PHOTOS FROM THE HERBERT
FAMILY COLLECTION.
Jeep with JR Earl's 991.
Jeep, Steve Danish and I
were at Fonda in 2003
signing Lew Boyd's book
"Fonda!", and I asked Jeep
if he remembered the time
his crew had tied a
fireworks parachute (the 4th
of July fireworks display
had been completed, and the
parachute was used to slow
the decent of "Old Glory")
just on the back of J. R.
Earl's #991 coach. "Yea I
remember, and that old fart
on my left (speaking out of
the corner of his mouth and
nodding his head toward Mr.
Danish) wouldn't let them
start the feature until I
took it off. He was worried
it might get caught up in
his radiator and cause his
car to overheat". If you
couldn't have fun hanging
around Jeep, you were
destined to a boring drab
existence.
Paul Marshall and Jeep
Herbert after a win. The man
on the left is the one I
veered in front of when he
was leading a feature. What
do you suppose the boys have
in those little cups?
The ever popular "kiddie
ride".
Jeep wins with Pete
Hollebrand's #53. That's
Pete on the left. Chuck
Mahoney drove a spell for
Pete, and hung around the
Hollebrand Trucking garage
during that spell. The #53
needed tires so Chuck
offered to order up some
from Racemaster out in
Massachusetts. When the
tires arrived at Pete's
headquarters he discovered
that Chuck had ordered a
truck load, and it was
payment on delivery. When
Pete got excited he
developed a speech
impediment, and upon seeing
the truck load he said "jjjjesus,
the ssson of a bitch is
going to bankrupt me."
Jeep with the Lou Hammond
and Burley Strong's #56
entry out of Conn.
Jeep with Vince Barbuto's
#2. Later Jack Farquhar took
over the driving duties in
the #2.
Jeep with Tony Vilano's 37.
Look who else took a turn in
the #37 in the late sixties.
These days he's known as "Jumpin
Jack".
(L-R) Chet Hames, Jeep, and
I don't know. This photo
must have been taken at
Victoria Speedway where it
was out of bounds to NASCAR
drivers. So, owners changed
numbers and drivers changed
names, Frank Trinkaus used
"X", and Jeep took the name
"Flex Hose". I was there
that night and named myself
"Tom Thumb". In 1960
Duanesberg's Victoria
Speedway opened, a half-mile
unsanctioned race facility.
In those days drivers caught
racing in unsanctioned
(non-NASCAR) events were
dealt with harshly, losing
NASCAR points and usually
being fined. So the Fonda
guys got around that by
using pseudonyms, Jerry
Townley was "Jay Tee', Ken
Shoemaker was "Yogi Bear",
Howie Westervelt was "Cliff
Wright", jeep Herbert was
"Flex Hose", to name a few.
Irv Taylor talked the
situation over with his
wife, and decided "it's my
name and I oughta be proud
enough to use it, of course
it also ended up being my
name on the fine check I
sent to NASCAR" Irv said
later.
Flex Hose and I were in the
same heat race on Victoria's
opening night. Jeep was
driving Frank Trinkaus's car
and leading, while I was
second following the
Jeepster. Jeep bobbled
coming out of turn four and
I passed him going down the
front stretch, only to be
passed back by Mr. Hose
before we got to the first
turn. This went on for seven
laps, but on the last lap
Jeep passed me going into
three, powered through three
and four, and won the heat
race going away. Back in the
pits I was parked by the
Trinkaus team, and when I
pulled into my spot I
noticed Frank, Willy Seamons
and my pal Joe Ciganenko
grinning, tee heeing,
elbowing each other in the
ribs and having a great old
time. It finally dawned on
me that Jeep had been
pulling my chain all race
long, and when I got out of
my car I said to my pals,
"hope you assholes are
having a good time". That
only made the tee heeing
turn into outright laughter,
and by now Jeep had arrived
after his victory lap with a
crap eatin grin plastered on
his puss.
An early Fonda photo. I dont
know who the 103 is, but the
#100 in the background is a
Burns and Wilson car out of
New Hartford NY.
You ok in there? Thats Bob
Whitbeck on the right.
A great early photo. Does
anyone know where this was
taken?
Where's the windshield
wipers when you need um.
The pits at Langhorne. I
think thats Dutch Hoag's #18
in the bottom right.
The line-up at Langhorne, yr
unk.
(L-R) Steve Danish, Jeep,
Bob Mott and Pete Corey.
I was at Langhorne with
my girl friend Betty and her
mom and dad Theron and Doris
in 1956. We had great seats
directly across from Frank
Trinkaus's pit, it was hot
and my right arm itched like
hell (it was in a cast as a
result of being in a car
crash with a friend). Very
early in the race (first or
second lap) when the pack
was blasting down the front
stretch Bobby Cameron got
into the right front of Pete
Corey's car, taking out
Pete's brakes and steering.
Pete's number 22 veered left
into the Trinkaus pit area
knocking people and things
flying. I recall Willy
Seamon being knocked off a
ladder that was leaning
against a pole, people
trapped under a chain link
fence that was knocked over,
a scene from Hell. Willy was
bruised but ok, but I'm sure
somebody lost their life,
although as usual the track
announcer indicated "no
serious injuries". I have
never heard the true story
about the carnage that
happined that day.
NEXT WEEK: MORE PHOTOS
FROM THE HERBERT COLLECTION
(including photos of Lee
Wallard at Indy).
|
|
|
