While Daytona 500 was celebrating the 10th running of "The Great American Race" Vance was entering the race world sponsored by IGA. The International Grocerers Association saw promise in this lankey kid from Lincoln, Nebraska. Vance was using 200 mph tape years before Nascar even thought of using it. (see use of tape at the 'hood' line and around the sleeves on the T-shirt to reduce drag) This car was also lined with a Zebra print towel. I won my first heat but lost in the second round. I think it's because I forgot to tape the dimple on my chin. I did get a trophy for running. The white 1969 Camero, with the orange rally stripes behind me was also the model that was the Indy 500 pace car that year. I also had Rustys #2 as my number. *Again, click on photos to see more detail.
I'm sorry, but that first picture cracked me up when I saw it. At first I thought it was for PINEWOOD Derby -- not Soapbox.
ReplyDeleteAlso, seeing El Vancerino at such a young age is pretty amusing.
RE: "200 mph tape." In the army we had something called "100 mph tape." It was called that because when you set a roll of it down, it would disappear just that quick. It was an Olive Drab color and, these days would be referred to as "Duct Tape."
Hey, I was a good looking chap in those days! FUNNY was not the look I was going for....but I did laugh at my helmet.
ReplyDeleteHell, don't sell yourself short. You're still a handsome devil. Actually, you looked a lot like one of my best childhood friends in NY.
ReplyDeleteSo how old were you here, and how long did you race these things? WHo built it?
ReplyDelete11 years old, 1 season and Julie Bales dad built it for/ with me. It was 1969 and dad was in Viet Nam and my grandpa said he'd buy the kit but wouldn't know how to build one. So, we placed an order at the Chevy dealer and Julies dad, who had built several of these for Julies older brothers, offered to help since dad was of to war.
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