Ss/x

[Chuck Norton]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

Chuck, you sure captured a lot of history in that photo from Harrison County Dragway. Before that 60 Chevy relocated to the louisville,ky. area it was raced by Gregg Luneack in Michigan. It is now owned by Joe Smith somewhere in the northeast. I have lost track of joe in the last few years.The55 wagon was owned by Pat Ryan who later bought the Checkerboard car from Val Hedwoth . The checkerboard car now resides in Hopkinsville, ky. And hasn't been seen at a racetrack in decades. The driver of the 55 wagon in the picture is Shay Smith. After the towing accident and death of one of the Neja brothers, shay drove to California and bought a 57 wagon from the surviving brother. ( sorry I can't recall his first name) . Shay flat towed the car back to Louisville and the car still races two or three times a year , always at the Bowling Green reunion race.The 57 wagon to this day s painted Red with white stripes on the roof. That track, Harrison County Dragway was the first drag strip that I ever went to. On a Sunday afternoon Good Ole Captain Jack asked me if I would like to go watch him race and the rest is ...shall we say history...Ironically one of the first cars that I witnessed going down the track was a 66 nova that belonged to Buddy Hughes....wow chuck, You sure brought back a lot of memories with that one photo. THANKS.......M.J.

The '55 wagon was the one that Pat Ryan bought from Val. Val drove the wagon and a couple of other cars ('55 4-door and '56 2-door wagon) while winning the Division 7 Stock Championship in '71, then switched it to SS/V and won the Super Stock Championship with it in '72. He sold the '55 to Ryan and delivered it to him just after the U.S. Nationals in '72.

c

[Painter]

Pat may have bought the checkerboard car from val, but it was or had been Tim Neja's car. Tim was killed in the towing accident. There were two cars painted almost the same, lettering slightly different. Tim's brother Tom has faithfully restored the other car. It is gorgeous. And yes the other one is resting, i visit it when in Hopkinsville. Made a lot of laps in that old car, saw a lot of win lights. Great ol car.

[Ron Steiner]

I have a complete running '57 265 2bbl if anybody is looking for one. under 1000 miles since rebuild.

[MR DERBY CITY]

OK guys , Thank you all for setting me straight about Ryan purchasing the car from Neja. For those that don't know, Ryan was in a wheelchair and later went on to play Wheelchair basketball. The cars were named Ryan's Express and Ryans Caboose. Robert, the moores 55 was painted brown but Mr. Stevenson would be the one to ask because he is still in contact with the family. My last recollection was the family built a GT Monte Carlo, raced it a little bit and then they vanished from the track. Time sure flys ....M.J.

[Dwight Southerland]

wannapee - Looks like there were 5 Chevrolets and 2 Oldsmobiles in SS/X at the 73 Nats.


I don't remember Jack Mullins ever having a '60 Chevy SS/X car. He raced a 52 and a 54 (maybe 53) Oldsmobile in Stock. The first SS car I remember was the 63 Pontiac sw SS/U. He also did a 63 4dr hardtop Pontiac SS/R for a bit to harass Dwight Cox.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Painter

Pat may have bought the checkerboard car from val, but it was or had been Tim Neja's car. Tim was killed in the towing accident. There were two cars painted almost the same, lettering slightly different. Tim's brother Tom has faithfully restored the other car. It is gorgeous. And yes the other one is resting, i visit it when in Hopkinsville. Made a lot of laps in that old car, saw a lot of win lights. Great ol car.

Mr P , You've got your T's reversed.
Tim is very much alive .He participates in The HAMB Junior stock thread from time to time.

[Painter]

My very sincere apologies to Tim. I never met either and had fogotten which one was killed. The car we have is the one with Tim's name on it and was in Super Stock magazine a long long time ago.

[mtkawboy]

Wasn't there a 60 4 door wagon model that fit into X class with a 283 2 barrel. We ran a 59 283 2 barrel, 4 speed Biscayne in K and later changed to P/S

[MR DERBY CITY]

Mr. Stevenson, my memory is failing..didn't Charley Moores purchase the Checkerboard car from Ryan ? I always thought that Ryan purchased the Checkerboard car from Hedworth ? M.J.

[Chuck Norton]

Originally Posted by MR DERBY CITY

Mr. Stevenson, my memory is failing..didn't Charley Moores purchase the Checkerboard car from Ryan ? I always thought that Ryan purchased the Checkerboard car from Hedworth ? M.J.

MJ, to the best of my knowledge, Val never owned a '55 two-door, Tim's checkerboard car or any other. He had the orange '55 wagon and the matching '55 four-door, and the all-white '56 two-door wagon. Ryan bought the '55 wagon and the Zoelle Brothers ended up with the '56 in Super Stock in 1972. Don't have a clue as to the final fate of the four-door. After the 1972 season, he switched from the Tri-fives to a '65 Malibu 327 SS/NA.