One of my old "Jobs"....
Posted 04-07-2009 at 10:46 AM by FFighter_21
I was surfing the internet the other day, looking for pics that I could possibly find of cars that I may have worked on at one time. I was a welder/ fabricator at a local establishment called, "Mike Kase Race Cars". The man was a very enterprising individual. His grandfather invented a patented solder and he inherited the business. It was called Kapp Alloy. That made him financially secure. I met him when he became interested in the local sprint car scene, and I was helping a local guy w/his race car. We talked, and he hired me to help him w/his side business, building race car chassis.
He had built his own cars for years, and at one time had the NHRA record holding "Worlds Fastest Funny Car". The Amazing Speed Racer. There were pics of this car in my signature for awhile, and more than likely will rear it's ugly head again several times in the future.
He never did anything half way, and had a vision of a sprint car w/a Hemi engine in it. BUT, that is for another tale some other day.
Before that part of my life, I lettered signs and race cars. So, back to the subject of this, "blog".
I was looking for pics, and a name of a local driver came to mind, and I Googled his name.There were a few entry's that came up, but all were text, except for this one. It had this pic....
This was my first attempt at painting and lettering a race car. Man, looking back at it, it sure is dated. But at the time, it was cutting edge. All of the cars that ran in California in the CRA at Ascot and in Arizona at Manzanita ran what back in the day were called "California Paint Jobs". LOL! It looks like a I stood back and threw color at it and whatever stuck stayed on there. It really brings back the memories though. It was a box Laverne Nance car, and up until then, all of his cars that he helped guys w/were white w/red and black numbers and letters and a red pin stripe.
I think that may be where I got my affinity for that color combination, as you have seen me write elsewhere on this forum.
Well, that's a little trip down memory lane, and a glimpse into how I got into racing and why I love sprint cars so much.
If you ever see any pics of George Bischoff in a sprint car #3B grab em' and shoot em' my way. Chances are, I painted and lettered that car!
:top:
He had built his own cars for years, and at one time had the NHRA record holding "Worlds Fastest Funny Car". The Amazing Speed Racer. There were pics of this car in my signature for awhile, and more than likely will rear it's ugly head again several times in the future.
He never did anything half way, and had a vision of a sprint car w/a Hemi engine in it. BUT, that is for another tale some other day.
Before that part of my life, I lettered signs and race cars. So, back to the subject of this, "blog".
I was looking for pics, and a name of a local driver came to mind, and I Googled his name.There were a few entry's that came up, but all were text, except for this one. It had this pic....
This was my first attempt at painting and lettering a race car. Man, looking back at it, it sure is dated. But at the time, it was cutting edge. All of the cars that ran in California in the CRA at Ascot and in Arizona at Manzanita ran what back in the day were called "California Paint Jobs". LOL! It looks like a I stood back and threw color at it and whatever stuck stayed on there. It really brings back the memories though. It was a box Laverne Nance car, and up until then, all of his cars that he helped guys w/were white w/red and black numbers and letters and a red pin stripe.
I think that may be where I got my affinity for that color combination, as you have seen me write elsewhere on this forum.
Well, that's a little trip down memory lane, and a glimpse into how I got into racing and why I love sprint cars so much.
If you ever see any pics of George Bischoff in a sprint car #3B grab em' and shoot em' my way. Chances are, I painted and lettered that car!
:top:
Total Comments 5
Comments
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Nice work Ken.Some of the cars back in the day were Fuggly but hey we didnt know any better.Money was tight back then.Now most cars are a traveling billboard at upwards of 150 mph.
As with all forms of motor racing all sanctioning bodies need to increase there purses.I noticed a lot of tracks have had price increases in ticket prices.I have seen very few who have lowered there prices.Posted 04-07-2009 at 12:43 PM by ronmcc
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Thanks Ron. It is really depressing around here. The sprint fields have shrunk due to low pay-outs, so the tracks are dropping them. They have added a "crate" Late Model Series in their place.
Now at Dave's place, Sharon Speedway, they still run the sprinters, but every other week. They run Late Models (full blown Late Models) the opposite week.Posted 04-08-2009 at 10:20 AM by FFighter_21 
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Thanks ffighter. I love hearing the history of people who have had the opportunity to be involved in a sport we all love so much. It helps to keep it alive!!!Posted 04-08-2009 at 10:40 AM by dkolb - Keep yer eyes peeled then. Between your suggestion, and the pics I have found and the connections I have made for more pics, I am feeling the need to relive the memories, that I had buried since my inability to do them anymore had depressed me. BUT, I am getting back into them again, and am really having a blast. Thanks to you BTW for the little shove I think I needed. I just hope if I start to bore people, they will either not read them, or will tell me (nicely and tactfully, I am a little sensitive about this stuff) and I will curtail my little trips down memory lane, or at least I will quit the sharing of them.Posted 04-08-2009 at 01:21 PM by FFighter_21
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Keep the stories coming FF.Posted 04-08-2009 at 01:51 PM by Bandit33
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