Newspaper Article dated 10-13-71
Wed., July 6, 1949
AROUND OUR TOWN AND COUNTRY
Some Like 'Em Better
Quite a few people, after sampling the "stock car" races here last week, decided they liked them better than the midget races. Stock cars are just ordinary automobiles. Racing rules prohibit the owners from fixing them up in any special way. In other words - no "souping" to increase their speed and power by means of mechanical alterations. But the drivers have their own ways of getting the most out of them. During the recent race, we got talking to a fellow who had just retired from the game. He had a broken arm and a beginner was working out his car in the race. This retired speedster told us how each of the tires is pumped up to a different pressure to take up the shock. He looked over the field at the start of one race and told just how he would go about winning it. The winner did it just that way, too, running in second gear on the outside of the track until he reached the first turn, then cutting in to freeze out all but the leader and eventually squeezing the leader away from the inside and going on for first money.
Just For Fun
Our racing friend said that stock car racing is an expensive hobby. The participants do it because they like it and for no other reason. Most of them, he said, own used car lots in the cities. After watching the way they hammer their vehicles around the track, you would suppose that the drivers would be afraid to use any tires but the best. However they pick up second-hand ones for two bucks or so. Since they skid the cars, they don't want much tread. In fact, on an asphalt track, the tires have to be completely bald or they will cause the cars to upset. People might have noticed in the race the other night that the Buick kept riding the outer wall. Our friend said that Buicks always performed that way on clay tracks and seldom did much good. On asphalt tracks, they are hard to beat he told us. One stock racer, swinging a little too wide, grazed the fence in front of the grandstands and gave the spectators a chill before bringing his auto under control. Had he broken the rail, all racing would have been stopped until it was replaced, we were advised.
Sat., July 9, 1949
Warsaw Hot Rod Driver Breaks, Ties Records
Freddie Boggs, of Warsaw, was "red hot" in his hot-rod racer over the weekend. The local hot-rod driver captured the limelight Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Sisters Lake and New Paris hot-rod auto racing tracks, respectively. Boggs broke the track record of the Sisters course, near Dowagiac, Mich., with a run of 17.2 seconds, then equalled Dick Morley's New Paris record with a clocking of 17 seconds flat. Morley is from Kalamazoo, Mich.
Wed., July 13, 1949
Warsaw Hot Rod Racer Injured
Fred Boggs Sustains Broken Collarbone
Fred Boggs, outstanding Warsaw hot-rod race driver, suffered a broken collarbone and fractured ribs Tuesday night when his hit-rod racer crashed into a fence on a South Bend track. Boggs, 28, married and the father of two children, is in the Memorial Hospital at South Bend. His condition is not serious. Boggs and his family live west of Warsaw, on State Road 25. Just last weekend, Boggs had broken the track records in his hot-rod racer at the Sisters Lake and New Paris quarter-mile race tracks. Sisters Lake is located near Dowagiac, Mich. His luck appeared to be holding out for him Tuesday night at South Bend when he finished first in one heat (10 laps) and second in another 10-lap race which featured the four fastest cars in the field.
However, in the feature race, a 25-lap affair, his car and hot rod went into a spin while rounding a curve with several other cars. Boggs' car hit the fence, bounced off and turned over. Boggs was not thrown from his racer. His car, No. 66, was badly damaged. Boggs and Perry Bunch, of Columbia City, had built the hot-rod racer, which is said to be a real speed demon. Boggs also has another hot-rod racer, No. 14.
South Bend Crash Photos 11/12/49
1949-1959 Newspaper microfilm research conducted by
Marge Priser, Local Historical Researcher.
Without her hours of work, suggestions, and encouragement, this site would not be complete!!
Thanks Marge!!
