1986-95…the family years

1986 – 8 tracks

Martinsville Speedway is one of my favorite NASCAR tracks. I’ve been there several times. This photo was taken at a 2002 event.

157	Martinsville Speedway	Martinsville	Virginia	United States	April 26, 1986	PO
158	311 Speedway	Madison	North Carolina	United States	April 26, 1986	DO
159	Columbus Motor Speedway	Columbus	Ohio	United States	June 10, 1986	PO
160	Riverside Speedway	Cottage Grove	Oregon	United States	June 28, 1986	DO
161	Oxford Plains Speedway	Oxford	Maine	United States	July 13, 1986	PO
162	Northwest Speedway	Stateline	Idaho	United States	July 26, 1986	PO
163	Warsaw Speedway	Warsaw	Indiana	United States	September 5, 1986	DO
164	Ventura Raceway	Ventura	California	United States	November 21, 1986	DO

1987 – 7 tracks



1987 Ford Custom Van. We hoped to do some trackchasing travel in our van but distances were just too great to cover by the highway.

College roommate Stan Logan frequently joined the family and me on racing trips in Northern California.

165	Oklahoma City Fair Speedway	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	United States	March 22, 1987	DO
166	Crossville Raceway	Crossville	Tennessee	United States	March 25, 1987	DO

We were the guests of American Airlines at the Long Beach Grand Prix. They offered a contest to their guests. Who could pick the winner’s average speed?

We won the contest! First prize was airfare and a week’s hotel in Zurich, Switzerland.

I’ve won several prizes while attending races. This was the best ever by a factor of many.

167	Long Beach Grand Prix	Long Beach	California	United States	April 5, 1987	STREET-RC
168	I-55 Raceways	Pevely	Missouri	United States	April 22, 1987	DO

If you go to Amsterdam’s Red Light district like we did you might not want to take this type of photo.

169	Vermilion County Speedway	Danville	Illinois	United States	June 7, 1987	DO
170	Attala Speedway	Kosciusko	Mississippi	United States	July 25, 1987	DO
171	Metrolina Speedway	Charlotte	North Carolina	United States	October 3, 1987	DO

I was a Darrell Dake fan!

1988 – 6 tracks

I’m a fan and not a race driver. However I have attended race car driving schools and driven in about 10 races.

172	Eagle Raceway	Eagle	Nebraska	United States	June 25, 1988	DO
173	Colorado National Speedway	Erie	Colorado	United States	July 2, 1988	DO
174	Cayuga County Fair Speedway	Weedsport	New York	United States	July 21, 1988	DO
175	Claremont International Raceway	Claremont	New Hampshire	United States	September 3, 1988	PO
176	Bakersfield Speedway	Oildale	California	United States	October 8, 1988	DO
177	Colorado River County Fairgrounds	Blythe	California	United States	November 13, 1988	PO

1989 – 2 tracks



In 1989 we moved to the seaside community of San Clemente, California

178	Hawkeye Downs Speedway	Cedar Rapids	Iowa	United States	June 6, 1989	OUTER-PO
179	Madera Speedway	Madera	California	United States	June 24, 1989	PO
180	Parramatta City Raceway	Granville	New South Wales	Australia	November 17, 1989	DO

1990 -2 tracks



In 1990 I added just two new tracks to my list….but my family and I traveled the world.

181	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Harrisburg	North Carolina	United States	May 27, 1990	OUTER-PO
182	Friendship Speedway	Elkin	North Carolina	United States	May 29, 1990	DO

1991 – 15 tracks

: We’ve never shorted ourselves when it came time to taking vacations.

183 Jax Raceways Jacksonville Florida United States February 8, 1991 DO 184 Thunderbowl Speedway Valdosta Georgia United States February 9, 1991 DO 185 Lake City Speedway Lake City Florida United States February 10, 1991 DO 186 Putnam County Raceway Satsuma Florida United States February 12, 1991 DO 187 Rose Bowl Pasadena California United States March 13, 1991 DO 188 Delta Speedway Stockton California United States May 17, 1991 DO


This was my office building in 1991. Can you see me peeking out from the 11th floor?


This gig paid my trackchasing bills!


189 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway Indiana United States May 26, 1991 PO 190 Petaluma Speedway Petaluma California United States June 8, 1991 DO 191 Plaza Park Raceway Visalia California United States June 14, 1991 DO 192 Calistoga Speedway Calistoga California United States July 6, 1991 DO 193 Penn National Speedway Grantville Pennsylvania United States July 14, 1991 DO 194 Central Jersey Speedway New Egypt New Jersey United States July 17, 1991 PO 195 Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg Pennsylvania United States August 2, 1991 DO




Racers do a lot better with big name sponsors.



196 Richmond International Raceway Richmond Virginia United States September 6, 1991 PO 197 Lake Perris Speedway Perris California United States October 11, 1991 DO


Bobby Unser was the grand marshall on this day at Willow Springs.




198 Willow Springs Raceway Rosamond California United States October 27, 1991 PRC





1992 – 17 tracks







At the beginning of 1992 I was busy coaching son Jim’s (#8) basketball team.

199	Darlington International Speedway	Darlington	South Carolina	United States	March 28, 1992	PO
200	Sumter Rebel Speedway	Sumter	South Carolina	United States	March 28, 1992	DO

Daughter Kristy – Age 15. As the kids grew up I had a little more time for trackchasing.

201	Kil-Kare Speedway	Xenia	Ohio	United States	June 5, 1992	OUTER-PO
202	Portsmouth Raceway Park	Portsmouth	Ohio	United States	June 6, 1992	DO
203	Thirty-Four Raceways	Burlington	Iowa	United States	July 8, 1992	DO
204	Lee County Speedway	Donnellson	Iowa	United States	July 9, 1992	DO
205	Autodrome Rive Sud	Ste-Philippe	Quebec	Canada	July 11, 1992	DO
206	Sanair Super Speedway	Ste-Pie	Quebec	Canada	July 12, 1992	PO
207	Autodrome Granby	Granby	Quebec	Canada	July 13, 1992	DO
208	Portland Speedway	Portland	Oregon	United States	July 17, 1992	PO
209	River City Speedway	St. Helens	Oregon	United States	July 18, 1992	DO
210	Carlsbad Raceway	Carlsbad	California	United States	July 30, 1992	DO
211	Victorville Grandstand Arena	Victorville	California	United States	July 31, 1992	DO
212	Bureau County Raceway	Princeton	Illinois	United States	August 21, 1992	DO
213	LaSalle Speedway	LaSalle	Illinois	United States	August 22, 1992	DO
214	Concord Motor Speedway	Concord	North Carolina	United States	October 3, 1992	PO
215	Thunderbowl Speedway	Tulare	California	United States	October 17, 1992	DO

In the early 90s I hung out with Dick Clark whenever I could.

1993 – 19 tracks

216	Citrus County Speedway	Inverness	Florida	United States	February 6, 1993	PO
217	Charlotte County Speedway	Punta Gorda	Florida	United States	February 8, 1993	PO
218	Antioch Speedway	Antioch	California	United States	April 30, 1993	DO
219	Stockton 99 Speedway	Stockton	California	United States	May 1, 1993	PO
220	Attica Raceway Park	Attica	Ohio	United States	May 21, 1993	DO
221	K-C Raceway	Chillicothe	Ohio	United States	May 22, 1993	DO
222	Big Diamond Raceway	Minersville	Pennsylvania	United States	May 28, 1993	DO
223	Silver Spring Speedway	Mechanicsburg	Pennsylvania	United States	May 29, 1993	DO
224	Twin Cities Speedway	Marysville	California	United States	July 1, 1993	DO
225	Orange County Fairgrounds	Costa Mesa	California	United States	July 10, 1993	DO
226	Pocono International Raceway	Long Pond	Pennsylvania	United States	July 18, 1993	PO
227	Super Eight Speedway	Jasper	Alabama	United States	July 23, 1993	PO
228	Fairgrounds Raceway	Birmingham	Alabama	United States	July 24, 1993	PO

My stepfather got me this program when he went to Talladega in 1972. I didn’t make it there until 1993!

Checkout the race lineup from that day.

229	Talladega Superspeedway	Talladega	Alabama	United States	July 25, 1993	PO
230	Independence Motor Speedway	Independence	Iowa	United States	August 10, 1993	DO
231	Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway	Dubuque	Iowa	United States	August 12, 1993	DO
232	Bloomfield Speedway	Bloomfield	Iowa	United States	August 20, 1993	DO
233	South Bend Motor Speedway	South Bend	Indiana	United States	August 27, 1993	PO
234	Indianapolis Speedrome	Indianapolis	Indiana	United States	September 10, 1993	PO

1994 – 11 tracks

235	Tucson Raceway Park	Tucson	Arizona	United States	April 30, 1994	PO
236	Limaland Speedway	Lima	Ohio	United States	June 3, 1994	DO
237	Duke City Raceway	Albuquerque	New Mexico	United States	June 25, 1994	DO
238	Willamette Speedway	Lebanon	Oregon	United States	July 8, 1994	DO

My brother Mark and I treated my stepfather Bill to a Father’s Day trip to the Belleville Nationals. It was a hot one.

239	Belleville High Banks	Belleville	Kansas	United States	August 4, 1994	DO
240	Penn Can Speedway	Susquehanna	Pennsylvania	United States	August 12, 1994	DO
241	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen	New York	United States	August 14, 1994	PRC

My uncle Ernie Gilkerson raced at Macon back in the 50s and 60s.

242	Macon Speedway	Macon	Illinois	United States	August 19, 1994	DO
243	Quincy Raceway	Quincy	Illinois	United States	August 20, 1994	DO
244	Fayette County Raceway	Brownstown	Illinois	United States	September 2, 1994	DO
245	I.M.I. Raceway	Pearsonville	California	United States	November 27, 1994	DO

With our youngest son Jim turning 16 everyone was driving. Could my full-time trackchasing status be far off?

1995 -22 tracks

246	Tulsa Expo Park	Tulsa	Oklahoma	United States	January 12, 1995	DO
247	Volusia County Speedway West	Barberville	Florida	United States	February 10, 1995	OUTER-DO
248	Columbia Motorsports Park	Lake City	Florida	United States	February 12, 1995	PO
249	Sunrise Valley Raceway	Adelanto	California	United States	April 22, 1995	DO
250	Columbus Speedway	Columbus	Mississippi	United States	May 12, 1995	DO
251	Moulton Raceway	Moulton	Alabama	United States	May 13, 1995	DO
252	Chickasaw Speedway	Okolona	Mississippi	United States	May 14, 1995	DO
253	Spanaway Speedway	Tacoma	Washington	United States	May 19, 1995	PO
254	Wenatchee Valley Raceway	East Wenatchee	Washington	United States	May 20, 1995	PO

Our family has also stayed pretty active. This was our family bike ride down Haleakola in Maui.

255	Sacramento Raceway Park	Sacramento	California	United States	June 16, 1995	DO
256	Ernie Purssell Memorial Speedway	Grass Valley	California	United States	June 17, 1995	DO
257	Barona Speedway	Ramona	California	United States	July 1, 1995	DO
258	Rocky Hill Speedway	Porterville	California	United States	July 8, 1995	DO
259	Deming Speedway	Bellingham	Washington	United States	July 14, 1995	DO
260	Glen Helen Speedway	San Bernardino	California	United States	July 15, 1995	DO
261	Union County Speedway	Liberty	Indiana	United States	July 21, 1995	DO
262	Twin City Raceway	Kenai	Alaska	United States	August 5, 1995	DO
263	Iowa State Fair Speedway	Des Moines	Iowa	United States	August 19, 1995	DO

On a trackchasing trip to New York my Stepfather Bill and I showed up at the Carrier Dome for a football game featuring Syracuse and Minnesota.

I’ve been to my share of little dirt bullrings like this one at the Paradise Speedway (NY). I like them all…at least once.

264	Paradise Speedway	Phelps	New York	United States	September 23, 1995	DO
265	Rolling Wheels Raceway Park	Elbridge	New York	United States	September 24, 1995	DO
266	Cal Expo	Sacramento	California	United States	October 7, 1995	DO
267	Kern County Raceway	Rosamond	California	United States	November 26, 1995	PO

1986-95…the family years

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