If you are into Pony cars or racing you must watch this History of the Trans Am Racing Series. This is the way it was back when your little Pony car jewel was new. This is the racing that made us all want to go down to the dealership and purchase a new Pony car. It wasn’t NASCAR or NHRA that sold Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, Challengers, Cudas or Javelins; it was the Trans Am Series. That is what won on Sunday and sold on Monday meant to the Pony car crowd.

These car owners wanted to go fast AND turn corners. This kind of racing gave birth to the Camaro Z28, the Firebird Trans Am and the Mustang Boss 302 as well as the Javelin SST, Challenger TA and Barracuda AAR.

When I first saw this video was available I knew I had to have it. I am partial to the early years of the Trans Am Series but always enjoyed it throughout the years of its existence.

This DVD does an excellent job of providing a quick historical overview of the Trans Am Series from its beginning. Included are some excellent racing footage as well as interviews with drivers. Some of their insider comments about the cheating going on back-in-the-day will put a big smile on your face.

Heck, the race track photos of all the young girls and vintage clothing of that period are worth the price of the DVD.

If you go to our Book Review on Racing page you can even watch a brief hint of what you will find on the DVD.

Technorati Tags: AAR, boss 302, cuda, DVD, firebird, History, javelin sst, pony car, racing, ta, Trans Am, Trans Am Racing Series, Z28

Technorati Tags: spoiler ii rocker panels, Talladega

Ramo Stott owned and raced this beauty to the 1970-71 ARCA Championship and it still retains its original sheet metal and is unrestored.

We have just added this historical race car to our Feature Car page and encourage you to take a look, it is a very rare example of a time long gone. Click Here to see the Feature Car page for Ramo’s car.

The video below is a behind the scenes look at Speed TV’s Rutledge Wood interviewing car owner Doug Schellinger at the 40th Reunion of the Aero Cars at Talladega Speedway in 2009.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: ARCA, NASCAR, plymouth, Race Car, Ramo Stott, Superbird

This is the last post on the 40th Reunion of the Aero Warriors at the Talladega Super Speedway. The Dodge Daytons, Plymouth Superbirds, Ford Talladegas, Charger 500s and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler IIs all got their chance to recreate that magical time back in 1969 when Stock Cars were Stock Cars and race drives had to drive the cars even on the speedways.

We were not allowed to open em up and fly around the banking but the sheer experience of being able to once again bring these cars to Talladega was amazing. Actually, going around the high bankings at parade speed gave us all an opportunity to appreciate what the track really is and how gigantic the turns really are.

Below is a video of some of the activity but for more details and lots of great photos just CLICK HERE.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Katrina and I just returned from four fabulous days of playing with our Ford Talladega and a bunch of terrific Mopar and Blue Oval folks at Talladega! We have a long list of stories to tell and nearly a 1,000 photos plus videos to sort through.

We will be posting stories, Feature Cars and more over the next few weeks.

I am not sure how many of these vintage Winged Warriors from NASCAR’s Aero Wars days were at the event. There were different cars at each activity; some made it to all and others only went to one or two. At one point I counted well over 100 cars and more were still coming.

It appeared by my estimate that there were approximately 30 of the Ford products in attendance and possibly 100 Mopar products.

The owners of these cars are without a doubt some of the best car people around. It doesn’t matter if they have the most expensive Hemi Daytona or a street condition Mercury they are all genuinely nice car nuts. Best of all, most are not afraid to drive them.

We toured a couple of days from our host city of Alexander City Alabama to the Talladega Super Speedway. The site of all those winged Mopars and sloped nose fastback Fords was a unbelievable. It must have been a real once in a lifetime site for some of those small town folks living on our route based on some of the looks on their faces when we passed by!

Over the next few days and weeks we will bring you some great stories; the reunion of Katrina and a car she once owned; a reunion of a winged race car and a boy who watched it race nearly 40 years ago when he was only 10; photos of two Ford racing prototypes from 1970; a Talladega signature car once owned by Bill France; a preview of a wonderful new Mopar Museum opening after the first of the year and much, much more.

Thank you to all you regular readers of the site who took the time to come up and say hello. Katrina and I really appreciate it when you let us know how much you enjoy the site.

Ok, that’s me on the left and Katrina on the right…who is the clown in the middle? Tell you later.

Technorati Tags: Alexander City Alabama, Bill France, Dodge Daytona, DSCA, ford talladega, Ford Talldega, hemi, Mopar Museum, plymouth superbird, Super Speedway

One even that is on my “Bucket List” is the Historical Racing Festival in Darlington, SC. Thanks to friends Alan and Elaine Miller I got of glimpse of this years event and you can also get a small hint of what it must be like by visiting our Race Car Page by Clicking Here.

Technorati Tags: ARCA, Darlington, dirt track cars, Historic Racing Festival 2009, NASCAR, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Old School Racing, race cars, USAC

Check out the hay field behind the track. This facility is inside the City limits of Oskaloosa. Three cheers for the citizens of “Osky” for letting this continue and no complaints about the noise or the dirt.

f you want to get up close to racing and have some fun check out your nearest dirt track. If you don’t come home with dirt on your smiling face you weren’t paying attention.

We recently visited my favorite dirt half mile in Oskaloosa, Iowa; the Southern Iowa Speedway.

Hope you enjoy the following photos as much as I did taking them.

Some of these cars really didn’t need but three tires; the left front almost never touched the ground!

One of the best run racing evenings I have ever seen. These guys line them up and run the next heat onto the track as the completed racers are pulling in off the backstretch. No wasted time. I think they ran 12 races the night we were there.

These are photos of a couple of vintage dirt track cars out of the NE that were in the area for the historic racing events.

That’s all folks!

To see more pictures from this night Click Here.

Technorati Tags: dirt track racing, iowa, Oskaloosa, Southern Iowa Speedway, vintage race car

In yesterday’s post we gave you a recording of the Sam Bass portion of the drivers’ meeting but today you get the rest of it. The entire drivers’ meeting and images of some of the drivers and their cars.

If you have never attended a NASCAR drivers’ meeting it is a thrill to be there and listen to the Officials instructions to the drivers prior to the race. To some it may seem boring but to a real race fan it is being on the inside!

Put on your helmet and watch the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Camping World Trucks, nascar drivers meeting, Nashville, Nashville SuperSpeedway, ron hornaday

This past weekend the Camping World Trucks were in Nashville for their annual visit and Sam was back with a new guitar. It seemed like everyone wanted to make up for the shocking events at the Nationwide race.

Sam was the Grand Marshal for the race and every driver swore to hug and kiss the trophy if they won. Sam was as excited about this guitar as he has in the past and the croud loved it and him.

The following video shows Sam, the guitar and the portion of the drivers’ meeting where Sam spoke to the drivers and fans.

Hope you enjoy it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Camping World Trucks, drivers meeting, Guitar, NASCAR, Nashville, Sam Bass

We visited there this summer and just had to take in a race at this track that has seen its share of stars over the years. I had not visited for many decades but the racing has gotten better and the food was more than I expected but the highlight of the evening was seeing a World of Outlaw car hit the old dirt half mile at full song.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Oh what I would give to have this track in Middle Tennessee!

Technorati Tags: iowa, Oskaloosa, southern iowa fairgrounds, sprint car, world of outlaws

For Immediate Release

A new initiative from Roush Yates brings amazing value to all Ford racers

Mooresville, NC: Have you ever wondered where all the surplus Ford engine and chassis parts go from the various NASCAR racing series? In high-end Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Truck, and ARCA divisions, all racing parts have a finite life. At Roush Yates, the racing parts are systematically removed, tested, refurbished where necessary, and are now made available through the Roush Yates Performance Parts division, a subsidiary of Roush Yates Engines in Mooresville, NC. From Daytona-winning cylinder heads, valve trains, and high-tech manifolds to the latest technology in chassis parts, these high-tech parts are now available to all grassroots racers, whether oval track, drag racing, boat racing—and they are probably the greatest value ever!

For further information contact:

Roush Yates Performance Parts

261 Rolling Hill Road,

Suite 2A

Mooresville, NC 28117

Telephone (704) 662-6982 or visit www.RoushYatesParts.com

Editors’ Contact: Vic Moore (706) 531-0058

Vic@MooreGoodInk.com

Vic Moore

Technorati Tags: Performance parts, Rousch, Yates

Click Here and see what really happens at those meetings. This was recorded at the Nashville Nationwide race on June 6, 2009.

See how many drivers you can spot. Look for Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Kenny Wallace, Steve Wallace, Brendan Gaughan and owner Jack Roush.

Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: brendan gaughan, carl edwards, jack roush, kenny wallace, nascar drivers meeting, Nationwide, race kyle busch, steve wallace

Father’s Day is coming up real soon and I have no idea what to get my Dad. He is really into cars. He goes to all the cruise-ins and muscle car shows. He has an old hot rod he has been working on for years. It has no paint on it that you can see, it is covered in rust. Can you imagine; it looks like it has never been repainted in decades? True, it hasn’t been driven much but it would look so much better if it was just bright and shinny like the other cars at the shows. I don’t know much about cars but I think it really needs new paint.

My sisters and I were thinking that maybe we should go all out this year and surprise him with a new paint job on the hot rod. I work at Home Depot and can get some sand paper and masking tape, the girls have a friend at work whose husband paints cars in his garage.

Here is what I thought we could do. I could ask to borrow the rod to take to a cruise at the Dairy Queen on Wednesday, instead I would take it to the painters garage, sand it down, mask it off and the guy could paint it and have it back by Sunday. Wow, would Dad be surprised! We also thought we would go with red paint and maybe even add some yellow flames! Just like Overhaulin on TV!

What do you think?

Signed,

Father’s Day Surprise

Dear Father’s Day Surprise,

Well, I can tell you are no Chip Foose or Einstein! I am sure your Dad would be surprised but I would be more surprised if he didn’t shoot all of you when he saw the hot rod after you painted it!

Look you idiot, leave Dad’s hot rod alone, don’t mess with a guys wife or his car. Home Depot sand paper and masking tape? Why don’t you just get some shaker cans and paint it yourself? His ride sounds like a sweet Rat Rod, you would ruin it if you painted it. Rat Rods are cool! Believe it or not; some guys spend big bucks just to make their new cars look like they are old and rusty! Sounds like your dad has a real prize there and it isn’t you and your sisters.

Want to really make Dad happy on Father’s Day and not just surprise him? Buy him a wide-screen HD TV and let him watch the NASCAR race at Sonoma that day. You can keep the beer cold and the girls can boo every time they show Kyle Bush or mention his name. Dad will be proud.

Signed,

Shifty

You need any advice? Just send Shifty an email and see what he has to say. One word of warning, think twice about what Shifty tells you.

Technorati Tags: father's day gift, hot rod, NASCAR, rat rod, Shifty

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Drag races, racers, Super Chevy Show

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just think what it must be like to buckle yourself in beside a jet engine with 4 wheels attached and then blast off down a 1/4 mile drag strip.

Click Here to see more from the Super Chevy Show.

Technorati Tags: drag race, jet car, jet dragster, memphis super chevy show, race

You will not want to miss this.

On November 1, 2009 the Talladega Superspeedway will welcome arguably, the most talked about stock cars in NASCAR history. The Daytona Superbird Auto Club will be hosting its 40th Reunion at the world famous Talladega Superspeedway the weekend of the Amp Energy Talladega 500 Sprint Cup Race.

You will see a site you may never see again. There will be over 100 of the beautiful aero cars on the race track taking a sentimental parade lap prior to the 500.

If you want to know more about this event or join us with your aero warrior contack Doug at the Daytona Superbird Auto Club.

Technorati Tags: 40th reunion, aero car, Dodge Daytona, ford talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II, plymouth superbird, talladega superspeedway

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: dragester, memphis 2009, minivan, Super Chevy, wheel stand

We did get a few shots and some videos for you. We will be posting them on this site over the next couple of weeks as time permits. Just Click Here to see some photos and videos.

In the meantime I will post one for you right here! Check this wreck by Jerry Hunt in his Corvette.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Drag races, dragster, jerry hunt memphis, Super Chevy

To say the least we were shocked and honored to see LegendaryCollectorCars.com on his new ride.

Obviously we are excited about this and will be keeping you up to date on how Jamie and the car do this season.

Technorati Tags: dirt track, jamie land, legendary collector cars, modified race car, racing

The Riverside International Automotive Museum just recently opened in Riverside, CA. It is located deep in an industrial park but hopes to soon move to its own building near the site of the old Riverside International Raceway.

I had my expectations up for what I might find at the museum and I was somewhat disappointed. There are a number of impressive race cars on display and some old track memorabilia but not enough to get the heart pumping. Museum Director Bruce Ward (no relation to Roger) was extremely pleasant and even escorted me through the collection pointing out many unique historical facts about the more significant cars.

There was a notable shortage of vehicles that would have raced at the famous road course. There was not one single old NASCAR or GTP car present and only a very small number of sorts cars. I hope as the museum grows these valuable assets will be found and placed into the collection.

There is a good representation of Indy Cars, especially from local hero Dan Gurney and his All American Eagle race cars but, to my knowledge, there was never an Indy Car race at Riverside.

This is the layout for the first sports car race held at the March Air Force Base in 1953.

Entry and gift shop at the museum.

Corvette race car.

There are a lot of cars in a little space.

For the real Riverside International Raceway fan this will be a little bit of a disappointment but it is a museum with a bright future. I hope when it reaches its final home there will be more photos of the old raceway, a variety of vintage NASCAR and GTP cars on display and maybe even some of the off road vehicles that once raced there.

Will I go back? Yes, I believe in a few years this museum could well be on the must do list but for now it is just a disjointed collection of interesting cars.

To read more about the Riverside International Raceway Museuma and to see many more photos Click Here.

Technorati Tags: AAR, All American Racers, corvette, Dan Gurney, GTP, Indy Cars, Lotus, Maserati, NASCAR, Race Car, Riverside International Raceway, scca, Turn 6

Katrina and I find that we are partial to the shorter 1.5 mile or shorter tracks. This track is a 1.5 mile and with the banked turns the IRL cars really look good.

There was also a lot a filming going on at the track prior to testing and we managed to get a few photos of the camera car. These things always intrigue me. Ugly as sin but they are relatively fast and maneuver around the race cars for action shots with what appears to be little difficulty. Considering all the misplaced weight and contraptions hanging on the car that says a lot about the builder of such vehicles.

The following are some shots you might enjoy. Missing from the IRL lineup again this year is one of the sports true stars, Paul Tracy. For the life of me I can not figure out how some of these drivers find a team and sponsor when drivers as capable as Tracy sit on the sidelines. If you want to know more about Tracy and what he is up to when he is not racing keep checking this blog; we will have an interview with him shortly!

Now for the photos of Homestead IRL testing.

This is a view of Homestead from the top of the stands near the start/finish line.

Marco Andretti # 26 and Danica Patrick #7

Stanton Barrett #98

Dan Wheldon #4

Dario Franchitti #10 (He’s Back!)

Graham Rahal #06 and Vitor Meira #14

Penske Team but no Helio

Jaime Camara #34

Milka Duno #23

Ed Carpenter

On track camera car.

Tony Kanaan #11

How would you like to have every move you make photographed just before or after you jump into a race car! Danica seems to not even notice.

For More Photos Click Here

Technorati Tags: AJ Foyt, Bruno Junqueira, Buddy Rice, Dan Wheldon, Danica Patrick, Dario Franchitti, Ed Carpenter, Graham Rahal, Helio Castroneves, Homestead, IRL, Jaime Camara, Marco Andretti, Milka Duno, race, Raphael Matos, Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter, Scott Dixon, Stanton Barrett, Tony Kanaan, Townsend Bell, Vitor Meira

We have just posted another terrific Feature Car. This one is owned by Barry Miller and is an actual 1968/1969 Holman and Moody.

It was the Pole Winner at Daytona in February 1968 at a speed of 179.459 MPH. It led the ARCA 300 for 25 laps until crashing and finishing 22nd. It was one of tow Torinos that won eleven races that year.

We photographed this car at the Monster Mopar Weekend in St. Louis during the 2008 event. Certain Fords were allowed to participate as part of the Winged Car (Daytona and Superbird Club activities).The is not pristine with immaculate paint and body but it is beautiful. The 427 sounds terrific (watch the video and listen for yourself) and the pure rawness of the race car makes you quiver. Unlike today, the race cars were not massaged to a silky smooth finish. When they started a race they often carried the scars of the previous race. You have to remember that in those days there were a lot more races and some of the drivers would compete in multiple events during a weekend. There was no time to do minor body work and repaint. These were race cars and not show cars.

For more information an dozens of photos on this car go to our Feature Car page by Clicking Here.

Here is Benny behind the wheel back-in-the day!

Technorati Tags: 427, ARCA Race Car, Benny Parsons, daytona, Ford Cobra, ford talladega, Ford Torino, NASCAR, video, Wendell Scott

We just put up a new Feature Car that is very special. It is a tribute to NASCAR legend, Benny Parsons. The video below will give you an idea of what you will see on the Feature Car page. It is a Boss 429 powered street car built for the race track by Rick D. Stanton. It is a beautiful car and something very different. It has even been featured in Hot Rod Magazine.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Technorati Tags: Benny Parsons, Boss 429, ford talladega, Hot Rod magazine, NASCAR, video

If you are like me I am not even missing NASCAR on TV. All I watched this season was the first few laps, went out in the garage, turned on the radio and listened to music. Then I went back in the house fast forwarded the DVR to the end of the race and watched the last 20 laps. Its a parade until then anyway.

Now, if you want to get excited watch the video below and tell me you wouldn’t watch this kind of action on TV. I don’t care if its a Subaru; at least it isn’t a fake no name car with decals on it to make you think its a Chevy or a Ford or a Dodge or a Toyota. Its a real car.

Can you imagine a racing series like this with balls out driving and drivers with car control. WOW!

A real rally car on a track and on the infield at a track near you, now Katrina and I would go see this and be smiling for the entire race. Click on the Number 43 link below:

Number43

Technorati Tags: car control, NASCAR, race, race track, rally car, road race, saab

The first is an all original unrestored example of a 44o with automatic transmission. It is driven regularly and shows it but drew as much attention at the show as any car in the Aero Warrior Coral. It is owned by Jim and Delma McCauley.

The second 1969 Dodge Daytona is also a 440 automatic but is beautifully restored and owned by Dan Printz. The weather at the show was wet and chilly but both owners as well as many other were not afaid to bring there cars out and show them off.

You must go to our Feature Car page to get a full appreciation of the restoration work on this beautiful winged warrior.

If you would like to see more on the other cars at the Monster Mopar Weekend Click Here.

With car buffers, polishers & buffing pads from Autogeek.net, now anyone can polish their vehicle’s paint to perfection!

Technorati Tags: 1969 Dodge Daytona, Aero Warrior, Aero Wars, Dodge Charger, Monster Mopar Weekend, NASCAR, race track, Winged Warrior