Race car haulers

I know that many if not most race cars today get hauled to & from the tracks in big enclosed trailers.I remember when a ramp truck was the hot setup, here in the Northeast.They didn't take up that much room in the pits, and out on the road, people could SEE the car, which was a good thing!Some of the dirt tracks ,such as Orange County and Lebanon Valley, which have infield pits, have so many giant haul rigs that it can be hard to see the backstretch from the lower end of the stands.There were some pretty cool modified haulers around in the 60-70's.I remember one used by a guy that ran at Riverside Park in Agawam, Mass. , that was based on an old Cadillac limousine that was cut off behind the doors.I think it was Gig Smith's rig.I started off using an open trailer, towed with my boss's Chevy C30 wrecker, which was handy because if we got wrecked (and who didn't get wrecked!) , we used the wrecker winch to drag the car up onto the trailer.Then I got an International ramp truck, that had a 14' box behind the cab with the car carried on ramps behind that.A friend of mine, Nels Wohlstrom, who ran the #69 at Thompson & Waterford, used a converted school bus!Anybody else remember any really different race car haulers?

updated by @ted-brown: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

Great memories! Yes, the ramp truck was THE ticket back then. I've been seeing some of them restored lately. No better way to display a vintage racer than on a vintage hauler. Alex Beam has one at Memory Lane Museum...I'll dig up some pics.I remember one of those converted school buses, too. The ramp truck of today is a roll-back. A friend of mine hauled his modified with it to every race for the same reason you mentioned...if he got wrecked...and he did, getting the car back to the show was no problem.


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Founder/Creator - RacersReunion®

I love the old haulers and have nothing but fond memories of that era.When I finally get my car out of layaway and have it going,I am gonna get a old school hauler to tow my car.Thanks for the blog,peace,out.

If you put "hauler" in the search box on our photo section...there are several nice ones. click here for a cool school bus conversion.


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Founder/Creator - RacersReunion®

Thanks Jeff! These modern haulers have no charisma at all.Ah, the good ole days!...TED. Jeff Gilder said:

Great memories! Yes, the ramp truck was THE ticket back then. I've been seeing some of them restored lately. No better way to display a vintage racer than on a vintage hauler. Alex Beam has one at Memory Lane Museum...I'll dig up some pics.
I remember one of those converted school buses, too. The ramp truck of today is a roll-back. A friend of mine hauled his modified with it to every race for the same reason you mentioned...if he got wrecked...and he did, getting the car back to the show was no problem.

I used anythig from a chain, towbar. open one axle trailer, open 2 axle trailer, to a flatbed truck.No one had an enclosed trailer at the tracks that I ran when I gave it up in 1977.My career was from 1956-1977 at tracks mainly in Florida and Georgia.

The ramp truck was the hot ticket in mid-late 60's at the weekly Virginia NASCAR tracks. I saw my first school bus hauler in 1968 at Sanford, NC, being used (I think) by Glenn McDuffie. Most of the teams around Wilson, NC in early 70s still used an open trailer behind a pickup.


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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"

BIG HAULERS ARE BETTER FOR THE CREW BUT NOT FOR THE FANS.MY HOME TOWN HAS THE OLDEST CONTINUALLY RUNNING MIDGET TRACK IN THE COUNTRY.ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY@ SUN PRAIRIE ,WI. THEY ARE CURRENTLY FIGHTING OVER BIG RIGS IN THE PITS AS THEY HAVE FOR YEARS.I HAVE SEEN CARS IN THE BACK OF A SCHOOL BUS,MIDGETS IN A PICK UP TRUCK AND EVEN DRIVEN TO THE TRACK, BUT I CAN'T SEE THROUGH A BIG RIG. STEVE BROOME

I had my race car pulled to the track for my first race behind a green Ford pickup truck belonging to Marty Stephens' Daddy, with Marty driving, with the race car hooked to the truck with a logging chain threaded through a six foot long piece of pipe. I steered the race car. Got quite a bit of attention when we stopped at the Sunoco station at the intersection of I-26 and 378 in West Columbia. Thankfully, we didn't wreck the car so we towed it home that way. Herbert Corley loaned us a trailer for the rest of the races in 1969 and then we bought our own trailer during the off-season. I never used a ramp truck or a closed trailer. Part of all my fun was towing the car on the open trailer to all the tracks we ran. One of the most awesome starts to a movie is the "Tiny Lund-Hard Charger" movie where the camera is panning all the racecars on open trailers and ram trucks leaving a track in a rainout. I sure wish we could find that movie. The opentrailers/ramp trucks are so much more memorable for me than the huge enclosed trailer/billboards of today.Tim


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What a change! It's been awhile since I've checked in and I'm quite surprised. It may take me awhile to figure it our but first look it's really great.

I guess you could say it's progress, but like you said you sure can't see thru them! STEVEN JEFFREY BROOME said:

BIG HAULERS ARE BETTER FOR THE CREW BUT NOT FOR THE FANS.MY HOME TOWN HAS THE OLDEST CONTINUALLY RUNNING MIDGET TRACK IN THE COUNTRY.ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY@ SUN PRAIRIE ,WI. THEY ARE CURRENTLY FIGHTING OVER BIG RIGS IN THE PITS AS THEY HAVE FOR YEARS.I HAVE SEEN CARS IN THE BACK OF A SCHOOL BUS,MIDGETS IN A PICK UP TRUCK AND EVEN DRIVEN TO THE TRACK, BUT I CAN'T SEE THROUGH A BIG RIG. STEVE BROOME

Right on Tim!I realize these new montrosities are great for racers, but I'll never like them.A lot of race tracks have tight pit areas, trailers and ramp trucks take up a lot less room. Tim Leeming said:

I had my race car pulled to the track for my first race behind a green Ford pickup truck belonging to Marty Stephens' Daddy, with Marty driving, with the race car hooked to the truck with a logging chain threaded through a six foot long piece of pipe. I steered the race car. Got quite a bit of attention when we stopped at the Sunoco station at the intersection of I-26 and 378 in West Columbia. Thankfully, we didn't wreck the car so we towed it home that way. Herbert Corley loaned us a trailer for the rest of the races in 1969 and then we bought our own trailer during the off-season. I never used a ramp truck or a closed trailer. Part of all my fun was towing the car on the open trailer to all the tracks we ran. One of the most awesome starts to a movie is the "Tiny Lund-Hard Charger" movie where the camera is panning all the racecars on open trailers and ram trucks leaving a track in a rainout. I sure wish we could find that movie. The opentrailers/ramp trucks are so much more memorable for me than the huge enclosed trailer/billboards of today.
Tim

MY FRIEND BILL BOHLING USED TO DRIVE HIS CAR 4-5 MILES TO THE TRACK,RACE 8 LAPS IN REVERSE GEAR THEN DRIVE IT HOME AFTER. Tim Leeming said:

I had my race car pulled to the track for my first race behind a green Ford pickup truck belonging to Marty Stephens' Daddy, with Marty driving, with the race car hooked to the truck with a logging chain threaded through a six foot long piece of pipe. I steered the race car. Got quite a bit of attention when we stopped at the Sunoco station at the intersection of I-26 and 378 in West Columbia. Thankfully, we didn't wreck the car so we towed it home that way. Herbert Corley loaned us a trailer for the rest of the races in 1969 and then we bought our own trailer during the off-season. I never used a ramp truck or a closed trailer. Part of all my fun was towing the car on the open trailer to all the tracks we ran. One of the most awesome starts to a movie is the "Tiny Lund-Hard Charger" movie where the camera is panning all the racecars on open trailers and ram trucks leaving a track in a rainout. I sure wish we could find that movie. The opentrailers/ramp trucks are so much more memorable for me than the huge enclosed trailer/billboards of today.
Tim

I miss the open trailes, like Petty had in the 60's , Kids got to see the race cars. Now days half the short track cars have too much money tied up on haulers.

That's the truth!You could buy a lot of tires for the price of one of them...Ted. Harvey Tollison said:

I miss the open trailes, like Petty had in the 60's , Kids got to see the race cars. Now days half the short track cars have too much money tied up on haulers.