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Big Car Racing Association & Hall of Fame, LLC BCRA ESTABLISHED 1958, COLORADO SPRINGS CO January-February-March 2017 BCRA Staff. Dave Tyson(Mo) Ray Cunningham(Ks)Boyd Adams(Tx)Bruce Budy(C0)Gerr y Miller(Tx) Tom Davey(Co)Wayne Panter(Tx)Gary Wolfe(Ne) Welcome to the Big Car Racing Association and Hall of team also won two BCRA races in 1972 with Sutcliffe at Fame first Newsletter for 2017. We continue to expand Belleville, and Doniphan, NE. finishing up in the points, while the BCRA web site at bcrasprints.com. We hope everyone also finishing in the top 5 in IMCA. is enjoying the content on line. There have been many In the late 1970's this power team would split up as Van Patten would promote and announce races for National Speedways, a contributors to this project over the last 15 plus years and successor to IMCA while Trostle would win over 40 races in we hope we have given credit to those individuals and 1977 with Doug Wolfgang and winning the Knoxville organizations who have in the past, and continue to share Nationals. information. Pikes Peak and its competitors continue to be an interesting addition to the BCRA history as we go forward. Bios of prospective Inductees are included here. Dan Morgan leads Roy Walker .1958 Dan Morgan. Born in 1931at Pueblo Co, Dan Morgan’s interest in racing was inevitable. Danny’s father John was a Big Car driver in his younger days and partnered with Gene Pacheco. Pikes Peak 1968 Carl Mismach and Pro-Wrestler, Everitt Marshall in Cornbelt Racing building the Melon Bowl and Pueblo Speedway. Dan Dave Van Patten. Owner promoter announcer. Bob Morgan built his first car, a Roadster in 1945 when the Trostle, Builder- formed Cornbelt Racing in the 70’s with IMCA came to Colorado Springs and with a short field drivers Ron Perkins, Dick Sutcliffe and Roger Larson and Morgan was allowed to run. In1948 Dan took over driving won races in the IMCA,BCRA and Super Mods. In the early 1970's a promoter, owner, and former racer, teamed his fathers “Old Ironsides” Midget that was powered by up with an up and coming owner, builder and mechanic. This a”Morganhauser” powerplant. Morgan suffered serious twosome, Bob Trostle and Dave Van Patten, would be known injuries in a ‘53 Midget race at Brush Co and was out of as Cornbelt Racing, and would be a top sprint car team in the competition until 1954 when he raced the AAA stock race 1970's in BCRA, IMCA, and the outlaw ranks. Cornbelt Racing at Pueblo. He crashed the Ford but had it repaired in time had the best of everything outside the cockpit with Bob and for the Mexican Road Race . He ran with the leaders until Dave, and inside with Dick Sutcliffe, Ron Perkins, and Roger a broken axel sidelined him. Carl Mismach was his Larson. traveling pit crew. In 1955 Dan ran Modified Stock cars In IMCA the Cornbelt team won several races, and also the and this year was Danny’s first of nine attempts at Pikes track title at Midwest Speedway with Sutcliffe. The Cornbelt Peak’ driving for Chuck Mauro. Morgan finished 6th in the Stock Cars in ’56 and in 1957, Dan drove the Bill Grover Special to a 6th place behind Finney, Roberts, B. Unser, Paul Klienschmidt, Louis Unser and Charlie Lowderman. In the Sports Car class in 1958 Dan finished 2nd behind Ak Miller and 2nd again in ’66. Later he bought a Shilila, while working in California for Peter DePaolo and Babe Stapp, came to Colorado and won the September BCRA feature at Pueblo, before going to Indiana and USAC. He later sold this car to Burt Blanot. Charlie Gottschalck Born in North Denver in 1936 Charlie was a race fan at In 1973 while pitting for Tommy Rice, Charlie was Lakeside Speedway in Denver. In 1957 he bought a Rail approached by BCRA Secretary Andy Anderson and was chassis with a Hercules engine from Sammy Koutch . It offered a position with the BCRA as Pit Steward, working has been noted that the memory that stands out most of the with Merle Holbrook, A position he held until the demise first season of competition occurred while testing the car. of the BCRA in 1977. Charlie later purchased the Danny A test drive down the street included accidently ramming Morgan Built V-8 60 which he had driven when Weiland a parked Buick and Charlie received a host of tickets owned it, and restored it. Charlie was a competitor with including no title, no headlights, improper brakes, no the CVOR for a number of years and member of the wipers, and in the words of the dramatises, for the color of CVOR since its inception in 1986. gum he was chewing. Forty Year legacy By R. Cunningham In 1977 a youthful Sammy Swindell strapped into the "Bobby Davis Electric" Sprint Car to drive in a two day BCRA show at Erie, Colorado. No one competing that weekend knew that this would be the last time the Colorado based club would race. Over the previous three decades the BCRA had excited fans across a six state area. From dirt to pavement and from the tiniest bull ring in Englewood, to the super fast half mile in Belleville, cars and drivers from across America had come to challenge the competition in one of America's greatest sprint car clubs of the era. And this final weekend would be no exception as Swindell and Bobby Unser Jr. would duel it out in a epic battle that would leave the 21 year old Swindell the last man standing in victory lane. Forty years later the BCRA's legacy is still reverberating throughout open cockpit racing even though the club and most of the men originally involved in it have long since gone to the Golden Speedway in the sky. In 1958 Charlie Brown started driving for Marty Weiland It all starts however with some of the players who were so in his fast V-8 60. He did very well and began traveling prominent back then, and amazingly enough are still just as out of town to compete and won his first trophy dash at relevant today. The before mentioned Swindell 40 years later is Pueblo . In1959 Charlie drove the Jim Steele-Bill Hill still one of the best in sprint car racing. Last summer he made owned V- 8 60 built by Ade Butler, at Englewood the Knoxville Nationals A main. But it was his performance Speedway. Charlie retired from driving in ‘59 when the 42 there the week before where he really shined! The rail birds are car was sold. He continued in racing as a steward for the still talking about that one as he won the Knoxville 360 Colorado Racing Club, as a Pitman for Tommy Rice and Nationals over a stellar field of competitors. Slammin' Sammy also won at Knoxville in 410 competition earlier in the summer an official with the RMMRA until he was transferred with when he was victorious after a last lap pass that gave him his Black and Decker to Phoenix Az. While in Phoenix, 50th win at the Iowa oval all-time! Charlie held similar positions with the Arizona Racing Association midgets. On his return to Colorado, Gottschalck would work with Mitch Miller in the AIMS and SWIMS Midget Associations and was pit steward of the Belleville High Banks Midget Nationals. 2 Swindell 1977 Sammy's son Kevin had also established himself as a top open wheel star over the last decade. His four year reign at the Chili Bowl, 2010-2013 has only been exceeded overall by his father a five time winner of this prestigious event. However a accident at the Knoxville Nationals in 2015 left him with some paralysis. Chris and Junior Parkinson. Fans and family He has gained almost all of the use of his legs back since that The team with sponsorship from Linda Weld, (daughter of the point. But has changed his emphasis to being a owner since late Jerry Weld) and Nina Gennetten, (wife of the late Gene then. Gennetten) have further enhanced the #65 teams legacy as a Speaking of Knoxville and the Nationals, Kansas Cities Ted remembrance to the grand old days of sprint car racing. Nina's Hall built, wrenched, and owned the winning car in 1966 that son Beaver and grandson Ayrton also have become a top race Jay Woodside won both the BCRA and Knoxville Nationals team in the Micro division, and now have a sprint car of their title with that year. Last summer Ted had one of his greatest in own to compete with. Beaver was a top competitor in the open that capacity again as his grand kids Cody Baker and Casey wheel ranks when he was younger as well. Tribble terrorized the dirt tracks around KC in both winged and non winged sprint car action racing for Ted. Ted Hall, Casey Tribble and Cody Baker Ayrton and Steve Gennetten Cody won 9 features at Valley Speedway, 8 in non winged, and Other racing families that were prominent in the BCRA era that 1 in ASCS Winged Warrior action. His sister Casey had a great are still going strong include the Smith Family of Lincoln,NE. season in her own right as she had several top five finishes and the Shapel Family of Wichita, KS. Back in the day the while narrowly losing to Wyatt Burks on the final night of non Smith's had purple #44 Sprint Cars.

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