Pastrana + Sprint Car =

[Tom Slick]

Scared to death!!!

I think that we can all agree that TP has a few screws loose and isn't afraid of much. I think this video shows just how gnarly Sprint Cars really are. Enjoy!

 

[4Waters]

I would love to drive a sprint car

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

My whole family (back in Illinois) and there friends were heavily into sprints when I was younger they are amazing cars for sure. The Standridges, Randy, Rodney, Butch were good family friends. My dad and my uncles good friend was killed in a Sprint accident. My cousins had 1/4 midgets. I got to run 2 races when i was about 10yrs old in their cars and it was a blast. The cars back then are not as high tech as they are now but still amazing.

 

[ltbaney1]

hardest part of driving a sprint car is probably getting your gigantic brass balls in there.

 

[AzMandella]

My uncle married Hank Arnold's wife after he was killed . Hank's son, my cousin, had 1/4 midgets and a small dirt track in the back yard that we used race around on .

 

[Kbach]

Driving non-wing sprints I can only imagine the extra claustrophobic feeling that the wing adds. I’m not a claustrophobic person at all but squeezing my ass in the car each time makes me a little nervous….and that’s when I can get out the top quick. Put a wing there blocking my exit plan and…nope!!

 

[endobear]

My old man raced sprint cars in the 70s. Midgets in the late 60s early 70s. Went over the wall at Ascot and broke his neck and mom said no more. From what I'm told he was pretty good.

He was also racing flat track, speedway and point to point on the motos at the same time. I was way to young to remember anything but fetching beers for the guys tinkering on the race car and running laps around the track collecting tear offs after the races. He drove for Pop Miller for a bit.

There's a few places around the country that you can pay to run laps in their cars.
Looked in to doing it for him and I but never pulled the trigger.

 

[mash on it]

Educate me on these cars
No starter?
No transmission?
No reverse?

I understand how a v-drive gets away with this.

Dan'l

 

[bonesfab]

Educate me on these cars
No starter?
No transmission?
No reverse?

I understand how a v-drive gets away with this.

Dan'l

direct drive with an in and out box. no room for a transmission. Thats where the drivers balls rest.

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

Educate me on these cars
No starter?
No transmission?
No reverse?

I understand how a v-drive gets away with this.

Dan'l

direct drive with an in and out box. no room for a transmission. Thats where the drivers balls rest.

Push start or remote starter.
And why would you need to go backward, if you need reverse your already fukt

 

[ltbaney1]

Push start or remote starter.
And why would you need to go backward, if you need reverse your already fukt

they push start them, thats why you see the quads and trucks with the boards on the front. we use a similair style "in-n-out" couplers they do in our dragsters.

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

they push start them, thats why you see the quads and trucks with the boards on the front. we use a similair style "in-n-out" couplers they do in our dragsters.

Yes, that's why I said push start.
Some use remote starters also. Not many but some.

 

[mothershipper]

We went to that race at the Bullring on 3/15. We saw the 199 car out in the pits that was in this video and were wondering if he was going to race. Never did see it out in any of the heats. Watching this explains it. Kyle Larson took 2nd in the main. We got there late and had to sit in the bottom of the bleachers, still great to watch from down there. My buddy got pegged in his leg by a jalapeno sized and shaped rock, almost tagged his kid. Wish I would not have forgotten my clear goggles to watch better. Such badass racing to go to.

 

[eand28]

Driving one is on my bucket list. I’m not a big guy but I even feel a bit claustrophobic sitting in one. Can’t really see much with the wing. It’s like driving a pete with a huge drop visor.

 

[mash on it]

Driving one is on my bucket list. I’m not a big guy but I even feel a bit claustrophobic sitting in one. Can’t really see much with the wing. It’s like driving a pete with a huge drop visor.

I approve of dropped visors.
Just like a modified, but different.

Dan'l

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

We went to that race at the Bullring on 3/15. We saw the 199 car out in the pits that was in this video and were wondering if he was going to race. Never did see it out in any of the heats. Watching this explains it. Kyle Larson took 2nd in the main. We got there late and had to sit in the bottom of the bleachers, still great to watch from down there. My buddy got pegged in his leg by a jalapeno sized and shaped rock, almost tagged his kid. Wish I would not have forgotten my clear goggles to watch better. Such badass racing to go to.

The best part of the sprints is dirt in your beer

 

[rightytighty]

only sprint car fans wear goggles and keep their hand on top of their beer.

 

[BingerFang]

Dam. I was not expecting to see Travis that nervous but he drove the shit out of it!

 

[Racer56]

I raced midgets, sprint cars and silver crown cars for 12 year's till I had a career ending crash at the Belleville highbanks in Kansas. They are the first and I believe the purest form of racing. The power to weight ratio is unbelievable and there are not to many race cars that can do a wheelie at will or all the way down a straightaway. When we raced with Nascar, we were a lot faster than a cup car. They probably are the most dangerous form of 4 wheel motorsport, but safety innovations over the last decade or so have made the sport a lot safer.

I still have dreams at night of getting pinned back in the seat on a tacky race track with the front end coming up running three or four wide off the corner. Nothing else like it in the world.

 

[rrrr]

@Racer56 that's a great mental picture you've presented.

I had the good fortune to occasionally crew for that good USAC team we've discussed before, during a time when several drivers now in the sport's Hall of Fame were active. It was such a great experience to see that talent and marvel at the skills those gentlemen possessed.

My adventures included Winchester, Salem, THAT, the Hoosier 100, Copper World, and a few of the other classic tracks. They produced memories that I'm luçky to have.

 

[AzMandella]

The best part of the sprints is dirt in your beer

Dirt worms .

 

[That Guy]

Travis is the man....ridiculous talent and a great attitude. Super fun to watch...thanks for sharing. Although, I was sure they would wad something up at some point!

 

[endobear]

 

[rivrrts429]

Sprints are wicked little bastards. You have to have a pair of some good sized ’s to wheel those fuckers around the track. Much respect to those that climb into those machines.

I’ve got to find the video but when Gary Stanton was on the Bubba The LoveSponge show and was dyno’ing either a 360 or 410 motor and sent the rpm’s to the 10k rpm moon was hilarious.

 

[rrrr]

The best part of the sprints is dirt in your beer

When I was a kid, my friends and I would sit up close in Turn 4 so we would get pelted with clay.

 

[Gelcoater]

Went over the wall at Ascot and broke his neck

I remember he had a pic hanging on the wall in his garage of this crash. Car was upside down and on its way out to the parking lot.
We weren’t there that night but remember going to watch him race many many times.

I think that 38 car was in the garage too?
I remember asking my dad what that blue light was in the garage. He said don’t look at it, it will hurt your eyes, he’s welding.

 

[Boat211]

I would love to drive a sprint car

Same!! Have always thought they were pretty badass. K-boat on wheels

 

[Kbach]

Teach ‘em young. Of course you make them work a bit before they’re allowed to have a little snack break

 

[Meaney77]

Used to love Sprint Car and Midget racing! As a kid I spent many nights with my dad at Ascot, Ventura, and Santa Maria raceways, damn good times!!

 

[rrrr]

View attachment 1492954 View attachment 1492956

Where was the #82 pavement sprinter running? Izzat you under the belts?

 

[endobear]

Where was the #82 pavement sprinter running? Izzat you under the belts?

No. It's my old man. I'll ask him.

 

[endobear]

82 car?
Pretty sure the 84 car is what he put over the wall at Ascot.

Edit.. he doesn't remember the car #he put over the wall. He says it's the Sutter Gold car?

Dirt and Pavement car?
He also ran Friday nights on the moto track and Saturdays on 4 wheels.

 

[endobear]

Where was the #82 pavement sprinter running? Izzat you under the belts?

605 Speedway?
Ascot in the lower pic.

 

[oldboatsrule]

605 Speedway?
Ascot in the lower pic.

I'm guessing Kern speedway

 

[Racer56]

It looks like 605 speedway to me.

 

[playdeep]

No. It's my old man. I'll ask him.

The blue 38 looks like an old CAE chassis.
Love the bolt on roll cage.
I'd love to find a CAE to restore.
They're highly coveted...

 

[playdeep]

Where was the #82 pavement sprinter running? Izzat you under the belts?

Hey Ron...you asked for pictures of my old race cars.
Here's my pride and joy.
1978 Maxwell chassis. Car has a great history and was actually driven in early World of Outlaws by Don Maxwell himself and sprint car legend Roger Rager who got really famous for putting his stock block chevy(school busmotor) in the Indianapolis 500.Rager ran 2nd. against the Outlaws in Lincoln Nebraska in this car. Behind some guy named Kinser.

 

[Racer56]

@rrrr This was on Facebook today.

 

[rrrr]

@rrrr This was on Facebook today.

View attachment 1493857

Very cool, those were fun days. Did you know Lee Kunzman died in February? He mentored the boys when they were getting started. Lee was a tough SOB that took the worst racing could mete out, and made it back to the cockpit in spite of two horrible crashes. He suffered severe 3rd degree burns in a sprint car crash at I-70 Speedway, and life threatening injuries in an IndyCar crash at Ontario.

I think he would have been a force in 70s IndyCar if not for those injuries.

I became friends with Lee when he was the team manager for Hemelgarn Racing. He always had a funny story to tell along with sharing his racing knowledge.

 

[Racer56]

Very cool, those were fun days. Did you know Lee Kunzman died in February? He mentored the boys when they were getting started. Lee was a tough SOB that took the worst racing could mete out, and made it back to the cockpit in spite of two horrible crashes. He suffered severe 3rd degree burns in a sprint car crash at I-70 Speedway, and life threatening injuries in an IndyCar crash at Ontario.

I became friends with Lee when he was the team manager for Hemelgarn Racing. He always had a funny story to tell along with sharing his racing knowledge.

Yes I knew Lee. Hung out with him at the speedway every year and he would come to our races. I Never could decide who was F'uped/burned worse, Kunzman, Hurtubise or Kenyon. Man what a tough generation with never a complaint.

 

[rrrr]

Hey Ron...you asked for pictures of my old race cars.
Here's my pride and joy.
1978 Maxwell chassis. Car has a great history and was actually driven in early World of Outlaws by Don Maxwell himself and sprint car legend Roger Rager who got really famous for putting his stock block chevy(school busmotor) in the Indianapolis 500.Rager ran 2nd. against the Outlaws in Lincoln Nebraska in this car. Behind some guy named Kinser. View attachment 1493676

That's a great looking car. The story of Roger and the school bus engine is a classic of Indy 500 history.

I've been meaning to tell you Bobby Ford came to my Dad's funeral. I hadn't talked to him in 50 years. His dad Roy was my Dad's senior superintendent for 20 years. He had a laugh when I told him that washing his sprinter and sitting in it and playing driver while it was parked in our garage during the 60s led to me stooging in IndyCar for a decade.

 

[rrrr]

Yes I knew Lee. Hung out with him at the speedway every year and he would come to our races. I Never could decide who was F'uped/burned worse, Kunzman, Hurtubise or Kenyon. Man what a tough generation with never a complaint.

This article by Robin Miller about Lee, Pancho, and Merle Bettenhausen talks about those tough guys. They were a special breed for sure.

MILLER: The tough guys' perspectives

The aftermath of the MAVTV 500 at Fontana still lingers as people that weren’t even fans of IndyCar racing can’t quit talking about how exciting it was while the drivers were divided on whether it …

racer.com

Lee at Winchester: