racing, about a 100 years ago - chain drives and wood spoke rims

found on http://kissbangbangbatman.tumblr.com/

Looked through onthelosthighway.tumblr

Great home built kart... get a look at the steering wheel! Photo was taken by John Gutman, in Georgia, 1937 http://www.johngutmann.org/viewer/index.html and incredibly, ridethemachine.tumblr posted this yesterday... but I found it on "onthelosthighway.tumblr" today

The look of a maniac, ain't that a grin!
Dangerous and deadly racing.
http://onthelosthighway.tumblr.com/ is a guy who took these photos of his dad, and his dad's 1924 original and untouched Harley Davidson
http://onthelosthighway.tumblr.com/ is mostly tattoos, it's NSFW, but it also has a lot of respect for Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Babe Ruth.

Costs of racing

I was reading the article in Mens Journal about Eric Bana, and his track time with his Porsche.

he states that it's $2400 for tires, 10 thou wear and tear, and 20-30 thou for the rweekend racing.

Now those are probably Australian Dollars, not Euro Dollars, or US dollars... but that is ex - pen - sive

online version http://www.mensjournal.com/eric-bana-at-155-mph

Eric Bana is recognizeable for the role in the new Star Trek movie as the bad guy, but you really will enjoy his documentary on his fix up of his Ford XB Falcon Coupe (same as Mad Max's car) "Love the Beast" http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/02/eric-bana-love-beast-actor-eric-bana.html which is available on instant download on Netflix http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Love_the_Beast/70117051?trkid=2692263#height2225

Corvettes at Le Mans, recently discovered and digitized color 8mm home movie from the late 1950s, and a Shell gas station at minute 1:55

Found on the Jalopy Journal http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=11755

The crash compilation video of the week, wow, some of these drivers didn't survive

Found on http://carrosehistorias.blogspot.com

1 of 3 1923 500cc Indian road race motorcycles built for the Isle of Mann races, original "as raced" condition

New video of Burt, set to Billy Idol's song "Speed"

Warning, this isn't a censored video. Early race cars didn't have roll bars, safety fuel cells, or safety gear... guys raced, and sometimes died.

this video is a compilation of crashes, and unlike todays videos of incredibly designed race cars, the roadsters and early racecars in this video didn't have many features that could save the lives of the drivers. No padded dashes, no airbags, no steering wheels that will bend and are concave so you don't get the column through your sternum, no roll cages or tops of any kind to keep the driver in during rollovers, no seat belts, and nothing like a crumple zone.

I'm posting this video because it's just as important to show the deadly reality of the origins of racing as it is the glamour of the modern victories... you may comprehend present design better if you know the primitive designs of the past, and that guys died before changes were made to make racing safer. Earnhardt was the last driver to die in NASCAR. They made improvements in several ways so another driver will live through the circumstances that killed him.

Hoep you aren't bummed out about watching this video, but it's rare to see real racing video from before WW2

Killed Myself When I Was Young from http://ralfbecker.com/

Miramar Speed Circuit, cart racing 5 minutes of exhilaration for 25 bucks, and worth it. Trouble is, you'll want to do it again.

The above shows a guy spun around, and the guy standig is trying to get everyone sorted out without any one crashing into each other

http://www.miramarspeedcircuit.com/ for all the info, but important to know is that it's one block North of Miramar Rd, closer to interstate 15 than the 805, East of the pyramid and West of Camino Ruiz. Take Cabot from Miramar Rd or Miralani from Camino Ruiz

Possibly the only tucker to race is NASCAR

it's all written up, from Dan at Hemmings http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2008/12/24/seeing-really-is-believing-a-tucker-did-indeed-race-in-nascar-and-we-found-the-photo-to-prove-it/

Formula 1 racing, why Americans (and growing numbers of others) don't care, the stats

Since 1983, the sophistication and technological advancements in race car body and engine design have made the race cars far closer in similar capabilities to the point that they are identical, and once on the track, rarely can pass each other, to the extant that the facts show they finish the race in the order they began the race.

Ergo, there is no race, no competition, and no point to watching cars go around a track for hours without changing anything but the fule tank level. Boring.

http://thechicaneblog.com/2010/04/04/suspicions-confirmed-current-f1-mathematically-proven-less-interesting/ has the stats graphed out.

some reasons:
Decreases in overtaking due in part to 1 engine per race, rev limited engines, equalized horsepower and decreasing amounts of design freedom, aero-grip dependency, exotic technology in brakes, the stopping distances are too short giving no window of opportunity to really take advantage of mistakes... on that topic, cars are more reliable, and fewer fail on the course than decades ago

- 1993 >> 1994: A lot of changes after Imola to make F1 safer
- 1995 >> 1996: 107% Rule, field size down from 26 to 22
- 2000 >> 2001: Traction Control Introduced
- 2003 to 2005: Engines must last longer
http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?showtopic=115835

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Stats from Automobile Magazine, Feb 2011, page 16

in the 201o season:
there were 19 races, and teammates finished 1-2 no fewer than 9 times
not counting opening laps, and pit stops, there were only 4 passes for the lead all season. Snore fest. Only one was successful, one resulted in both drivers spinning out, one was an immediate repass. The only "successful" pass was a teammate passing another to accumulate points for the championship. Big whoppee I say with emphatic dullness.
Eight of the 19 races in 2010 were won from the pole, 6 from 2nd on the grid, 3 from 3rd, on from each 4th and 5th
In 2010 there were 5 winners in 19 races, compare that to 1982 when 11 winners in 16 races

the Pits at the race track

called that becuase the race cars would driver over open pit lane to stop above his crew that could then quickly get work completed without using a jack to get up under the car. Remember, cars didn't even have oil filters until, what, the 1920's? The model t didn't have an oil filter and had to have the oil changed every 300-400 miles.

learned about this (should have been intuitive) and photos from http://thechicaneblog.com/2010/08/10/in-the-pits-at-the-vanderbilt-cup/

Barney Oldfield and the Golden Submarine, August 1917

Found on http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428585&page=3

Ode to the salt and Bonneville racing

Via: http://kulturakustombrasil.blogspot.com/

Jim and Chesters Garage Tumblr has a lot of cool stuff!

An enclosed transporter made from a fire truck, not the first I've seen! Les made one http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/06/68-ford-transporter-aint-that-cool-i.html

An Edsel racing Baja.. amazing

Above is the James Garner race team

from http://prova275.tumblr.com/ Jim and Chesters Garage Tumblr

15 minutes of NASCAR at the 1972 Southern 500 in Darlington

David Pearson in his 429ci Mercury and Bobby Allison in his 427ci Monte Carlo featured



Via: http://www.bangshift.com/blog/15-Minutes-in-Vintage-NASCAR-Heaven-Darlington-1972.html

new color photos of 1940's dry lake bed hot rod racing

(Actually this one is a "new" picture. It's of the Reelers c.c. out of LA, taken within the last 3 years. AJ Elias commented) Well it has an old vintage look, it fooled me!

Well one black and white photo had to find a good place to be posted. Not like anyone is going to complain.

Photos from http://5window.tumbler.com/

for more color photos and one video of the late 1940's dry lakes racing: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/04/looks-like-el-mirage-in-1948-they.html http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/04/back-to-1948-and-el-mirage-im-excited.html
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/02/chris-at-speed-seekers-foudn-more-1947.html
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-lake-in-48-oh-wonder-and-amazement.html
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2010/05/el-mirage-is-this-weekend-to-get-you-in.html

Not going to end well for this Testarossa

from http://gearsandmonkeys.tumblr.com

Watching Paul Newman start and drive a 1914 Puegot at Indy? Awesome!

If you have Netflix you can do it instantly, or you can catch various clips on You Tube. Stick with the ones loaded by wintershollywood, they have the original audio ...

Once upon a Wheel, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413072/ a cool movie that Paul narrated, and got greasy wrenching on a 71 Super Bee, and takes a look at a lot of racing stars, the Unsers, Andrettis, Pettys, and so on. A lot of 1970 NASCAR footage, but also dragsters, snowmobiles and more.

Clips from early 1910 races, land speed racing on the sand and slat, Pikes Peak, Indy, and so on are amazing to watch while Paul talks you through the scenes.

Getting a moment on screen are such obscure and cool vehicles as Buckminster's Dymaxion, http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/07/favorite-sculptor-of-mine-was-first-to.html and the Marmon Herrington Rhino: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/marmon-harrington-4-wheel-drive.html

http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Once-Upon-a-Wheel/70002931?trkid=1211018
Celebrity friends such as Kirk Douglas, Dick Smothers and James Garner join Newman at the classic Indy 500, Formula One and NASCAR events. Featured are some of the most legendary race-car drivers of all time, including Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones, Bobby Isaac, Richard Petty, Al and Bobby Unser and many more.

Some reeally famous people not named in the review, but getting moments on screen are John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Wilt Chamberlain, astronaut Pete Conrad, Glen Ford, and others as the cameras were takne through the pits at the first Ontario Motor Speedway celebrity pro- amateur charity race, which was won by Dick Smothers and Bobby Unser. Motion Picture and televison relief fund was the charity.

Racing Messerschmitts!

Above image from http://lecontainer.blogspot.com/

from http://retor.blogspot.com/2010/08/messerschmitt-tiger.html

via: http://megamoto.tumblr.com/

Thanks to "A Unionist" for the video link! You don't have email on your profile, so I couldn't thank you properly, but I sure appreciate this video!