Hall of Fame day

[Dave Severson]

This Saturday is a big day for me, my mentor, former business partner, race car driver, and later one of the guys I drove for is being inducted into the Hall of Fame at one of our old haunts, Jackson Speedway, Jackson, Mn.

Last summer Lyle and another friend were restoring a mid-70's vintage circle burner car, and I had the privilege of doing the body and paint. The car will be one of 3 on display this Saturday at the ceremony and later in the infield when the current Saturday night racers push off....

This car's name is "revenge".... A bunch of us raced at area tracks other then our home track, reason being, the guy who managed it was a real ------hmm, well not a nice guy...so we choose to race elsewhere. At the end of the season this track manager always had a "cheaters day", he swore that none of us who had "deserted" his track were good enough to win it....Well, this car did just that!!!! It was built by the late Daryl Dawley (owner), Don Reiners Jr. (driver) and a whole host of volunteer labor and parts in an amazing 33 days from start to finish..... Pushed it off for the first time Saturday afternoon, then Don Jr. won his heat, the Trophy Dash, and the Main in the car on Saturday Night!!!!!!!!.....

The car was sold that winter to some guy's in Iowa who raced it a couple years, then the race car continue to change hands until finally parked and almost forgetten until 3 years ago when a chance meeting between a few old racers brought about it's return to home turf and the restoration. This year we'll make a few shows with the car, and next spring it will be parked in the Hall of Fame and Museum in Knoxville, Ia.

Just thought I would share a bit of racing history from around here. Really great to see the car restored and going to a place where so many people can enjoy it!!!!

[HWORRELL]

I like it !!!!!
We called those super mods around these parts...If ya ever need a driver I know where one is.

[Dave Severson]

Thanks Howard, I'll put you second on the list of potential drivers....wanna guess who's first??????

They were Super Mods around here, too. Last of the class before sprint cars moved in everywhere. This one is all sprint car other then the rectangular tube bottom rail...some of the tracks used this as a rule to keep the sprinters out of the race till the local guys moved up....

The car is probably a bit over-restored..... the fuel tank, kick bars, and bumpers are polishes stainless. Most everything else is as it was, right down to the McGurk front cover and drive. There are a few very unique pieces on the car, but it's as close to the way Dawley built it as possible....

[stovens]

Congrats Dave. It sure came out nice. I remember the article that was posted last summer about your involvement in the restore process. If you feel like painting an old truck let me know!

[Dave Severson]

Thanks Steve... Gonna be a great day, lots of old racer buds, one coming all the way from Corona, Ca. for the festivities. Rumor has it there may be a party Saturday night!!!!!!

PS--the guy from Ca. is Bill Weikauf, he made the original wheels and steering wheel that are still on the car!!!! The rules at that time were written to try to keep some of the big bucks out of Super Mod racing, so it specified the wheels had to be steel. Bill would make up a bunch in the winter, then load up all the wheels and other parts he'd made and come back here in the summer to race!!!! He also brought back the first Hilborn Injection unit, that somehow managed to end up on our car (when the rules specifed carbs) at the Clay County Fair one year.... We won, then got the heck out of town!!!! Never did figure out how that injection got on the car!!!!!

[stovens]

He also brought back the first Hilborn Injection unit, that somehow managed to end up on our car (when the rules specifed carbs) at the Clay County Fair one year.... We won, then got the heck out of town!!!! Never did figure out how that injection got on the car!!!!!

Grerat story!!

[IC2]

....not gonna get that 'beast' dirty are ya!!

[Dave Severson]

....not gonna get that 'beast' dirty are ya!!

Nope, the car is still "dry". Don't even get to hot lap it!!!!!

[Dave Severson]

Just a follow up..

We had a blast!!! Had the old car on display and it drew a crowd all afternoon.... Lyle is now officially a Hall of Fame member. Met up with a lot of old racers that we hadn't seen for years and spent a lot of time catching up. There were two other guys inducted also, knew both of them quite well from back in the old Super Mod days.... Oh yeah, saw a lot of people I thought I knew, but most of them sure did look old!!!!! The "people pic" is a bunch of the guys (and their wives/girlfriends..but not both) that we raced with.

Anyway, a couple pics for ya:

PS--Lyle DeVries, the inductee and co-owner of the car, is the "old dude" holding the plague in the people pic... He's 72 now, and still going strong!!!!!!

Anybody notice the "Honest Charlie" decal on the side panel of the car?????

[Old Coyote]

That's really neat Dave ......... congratulations to all of you ........... that's one really special ride

[Dave Severson]

Thanks Coyote... we're still having a blast showing the car!!! A couple more local shows then I guess it's off to the museum for a couple years... Everywhere we've had the car we draw the old racers and spend the time just chatting about the cars and people that were involved back then....