Chase Elliott, son of Bill Elliott, has won the 2020 NASCAR Cup Championship. With the help of his major sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts, his Hendricks Motor Sports, number 9, Chevrolet Camaro rocketed from starting last to finish first, in the 2020 final 4 last race of the year at the Phoenix Raceway.

Chase is the third youngest driver to win the championship at 24 years, 11 months and 11 days. His father won the championship in 1988. Chase’s win put them in rare company because there are only a few father/sons to accomplish that feat.

When asked what the championship means to him, he said, “I’m not sure that I still even know, I just, man, I’m at a loss for words. This is unbelievable. Oh my gosh. We did it. I mean, we did it. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. Unreal.”

Hendrick Motor Sports now has 13 Cup championships with four different drivers. Jimmy Johnson with 7, Jeff Gordon with 4 and Terry Labonte who won with Hendricks in 1996.

It’s really exciting that Chase is so young and stands a chance to win more championships as his career progresses. It’s also exciting that NAPA is sponsoring the number 9 now and going forward. I hope that we get this COVID stuff under control and can return to normal early next year. Keep your fingers crossed.

You would think a writer for this newspaper would be prepared. You know, always having a notepad, pens and camera on him, ready to take down any information to store away for possible future use. Yeah, about that…so here we go by memory! You also may know “old guys” memories may not be so good.

My friend, Steve Veltman, called and asked if I would like to meet him at the Voyteks’ shop in Scio. I have known Bernie and Jimmy Voytek for several years. I have been out to their shop before. The shop is like a shop out of the sixties. It is so cool. It has old posters, race car photos, mostly of cars Jimmy and Bernie have worked on or cars that they have raced themselves. Steve brought his vintage supermodified to have the Voyteks check it out and set it up for races. As Steve and I stepped into the shop, it looked like nothing had changed since the last time I was there. Bernie and Jimmy’s shop is one that specializes in race car repair, prep and restoration. Like I said, the shop is old fashioned. There’s room enough for one race car, work benches, and old plastic models on the shelves on the wall. Again, it is so cool.

Jimmy and Bernie not only repair race cars, but they also race dirt and pavement sprint cars as well as offset supermodifieds. After standing around talking races we went out back behind the shop. There they had several enclosed race car trailers that contained sprint cars and an offset super.

As we BS’ed, one of the stories was about a time when Jimmy and Bernie sold an offset supermodified to a racer that ran at Willamette Speedway. To my knowledge, (some days there’s not much of that left), the racer took the super frame and engine and put it in a wedge shaped outlaw superstock to run at the speedway on the dirt. I hear the car did not do very well. Sometimes you just can’t take a car meant to race on pavement and try to make it work on dirt!

Back to the shop. There was a race car with a great history. Bernie and Jimmy were restoring Billy Vukovich III’s supermodified, the “Spirit of Madera.” Billy drove this car for several years until he stopped racing supers in 1988 and went on to race Indy cars. The car was assembled. They were down to getting the correct colors to paint the car. They had to go through old racing magazines to get the correct colors and then to paint it. They had to get the specifications on the different wings, and suspension modifications. I had heard several years ago that they had Billy’s super, but now to see it was something else. Who would have thought that our small Oregon town like Scio, population 983 last count, would have such a piece of racing history? It was hard for me not to drool on Billy’s super. To see it up close and personal—it was an honor.
We had a great time talking about racing and the different tracks that the Voyteks had raced at as well as the different cars that they had worked on. I had a great day there. Even though I wasn’t really prepared, you can still get great pictures with your phone!

About 12 years ago three old car guys decided to create a Friday morning breakfast group made up of other old car guys. Fred Davis, Vern Farris and Tom Hoffman organized it and got the word out, kind of like the famous saying, “if you build it they will come,” and they did.

Now twelve years later every Friday, rain or shine, a bunch of guys show up at the “Hanger” in beautiful downtown Carver. During good weather months, they drive their hot rods, show cars, cruisers etc. During the bad weather months, they drive their daily drivers.

Often the turn out fills the restaurant and the Parking lot looks like a Car Show or Cruise-in during the spring, summer and fall. I’ve made new friends and reconnected with old ones as a result of attending.

It’s kind of a club, kinda not. It’s not a formal organization, there is no membership, no dues or other formalities but I’ve seen tee shirts, I think hats and what not. Sometimes a worthy cause will present itself and there will be a cruise, a poker run, a request for donations etc. etc. just to help someone out that has a need. Mostly it’s just some good food, good friendly conversation and an opportunity to drive your old car on a short trip and check out what the Jones have done.

Again, the ‘meet up’ is every Friday, except holidays, at The Carver Hanger. The restaurant opens precisely at 8am, but the meet up starts anytime around 7ish. Everyone is welcome.

There are car shows, cruise-ins, swap meets and other car events that I look forward to every year. Unfortunately, so many historical events were cancelled this year. Some organizers tried to re-schedule, revamp or otherwise change to comply with some new regulation that came down from on high. Others just couldn’t make the changes work so some favorite events just didn’t happen this year at all. It’s sad for a lot of reasons.

Some of our annual events are for charity. Some are for profit and those organizers have relied on that once a year paycheck to get them through the winter months. Still others, like participants, have waited sometime a whole year to be able to show off their latest or newest creation in pursuit of that trophy they wanted to add to their collection of trophies or maybe just get their first trophy.

Others just want to be able to get out and enjoy the summer, friends, looking at cars, swapping parts for the project that’s underway in the garage. The year of 2020 had a different idea!

A very small number of promoters and organizers were able to figure out a way to allow their annual show to continue for this year, and we’re lucky they figured it out.

One of those annual shows that I try to attend every year is the Medford Rod & Custom Show put on by Rich Wilson. It used to be held and the Jackson County Fair Grounds as did his annual fall swap meet. This year neither of them could happen. Not the car show in the spring or the swap meet in the fall.

In this year of the Chinese Virus, they weren’t going to happen as usual. Rich came up with a new plan, new venue, and by combining them together Rich and company were able to pull off a whole new event at the 7 Feathers Resort and Casino in Canyonville Oregon. There was social distancing going on, mask wearing, parts swapping, car showing and the turn out was great even though it all had to come together very quickly which limited advertising.

The swap meet was both Saturday and Sunday and the car show was Sunday only. The weather tried to be a pain on Saturday but hey, we’re Oregonians! We won’t let a little rain dampen our fun. Though it was smallish, the parts swapping was brisk and on Sunday cars to show showed up from all over.

Maybe 2021 can get back to something more normal and I know Rich is already planning… Stay tuned.

Most Awesome Mopar went to Janice Sutherlin and Larry Snow for their beautifully restored 1969 Dodge Daytona out of Red Bluff California.

Rich’s Pick went to Robin and Angie Guzman for bringing out their oh so much fun Radio Flyer wagon and their Lusse bumper car from Salem Oregon.

Cruiser Chevy went to George Edwards out of White City Oregon for his gorgeous 1955 Chevy Nomad.

The Seven Feathers Pick went to Geoy Ogh for his peachy 1940 Chevrolet coupe out of Grants Pass OR.

Kool Kustom award went to Darrel Womack out of Scio Oregon for his way cool 1960 Ford Falcon.

Trick Truck award went to Kris Nace out of Glendale Oregon for his Hemi-powered 1934 Ford Pickup.

Taking home the ‘Cause It’s Cool award was Eddie Montgomery from Roseburg Oregon with his very radical 1927 Chev roadster.

Dare to be Different award went to Curry County Cruisers member Nick Orcutt out of Brookings Oregon for his 1929 Rolls Royce.

Favorite Ford award went to Renee Woodard out of Glendale Oregon for her very nice 1931 Ford Vicki.

The I’d Drive That award went to Louise Sasser for his very rare and very nice 1932 Buick Coupe out of Myrtle Creek Oregon.

Considered ugly by some, the Sparks/Weirick “Catfish” was claimed to be America’s first racecar designed using wind tunnel testing. Stanford University aeronautics professor Elliott Grey Reid (assisted by Ulysses Arnold Patchett) drew up the plans for the groundbreaking vehicle and former Harry Miller metalworker Clyde Adams executed the construction. Beneath the bulbous bodywork which featured a large dorsal fin on the tail tank, was a state-of-the-art 220 c.i. Miller racing engine, wire wheels and a chassis built of recycled Miller, Ford and Chrysler parts. Los Angeles based Gilmore Gasoline agreed to sponsor the racer.
Owners Art Sparks and Paul Weirick hired California hot-shoe Stubby Stubblefield to pilot the car and promptly headed to Muroc Dry Lake(beds). Equipped with Moon disk wheel covers, Stubblefield set new records at four different kilometer and mile distances. When they arrived in Indianapolis for the 1932 Sweepstakes, their reputation preceded them. The Catfish was indeed quick on the straightaways and had a faster average going during qualifying than the pole winning car until the fourth lap. (A rear tire began to separate so Stubby backed off.) They easily made the show but would start twenty fifth in the thirty three car field. On the third lap of the 500, Stubby was sideswiped by his teammate Al Gordon and the collision ruptured his fuel tank. He nursed the Catfish back to pits where his crew spent over an hour making repairs. Stubby returned to the race and was flagged in the fourteenth position; a full hour behind the winner.

At the following race in Milwaukie the Catfish qualified second and finished fourth. Two weeks later at Roby Speedway (near Chicago) the Gilmore team totally redeemed themselves with Stubblefield first and Gordon second. In his last ride for Sparks/Weirick (July 2nd) Stubblefield placed second at Syracuse (NY). Indy winner Fred Frame was impressed enough with the car to purchase it from the Gilmore team and made it part of his two car effort. He barnstormed around the country with the futuristic looking Catfish which always drew a crowd. In October Frame set up a three heat match race in Abilene (TX) in which he put George Souders in the car and drove his own Miller powered Duesenberg. The promotion was a huge success as Frame won all three heats over the favored Catfish.

In March of 1933, Frame and Indy entrant Harry Hartz hauled the car back to Muroc intent on beating all of Stubblefield’s Class C world speed records. The Catfish now bore sponsorship from Union 76; the #15 was removed and under the hood snarled a 255 Miller marine engine. With relative ease Hartz broke the records for one kilometer, one mile and ten miles. He then proceeded to shatter the five kilometer record by twelve and one half miles per hour. Not to be outdone, Frame then jumped in the car and smashed the five mile mark by fourteen mph!

The Catfish was absent at Indianapolis that year but returned in 1934 as part of a three car team with Johnny Seymour up. Frame wrecked his car in practice, Rex Mays qualified the Duesenberg twenty third and Seymour just squeaked into show in the final spot. In the Memorial Day Classic the Catfish (now numbered #33) lost the rear end on the twenty second lap.

Meanwhile a closed cockpit Mercedes driven by Italian Rudolf Caracciola (and supported by the Nazi party) had eclipsed all of the Catfish’s land speed records. The car returned to California and became a popular entry on the dirt track circuit. Stubblefield even returned to share in the driving. Eventually Frame sold the car to a Charles Worley.

In 1936 the Catfish reappeared at Indy as “Abel’s Auto Ford Special”. The power plant was a Model B Ford (shown as a Cragar); numbered #52 with Frank McGurk listed as the driver. McGurk out qualified his predecessors and started the race from the twenty second spot but snapped the crankshaft at quarter distance and was scored twenty sixth.

Before the ’37 Classic Worley sold the car to driver Frank Brisko who procured sponsorship from Elgin Piston Pins and renumbered the Catfish #21. The Ford Model B was replaced by a six cylinder boasting 271 c.i. but rookie Duke Nalon couldn’t get her up to speed. Nalon was replaced by veteran Dave Evans who wasn’t able to complete his qualifying run and for the first time, the Catfish failed to make the show. (Interestingly, Wilber Shaw won the race that year in a car sponsored by Gilmore Gasoline and clearly inspired by the Catfish’s aerodynamic styling).

Brisko installed conventional coachwork on the car for 1938 and entered it as a second with Emil Andres driving. The Catfish (with six seasons under its belt) set its fastest qualifying time which by now was only good enough for twenty eighth on the grid. On the forty fifth circuit, a wire wheel collapsed and Andres crashed out. When interviewed at a later date Andres didn’t hide his disdain for the Catfish. He called it “a monstrosity” and accused it of nearly killing him. He then went on to say that the car was totaled at another venue and subsequently scrapped.

When I met Speedway historian Donald Davidson I asked him about the Catfish specifically. He confirmed that the car no longer exists.

If you are a car guy or girl, you probably feel the same way I do-lost! Missing car shows, cruise-ins, and races. This is not about what you see on TV. You can watch races on TV and that is just about the only thing that is getting me through this pandemic crap.

I am talking about going out and entering your hot rod, muscle car or classic in a real live car show or cruise-in. You know, a chance to show off your pride and joy. When I would go to shows I had a chance to talk to people and show what I have done to my car and how we built it. You could go with friends and show your cars together. You can’t with the pandemic crap. You would sit around under the pop-up shade tent and shoot the bull, then walk around the show to see if there is anything new or maybe someone has done something new to their ride. Not with this pandemic crap. I know that there have been cancellations of cruises and shows, but, there have been shows that have been put on with a drive- through theme. You can, at least, see the cars this way.

Locally, the biggest race, the Portland Grand Prix Indy car race was scheduled for September 11-13. They canceled it back in July. I hope the race comes back in 2021 if this plague is over with by then. I was really looking forward to seeing that race.

Some of the local dirt tracks are racing, but with no spectators. You can buy a pit pass and walk through the pits and watch the races from the pit stands. You can at least get your racing fix that way, through the pandemic crap.

In case you have not noticed in the story is I really do not like this pandemic crap. Now, don’t get me wrong, I obey the new rules and I wear a mask faithfully. I appropriately do the social distancing- 6 feet apart. I know it’s a really serious disease and not a hoax and it could be fatal to me if I were to get it. BUT- I don’t have to like this pandemic crap.

One last thing that I really miss is the swap meets that I would go to and participate in. I love walking through swap meets and seeing what people have for sale- cars, car parts, posters, books, clothing. Like I have said before if you are looking for something you could probably find it at a swap meet, whether you are a buyer or seller. You have time to chat, see friends, make a new friend and, again, shoot the bull. Pandemic crap! I guess I am just a car guy and a people person. I like talking to people especially about cars and racing, not pandemic crap! So, let’s get together, mask up, wash your hands (especially after working on your car!), and keep 6 feet apart so we can beat this pandemic crap and get back to the stuff we love!

One of those one day cruise-ins that I try to attend annually is the Cutsforth Cruise-in the park, in Canby Oregon. The park is right in the middle of town, it’s small and people park along both sides of the streets surrounding the park and adjacent blocks. It’s usually held in August so the weather cooperates most years, it’s relaxed and picturesque.

A very small number of promoters and organizers were able to figure out a way to allow their annual show to continue for this year, and we’re lucky they figured it out.

This year of the Chinese Virus, it wasn’t going to happen as usual. They came up with a new plan, new venue, still in Canby, but they moved it to the county fairgrounds and changed it to a “drive thru” show. It worked out pretty well too. I’m not sure how many cars showed up but there were quite a few and from the smiles and friendly conversations I saw and heard it was a success.

Some of our annual events are for charity. Some are for profit and those organizers have relied on that once a year paycheck to get them through the winter months. Still others, like participants, have waited sometime a whole year to be able to show off their latest or newest creation in pursuit of that trophy they wanted to add to their collection of trophies or maybe just get their first trophy.

Others just want to be able to get out and enjoy the summer, friends, looking at cars, swapping parts for the project that’s underway in the garage. The year of 2020 had a different idea!

Hopefully in the coming months we’ll be able to resume planning for 2021 events. At present though the Virus has been winning. I’m hoping that by early spring we might have a vaccine and we can get back to normal. I for one am tired of this lock-down stuff and i’m crossing my fingers that 2021 will be different and some where close to normal.
Photos by Dave Jothen

If you’ve attended an automotive swap meet in the last thirty years, you’ve seen this guy. He stands about five foot nothing, dresses in a navy blue shop coat and wears his hair in a crew cut. Generally he slouches; hands deep in the pockets of his jacket and in front of him are a train of six foot tables. On the table are boxes containing new old stock; carburetors, distributors, starters, generators and what have you.

Lately, there haven’t been too many swap meets but that doesn’t keep Jack Corley from going to work. Five days a week (though he is pushing ninety) he patrols the long aisles of his Gresham warehouse. There are thousands upon thousands of parts here- mostly stuff for older domestics. He doesn’t have to check the computer to know whether or not he has your part. Actually, there is no computer…the inventory list is in his head.

Corley started in parts business working for a Kaiser dealership. As the last Kaiser rolled off the assembly line in 1955; that was just a few years back. He bounced around some; his longest stint was with Niehoff Ignition Company (almost twenty years). He also ventured into auto racing and became a distributor for numerous high performance lines.

Yeah, Corley’s bread and butter is NOS auto parts but if you’ve never been to his warehouse, you owe it to yourself to go. He still owns the Offenhauser Midget he raced in the sixties and the steel bodied ’32 with the Hemi engine he used to terrorize the streets of Portland back in the day. Walking into his warehouse is like stepping into a time machine. There is an extensive assortment of oil cans, race car toys, car club plaques, old calendars, posters, pennants and automotive displays. There are walls in the office covered with framed 8 x 10 racing photos. It is truly one of the most impressive collections of automobilia in the Pacific Northwest.

But don’t forget why you came! Whether you’re restoring a concourse vintage car or scabbing together a rat rod, Jack Corley is your man. Don’t look for him on the Interweb cause of course, he isn’t there. The physical address for his warehouse is: 909 NE Cleveland Ave., Gresham, OR 97030. The phone number for Jack’s Specialty Parts is: (503) 667-1725.

The last supermodified race at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Oregon Oct. 6, 2007

First, I must say that I am getting older and the memory is not what it used to be. This story is written from my memory, my photos, what I saw, what I heard and the Internet. We all know what’s on the Internet is the truth.

This race was advertised as SMRA Supermodified vs. Winged Sprint Cars. There were 14 race cars there. There were five winged sprints cars and nine offset supermodified cars. There were several veteran drivers plus one who seemed to be a very young man. This young man whom I didn’t know his age or his racing experience was Nick Tomlinson. It turns out he was 12 years old at the time of this race, driving a winged 360 sprint car. When I saw him on the track, it looked like he was driving by looking out the side of the car as if he could not see over the hood. He did seem a lot shorter than the other drivers. At the drivers’ meeting, it was determined that he would start in the back of the main event. As the leaders caught up with him, he was to pull off into the pits. That is what I overheard at the drivers’ meeting.

The heat races were excellent with a combo of supers and sprint cars. The main event was all set with SMRA rules that inverted the top eight qualifiers. This put Kyler Barraza, driver of a sprint car, on the pole. This was followed by top west coast super drivers Jim Birges, Troy Regier, Rick Veenstra, Martin McKeefery, Brian Ware among others like top sprint drivers Matt Hein, Andy Alberding, Gary Davis, and bringing up the rear, Nick Tomlinson for a total of 14 starters.

At the start Barraza took off with the rest of the supers and sprints. Battling in the pack, Regier and Veenstra moved up to 2nd and 3rd. On lap 25, Veenstra got loose and went for an off track excursion. There was a yellow flag, Barraza was leading and Regier was second. It was a battle for the lead. I watched Regier making moves on the inside, on the outside, trying his best. By the end of 40 laps, Kyler Barraza was the winner. This was only the fourth time that a sprint car has won this race in 20 years. Kyler was the first driver with a 360 engine to win. After all that great racing, I don’t remember seeing Tomlinson pulling into the pits, but he must have because I didn’t see him at all after the first few laps.

Some people say supermodified racing is dead on the west coast. I don’t think so. A few weeks ago, in Meridian, Idaho, there was the JP Memorial Classic Supermodified Reunion with cars and drivers from several west coast states. I would call that the drop of the green flag, the revival of supermodified racing on the west coast.

As we all know, this year is different than other years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us plan our summers, particularly weekends, around attending car shows or other old car related events. Virtually every show and event this summer has been cancelled primarily because of the inability to comply with social distancing and other health restrictions designed to keep all of us safe.

The City of Coburg (just north of Eugene along I-5) has been holding an annual car show in their city park for the past 27 years. It is one of my favorite shows to attend. They pack about 200 cars into the park and people come to view the cars in droves. They also have a pancake breakfast and maybe the best barbequed chicken lunch of any car show in the area.

Coming up on their 28th show, the folks putting the show on were unwilling to simply cancel the show. So, they put together an alternative plan to hold a cruise rather than the traditional static display type of show. Arrangements were to stage vehicles at a local vineyards a couple of miles north of town. An estimated 200 or more cars showed up. A local DJ played music while drivers and their passengers awaiting the notice to depart for the cruise. Unlike many cruises, this one was not set up for cars to run back and forth on a closed course in a parade type of atmosphere. Bringing crowds together like that obviously makes social distancing impossible. For this event, cars were broken up into groups of about fifty cars and each group was led on the cruise course by a local public servant, either someone from the fire department of the police department. The course was laid out in such a way that it went through every section of the city. It even went over to the other side of I-5 and through the camp ground. Town residents has been advised of the cruise route well in advance. As we cruised, we encountered many, many small groups of friends and/or family watching from sidewalks, front yards and front porches. The format seemed to be very well accepted by the viewers.

The participants in all seemed to be having a great time. There was a lot of visiting back and forth before the cruise and most everyone was smiling. It was a beautiful summer morning and people were anxious to get together with other car people, drive and show off their vehicles. It was almost as if everyone had just let out a huge sigh and said “at last”.

Usually you are required to register to enter a car show, the process this time was much less formal and no entry fees were charged although they did accept donations and it appeared that most drivers were in fact donating. The show historically is a fund raiser for no-profit programs in the city.

Drivers were encouraged to take advantage of local businesses and restaurants upon the conclusion of the cruise. It appeared that most did in fact hang around, many buying lunch and then heading to the city park in small groups to eat and talk cars.

All in all, a very nice event in a very difficult time.