For those of you who don't tire of watching ballet on the cushion and flagmen who were really into their jobs:
Awesome! This was truly a great era in DT racing. I'm amazed at how loose the dirt was at tracks back then. Most tracks now are almost like concrete. Where do you live in SC? I'm in Greenwood.
I'm just a few miles from Mid-Carolina Speedway in Neeses. Aldana still rides AHRMA events there occasionally and more frequently at Aonia Pass in GA.
Very cool hearing Roxy Rockford's voice again. He was the announcer at Ascot for years and many of the Nationals too. Kieth Mashburn (ranked #19 in 1971) is a now local politician here in Simi Valley and is on the City Councel.
Thanks for sharing this. I lived in Gardena, Ca. and went to school with Tom Rockwood and hung out at there house. On Friday afternoon you would see guys like Bart Markel, Dan Habby, and others waiting for the time to go i/2 block from the Rockwood home to Ascot. I think I bought a Bultaco 200 Sherpa from Dave Aldana and got to meet Kieth Mashburn, Oh the good times.
Well, there went my Sunday afternoon. I lived in the San Jose area in the '70s and saw a lot of flattrack. Here are some posts from my blog that might jog a few memories loose. http://treadlife.blogspot.com/2009/06/just-flat-amazing.html http://treadlife.blogspot.com/2008/12/remembrance-of-things-fast.html http://treadlife.blogspot.com/2010/01/incident-at-san-jose.html Also, check the Flashback Friday tag. A lot of those are old flattrack photos.
Well, Jerry, there went my Sunday night. Your blog is a gem! You had me with the jars of San Jose and Ascot dirt, then the incident involving Rice, Lawwill, you and your squashed camera bag at San Jose was just too much. At our local track which I mentioned earlier in this thread, there's a small, dark-headed guy in his 50's who never misses a race. He hops out of the water truck onto his bike and proceeds to set a blistering pace around the 1/4-mile sand/clay oval. I'm guessing you might have seen and even photographed a few races he won at Ascot and San Jose. His name is Garth Brow. I was up late last night looking for a new book for my Kindle but never did find one that interested me. Tonight, I found one, and it's title is Hotshoe.
Garth Brow was a/k/a "Gonzo" if memory serves. I almost certainly have pics of him. Before my scanner went belly-up I was digitizing a couple of thousand frames of Tri-X I shot at San Jose, Sacramento, and Ascot over the years. I don't have a Smugmug account, but you can see (and even buy, nudge nudge) a few of those flattrack shots here: http://vintagearte.artehouse.com/perl/search.pl?searchIn=exactArtists&search=jerry smith