I finally was able to make it down to Springfield Racers Reunion and I must say I had a real good time meeting and talking to alot of old racers. Here is one car that I will never forget, although this one is a replica, I did have the privledge of racing, a little, with the original car. It was driven by Lester Friebe.
This car was a 1956 Buick and remembering how this car sat so high off of the ground, some of the racers today would not believe how this car got around the track. I can remember this car making some of the well known late model racers look pretty bad, in the late 60's. Lester had his own special way of setting this car up and he sure could make the old purple Buick fly. Maybe he stood out in my mind a little more than some because I was raised thinking that Buick was best as my father and grandfather were Buick people and my first race car was a 54 Buick. I could hardly do more than try to stay out of this mans way when on the track.
I had a hard time staying away from this car. It seemed like the mid 60's all over again. Since this time, I have used purple paint on most of my race cars and if I ever had to pick out my favorite racing legend it would be Lester Friebe as his name and that old purple Buick will be burnt in my mind forever.
If you ever want to see a lot of great old racing photos be sure to attend this show if you can in the future. This picture only shows one of four rows of pictures for people viewing pleasure.
The Rocket 88 Oldsmobile engine was one of the main features along with several Nascar drivers who were signing autographs and there was several inductees to the Ozarks racing pioneers hall of fame. Here is a picture of one of the early 50's Oldsmobile that was on hand.
Here is a nice replica of a 57 Chevy stock car. It was built street legal but certainly brings back alot of memories as there were so many of these on the track in the 60's and 70's. I have not hardly touched base on all of the cars and happenings at this show, so if you get the chance to ever make it down to Spingfield in January don't miss this one. This show was on January 26, 2002.
