Thanks to pal Don McGinniss, I have this truly cool video to share. What you are going to see is highlights from the early 1960s featuring racers in the IMCA. What’s the IMCA? Only the old active racing sanctioning body in the world. Started in 1915, the IMCA still exists today and is still promoting races. The International Motor Contest Association sanctions races in six states today. Back when this video was made they were running 52 races a year, most of which were at state fair venues and obviously because of that on dirt tracks.
This is the kind of old school sprint car racing that I love to watch. At one point early on in the video there appears to be a guy racing in a cowboy hat. Not a helmet shaped like one, but an actual cowboy hat. Epic.
At this point in racing sprint car drivers are the last of the gunslingers when it comes to running truly insane schedules. They make stock car racers and drag racers look like spoiled kids when it comes to the number of events that they run per year. Racing multiple times a week is not just something they do once in a while, they go like hell for the majority of the year and barely stop to take a breath. Their way of life may be a little more comfortable than these barnstorming maniacs but it is still an amazing thing to think about.
This type of racing was dangerous as hell. You’ll see cars bust up wooden fences, a driver tumble and flop around like a rag doll, and all kinds of moment where the pucker factor exceeds 11. When you spun and were sitting crossways on the track waiting to get t-boned, that could not have been a fun feeling.
Enjoy this awesome look into dirt track history!
