Youtube video finds

[FormulaFox]

There's another Dick Wallen film, 70s Championship Revolution, that fills in most of the gaps he left in the 1970-specific tape. IIRC, Ontario, fall Phoenix, and maybe Sedalia.

Interestingly, when I Google that I can only find a book with that title by Dick Wallen.

Your mention of Ontario reminded me of a couple other Youtube videos, though, and a quick check reveals they have not been linked in this thread previously. The 1970 Ontario 500 and the 1971 Pocono 500:

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Mario's 1970 McNamara isn't as ugly as Robin Miller always made it out to be? The '71 version is certainly a hideous creature, but the original 1970 version while not terribly effective(despite a road course win) is a pretty neat design, IMHO.

[FormulaFox]

So I went ahead and uploaded the 1970 USAC highlights video:

[editor]

... BTW, am I the only one who thinks Mario's 1970 McNamara isn't as ugly as Robin Miller always made it out to be? The '71 version is certainly a hideous creature, but the original 1970 version while not terribly effective(despite a road course win) is a pretty neat design, IMHO.

Though Mario Andretti described the late-arriving McNamaras as being archaic, unsightly and awful to drive, he said he thought the offset T-501 was a better car than tall T-500. Andretti said the McNamara project was too chaotic, too ego ridden, too much of a reach by the Granatellis to come good. Andretti said that after examining a model of the first McNamara champ car he suspected that he was in trouble.

Both Andretti and McNamara employees said that the Granatellis and the constructor battled for control over the design and engineering of the cars. Andretti said this further solidified his belief that the contractual prohibitions that kept the apparently meddlesome Granatellis away from the race team in 1969 were warranted following the parties' forced marriage. The Granatelli-McNamara disagreement would eventually result in litigation over alleged non-payment of bills and help sink the German company. By then, Andretti said he had come to the same conclusion Colin Chapman had reached earlier: The Granatellis were not qualified to operate a race team. Andretti said the constant calamities drove him into the arms of VPJ, a team he had turned down a couple of years earlier because he didn't want to be part of a two-car USAC champ car team. There, Andretti said he repeated many of the same mistakes he made when he was involved with the McNamara project.

Andretti, who said he did not trust McNamara designer Jo Karasek, branded the former Lola junior engineer an impractical dreamer who lacked the vision and the feel necessary to be a successful designer. He said the T-500 chassis had to be revised continually to try to make it race-worthy. The regular switching of engines — turbo Ford, four-cam Ford, Gurney-Eagle pushrod Ford — added confusion. The four distinct versions of the T-500 Andy Granatelli promised the world would be available for Andretti to drive was a promotional flight of fancy, Andretti said. He said he was flummoxed by Karasek's decision to opt for a short wheelbase for his designs and for a suspension layout based on Lola's junior series production cars. Both the T-500 and T-501 suffered from unresolvable understeer, Andretti said.

Another McNamara driver of the period who also said he lost confidence in Karasek was Niki Lauda. Lauda said his distrust in Karasek became so acute that it led him to abandon singleseaters, albeit temporarily.

[happyscrappy-t]

A local news station recently did a short documentary on the track my Dad managed back in the late 60's - '88 when it closed. I know all the folks interviewed, and even crewed years later at another track for the red white and blue Poll - Which team will make it to Homestead? featured in a few shots. I 'grew up' on the history of this track despite it closing when I was 6.

It's not particularly in depth, and targeted at those who know nothing about the track, rather than those of us steeped in the history, but never the less, I thought I'd share:

[PHJIndy]

Kinser's Big Bertha:

THE LEGEND OF BIG BERTHA, WITH KARL KINSER & KEITH FORD - YouTube

I spent many a Saturday nights at the Paragon Speedway. Edd and Belle Shepard, Mike and Sue Johnson, were good friends of mine. I never got to know Keith Ford.
More later

[Jamski]

So I went ahead and uploaded the 1970 USAC highlights video:

Thanks! Coincidentally, I just read an article in MotorSport about that last USAC Dirt Champ race (that counted toward the National Championship. This may be behind a paywall, but MS usually allows a set number of free reads a month, and this is a good one and concerns the 1970 Golden State 100.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...y-ran-off-road

[PHJIndy]

I spent many a Saturday nights at the Paragon Speedway. Edd and Belle Shepard, Mike and Sue Johnson, were good friends of mine. I never got to know Keith Ford.
More later

I saw Steve Kinser and Tony Stewart race at Paragon when they were teenagers. I bench races with most of the old time drivers, Bob Kinser, Allen Barr and Butch Wilkerson to name a few. I watched Big Bertha, but it didn't have as much success at Paragon and Bloomington than it did at Haubstadt. And I saw Sheldon Kinser take his last laps at Paragon, after he made the feature at the Kings Royal, just a couple weeks before his death. He was one tough hombre, as were all of the Kinsers, except one.
One quick story that I always tell is back in 1984 I bought a new car (no make and model) and after the racing was over, it would not start. It only had 5500 miles on it at the time. Some of my friends tried to help me get it started, and mechanics from the pits came over and tried to get it going but it just wasn't going to start. Sue Johnson came over and offered her car for me to drive home. I was shocked! I finally got a ride home with one of the race teams and got home safely. My wife's uncle had a flatbed wrecker and we went back Sunday and picked up that car. We dropped it off at the dealer, of course it was under warranty, and it took them three weeks to figure out the problem before they just replaced the entire electrical system, including harnesses. I took a big loss but I traded that lemon in and never regretted it.
Paragon was home on Saturdays, and some Fridays and Sundays too. The first WoO race I ever saw was at Terre Haute, and after they ran there, they all came to Paragon that night, took the wings off and put on another show. IIRC, Ricky (the) Hood won both at The Action Track and Paragon that day. He owned victory lane at Paragon for a few years.
There's a lot more but my fingers need a rest.

[Michael Ferner]

. And I saw Sheldon Kinser take his last laps at Paragon, after he made the feature at the Kings Royal, just a couple weeks before his death. He was one tough hombre, as were all of the Kinsers, except one.

Just curious...

[Belanger99]

I saw Steve Kinser and Tony Stewart race at Paragon when they were teenagers. I bench races with most of the old time drivers, Bob Kinser, Allen Barr and Butch Wilkerson to name a few. I watched Big Bertha, but it didn't have as much success at Paragon and Bloomington than it did at Haubstadt. And I saw Sheldon Kinser take his last laps at Paragon, after he made the feature at the Kings Royal, just a couple weeks before his death. He was one tough hombre, as were all of the Kinsers, except one.
One quick story that I always tell is back in 1984 I bought a new car (no make and model) and after the racing was over, it would not start. It only had 5500 miles on it at the time. Some of my friends tried to help me get it started, and mechanics from the pits came over and tried to get it going but it just wasn't going to start. Sue Johnson came over and offered her car for me to drive home. I was shocked! I finally got a ride home with one of the race teams and got home safely. My wife's uncle had a flatbed wrecker and we went back Sunday and picked up that car. We dropped it off at the dealer, of course it was under warranty, and it took them three weeks to figure out the problem before they just replaced the entire electrical system, including harnesses. I took a big loss but I traded that lemon in and never regretted it.
Paragon was home on Saturdays, and some Fridays and Sundays too. The first WoO race I ever saw was at Terre Haute, and after they ran there, they all came to Paragon that night, took the wings off and put on another show. IIRC, Ricky (the) Hood won both at The Action Track and Paragon that day. He owned victory lane at Paragon for a few years.
There's a lot more but my fingers need a rest.

I first saw Steve K at Paragon for the 150 lap race they used to run, it was 77 or 78. Steve won (no wing) and was outstanding. I immediately became a fan.

Of note I was right next to Sheldon K at the Hut in 1987, at that time I believe he had a tube in the neck at that time for breathing-and he was getting ready to race. One tough SOB, very underrated as a driver.

[PHJIndy]

Just curious...

Karl's boy, but that's my opinion.

[PHJIndy]

I first saw Steve K at Paragon for the 150 lap race they used to run, it was 77 or 78. Steve won (no wing) and was outstanding. I immediately became a fan.

Of note I was right next to Sheldon K at the Hut in 1987, at that time I believe he had a tube in the neck at that time for breathing-and he was getting ready to race. One tough SOB, very underrated as a driver.

Sheldon's ran hot laps at Paragon, a week or so after making the Kings Royal feature. He loaded up after hot laps and went home. He passed a couple of weeks later. Yes, he was one tough hombre, and very underrated as a real racer.

[FormulaFox]

Though Mario Andretti described the late-arriving McNamaras as being archaic, unsightly and awful to drive, he said he thought the offset T-501 was a better car than tall T-500. Andretti said the McNamara project was too chaotic, too ego ridden, too much of a reach by the Granatellis to come good. Andretti said that after examining a model of the first McNamara champ car he suspected that he was in trouble.

Both Andretti and McNamara employees said that the Granatellis and the constructor battled for control over the design and engineering of the cars. Andretti said this further solidified his belief that the contractual prohibitions that kept the apparently meddlesome Granatellis away from the race team in 1969 were warranted following the parties' forced marriage. The Granatelli-McNamara disagreement would eventually result in litigation over alleged non-payment of bills and help sink the German company. By then, Andretti said he had come to the same conclusion Colin Chapman had reached earlier: The Granatellis were not qualified to operate a race team. Andretti said the constant calamities drove him into the arms of VPJ, a team he had turned down a couple of years earlier because he didn't want to be part of a two-car USAC champ car team. There, Andretti said he repeated many of the same mistakes he made when he was involved with the McNamara project.

Andretti, who said he did not trust McNamara designer Jo Karasek, branded the former Lola junior engineer an impractical dreamer who lacked the vision and the feel necessary to be a successful designer. He said the T-500 chassis had to be revised continually to try to make it race-worthy. The regular switching of engines — turbo Ford, four-cam Ford, Gurney-Eagle pushrod Ford — added confusion. The four distinct versions of the T-500 Andy Granatelli promised the world would be available for Andretti to drive was a promotional flight of fancy, Andretti said. He said he was flummoxed by Karasek's decision to opt for a short wheelbase for his designs and for a suspension layout based on Lola's junior series production cars. Both the T-500 and T-501 suffered from unresolvable understeer, Andretti said.

Another McNamara driver of the period who also said he lost confidence in Karasek was Niki Lauda. Lauda said his distrust in Karasek became so acute that it led him to abandon singleseaters, albeit temporarily.

Don't know of a thread appropriate for this, but since you had provided this writeup I might as well throw this here - Oldracingcars recently got some data and photos(including some that weren't around online before) on the McNamara T500 and T501, including a 1972 rebody of the T500 that is frankly a VERY sharp-looking design, though sadly ineffective:

https://www.oldracingcars.com/mcnamara/t500/

https://www.oldracingcars.com/mcnamara/t501/

[Eric Paddon]

Although the west coast version of the 1996 Las Vegas 500K with the finish has still not surfaced, here is the complete IMS Network radio broadcast which gives us the entire race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BMUJ4-l9NI

[Eric Paddon]

And continuing with these 1996-97 IRL radio broadcast uploads, here's the Disney World 200 radio broadcast. It was briefly on Soundcloud during the pandemic. This version comes from a set of master tape cassettes. Donald Davidson took part in the broadcast, something I don't think he ever did on any non-Indy 500 radio broadcast in this period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQU56uIN-hs

[Eric Paddon]

This just popped up out of the blue. IT's most of (but missing the end) of ABC's coverage of the 1973 Hoosier 100 (the 1976 date is incorrect. It was uploaded by a non-race fan). ABC did this on film after the fact rather than live or same day tape like they did when the race was part of the Championship trail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s-5ZOtHoRU