[Fot] Memories and losses

[EDWARD BARNARD]

Kas: You were really lucky to have seen a great like Ted Horn race. I can only
listen to my Dad's stories of the drivers we now consider legends. A lot of
them hung out in Gasoline Alley in Passiac N.J. along with the wanna be greats
like Dad. 1948 was the year that Dad attempted to qualify for the 500 but
didn't make it. It was two days after they lost Ted Horn (60 years ago
Friday) that they also lost midget great Johnny Ritter (60 years ago
today)when he was fatally injured while changing a tire on his midget at the
Medford Bowl in Massachusetts. Gasoline Alley was the place to be...Russo,
Eddie "Dutch" Schaffer, Chuck Arnold (not from this list, but I think of him
whenever "our" Chuck posts something), and another guy by the driving name of
Ted Tappett were always around. Dad hung out with Ted Tappett until he started
driving "sporty cars", as Dad refers to them. Everyone on this list has heard
of Ted Tappett by his real name...Phil Walters.
I told the list I would mention a show we had here in Texas a couple of weeks
ago. It was your average weekend car show put on by the City of Irving, except
that the organizer happens to own a '49 Hilligas midget. He invited all of us
midget owners to show their old Champ cars at the show. We had 12 cars; one
3/4 midget, seven midgets, two "big cars" (sprints), and two Indy cars. One of
the midgets was brought up from San Antonio by a guy named Bill Jones, who ran
the Zink Special team at Indy from '53 through '66. The newest car there was a
'61 Indy car owned by a member of CVAR. The car was driven by the likes of
Eddie Sachs, Troy Ruttman, and Mario Andretti. Ray Arnold, son of Indy driver
Chuck Arnold lives here in Weatherford, TX. and brought his midget. We were
visited by three Indy greats that live within an hour of here...Johnny
Rutherford (River Oaks), Jim McElreath (Arlington), and Lloyd Ruby (Witchita
Falls). We were lucky to get Ruby there
 because he went into surgury the next week and will be out of commission for
awhile. All told great stories of the past, Ruby's taking longer with his slow
deep southern drawl. Rutherford related the story, which he has told to
writers before, about how he drove through the fiery crash that took the lifes
of Eddie Sachs and Dave McDonald during the '64 500. Truly made the hair rise
on the back of your neck.
-Ed-