? Has an--------- LOL
Jim
Still runnin against the wind.
I guess it would be, Jim. I think they race a little bit of everything there. I only went to late model stock car races there in the early 60s.
Tom
A 1967 Graduate of Hammond High who cherishes his memories of growing up in the Hammond of the 1950's and 1960's. Bring back those days!
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y145/tsjay/Tom%20and%20Georgeann/img014.jpg[/IMG] |
09-12-2008
( Reply#: 2336 ) |
briz57 |
YES THEY RAN MIDGETS, LATE MOD's EVEN MOTORCYCLES THERE...
IT WAS A DIRT TRACK UNTIL PAVED, IN THE 1964 SEASON...
THE TRACK WAS STARTED BY HARRY MOLENAAR IN 1947...
I'M SURE HAMMOND PEOPLE REMEMBER HARRY, AS HE WAS THE OWNER OF MOLENAAR'S HARLEY DAVIDSON...
HARRY AND HIS WIFE SIG, WERE GREAT PEOPLE, AS I FREQUENTED THEIR SHOP MANY TIMES...
HARRY WAS A FACTORY RACER, HE HAD RACED AT DAYTONA, PIKES PEAK AND OTHER NOTIBLE EVENTS...
HARLEY DAVIDSON EVEN PLACED A DRAWN PICTURE OF HARRY ON THE COVER OF THEIR PANHEAD PARTS MANUAL...
IT WAS A REAL SHAME THAT HE WAS FORCED OUT OF HIS DEALERSHIP IN 1991 WHEN HARLEY DAVIDSON WANTED TO CHANGE THEIR DEALERSHIPS, BY GOING TO A "NEW LOOK" IN THEIR SHOWROOMS...
HARRY HAD THE DEALERSHIP SINCE THE 30's AND HAD OLD PARTS FROM PRE-WAR BIKES IN HIS BASEMENT...
THE FLOORS WERE WOODEN AND THE SHOP HAD THE SMELL OF GAS, OIL, AND GUNK THROUGH OUT...
THE MOLENAARS WERE NOT ONLY BUSINESS MINDED BUT ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO MANY CHARITIES OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR CAREERS...
THERE ARE PICTURES LISTED ON EBAY OF HARRY AND HIS SHOP...
SOME ARE OF THE SHOP BEFORE HE EXPANDED IT IN THE 50's WHEN HE BOUGHT THE GROCERY STORE NEXT DOOR AND THEN KNOCKED OUT THE WALL TO ENLARGE THE SHOWROOM AREA...
JUST GOOGLE HARRY MOLENAAR OR MOLENAAR HARLEY DAVIDSON TO CHECK THESE HISTORIC HAMMOND PICS...
BRIZ 1957 |
09-13-2008
( Reply#: 2339 ) |
wvcogs |
Hello Briz,
There are links to three of those Molenaar eBay photos on page one of the Videos of the "Region" in the "Good Old Days" thread on the Forum. The link to the photo after Mr. Molenaar purchased the old Kroger store is not included. By the way, the shop was right across Calumet Avenue from Art's Drive Inn.
Ken... |
