Racing History Minute - June 13, 1954

Stock Car Racing History

Race report from Palm Beach Post .

Racing History Minute - June 13, 1954

Stock Car Racing History

Found this 2006 article on Autoweek .

Al and Goliath - NASCARs first brush with imports

Toyota's announcement of its 2007 entry into NASCARs Nextel Cup moved numberless trivia experts to note Toyota would not be the first overseas nameplate to run with the good ol boys. There have been at least eight interlopers, with Jaguar leading the pack.

Defining Jaguars NASCAR effort requires pawing through records a half-century old and only marginally more dependable than Enrons or WorldComs. Yet there is sufficient information on driver Al Keller, an East Coast road racer, and other NASCAR moments to make some fascinating footnotes.

On June 13, 1954, racing at the Linden Airport in New Jersey, a 43-car field produced three NASCAR milestones. One, it was NASCARs first road race. Two, Kellers win in the No. 4 Jaguar XK120 fixed-head coupe remains the only import win in NASCARs major seriesthen called Grand National. Three, because Keller had won on an oval in March at Oglethorpe Speedway in Savannah, Georgia, he became the first NASCAR pilot to win on both a road course and an oval in a single season.

A fourth milestone might have occurred. Because sports car luminary Bob Grossman drove, it might have been the first appearance of Gucci loafers at a NASCAR event. Experts opinions are divided on this.

Twenty-one import makes started at Linden, including Jaguar (13), MG (five), Austin-Healey (one), Morgan (one) and Porsche (one). Four Jaguars finished in the top-10 and five finished in the bottom-10. The Morgan finished 41st (in case youre wondering).

Born in Alexander, New York, in 1920, Keller was a postwar USAC midget and champ car driver usually described as a journeyman. From 1955 to 1961 he competed in six Indianapolis 500s, finishing two of them, and in more than two dozen other major AAA and USAC events.

Keller ran almost as many NASCAR races, successfully transitioning from USAC ovals to NASCAR ovals and from oval racing to road racing. In addition to his Linden win, Keller turned in two other noteworthy Grand National performances in 1954. As noted, he won at Oglethorpe Speedway, and he took the pole at Charlotte Speedwaynot the superspeedway but the three-quarter-mile dirt oval where NASCAR sanctioned its first event ever.

Keller went head to head with NASCARs hot dogs during the 1954 season. Buck Baker won the pole at Linden and finished third, with Hershel McGriff and Lee Petty in the field. Herb Thomas took the pole at Savannah, and Baker won at Charlotte after qualifying second behind Keller.

Keller raced in 29 Grand National races from 1949 to 1956, winning two, logging seven top-five and a dozen top-10 finishes, and taking one pole. In 1954, the only year in which Keller ran more than four Grand National races, he won two of 13 races, had six top-five and 12 top-10 finishes and won his one pole. As Marlon Brando might have put it, Kella coulda been a contenda.

NASCARs effort to reach out to the international community ended in 1958 at the Riverside Grand National race, where a pair of Citrons, a Renault and a Goliath competed. The Citrons finished 18th and 19th, and the Goliath finished 27th. The Renault posted a DNF. The Goliath, still running at the finish, might have been the last import to cross a NASCAR top-series finish line before Toyota does so next year.

And what of Al Keller? After years of seat hunting Keller got a full-season ride in the Konstant Hot Phillips-Offy for 1961. He opened the season with a fifth- place at the Indianapolis 500, notched four top-five finishes and won two poles, the second at the November race in Phoenix. There, 40 laps into the race, he wrecked in Turn Four and was killed.

Thanks to Toyota, the memory of Al Kellers Jaguar winand Goliaths lone appearancewill endure.

Racing History Minute - June 13, 1954

Stock Car Racing History

Some photos from the 1954 Linden race...

Al Keller and his winning Jaguar.

The pace car.

The starting line-up including the big sedans in one column (including Lee Petty) and the sporty ones in another.

The sporty ones at speed - including a convertible!

How's this for a disparity in the size of the cars raced? Dave Terrell in his bulky #126 Dodge races #27 Phillips Bell in a Jaguar. (Or it may be a 2nd #7 - also designated 7-A - of Harry LaVois who also raced a Jaguar.)

And The Winner!

Racing History Minute - June 12, 1958

Stock Car Racing History

Race was originally scheduled for Wednesday, July 11. Rain postponed it to Thursday, July 12th.

Racing History Minute - June 12, 1958

Stock Car Racing History

Race report from Jamestown Post-Journal

Racing History Minute - June 12, 1958

Stock Car Racing History

Pic of Bob Duell with his trophy for winning the pole at New Bradford. Duell raced in only 28 GN events. The New Bradford pole was his only one.

Duell was from Frewsburg, NY - about 9-10 miles from Busti, NY. Busti's Stateline Speedway hosted one GN race on July 16, 1958:

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/stock-car-racing-history/25400/racing-history-minute-july-16-1958

From Jamestown Post-Journal.

updated by @tmc-chase: 06/12/17 09:18:11AM

Racing History Minute - June 12, 1958

Stock Car Racing History

Stanley Lee "Squirt" Johns was initially flagged in 3rd when the race ended. Afterwards though, he was one of the three drivers DQ'd by NASCAR officials. Johns was a late model regular - and winner - at Stateline Speedway in NY and in tracks of Pennsylvania. As I understand it, he raced well into the 1970s. Squirt made 2 GN starts:

• This one at New Bradford - where he was DQ'd.
• The other was July 16, 1958 at Stateline [see Tim Leeming's RCM ] where he led 42 laps on his "home track" before breaking an A-frame and ending up with a 15th place DNF.

I learned a bit more about Squirt in an article I found on SpeedwayProductions.biz :

Squirt ran a lot of different tracks in his career. He said, I mostly ran north and south. Not toomuch east and west. I never went to Heidelberg or Motordrome. I raced Skyvue, Olean,McKean County, the Civic Center in Downtown Erie, Stateline, Eriez, Cuba Lake, Highland,Airport, Schmuckers, Clearfield and Lancaster speedways, and others I cant remember. Somearent there anymore. Id run five nights a week once in awhile.

I had some bad experiences, he relates. I went to a couple of races and didnt get paid. Onewas at Perry , New York . The other was a NASCAR race at Bradford in 1959. They only hadtwelve NASCAR guys entered. Lee Petty was running a 1958 Oldsmobile. Junior Johnson wasthere. They didnt have a full field, so a bunch of us local guys raced against them. Buck Bakerspun me out in practice just to show me he was one of the big boys. He did a heck of a job of it,too. I never went around any faster in my life, he chuckles.

Squirt recalls, I showed the NASCAR officials all the things that made me illegal according theirrules before the race, including an electric fuel pump. They said, Oh yeah. You can race. It wasa 100-lap race. I ran second almost the whole race, even though I ran out of brakes on lap 30.

Lee Petty was following me. He could have hit me anytime in the turns. But he waited until five laps to go. Then he hit me. I didnt spin clear out, but he hit me enough to get by me. Junior Johnson won the race.

Squirt continues, Then after the race, when it was time to get paid, the NASCAR officials said, Our guys protested. They paid their guys the top prize money, and were going to divide what little was left over between us outlaws (outlaws to them). I told them, if youre not going to pay me whats fair, what I have coming for finishing third, Im not taking any of your damned money. And I left.

It's our good fortune that someone happened to snap a picture of Squirt spinning off the chrome horn of Buck Baker - not the fortunes were not as good for Squirt. If his memory is correct, at least the spin happened in practice. - StatelineLegacy.org

In Fall 2013 - a few months after Tim originally posted this RHM - a DVD was released titled "Squirt". You can order the DVD from StatelineLegacy.org . In one of the reviews  for it, I found this info re: his disqualification:

NASCAR, in its infancy then, would on occasion deign to visit the locally-operated dirt tracks of hinterlands. Several drivers speak of NASCARs haughty disregard for fairness and ethics. Johns, for example, won a race, outduelling the likes of Junior Johnson, then was denied his prize money for the presence in his car of an unauthorized pump which had been: 1 Disconnected; 2 Inspected and approved by NASCAR before the green flag fell.

Well, in what I've read I don't Squirt thinks he WON the race. But it's pretty clear he wasn't happy with being DQd after a P3 against the big timers.

Here is a clip re: Stateline that features a lengthy discussion with Squirt. He talks about his nickname, his car color, his car number, and the New Bradford NASCAR race (beginning at 4:30).

Here is a neat clip of Squirt being interviewed about his career. It was recorded the day of the released of the DVD.

updated by @tmc-chase: 06/12/17 09:17:29AM

Racing History Minute - June 12, 1958

Stock Car Racing History

By the way, New Bradford Speedway still operates today.

Website: bradfordspeedway.com

Facebook: facebook.com/bradfordspeedway

Racing History Minute - June 12, 1958

Stock Car Racing History

Not only was the race held as the grand opener for the speedway, it was also the only Grand National race held at New Bradford.

Brief race report from the Reading Eagle .

This edition of the Reading Eagle also included a pic of Jack Smith to promote the race at Reading Fairgrounds speedway 3 days after the New Bradford race.

updated by @tmc-chase: 06/12/17 09:16:56AM

Racing History Minute - June 11, 1972

Stock Car Racing History

Pre-race pic of James Harvey & Ronnie Householder from Chrysler - Getty Images