Sunset Speedway - Barrie, Ontario

[RealWing]

I've been invited to have my Superbird pace some laps at the track on Sat Aug 10th (weather permitting). My Superbird used to be the Pace Car back in 1971 and 1972 at this track, so it will be back pacing laps 42 years later.  http://sunsetspeedway.ca/

I've confirmed with the track that other winged cars are welcome and since it is fan appreciation night- all of us can bring our cars onto the track. The fans can come down onto the track to look at the race cars plus the winged cars.
The front gates open at 5PM and we are to park in the parking lot right near the ticket booth.
We will be staying at the Holiday Inn and Conference Centre in Barrie http://www.hibarrie.ca/barrie-hotels/

Hopefully some of you can join me at the track.
Jim

[moparstuart]

    its offical

[Dave Kanofsky]

  its offical

Stu, I see what you did there!

And CONGRAT's to RealWing, that is very cool!

[WINGIN IT]

Awesome , I hope lots of winged things show up 

[RealWing]

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2013/08/07/restored-sunset-speedway-pace-car-back-at-innisfil-track-this-weekend

Several obvious errors in the last section about Superbirds.

[adauto]

Say Hi to Brad for me

[daveco]

Funny, the worst mistakes were in the "Facts" section, neat story anyway and congratulations on a great looking resto effort.

[FJ5WING]

I cant believe I missed this thread!

Congratulations Jim on the invite!  Good luck and have FUN!!! I wish I was local and could attend. I hope you get to talk to some ol timers who remember seeing your car the first time around.

[RealWing]

Had a great night at Sunset Speedway on Saturday. Paced all the races and talked to some people who remembered the car at the track back in '71 and '72. No other wing cars - suspect all gone to the Nats.
This is a photo from last night in front of the finish line - 42 years later!!  More photos and video to follow.

[hemi68charger]

...
This is a photo from last night in front of the finish line - 42 years later!!  More photos and video to follow.

Without dent.... 

Awesome picture and I know you had a BLAST !!!!

[WINGR]

Wow, that had to be such a great time. Wish we could have joined you.

Congrats

WINGR/Steve

[FJ5WING]

Looks AWESOME Jim!!!

Im glad you had a good day!

[billssuperbird]

 

[WINGIN IT]

Had a great night at Sunset Speedway on Saturday. Paced all the races and talked to some people who remembered the car at the track back in '71 and '72. No other wing cars - suspect all gone to the Nats.
This is a photo from last night in front of the finish line - 42 years later!!  More photos and video to follow.

FANTASTIC! or should I say FATNASTIC!   
Can't wait for the additional pics and vid.

Wish I coulda  been there .

[Brads70]

Say Hi to Brad for me

I work at Barrie Speedway not Sunset.    Cool car I remember it at Carlisle 2 years ago, and nice to see you brought it back out! If I remember right there was one Superbird that got damaged by a racecar? A good friend of mine worked at Jackson Motors back in the day and has lots of stories! Drag racing and circle track.

[RealWing]

Say Hi to Brad for me

I work at Barrie Speedway not Sunset.    Cool car I remember it at Carlisle 2 years ago, and nice to see you brought it back out! If I remember right there was one Superbird that got damaged by a racecar? A good friend of mine worked at Jackson Motors back in the day and has lots of stories! Drag racing and circle track.

That was my Superbird that got hit by the race car. As a consequence, I had to find another nose and hood - they were too badly damaged to salvage. Plus when the body shop put the car on the frame alignment rig - the left front frame rail was 1.5" out of alignment!!!
This is the story - by Nate Salter - who unfortunately died  a few weeks ago. I had hoped he could have been at Sunset to see the car again.

The Golden Years of Stock Car Racing in Toronto
1951-1996
by
"Honest" Nate Salter

"Now you Mopar fans will love this one. The pace car that year was supplied by Jackson Motors of Barrie, the Chrysler dealer that Gord Coates managed, and it was an unsold left over 1970 model that they just couldn't get rid of. This leftover was a brand new Plymouth Superbird!!! Originally lime green, with a black vinyl top, the green was sup¬planted by a putrid gold colour to match the Labatts 50 sponsorship of the point fund.

Here is where it gets interesting. There was only one regular Chrysler product running at Sunset, and that was Larry Foubert in his 1969 Dodge Dart. So picture this, there are (2) two Chrysler vehicles in the whole joint that get on the speedway surface.

During one feature event, with the pace car supposedly parked safely in the infield you will never guess who lost control on the 3-4 corner and came spinning into the infield, making major modifications to the front nose and fender of the Superbird. Yep, it was Foubert, and yes Gord Coates was really impressed. (Good thing Tony Lant was not in¬suring that mess eh what?) It took Larry "four barrels" Foubert a longtime to live that one down.

The Dart, by the way, still lives in the hands of Bill Burrows, who is thinking of letting it make a comeback as an IMCA modified. Bill figures it will improve with age."

[Ghoste]

A triumphant return.

[RealWing]

A few more photos

[wingcarenvy]

So cool! Not only is the car rare but a track that hasn't been shut down by yuppies and environazis is even more rare!!

[RealWing]

Video at Sunset Speedway with the Offical Pace Car.
Jim

https://youtu.be/5GoMcVWETE8

[birdsandbees]

Nice Jim... where ya been hiding! 

[odcics2]

last one...

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,134504.0.html

[RealWing]

Nice Jim... where ya been hiding! 

I've been "self isolating" in my garage!!!  Doing a restoration on a '69 Barracuda 340, Formula S fastback. Finished engine assembly and got the body back from the body shop last week, so now I can start the long slow re-assembly process.

[birdsandbees]

NICE... need a thread on that work! 

[RealWing]

Here you go!!
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/threads/1969-barracuda-340-formula-s-restoration.428719/