Dave Foote.
Car #55
Although he raced at Playland and Sunset, Dave preferred Playland. He raced very little after Playland shut down. Dave is the nephew of Roy Foote and cousin of Jim Foote (I bought the Playland 64 Chevelle from).
Looks like a mechanical problem!! Another destroyed transmission, Playland ate them like candy. Many racers ran the car in second gear.
Dave also supplied an aerial photo of Playland Speedway.
Here are some more pics from Dave.
Al Franks
Car #89
Al Franks was my Dad.
His first car was a running 1958 Ford donated by Walt Siebert. Walt used to terrorize Beebetown, Iowa with it. Walt would later own and drive his own bronco, ’55 or ’56 Chevy I think.
The 89 car was built by Dad with the help of Kinney Birdsley (welded up the cage), Jerry Baxter and of course his 15 year old son, me!! I tore out the interior and helped with anything I could, including the lettering.
Like the car, the tires were donated. Dad had nearly new tires given to him by a tire supply place. Most were blems or “adjusted” tires. There was one exception, the slick on the right front was bought from Mel Sorensen for $15 (which included the reinforced rim). Dad had $80 in that first car.
He raced at the tail end of 1968 and most of 1969 and a couple of races in 1970. The 89 car was driven by several guys. My uncle, Harold Mass drove her the first night out. He got to start on pole in his heat and went backwards pretty fast.
The next week, it was dad’s turn. He started last in the heat, got fourth and a spot in the “A” feature. He started somewhere in the middle of the pack and pretty much held his own. He rarely went backwards. As car owner, Dad took over driving duties. That was the 89 car’s only “A” feature appearance. It made many “B” and “C” features.
We towed the car to those first races on a tow bar and guess who begged to sit in the car and help with the tight turns?? That’s right. Me. I was in heaven behind that padded steering wheel. I got a little carried away in one turn, we started dragging the front end a bit. Dad had to get out and tell me to “not help so much”.
By the next year we had a homemade trailer, put together by Dad and Bud Siebert at Bud’s farm. I got to go along, although I wasn’t much help. I wish I had pictures of that old trailer, it was pretty innovative and a true tilt trailer.
Me, "helping" Dad. I probably wasn't much help, but he never said so, and never discouraged me.
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