[Land-speed] non lsr nerf bars( They are at Front & Rear )

[FastmetalBDF at aol.com]

On the question regarding nerf bars, I have always  of heard the handcrafted 
front and rear bumpers on racecars( midgets, sprint  cars, Indy cars, 
especially of the '30s through '60s era, and the modifieds  and supermodifieds ) 
referred to as the Nerf Bars ...... Having been around  oval track racing from 1948 
to 1983, I have also always heard of the  sidebars on any of these racecars 
referred to as Rub Rails, never as nerf bars  if they were the protective ones 
on the on the sides of the car.  For as  far back as I know, the term nerf bar 
also meant the various and  beautifully-crafted homemade bars, some solid 
steel, and some formed from  tubing, was used regarding all Hot Rods that 
displayed these.  Many of  these were works of metalworking art, with all welds 
ground down and the joints  filled in with brass for a one-piece blended look.  
Lots of  guys welded one or more of their initials on( the front one, mostly ),  
and the work involved prior to plating was quite extensive.  Any of us that  
have welded up our own custom headers, complete from flange to collectors 
......  or all the way to the mufflers and exhaust tips on street cars, can really  
appreciate the hours of work needed to ' do it right 'and make them worthy of 
 the racecar or hot rod . Maybe the newer crowd in the pits at oval races  
now call those side rubrails ' nerf bars', but I myself never heard that term  
for those on the car's side, during my time as spectator, railbird, pit  crew, 
and fabricator during five different decades around the oval tracks  in the 
Northeast.   Just my two cents worth here   ~   old guy Bruce here in 
Connecticut, which now only has three active oval tracks  left : Waterford Speedbowl in 
my town, Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford  Springs, and Thompson Speedway 
in Thompson, a 5/8 mile asphalt oval that has  seen some great racing in many 
classes on that oval since BEFORE WWII, and also  the road race course there 
that is also now long-gone like so many other  oval tracks, both asphalt and 
dirt, in New England( and much of America  )   ~   It WAS a Golden Era in auto 
racing, indeed  !!!



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