✅ SOLVED Old racing pictures found in trash- RACETRAC IDed

[Bigcypresshunter]

I found some old B&W pictures in an old warehouse. I am trying to ID the location and approx. date of racing cars. Does anyone know? One pic is signed by Bill Holland, but I don't know if it is connected to the other pics. The photoshop was in Richmond,Ind.

 

[ole_grisley]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

you have a couple diff types of cars there in the midget series , you have the actual midget and the 1/4 midget the 1/4 had the offenhouser and crosley 4 cyl engine the full midget had the twin cams and lots more horsepower. the car on the trailer in center of field is a 1/4 and the cars on the track look to be full midgets. I remember watching them race in NY as a kid and WOW what a show they put on. that was befor roll cages and all the safty stuff we have today. lots of drivers got killed and injured because of the lack of safty equipment. here is an intersting link to the offenhouser type cars.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offenhauser

 

[Ramitt]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

Interesting thread

 

[mojjax]

Re: Unidentified old pictures

Does anyone know the name of a track in Indiana in the 40's? I would like to? ID before I sell them on e-bay.

They might even be of some use to Indiana MDers. There might be something good under those bleachers!

Here is some pictures from an old magazine I have .
Illiana Motor Speedway , Indiana .

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

Thanks Grisley. I think there are 3 different midget cars pictured.

Cool pics Mojjax.


I have a pile more of these pics but they are packed away in my warehouse somewhere.



Thanks Rammit for the PM. Im sending this whole thread to Palph Pyle's e-mail listied and will post his response.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

A recent midget car monopoly game reminded me of this old thread.



Update: I didnt hear back from the famous photographer from Indiana, Ralph Pyle, who took some of the photographs. I found out Indianapolis native, Leroy Warriner, (in the newsclipping) owned the Indianapolis Speeddrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Warriner but I havent been able to identify the track location in the photographs yet, or if Ralph Pyle himself is in the drivers seat, so Im holding back the green check. Everyone involved is from Indianapolis or nearby so Im pretty sure this is the general location. Thanks for looking.

 

[lennon631]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

First of all, great photo's and thanks for sharing them. I was trying to see if I could find out how much his autograph was worth, I use to collect autographs, and came up empty handed. HOWEVER, I'm putting an ebay link below of someone trying to sell the ticket stub from that 1949 Indy race that you might be interested in. From my days of collecting, items of historical significance paired together will bring you a much higher premium. try to get this stub and selling them together will not only be easier, but more profitable. Just my two cents.....Good Luck! Paul http://compare.ebay.com/like/290518...f9946f9&itemid=290518591451&ff4=263602_304662

 

[clovis97]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

If you need someone to state the obvious again, here I am!

The 8x10 photos you saved from the building were NOT taken at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That track is HUGE, where the track in your photo is small. At ground level, it is pretty hard to see the other side of the track at Indy!

FWIW, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a 2 1/2 mile oval. The one in your pic looks to be a 1/4 mile track, give or take.

You might do some research to see if Pyle ever tried to qualify for the Indy 500. If so, contact Donald Davidson, the historian at the Motor Speedway.

Another possibility is to post them on the nostalgia page at http://www.trackforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?8-Eagle104-s-Nostalgia

Hope this helps.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

If you need someone to state the obvious again, here I am!

The 8x10 photos you saved from the building were NOT taken at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That track is HUGE, where the track in your photo is small. At ground level, it is pretty hard to see the other side of the track at Indy!

I didnt know what Indy looked like in the 40's so I asked without thinking. I concluded they are midget cars but I dont know the track other than its in Indiana and Im not sure who is the driver of car #21 (Pyle or Holland or somebody else) in most of the photos. It was determined that Holland raced midgets (Holland was inducted into the midget racing hall of fame in 2007). I need to dig them out and post some more, maybe a clue. Thanks.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

You might do some research to see if Pyle ever tried to qualify for the Indy 500.

Id like to know if he ever raced midgets and if not, why a famous photographer, like himself, photographed these race cars?

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

I remember watching them race in NY as a kid and WOW what a show they put on. that was befor roll cages and all the safty stuff we have today. lots of drivers got killed and injured because of the lack of safty equipment.

Its no wonder we won WWII. These guys were tough! No rollbars on these cars. Talk about road burn. Here are a couple more of Ralph Pyles pictures. I have a feeling most of these are from the same event. Notice the 30 cent reserved bleacher sign in the background.


(accident pics removed)


I emailed Mr. Pyle again to see if he is interested or can help with the ID..

 

[QUICKSILVER (appletree)]

Re: Unidentified old pictures

Does anyone know the name of a track in Indiana in the 40's? I would like to? ID before I sell them on e-bay.

They might even be of some use to Indiana MDers. There might be something good under those bleachers!

Here is some pictures from an old magazine I have .
Illiana Motor Speedway , Indiana .

LOL! I live a couple miles north of Illiana Speedway! Its on U.S. 30 in Schererville, Indiana and they still race stockcars there!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures

Here is some pictures from an old magazine I have .
Illiana Motor Speedway , Indiana .

Any pictures of midget car racing or photos by Ralph Pyle?

 

[Kenosha Kid]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

PHOTO BY RALPH PYLE
420 SOUTH 9th ST.
RICHMOND, IND.

I wonder if this is the same guy? Ralph Pyle Combat Photographer. He would have had to take these pics between wars. The dates fit and he is from Indiana. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00414/

Sorry if this is a late reply. It has to be the same guy. He was born in Lynn, IN...about 15 miles north of Richmond.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00414/pageturner?ID=pm0001001

He was living at the Clearview Drive address (above), in 1952, per his Bronze Star orders:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00414/pageturner?ID=pm0002001

Plus, he's listed under Indiana Photographers, with the same address.

If it helps dating the photos, his "interest in photography wasn't apparent" until the war:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.00414/pageturner?ID=pm0001001

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

Thanks Kid. Old question. Ive concluded its the same guy but Im trying to figure what event this took place at and who is in car #21 that looks like him. Most of the pictures center around car #21. Did he ever race midgets? His stamp is on the back of the pics.

Im thinking now he was hired for this event after WWII. One picture with the white arrow appears to signify that it was for a newspaper story or magazine. He may have sat in car #21 just for the picture because I cant find anything that he ever raced. (bottom pic from the web) But if its not him in car #21, who is it? I dont think its Bill Holland. Sponsor is Perfect Circle.


I emailed him again to see if hes interested or can help.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

I guess I have the wrong email address. I searched back and it failed in 09 as well.



This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

ralphpyle@XXXXXXX


Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 ralphpyle@xxxxxx...User account is unavailable (state 14).

 

[wallbanger]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

Anyone with interest in Ralph Pyle / Richmond INDIANA racing photos please contact me.

Ronn Berry

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

Anyone with interest in Ralph Pyle / Richmond INDIANA racing photos please contact me.

Ronn Berry

Hello Ronn.

Do you know anything about my photos? Do you collect them?

Can you identify my racetrack? Do you know the man in car #21?

Did Ralph Pyle race Crosley midgets? What was his interest in racing?

 

[wallbanger]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

Did you receive prior message I sent ? I do know.

Ronn

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

I did a little search and I found an interesting website you posted in.

http://www.3widespicturevault.com/front page stuff/3wides_most_wanted.htm

Thats a cool website of people looking for long lost racing pictures..

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Unidentified old pictures- RACE CARS IDed

I received a PM from wallbanger and he was very helpful. Thanks. I had a feeling these pictures had some importance.

He has identified the Midget racetrack in Richmond and some of the drivers. One of the accident pictures (removed)shows a veteran driver of the Indianapolis 500 that was later killed on the infamous "Black Sunday" in 1951. http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...d=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

Ralph Pyle was never a driver, as far as he knows, but photographed 100s of cars and drivers as a profit making enterprise in the mid/late '40s. The driver in car #21 is not Ralph Pyle.

Im going to try and dig them all out of the warehouse and see what else I have got.