Good Idea. I have a call in to the NASCAR museum and Buzz McKim. He has mentioned that he might be of some help in that regard.
Thank you!
Mike Sykes said:
Will if you can get anywhere with them check the Nascar archieves you know that our ol buddy T-Taylor made some pictures of this car and they forced him to turn over his negitives to them a few years before his passing.
Jeff, That is a cool picture of a fantastic model. I am very impressed.
Heller Triangle Springs was owned by a very good friend of mine named Gregg Heller in DuBois, Pa, His name was later attached to the rear of the car and that might end up being the name that I will use, but on thatfirst Charlotte race, I am pretty sure that it was a company owned by my late father that did not continue after his passing. The name that I think I am looking for is something like PMC or PWC corporation or company, from Dayton, or Carrollton, Ohio. or some similar passage.
I am impressed with your efforts, thank you!
Jeff Gilder said:
Here is a model I found with a shot of the back.
Thank you Pete;
I believe he had driven 2 races prior to this, but it was his first series of rides in the same car. He started 4 races, and asked that I let Baxter Price start the car in a 5th race, as he had made arrangements with with Rod Osterlund to run for rookie of the year the following year and did not want to loose his rookie status.
Pete Banchoff said:
Hi Will, it's an honor to have you here on Racers Reunion. I remember the car, but I can't recall seeing a shot of the money panel. I've got a couple of Earnhardt books that I'll check. Wasn't that the first Cup car Dale drove in Nascar?? '77 or '78?
Thanks for the note. I thinks its interesting that some folks know more about some things I worked on than I do. I am impressed that you knew the start and finish positions. When I was in racing, I was so tied up with working on the car and trying to figure out how to raise money, I never kept track of details. I sure wish I had saved more 'stuff' and information.
Thanks again for taking time to comment.
Jeff, thanks for the reply. I have seen this photo quite a bit on the internet, and like you, have not been able to determine who the credit belongs to.
This was my first car that I owned in Winston cup, and this is my favorite photo. Thanks for posting it.
I am looking for a picture of the back of the car so that I can read who's name was on the rear panel below the spoiler.
It's possible, that the Action die cast folks might be interested in producing this car, and I am attempting to provide some missing details.
Again, I appreciate your taking the time to post the photo.
I'm new here on the site. Am having a great time looking at the photos.
I am looking to find a picture of the 96 car that Dale drove at Charlotte with Cardinal Tractor on the quarter panels. I am specifically looking to find a picture from behind that would show the name written on the 'TV' or rear trunk panel. All help will be greatly appreciated.
BilI:
hope you have some success finding what you are looking for. Your dad was a kind man and was instrumental in my development as a car builder and a crew chief. He would question my answers and make me think again and again about a project we would be working on.
He hired me when DiGard racing was formed and we worked in the shop behind Bobby Allisons house in his race shop. Bobby's dyno was an airplane engine with a propeller on it and Mario wood look for any excuse to put a motor on, just to hear it run, i'm sure.
He had told me about the computer print-outs that Petty had from Jim Rathegeb at Chrysler. It was a 'book' that would allow you to completely take all the springs and shocks out from under the car and reinstall another set of 'stuff' and still maintain the same front roll couple distribution, while altering the ride rate. When I asked about getting to see that 'book' for the Ford chassis, he just laughed and said that was only for Petty's use, and said why don't you make one for us.
I took him seriously and embarked on a research project that lasted several years and did result in a book on vehicle dynamics that has yet to be published. He was instrumental in introducing me to the more knowledgeable folks in NASCAR and the respect those folks had for your dad gave me a foothold on obtaining some very good information. He was always encouraging to me and would include me in on anything that would help me gather information for my project.
During the result of some of our late night conversations while working on the Heenan-Froude Dyno at Smokey's, I convinced him to let me build our upcoming Daytona car on a short track chassis because of the rough surface and install a body at the super speedway inspection heights. That resulted in winning the pole for both the 500 and the 400 in '75 (I think). That car resulted in NASCAR asking the competitors to use side templates, but your dad and I shared a private moment when the car sat on the pole the first time. He had also spent an enormous amount of time with Bill 'Grumpy" Jenkins on the shop Dyno developing a special piston and triple valve springs for that qualifying motor.
Your dad was a visionary and encouraged others to be free thinkers as well. Most folks will already know that your dad developed the glue-on lug nuts and the 'bullet' ends that are still being used to this day. We built a pit wall outside the back of the shop in Daytona on Fentress Boulevard to practice pit stops and when we screwed up he encouraged us to keep working because we would have to do that if we were actually in a race. When it came to the Pit Crew Challange at Rockingham we had just installed new brake pads on Donnie's Chevelle and when he came in hot it locked up the wheels and stalled the motor. We continued to change the tires in silence (because of that training) . I have seen a photo that shows just as I am making the first step up from changing the front tire, there is a wiff of smoke coming from the right side exhaust pipe as Donnie got the engine fired and if you look over the hood of the car, there is your dad with a huge grin on his face. I would give a great deal to be able to give you a copy of that picture. It's priceless! We won the competition that year because of his training and guidance.
At any rate, good luck on your search. If you find any news, It would be cool to read about it here.
If you type in my name (Will Cronkrite) in the photo section, there are two pictures of your dad and I.
