Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

Jack Williams

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

OK, got another one for you guys. I just found this pic.

It shows a '68 Bird, with "Hard Times" on the door. It's in the US Nats winners circle, and the guy is definitely holding a Wally.

Here's the problem. I know that Truman Fields won Stock in '73, in the Hard Times Bird, and Mike McKinney won a couple of years later, in the same car.

But, the car in this pic has different lettering & looks to have a vinyl roof.

So, who is this, and IF he did win the US Nats, what year was it ?

When they have a div 3 race at Indy, do they leave the US Nats winners circle sign up ? If so, I assume this could have been a win at a div race, maybe ?

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

I was thinking mid 80's.The reason being the motion picture guild had a TM on "Oscar" so NHRA had to change it.It took 25+ years for the guild to become aware of it!.Now NHRA calls it a Wally.So fast forward 20 yrs,just before the 50th anniversary at Indy,a guy who was a friend of Wally Parks,Jack Jones who ran a dragster around 1969 files a lawsuit against NHRA.He claims the statue is of him,standing at a track in Socal with his hand holding down a fire mask,gloves on top of a tire,and holding his helmet in the other.He also has the original photo of him that was used for the design.The point was he did not want the term "Wally" to be used on something bearing his resemblance with no compensation.I believe him and NHRA came to some agreement and Wally lives on!! gsa612

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

Thanks,I misremembered his last name.

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

It’s Truman Fields in 1977 at the Nationals. He won C/S class that year. In 76 he sold the car that he won the 73 Nationals to Roy and Mike McKinney. This is the car Truman got in trade from them plus the money for his HT1 Firebird. I currently own the car in the picture





QUOTE=oldskool;581061]OK, got another one for you guys. I just found this pic.

It shows a '68 Bird, with "Hard Times" on the door. It's in the US Nats winners circle, and the guy is definitely holding a Wally.

Here's the problem. I know that Truman Fields won Stock in '73, in the Hard Times Bird, and Mike McKinney won a couple of years later, in the same car.

But, the car in this pic has different lettering & looks to have a vinyl roof.

So, who is this, and IF he did win the US Nats, what year was it ?

When they have a div 3 race at Indy, do they leave the US Nats winners circle sign up ? If so, I assume this could have been a win at a div race, maybe ?[/QUOTE]

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

" It’s Truman Fields in 1977 at the Nationals. He won C/S class that year. In 76 he sold the car that he won the 73 Nationals to Roy and Mike McKinney. This is the car Truman got in trade from them plus the money for his HT1 Firebird. I currently own the car in the picture "

OK, I'm confused. This article clearly states that the car Mike McKinney traded to Truman was BURGANDY. Says Truman got it running quicker than Mike was running in Truman's old car. There are 2 pics of the Burgandy car. There is no mention of a green car with a vinyl top.

So, is the info in this article completely false ?

http://www.risesales.com/pages/Dragr.../t_fields.html

Another question. That is clearly a Wally in his hand, in that winners circle pic. Truman did not win Stock that year at the US Nats. So, in '77, did they also give a Wally to all the class winners, as well as the eliminator winners.

Earlier pics showed a completely different trophy for class winners.

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

I don't know what the did at Indy but I have a wally from winning class at the 1976 Sportsnationals in BG.

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

In the first place, it should be recognized that there is a HUGE difference between a class win and an eliminator win and a corresponding difference between the sizes of the trophies for each. The eliminator trophy is at least twice as big as a class trophy and that doesn't begin to address the differences in payout as well as in earned prestige. In any given year, at any given event, there are literally dozens of class winners, each presented with a traditional small Wally. By contrast, there is only ONE eliminator winner trophy per category, per event and there is no mistaking the difference when they're placed side-by-side. Magazine write-ups and "For Sale" ads sometimes blur the distinction through the misleading usage of terminology such as "Indy Winner" to describe a class win at the U.S. Nationals even though some Class Winner trophies were presented to racers who were the only contestant in a given class. It should be remembered that there are usually seven rounds of sweat, blood, and tears between a class win and eliminator win.

The discussion regarding the timing of the change-over in trophies caused me to take another look at that issue. I have a picture of my car taken in 1975 following class eliminations in front of the "Winternationals" trophy backdrop that includes the car, me, and a "cup" trophy sitting on the ground beside the car. In spite of that, the trophy on my shelf with the tag identifying the 1975 Winternationals Class Winner is a small "Wally." The photography crew placed the "cup" beside the car for the picture but the trophy that I eventually received was the "new" design. It seems that I recall that there had been a late delivery of trophies following the change and they didn't appear for several days. That late delivery probably only occurred at the Winternationals that year but it demonstrates the point that things are not always as they seem.

c

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

Truman won the eleminator in 73 at Indy

In 76 Truman sold the car to Roy McKinney and took a 68 Firebird in trade from them. This became the Hard Times 2 car it was Green with a vinyl top.

In 77 Truman won class (C/S) and lost early in the eleminator

In 77 Mike McKinney won ( B/S ) class and stock eleminator at the US Nationals.

I own the car that Truman took in trade and posted the pictures of the 77 class win with my car now.

The article is wrong that the car was burgundy when Truman received it.

Re: US Nats ? For You Older Guys
 

I can verify the Oscar/Wally thing. I started covering races in the late 1980's and clearly remember the NHRA staff in the media center asking us to use the term "Wally". As I remember, it was a printed notice placed at each desk.


Nothing on the notice mentioned the Hollywood awards, but if you asked off the record, you were told it was due to either a cease and desist or a lawsuit depending on who you talked to.