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West Coast.

I don’t want our west coast friends to feel left out so I want to introduce you to another race car acquaintance of mine. In the mid 1970’s I worked with Gary Beck and his top fuel dragster and Gary introduced me to another Edmonton associate, Eldon Rasmussen. Eldon had begun circle track racing on dirt tracks in the early 1960s. It turned out that Eldon came from the same stock car heritage as I had with super modifieds a decade or so earlier. Early on Eldon drove a similar car to what we raced with Joe Hlywka only I think he ran mainly in Victoria, BC. Eldon competed in more than 50 USAC Sprint Series races and then moved on to the USAC National Championship in 1971.

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He progressed into building and driving USAC Champ cars in the 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978 seasons, although he generally only appeared for the longer races at Indianapolis, Ontario, Pocono and Michigan. He qualified and raced three times in the Indianapolis 500 Unfortunately his claim to fame there was the spectacular crash with Tom Sneva. In lap 125 of the 1975 race Tom Sneva, attempting to lap Rasmussen, ran over his left front wheel and was launched into the Turn 2 wall, exploding and disintegrating before tumbling to a stop. The spectacular nature of the accident, and the fact that Sneva escaped serious injury, have led to its being replayed on television.

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Eldon decided to hang up his helmet and retire from active racing after a severe wreck at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania where he was knocked unconscious after colliding head on with the wall. He also suffered broken bones and a concussion. Eldon ended his driving career and then worked full time at his shop in Indianapolis where he focused on his work as an engineer, designer, builder and manufacturer of race car parts and chassis. He also designed and built aerodynamic parts for different Indy cars and rear fins or wings for both circle track and NHRA Top Fuel Dragsters. It was a modification to a wing for Gary’s top fuel dragster that I got to be associated with Eldon.

Eldon Passed in June 2022 just shy of his 86th birthday. RIP.

I am sure you Alberta and BC guys, or anywhere, have more stories and pictures to add to these circle track and racing driver memoirs.
 
Great write up Peter. Just read this week that Alberta's Trevor Boys passed away. He was a Canadian who led the way into the world of NASCAR.

Rest In Peace Trevor, much too young at 65

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After reading the sad story about Trevor Boys untimely passing I thought it appropriate to tell you about an episode I had with Earl Ross. Ross was born in Prince Edward Island and came to Ontario at the invite of Don Biederman. Earl was definitely the hot shoe racer in the 1970 racing at the local Ontario short tracks. Earl graduated through ARCA and then on to the big time of NASCAR. He was known for being the only Canadian, and one of only five non-American born drivers, to have won a NASCAR Cup Series race. The victory at the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway helped Ross win the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in 1974. Earl Ross passed in 2014.

Now for my anecdote story. I was walking through the pits at the NASCAR race in Ontario, California which is just east of Los Angeles, when I ran into another buddy of mine, Norm Lelliott (RIP) who was also a hot racer, a points champion and track record holder back in Canada in late model stock cars.
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Norm told me Earl Ross was shy a gas person in his pit crew. His car was owned by the legendary Junior Johnson, moonshiner turned NASCAR legend, and sponsored by the Canadian-owned Carling-O’Keefe Breweries. I had never even lifted a NASCAR refill gas can but I said “sure”. I had no gas man training and had never done it before. As it turned out I did not do a bad job and didn’t get the nozzle stuck in the filler tube to hold Earl up during his pit stops. I was glad he had not asked me to change tires. The real fun had started the day before when the boys took their rental cars out and used them as dodgem cars, just as most of the hot dog boys did. Norm and Earl had a three speed stick shift Ford Pinto rental car which they did 180 degree spins in and tore up the tranny so there was no third gear. Earl Ross had famous Cale Yarborough as a team mate. After the races Earl tells me to follow them down the back roads to the motel they are staying at off the Interstate. It was fortunate for me that the Pinto without top gear could only manage about 110 km/h (70 mph). I followed them in the dark driving a full size Dodge land yacht when all of a sudden they just disappeared. Next thing I knew I was flying off the edge of the earth, crashed down about four metres and then was jerked harshly back up on the other side. They had lured me through a dry river storm water runoff trough. I survived without regrets but it would have been great fun for them to see me wreck. At the hotel I ate with Junior and Cale as well as Earl and Norm where they all teased me about my adventure and wished that they had third gear to see if that Dodge really could fly.

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1 BAD 9T9 said:
More about Percy.

Here is the mostly unknown story of how the little Fiat came to be named Percy Also. Prior to the Fiat Carl Rowland and Carl Skura had a '49 Ford Prefect as a C/A drag race car. It was very fast but not fast enough. They named this car "Percy the Perfect Prefect" but it did not have the right weight balance. George Foote who owned Karbelt Speed and Custom was looking for an advertising medium and Dave Pratt who worked for George got involved with the two Carls and became a partner. As the new car was being built it had the weight in the right places. It was then a no brainer to name it "Percy Also" and to sponsor the car by painting Karbelt on the side. George had influence with his supply base and I know Percy had one of Harvey Crane's prototype camshafts. Lots of other engine race car parts were obtained through Karbelt. The rest of the race car is common history.


There are two things that really remain in my mind regarding this car. First when Carl Rowland and I were starting Drag Dimensions I lived with Curly and Gloria in an east end basement apartment to save money for our growing business. They would trailer the race car down to a dead end road beside the Don Valley Parkway where they could practice launching the car the building and where the cops did not seem to care. I am sure the surrounding apartment owners and the drivers on the DVP could not believe their ears or eyes.

My second strong memory is helping at the Nationals in Indianapolis. Nick Minialoff's Anglia had the same unique transmission set up as Percy Also. Traditional synchro rings prevent you from shifting that old Muncy 4 speed transmission quickly, especially when the engine is revving to 9,500 rpm. Our solution was to grind off 4 out of 5 teeth on synchro ring and then you just crashed it into the next gear. This worked but the synchros got kind of chewed up and maybe the next time it would not go into gear as smoothly so after Carl had won class in C/Altered he was then in Competition Eliminator - the run for the big one. There was about half an hour between rounds when it came his turn. There were about five of us working frantically with Carl. We would pull the transmission out, tear it apart and replace three of the syncro ring and put it all back together again in about20 minutes. We had to do this several times as Carl worked his way through his competitors. Finally it was the final. Unfortunately Curly lost to Virgil Cates and could only claim runner up in Comp Eliminator at the US Nationals.

Just thought I would throw in Derek and Tony’s BB/A Fiat for comparison. Thanks for permitting me to express my memories from a long ago era.

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Where did you live with Carl and Gloria, 1 BAD 9T9? They are my parents.
 
1 BAD 9T9 said:
After reading the sad story about Trevor Boys untimely passing I thought it appropriate to tell you about an episode I had with Earl Ross. Ross was born in Prince Edward Island and came to Ontario at the invite of Don Biederman. Earl was definitely the hot shoe racer in the 1970 racing at the local Ontario short tracks. Earl graduated through ARCA and then on to the big time of NASCAR. He was known for being the only Canadian, and one of only five non-American born drivers, to have won a NASCAR Cup Series race. The victory at the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway helped Ross win the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in 1974. Earl Ross passed in 2014.

Now for my anecdote story. I was walking through the pits at the NASCAR race in Ontario, California which is just east of Los Angeles, when I ran into another buddy of mine, Norm Lelliott (RIP) who was also a hot racer, a points champion and track record holder back in Canada in late model stock cars.
View attachment 107349

Norm told me Earl Ross was shy a gas person in his pit crew. His car was owned by the legendary Junior Johnson, moonshiner turned NASCAR legend, and sponsored by the Canadian-owned Carling-O’Keefe Breweries. I had never even lifted a NASCAR refill gas can but I said “sure”. I had no gas man training and had never done it before. As it turned out I did not do a bad job and didn’t get the nozzle stuck in the filler tube to hold Earl up during his pit stops. I was glad he had not asked me to change tires. The real fun had started the day before when the boys took their rental cars out and used them as dodgem cars, just as most of the hot dog boys did. Norm and Earl had a three speed stick shift Ford Pinto rental car which they did 180 degree spins in and tore up the tranny so there was no third gear. Earl Ross had famous Cale Yarborough as a team mate. After the races Earl tells me to follow them down the back roads to the motel they are staying at off the Interstate. It was fortunate for me that the Pinto without top gear could only manage about 110 km/h (70 mph). I followed them in the dark driving a full size Dodge land yacht when all of a sudden they just disappeared. Next thing I knew I was flying off the edge of the earth, crashed down about four metres and then was jerked harshly back up on the other side. They had lured me through a dry river storm water runoff trough. I survived without regrets but it would have been great fun for them to see me wreck. At the hotel I ate with Junior and Cale as well as Earl and Norm where they all teased me about my adventure and wished that they had third gear to see if that Dodge really could fly.

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Click to expand...
Where did you live with Carl and Gloria, 1 BAD 9T9? They are my parents.
 

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