oldies but goodies

[112SMW]

Chuck Ciprich drove the #0 in 1976.It was a blue coupe.

[BigFeet13]

Chuck Ciprich drove the #0 in 1976.It was a blue coupe.

Yep. Chuck flipped it at Weedsport towards the end of '76. Sincerbeaux put the pinto together for '77 and Chuck drove it part of the year. Sammy Reakes drove it in '77 and '78. The car was renumbered 0jr for '79, and Danny Johnson drove it.

[BigFeet13]

I think Sincebaugh (or however you spell it) was one of the more forgotten owners of that era. Before Sammy driving the Pinto there was a great looking blue and white #0 coupe and a #15 coupe. I distinctly remember both John McArdell and Jimmy Winks in the car and maybe even John Podolak. It was always fast and always good looking. Also McArdell proved he could drive when he was away from Waterloo and the Tantello leanin' 11. I always felt he was under rated as a driver.

The reason it was numbered 15 is that Lloyd Holt originally drove it. Actually Sincerbeaux had a valiant #15 that Lloyd drove (bought by Jim Sperry and driven by Dick Wall). The Johnny McArdell actually won the track championship at Rolling Wheels in the #0, in '75. Chuck took over in '76. Most of the cars were Bushy chassis'.

[trivia99]

     To be honest I had completely forgotten about the Valiant that Lloyd Holt drove. Holt was one of the better drivers of that era. His bronze coupe and coach were both eye catchers and I remember he also drove for a guy named Bob Van Fleet out of Clarks Summit, Pa. at both Five Mile Point and the now defunct Twin Valley. Now that I think about it I think he also drove for a person named Jim King down this way also. I'm not sure anybody on dirt would have ever had a Valiant bodied Modified had it not been for the Bodine car on asphalt. Not say that it wouldn't have happened but I think Geoff's car was a definite trend setter. Of all the Valiant bodied Modifieds I ever saw I honestly think the Les Alberti #473 was the sharpest. Not saying that the rest of them weren't but the Alberti car definitely stood out. I thought that no body style could ever replace the beloved coupes and coaches but the creativity of the builders and the fabrication guys back then make some very fine looking race cars out of the newer tin.

[BigFeet13]

I had a pic of the valiant somewhere, but I can't find it. I do have it on a Weedsport program after Sperry bought it.

I saw Geoff's car for the first time in the early '70s, and it was instantly my favorite modified, and still my all time favorite. It helped that my dad had a '61 valiant at the time.

[trivia99]

     It's interesting to note that the compact car bodies probably date back into the early sixties when guys used the 1953 Studebaker body. Ever the innovator Dave Kneisel ran a 1951 Oldsmobile body at Five Mile Point in 1958 to take advantage of a quirky rule book which allowed overhead V8 motors if you ran a full size body of the same make. Kneisel showed up a couple of years later with a Crosley bodied creation with a full house Ford Flathead motor followed closely by a small block Chevy when the rules allowed it. That was followed closely by Stan Lupka's Henry J and Don Beagell Bantam. I still think the Kneisel Pacer of the late seventies was the ultimate "pony car" dirt body.
     Falcons and Corvairs were also "hot" in the sixties but probably the most unusual was the Bobby Merz Rambler. Bodine's Valiant was definitely ahead of the Judkins Pinto which was said to have started the small car body revolution. I found a picture of the Alberti car taken at Rolling Wheels in the earl seventies. I think it's a Mike Piano photo.

[Claychamp123]

My favorite dirt valiant bodied car was the Kerry Schroeder K46 which also had Mike Grbac behind the wheel a few times.

[trivia99]

     I also like the Schloder Valiant because of the nasty injection tubes coming through where the hood scoop should of been. Made it look kind of menacing. Well as menacing as a Valiant could look, anyway. While we're on the subject, didn't Al Tasnady drive for the early incarnation of this team at Flemington maybe in 1971 or so.
     Schloder also holds a distinction of being one of the few drivers in the "modern" era to win a feature both at Five Mile Point (2) and Shangri-La (1).

[oldtimeracer]

Merv Treichler also ran a Studebaker body #24

[lynchmobb]

Dom Kreitz Sr also had a nice Valiant at Reading. I think one of the advantages of the Valiant like Bodine's was that it was a wide flat surface, creating a wing effect with the rake he used on the body. Kenny Brightbill came to Fulton on the dirt once with a Cadillac body that was pretty much pure aerodynamics. Someone also mentioned a Henry J - I remember a car that came to Spencer once in a while (Bob Burton??) - I think it was a regular at Shangri-La.

[oldtimeracer]

there was a Henry J that raced at Weedsport  '60-'61...somewhere around there..that cat was the reason I was taken to the stock car races....#93 Harold Fuller

[BigFeet13]

Merv Treichler also ran a Studebaker body #24

Not a great shot.

[bakes]

     I also like the Schloder Valiant because of the nasty injection tubes coming through where the hood scoop should of been. Made it look kind of menacing. Well as menacing as a Valiant could look, anyway. While we're on the subject, didn't Al Tasnady drive for the early incarnation of this team at Flemington maybe in 1971 or so.
     Schloder also holds a distinction of being one of the few drivers in the "modern" era to win a feature both at Five Mile Point (2) and Shangri-La (1).

A shame about Kerry, the guy had potential as a driver.  Gone too soon as well.  His first white Pinto was a showpiece.

[trivia99]

     Lynchmobb, Bob Burton did indeed have a Henry J in fact I think he had two of them or maybe the second one was a chopped up version of the first anyway, Burton owned that scrapyard in Homer which you could see from route 81 once you passed exit 12 going north. Burton had red and gold #101 coupes which he raced at Five Mile Point and Midstate then he showed up at Shangri-La with a gold square top coupe named "the wild one" that was followed by the Henry J's. I didn't hear of him after maybe the 1969-1970 season.  I also agree on the Kreitz car. You know we called them all Valiants but I wonder how many of them were Dodge Lancers?
     BTW. Geoff's uncle Earl kicked people's tails with his bug in the early "bug" days of Chemung and Towanda with a motor (slant 6) that was one of the ones that came stock in a Valiant. I am posting a photo of Burton's first Valiant. This photo came off a trading card which was part of a sixty card set that Fred Smith put out in mid-1967. It also has the Troyer Fairlane and the Shampine Woodshed modifieds. So it's a Fred Smith photo.

[leadfoot4]

I had a pic of the valiant somewhere, but I can't find it. I do have it on a Weedsport program after Sperry bought it.

I saw Geoff's car for the first time in the early '70s, and it was instantly my favorite modified, and still my all time favorite. It helped that my dad had a '61 valiant at the time.

Speaking of Valiants, I seem to recall that asphalt star, George Kent, had a Valiant bodied car, early in his career. I also seem to recall that the engine callout, as painted on the hood, was "440 cu.". Maybe a Chrysler engine under the hood, to go along with the MoPar body??



(and I remember the Merz Rambler, too....Yellow, with blue lettering......#33)