Saturday Night Racer - Hall of Fame MERCED

CAGECAM LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 27	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #22 - 12/05/10 at 10:48am Sam Huff was a true gentleman. He would call my dad some times to have him drive his sportsman. Him and my dad were very good friends. As a kid I would collect aluminum cans and when we would go visit Sam he would buy them from me. Rest in Peace Sam. Cameron Beard
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Dodgerdog LMR God Offline Race to win. Posts: 1093 Douglasville Georgia	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #23 - 12/05/10 at 6:35pm I think the putrid green sportsman might have belonged to Monty Tomlinson....not Wieselmeyer. Long time ago....I was either throwin dirt clods at my little brother, or chasin tail so theres a few details that elude me. lol
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Daryl B

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #24 - 12/06/10 at 9:48am

17t_racer wrote on 12/05/10 at 9:01am:

Daryl B wrote on 11/28/10 at 12:38pm:

Stock car

Bob Terry only won when he ran his 421 CI in place of his legal 389, it took us a awhile to catch on but once we all did he never won another race in the 70's.

Daryl Brightwell

Not true! Bob won over 40 main events in the 70's, over 40 in the 80's and and over 40 in the 90's with 3 track championships.

Dont get me completely wrong, Bob was a gret competitor, my point was in the mid 70's without the 421 he was not on the level the three state champs of the era. we could have won a supermod race with our stock car with a 427 in it rather than a 302.

we all ran where the points took us, if antioch was a double points night, Bob would have no competition at merced cause we would all be at antioch saturday night.

didnt know he went on to the sportsman div, congrats to him on the wins in the 80's and 90's.

I have many memories of all the drivers who made short track history. johny brazil jr tossed me over his car once at watsonville. JD Willis almost killed me when he took the pit board down i was looking at while flying thru the air upside down. he crawled out and said, "is that guy ok?" we were looking eye to eye 10' ft from each other as the pit board went down. a lucky day for me. another night stan hays and I were standing on earth mover tires on turn 3 watching a sportsman race, I told stan "is that a tire?" I looked over to see stan 50 ft back on the ground in what would be a week and a half coma from a tire and rim to the forehead.

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millerlt3 LMR Rookie Offline LET DO THE WILD THANG!! Posts: 13	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #25 - 01/31/11 at 5:45pm Teedy Stoffle Dennis Moonjean Rockin Rod Poor Larry Faulkner Duane Noe
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scottwhitley

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #26 - 02/06/11 at 7:45am

Darren Thomas seems a good fit,Jeannie Mackaby and Jeanette gomes also,I dont know how often #88 Brewer #87 Brewer or #98 blount won but they always seemed in the mix of course to an 8 yr old planada kid i could be biased, i suppose every racing circle is larger than life to the neighborhood kids.if were judging on a curve i guess #89 Stofle would keep alot of folks out.I remember races from 78-81 and never saw any outside of merced just to show how biased i may have been i remember most names from that era but have no recollection of the Brightwells and it sounds as though they did alot of winning.

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Ken_Bonnema

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #27 - 02/07/11 at 12:13pm

Scott,
You're right to a point. Ted Stofle would keep some folks out for a while. But just like any HOF when you have Lott, Montana, Rice, ect in, there are still many deserving folks left to induct. Being this is a Merced HOF, IMHO the first class should be Hometown folks. These would be my first five:
Ted Stofle
Dennis Moomjean
Rod Poor
Vern Willhoite
John Sass
When I think of Merced Speedway, those are the men that I think of first.
Call me a dreamer but how cool would this be? On HOF night the feature race would a " Back to the 60's" 100 lap Open Competition event pitting Sportsman v Hardtops v Early Models v Super Modifieds. Pay $1000.00 to win ( Yes John, I am VERY loose with YOUR money Grin

), qualify the cars, INVERT the field and let the mud fly. Obviously, cars without modern safety equipment could not compete but if the Okie Bowl cars would show up and everyone would get on board there could REALLY be as many as 40 cars in the pits that night. That would mean a C race and a Semi with cars transfering to the back of the 100 lapper. Probably won't happen but what an EVENT it would be.............

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jimbob37 LMR Senior Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 303	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #28 - 02/08/11 at 12:01am Wouldn't it be cool if they brought back the Ted Stofle Memorial race at Merced? That would be awesome!!
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millerlt3 LMR Rookie Offline LET DO THE WILD THANG!! Posts: 13	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #29 - 02/08/11 at 1:57am I think the Teddy Stofle classic race is a must at merced!
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scottwhitley LMR Senior Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 316	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #30 - 02/08/11 at 9:54am that would be great,would it be mods or hobbies?
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jimbob37 LMR Senior Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 303	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #31 - 02/08/11 at 2:26pm Personally, I would like it be the modifieds.
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scottwhitley LMR Senior Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 316	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #32 - 02/08/11 at 4:31pm i agree it should be the feature class just figured hobbies are closer to what he raced,did he race anything other than stock cars?
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Vegas Dustin

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #33 - 03/16/11 at 9:45am

Im gonna jump in and say that back when i was first going to Merced and even when i was running the old scoreboard when i was 9 i couldn't wait to watch what i would like to call the Dirty Dozen. These guys were the true stock car drivers of the time. So keep all these guys in mind when it comes time for there era in the HOF.

Bobby Hogge III
Ray Morgan
Doug McCoun
Dave Byrd
Ed Sans Jr.
Kevin Pylant
Kenny Shepperd
Duane Noe
Dereck Nance
Larry Folkner
Bob Williamson
Steve Hendren

These guys would go at it almost 3 nights a week sometimes and seemed like they enjoyed every minute of it. I know i did. And i know there were others like Chris Shannon, Todd Souza, George stietz, Joe Diaz etc. I remember the racing these guys did that made it fun to be at Merced. Who remembers when Ray Morgans right rear caught fire during the Stoffle race or when morgan pushed Antonetti so far up in turn 1 that he jumped the wall! How about when Dereck Nance took out the flag stand when it was just above the wall!
Just my input from my era at Merced Speedway. I started watching when i was 5 working the scoreboard when i was 9 and didnt leave till i was 19. Got some pretty awesome memories from some of Californias best drivers.

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MikeShepherd LMR God Offline Posts: 769	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #34 - 03/16/11 at 2:08pm Can't forget about Jim Pettit II if your talking about the 80s stock car guys!!! He won the NASCAR national title back in those days
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jimbob37

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #35 - 03/16/11 at 11:26pm

Yes, Jim Pettit is one of the best, and definately should be on the list(especially if one is putting the like of Derek Nance on the list). But Pettit won the Nascar Pacific Regional Championship in 1984(not national), while Doug McCoun won the Regional Championship in 1985 & 1986 and the National Championship in 1985.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whelen_All-American_Series
http://rauzulusstreet.com/racing/nascar/weekly/pacificcoastchamps.htm

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"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something in your life."-Winston Churchill

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Vegas Dustin LMR Rookie Offline Posts: 16 Las Vegas	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #36 - 03/18/11 at 8:01am that was my bust... cant forget Jimmy bringing his car into the pits on his dads flat bed wrecker! definately needs to be on the list.
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CrazyDodgeGuy LMR Rookie Offline Sportmods Rule! Posts: 52	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #37 - 03/18/11 at 3:42pm And Doug Williams too!!!
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fan LMR Rookie Offline Posts: 57	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #38 - 03/18/11 at 10:26pm Johnnie Baptista
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plum5150swife

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #39 - 04/23/13 at 6:53pm

First off I would like to tell you that I dont get on these forms much. But I was googling my uncle and it seems you talk about him often. Unfortunately with much sadness I have to tell you that Vern Willhoite passed away on April 10th. I was trying to do some research to see if anyone had any old pics of him racing at Merced Speedway or Antioch. If you know anyone or know of a link online where I can find some for me to print out that would be great. He was a wonderful man. And he is going to be missed deeply. He was my Uncle on my fathers side. Married to my dad's sister Anne. I also have another uncle but on my mothers side who also raced there alot. Rod Barbour who was married to my mothers sister Irene. Rod also had a brother Tommy Barbour who also raced. I have alot of fond memories as a kid being at the track and in the pits. I hope they keep the "Mr.Dirt"track night at Merced Speedway going. Vern was a legend to many. Im just lucky enough that he was my uncle. He taught me many things. Including how to drive a stick. And he gave me my first car. Glad to know there is still alot of people out there that remember him. And keep his memory alive through stories. Just thought id share those thoughts with you. If you or anyone you know would like to contact me about Vern this is my email address. plum5150swife@gmail.com
Thanks,
Sally

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redbear LMR Member Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 174 Riverbank, Ca	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #40 - 04/23/13 at 7:29pm Is Tom Barbour still around? We raced with him at Chico back in 1982, 83. He was a nice guy.
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plum5150swife LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 3	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #41 - 04/23/13 at 8:17pm Yes Tom is still alive and kickin.
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Missle Motorsports LMR God Offline Sportsman & Modified #57m Posts: 1339 Racecar Ranch, Calif.Foothills	Re: Hall of Fame MERCED Reply #42 - 04/24/13 at 12:01am Sorry for your loss Sally. r.i.p. Vern
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DWilliams

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Re: Hall of Fame MERCED
Reply #43 - 04/24/13 at 9:10pm

My top 5 votes are Jack Oldenhauge Vic Irvan Dennis Moomjean Rod Poor and Teddy Stofle. Teddy is already in the Merced County Hall of Fame. He was inducted after his death in 1981. Next 5 are Ray Elder Ralph Arnold Loyld Beard Jerry Cecil and Timmy Williamson. All old school drivers. Half of these current racers have no idea who I am talking about. Sad to say I started going to Merced Speedway in 1960, and still there. Racing is like a drug, can't kick it.

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