Monday, December 05, 2022

how cool would it be if there were a race you could go to today, to watch 1969-71 muscle cars at full power, out for a trophy, but without smashing the hell out of each other - like Goodwood, but without the mix and mashup of makes and models.



this came up when some B body Mopar guys were asking about 1970 Super Bees in Nascar




9 comments:

  1. This is a USAC race at the Milwaukee Mile. In the first image the field is coming out of the north turn and heading for pit road. The bleacher seats have since been replaced, but the buildings in the background, part of the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, are still with us. In the fourth image (number 16 Coronet, Bay Darnell, driver) the long, white, horizontal scoring stand and the Blatz signage on the scoreboard make the location absolutely certain.

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    1. thank you! That location was mentioned in the link to the source of the images also. I didn't bother mentioning the location, it's just not important to me, the cars are, and the focus on the first dozen is Mopars mostly... I just dig them. I have a 1969 Coronet R/T, and see a 69 Super Bee farther back in the photo, as well as a 1970 Bee.
      But hell, I love the Camaro, Talladega, Mustangs and Chevelles too!
      I'll be darned, the Blatz beer was something my dad drank a lot of in the early 70s, and Strohs. Milwaukee had a LOT of cheap beer, and I have no idea what any of it tasted like. I've heard so damn many times that it's weak flavored water, and I haven't wasted any time ever trying any American beers. Not bud, pabst, miller, etc . I did have a Coors once when I was very thirsty, and was offered a beer when I was out in the desert all day, and can tell you, it really was barely flavored water.

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    2. What you heard about Milwaukee beer being a “weak flavored water” was probably a reference to the Schlitz brand. Regarding that brand what you heard was absolutely true. For a very long time in the 40s and 50s Bud and Schlitz traded the number one spot for sales on a regular basis. Then in the 60s the accountants prevailed on the chief executive at Schlitz and demonstrated how production costs could be cut with chemicals, shortened brew periods, etc. The boss went for it and their sales began to decline in short order. For a long time the Schlitz debacle was used in marketing programs to illustrate how not to sell a product. The repurposed brewery buildings still stand and my grandson is a senior in the Golda Meir High School housed there.

      On the flip side of a terrible beer was Andeker, a premium European style lager, brewed by Pabst. Wonderful stuff it was. The railroad I worked for serviced Pabst, and the entire crew was always welcome in the Pabst lunchroom where Andeker came right out of the wall at the perfect temperature. Ahhh, those were the days my friend!

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    3. oh wow, that's a sweet fringe benefit to a job! Old Milwaukee was something that could be bought for less than 5 bucks a 12 pack when I was in high school in the late 80s... and being just over the border from Wisconsin, which did not have a can refund deposit, high schoolers, and other broke people, would make a beer run, and save another dollar on every 12 pack by purchasing Wisconsin made cheap beer. When deer camp was getting it's focus in the news during the mid 70s to late 80s, there was a crazy amount of beer drank in my county, it was the highest consumption county in the USA for beer.

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    4. My keen sense of deduction tells me Jesse is a Yooper!

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    5. Lol, YES I AM! Damn right. The few, the proud, the crazy bastards that shovel snow with a scoop that can double as a horse trough, snow plow for a garden tractor, and the good ones are built to last forever from a 1/2 a steel 55 gallon barrel.
      The Yoop, where the court report in the local paper tell you who got arrested for a DUI, and how many times in total this makes, to this point.
      The good ol Yoop, where you don't watch the road you're driving on for potholes, you look for frost heaves, deer about to wreck you, and suicidal porcupines.
      Da Yoop, where there's a Finnish college, French bishop statue, and both an indian casino, and a state max security prison.

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  2. Well...you can. It's called vintage racing.
    They have classes that run the old Trans-AM cars and sometimes older oval track stuff. Although you don't see a lot of NASCAR stuff from 60s or 70s if that's what you are looking for. Usually 80s and up. Only one I can think of that regularly races is the Grey Ghost.

    And if the occasional damage that happens at vintage races across the Atlantic bother you, don't be concerned with American vintage racing. Most of our vintage race groups will penalize a driver or even ban them for being that aggressive. So it's rare to see someone even spin of course.
    The only downside it that sometimes it's more like a parade than a race.

    Here's a few groups to check out.
    https://www.vintagedrive.com/
    https://svra.com/
    https://www.vscca.org/
    https://www.vararacing.com/
    https://vscda.org/

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    1. Ok, I wrote very very specifically, and you are replying in general I HAVE been to vintage races, though, probably before you found my blog, and you probably haven't looked through the archives.
      From 2008-2015 the Speedfest San Diego had the races, I don't recall if it was SVRA or HSR run.
      I was there, on the track, leaning over the K rails, and in the pits, and, frankly, everywhere. On the bridge, in the parking lot, etc etc. Full access press pass because I'd early on made friends with the local admin, and was giving them a copy of all my photos for their publicity and marketing.
      https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/speedfest for some coverage of it, or click on a specific tag, like 2013 Speedfest
      https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/2013%20Speedfest to see the coverage for 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
      Yup I enjoy the hell out of vintage racing. That's why I cover the Optima Challenge, but only the cool old stuff.
      Thank you for the links!

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    2. oh dang, I was referring to an email I just sent, and got it confused with something I had posted...
      When I say "I wrote very very specifically" I was referring to this:

      I was speaking of a very specific group of cars racing, and more specifically, excluding cars that are not similar in size or type. Having Corvettes race with Galaxies is ridiculous to me, only based on the appearance difference, but Goodwood races and other events have a strange mix and mash up of cars both American and European, and Italian, that doesn't have the visual appeal that I prefer. I'd like to see full size American muscle cars of the same years, racing. No mix with sports cars, or older and newer Nascar stuff.
      I'd like to see a race like the one I posted, but live. It's a pity that the 1969-71 races were such horribly low resolution tv camera and even if a race were rebroadcast by the Wide World of Sports, or whoever... it would look as bad as 80s video games.

      Which was in the email I just sent someone

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