I'm thinking the nickname covered by his hand is "Ski-King" but I don't know if Petty ever raced a car with this unknown number.
Can someone help identify the car?
updated by @eric-cardona: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
I'm thinking the nickname covered by his hand is "Ski-King" but I don't know if Petty ever raced a car with this unknown number.
Can someone help identify the car?
That would've been the car of Skimp Hersey.
way to go Cody......sharp eye..
Photo below is posted at Dave Westerman's Florida Stock Cars site:
Wow thanks a ton. He died in such a bad way. Either he was burned alive or he flew in the air.
I believe this is poor Skimp flying a good 15 feet
Article from1950 -
This photo above is not Skimp Hersey. That is Charlie Mussleman in a wild flip taken at Langhorne, PA on September 1, 1957. The sequence of the photos shot by the late photographer Walter Chernokal were seen in newspapers around the world, including being posted in Life Magazine. If you look close, you'll see he has no shoes on, only socks. He was literally pulled out of his shoes during the flip and they stayed in the car the whole time.
Jon... it is always such a good thing when somebody who knows posts the correct information. I remember Walt's photos in both NSSN and Area Auto Racing News and ran into him a couple of times at Lenny Sammons' Motorsports shows in Pennsylvania back in the 90s. Thank you for providing the correct information.
Walter T. 'Walt' Chernokal, 80, prize-winning assignment photographer for the Delaware County Daily Times Newspaper of Chester, PA, died on June 9, 2004 when he collapsed while attending a race at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey.
Chernokal was famous for his racing action photographs taken in the Northeast area. He was a regular columnist on racing for the Chester Times and the Area Auto Racing News. His work was also seen in the late Illustrated Speedway News and the National Speed Sport News. He was a good friend to all in racing and befriended many new journalists and photographers, unselfishly training his own replacements for the future.
He was devoted to youth and spent many hours with the Blackbird, Delaware micro midget club which introduced many youngsters to the sport of auto racing. Walt was also a founder and race official of the American Racing Association sprint car group in the fifties. He was in great demand as master of ceremonies at racing banquets because of his keen wit and depth of knowledge of the auto racing sport.
Walt lived most of his years modestly in a brick bungalow in Aston, PA. He was husband of the late Rose Elia Chernokal (1999), loving father of James Chernokal of Aston, Rosemary Wood of Aston and Ann Coleman of Limerick,PA, brother of Ann Townsend of Ogden, PA. He was survived by 2 grandchildren James Chernokal and Rosette Wood and 3 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be Sunday, June 13th, from 6 to 8 PM at the NOLAN-FIDALE FUNERAL HOME, 2316 Providence Ave., Chester, PA. Funeral Service and burial service will be private at Mount Hope Cemetery, Aston.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Bone Marrow Transplant Fund, c/o University of Penn Cancer Center, 1224 Penn Tower, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104 or any Young Drivers Midget Association.
If what I have read is correct, Mussleman was knocked unconscious, but sustained no broken bones or other serious injuries. Amazing.
You are correct. Walt told me he was knocked out and that was the only major problem. Later, I was over Walt's house and he told me he took all the photos in sequence and made a quick movie out of that flip. And also, I believe that if you are not the photographer who took the photo, you name/initials should NOT appear on the photo.
Thanks, Jon.
It is Skimp Hersey from St. Augustine, FL who was killed at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, GA in 1950.
Charles Musselman actually passed away this past July as shown in this Obit
