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This was sent to karnac from Rick Johnson, Austin, Texas
Thought you might like to read it
I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to find this website! I am 56 years old and owe my lifetime interest in stock car racing to the Reutimann family.
In the summer of 1958, I witnessed my very first stock car race. I was 12 years old and was spending my summer vacation from school with my older sister in Tampa. My brother-in-law had an interest in racing, so the first weekend I was there, he took me to Phillips Field, a quarter-mile flat track around the University of Tampa's football field on the Hillsborough River.
I remember the stands were totally full, and as the cars steadily streamed on the track, suddenly the whole place errupted in clapping and applause when a white Chevy coupe with a dark blue top and glittering gold double zero numerals pulled onto the track. A very thin young kid in a royal blue satin shirt was driving this coupe powered by an in-line chrome six cylinder engine. I asked my brother-in-law what was the commotion about? He said "that is Buzzie Reutimann, and he has won several Class B feature races in a row here, and he comes from the back of the field each and every week to do it. And wait until you see how many cars he has to pass!" He was right. I couldn't believe that they could get that many cars on so small and narrow a track.
On the feature parade lap, the pole sitter could see the rear of the back row cars entering the first turn as he crossed the start-finish line. And exactly as my brother said, that wonderful humming in line six ( I can still hear it) steadily made its way to the front and the checkered flag in just 20 Laps, the length of the feature race. He swept that night, winning his heat, the semi-final, and the "B"Feature.
I remember also that almost all the "B" racers had flat-head 8 cylinder Fords, just a hand full of sixes were on hand. But Buzzie's six mowed them all down.
I remember that the most competitive car Buzzie had to deal with was another six, the yellow and back no. 5-D WARGO- sponsored car driven by Dave Scarborough, who did manage a couple of weeks later to break Buzzie's string of wins. The fastest flat-head that night was an orange and blue coupe no. 73U, driven by Otis Brayton. ( It's amazing to me how these details have stuck in my memory all these years since).
But I also need to talk about the Class "A" Modifieds that night. There was another double zero in that division, looking almost exactly like the one Buzzie was driving in Class 'B". It was Buzzie's father, Emil , who we later came to affectionately call "Pappy" Reutimann.
I remember the "A" cars were much faster and louder and had three to six gleaming chrome carbuerator caps on overhead valve V-8's. I also remember that, whereas the most Class "B" cars were flathead Ford powered, the Class "A" cars were mostly Chevy-powered, although I do remember a driver who drove a dark blue coupe no. 30 that my brother-in-law said had a Cadillac engine. I remember he started on the pole alot, but steadily fell backward in the field. I think his last name was Hutchinson. Dick Hope won the feature that night, and I remember a car called the "Purple People Eater" driven by Jimmy Alvis, I believe it was no. 21. He later had his greatest success driving a pretty blue metallic no. 4 coupe.
I also remember Pancho Alverez because he was my nephew's favorite driver. Also, the Flying X car, we called the "road grader", a bright orange chopped Crosley driven by Buzz Barton. Incidentally, this car and others like it later caused a driver split that resulted in the traditional modifieds running at the "SaraMana Speed Bowl"and the new "Sunshine Speedway" in St. Pete. Barton's car, and others like it ,eventually evolved as "Super Modifieds" staying at Phillips Field, but later eventually racing at both the successor at Tampa, Golden Gate Speedway, and the St. Pete track.
Other names I remember that very first night at Phillips Field in Class "A" Modifieds were Johnny and Red Batton, Bill Roynon, Jimmy and Frank Riddle, Dale Alderman, Chet Rutledge, and Phil Diaz.
I remember Jimmy Riddle always wore red bermuda shorts that season, and they really stood out next to his jet black no. 14 when he posed for the camera next to his car. The car also had a black stripe painted in the center of a white hub, and on the Class "A"'s the front tire on the drivers side lifted off the pavement as the cars accelerated out of the turns onto the straight. It was fun to see Jimmy Riddle's "stripe spinner" stop when the wheel lifted off the pavement.
Anyway, that was the first of every Saturday summer night for me at Phillips Field that year and the next. I would do anything........chores, errands, to earn enough money during the school year to spend my summers in the Tampa area and go to those very competitive close races.
Eventually, we left Phillips Field and followed the traditional Modifieds to SaraMana and Sunshine Speedway, and eventually I got to see Wayne Reutiman drive the no. 00 Jr car, and Wayne and Buzzie drive Late Models at Sunshine and Golden Gate, first in 55' Chevies, then '57 Chevies.
I always rooted for all the Reutimanns, but to this day my favorite was Emil "Pappy" Reutimann, who I was able to see win feature races at Phillips and Sunshine Speedway before he retired, and I entered military service during the Viet Nam era. I never returned to Florida to live, but have gone to local race tracks whereever my life's journey has taken me, and it brought tears to my eyes the night I turned on the Speed Channel, and there was a beaming Buzzie in victory lane with his son, David, and the memories flowed back to that summer night in 1958 when this very young kid was showing em all the way arouund the track in that gliitering pristine little 30's Chevy coupe.
God Bless all the Reutimanns , especially "Pappy" Emil in heaven and son Dale, and I hope to see David in victory lane in Winston Cup in the near future, and I hope the sponsor respects the rich racing tradition of this Zephyrhills family, and adopts the white and blue paint scheme, with of course, the glittering double zero number on the car.
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