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DryLakes Hall of Fame Landspeed Historians Sports Fans
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SOCIETY OF LANDSPEED RACING HISTORIANS Newsletter
#29. Websites posting the newsletter are:
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President's Corner: By Jim Miller.
Got this from Doug. He's right. Jim
MILLER...STOKES
HERE. THE DAMN HISTORIANS THING IS DARN NEAR
UNREADABLE...THERE'S
GOT TO BE A FEW PARAGRAPHS AND BREAKS...AS
IT LOOKS NOW MY EYES GLAZE OVER...AND
THERE'S PLENTY OF GOOD STUFF ABOARD. HELP,
STOKES Editor:
My brother has pointed this
out to me, but not the solution. It affects
about 5 % of the readers and I don't know if it's my system or
their's.
At the present I have no time to solve this
problem and both of my computer gurus are on vacation. The only
suggestion that I can give is to go to the
websites and read the newsletters there. The website operators
have a
way of cleaning up what I send to them and
presenting it in a more readable format. Since it is simply a
LONG
email, it baffles me why there are 4 or 5
members who can't seem to read what is sent to them. It is on
my long
list of to-dos though. (If you are using a Imac
then words come through smaller than on a PC - ejr)
Editor's notes:
In case I have forgotten, we want to welcome Dave Seely and Gale
Banks to our group. Back
issues of the Newsletter can be found on the
websites listed above. The purpose of our group is to save our
land speed racing history and heritage. To do that
we must write, caption, record and preserve everything we
know. Please start your biographies and send them
to me to add to the Newsletter.
1)
I think Bret Kepner should be added to the Historians
List. His knowledge of Bonneville Participants is
extensive. Besides, he knows how to
write and speak. He is the organizer of the Kilo Club. The
membership
is very restricted. Glenn
Freudenberger Glenn:
Bret was added to the list. Please let him know that he is
going to receive it. The membership of the
Society is open to everyone. It is not restricted. Why it
seems that
way is that I don't have much time right
now to make calls and find out who wants to join. There are
no dues,
duties or requirements to belong, only a
willingness to receive the newsletter. We don't even
require that some
one be nominated. At a later date the
members may want to organize in a different way and that is
perfectly
fine. We set up the organization in this
fashion in order to make it easy to grow. Many of our
members come
to us after reading the issues in the 6
websites that run our newsletter.
2)
I did, in fact, get off the soapbox and write my
memoirs. It is currently at 5 pages. I need to go over
it
and see if I left anything out.
Once I do that, I will send it to you. Please add Randy
Travis to the mailing
list for the newsletter. Jim isn't
computer literate, but Randy is. Thanks, Bob McMillian
Bob: I added
Jim and Randy Travis to the list.
Please let them know the newsletter is on the way and
that back newsletters
can be found at our kind website
operators. If you don't want to have your biography
listed in the Gone Racin'
by-line, please let me know. Otherwise
I will add it to the Gone Racin' series with you as the
author and myself
as the editor. This allows me to send
out your work to those that are receiving my articles.
Biographies, stories
and articles that are intended ONLY for
society members and not to go into the newsletter or
onto the internet
should be clearly marked in the main
body of the email AND in the Subject box. However, once
your article
is sent to the members, the editor
cannot control others from referring your work on to
their friends. Write
your articles in such a manner that if
it should get out into the public domain, that it is
what you want to say.
3)
I'll send a story about the
Bonneville Northwest Reunion in the next few days. It's
easy to start there
and then I'll add what I remember of my
117 trips to Wendover since 1963. I can't say "to the
Salt"
because there have been times that I
went to Wendover and never made it to the Salt. One time it
rained
when I was at Utah MP 12 on Saturday
night and the meet didn't happen. Another time I went for
an
October meet, arrived, looked all
around town, found no LSR cars, searched out Bill Woffington
and
found out the meet had been canceled
and I wasn't notified. Stayed at the 6 that night and the
next
morning there was 4" of snow in town.
Merry Christmas to all that participate in this history
preserving
site. Glenn Freudenberger
Glenn: We'll look forward to your stories
and Merry Christmas to all the
LSR people in the Northwest.
of the information and NOT publish
anywhere. I think we should all be able to contact one another,
but
I speak from nerve-wracking experience that
dealing with volumes of unwanted, unsolicited and danger-
ous email is time consuming and annoying.
Please continue to “bcc” the newsletters, it is the most
respectful way to share information.
Speedy Regards, "LandSpeed" Louise Ann Noeth Louise:
Will do.
5)
The 2007 Bonneville Speedweek will be on the
National Geographic Channel Tuesday at 4:00 PM.
Evelyn Roth
Editor's notes:
The following story is one that I did on Ak Miller and what I
would like each of you to do on your
own life. It can be longer, shorter or in a
different format just so long as you are happy with your story and
it
gives details of your life in land speed and hot
rodding history.
6) Gone Racin'…With Ak Miller, Story by
Richard Parks, photographs by Roger Rohrdanz
Ak Miller is a legend among racers. Which
means that he doesn't need to embellish his exploits, for we do
that
for him. Ak's done about everything a racer
wants to do. He's raced the dry lakes, Bonneville Salt Flats,
Pike's
Peak Hill Climb and road races in Italy and
Mexico. Elected President of the SCTA (Southern California
Timing
Association) and Vice President of the NHRA
(National Hot Rod Association), and a member of the Dry Lakes
Hall of Fame, Ak has his share and more of auto
racing honors. Yet he is more than just an award winner,
elected
official or quick and speedy racer. It's the
twinkle in his eye, entrancing smile, ready wit and charisma
that gets
you off balance and makes you fair game for
this lively and charming fellow. Stories and tales surround
him, and
grow larger and more complex with the years.
This has given rise to a colloquial expression, "that's Ak",
meaning
a story bunyunesque or too far fetched to be
true. But those who say this are mistaken for he has never had
to
create a tale; he has lived a life many of us
only dream of.
Born Akton Moeller, in Denmark, eighty-one years ago, his family immigrated to Southern California when he
was just a small child. He worked in various
garages as a youth and for Hannah Nixon, in their store in
Whittier,
back in the 1930's. Ak remembers seeing
Richard Nixon studying at the old secretary desk in the store,
and
asking Ak to bring him a candy bar and to "help
yourself as well." RMN was already a practiced politician!
Years later, when visiting the White House as a
member of a racing contingent, Ak found himself teased and
everyone doubted that he had ever known the
President. Nixon strode in and grasped the hand of his old
friend
and said, "Ak, did you bring me a candy bar?"
He followed his brothers, Lawrence (Old Dad) and Zeke, to the dry lakes in the 1930's, and began a love
affair with racing that lasts to this day. He
was a charter member of the Roadrunners, one of the original car
clubs
that absorbed the remnants of the Muroc Timing
Association, and formed it into the storied SCTA, in December
of 1937. Ak raced whatever was available, even
an old derelict model T that was abandoned in the desert. He
would remove the battery after racing the old
heap, and was always surprised to find it still there when he
returned
for the next meet. It didn't set any records,
but it gave his car club valuable points toward the season's
champion-
ship trophy.
Ak had wanted to join the Army Air Corp during WWII, but was transferred to the Army and sent to Europe
to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.
Surrounded, in freezing weather, with no support, he was forced
to fight merely
to stay alive. He came upon a German officer
cooking a steak, cut from the flank of a dying cow, and so over-
come by hunger, one having food and the other
without, that they shot at each other for the food's sake. Ak
was
quicker that day, winning the steak and a
prisoner. He was less fortunate when frostbite ended his war
and sent
him back to England, unsure whether they would
amputate his feet.
Returning from the war, Ak rejoined the SCTA and served as it's President, and with his close friend and fellow
Roadrunner's club member, Wally Parks, served
as Vice President of the newly formed NHRA. But his heart
was in Land Speed Racing and he returned to
Bonneville, where over the years, the Miller/Lufkin/Carr team
set
and reset hundreds of records. In 1953-54,
Miller campaigned a modified T-roadster in the Mexican Road
Race.
Quick on the turns and curves in the mountains,
the little roadster would give up its lead in the
straight-aways, but
still placed 8th in 1953 and 5th in 1954.
Miller left his garage in the 1960's to work for Ford, and run in the Mobil Economy Runs. He was a terror at
the Pike's Peak Hill Climbs, winning nine times
in his class, with Ray Brock as his crew. He and Brock also
competed in and won their class in the 1963
Baja 1000 Road Race. Still working at his garage, this legend
of a
man will stop what he is doing, sit you down,
and regale you with another of his amazing stories, and as I've
said
before, they are all remarkably true. Gone
Racin' is at
Rnparks2@juno.com Editor's notes:
Ak Miller
passed away in 2005.
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Members:
Jonathan Amo, Brett Arena, Henry Astor, Gale Banks, Glen
Barrett, Lee Blaisdell, Warren Bullis,
Gary Carmichael, Jerry Cornelison, G.
Thatcher Darwin, Jack Dolan, Ugo Fadini, Robert Falcon,
Rich Fox,
Glenn Freudenberger, Don Garlits, Bruce
Geisler, Stan Goldstein, Andy Granatelli, Walt
James, Wendy Jeffries,
Ken Kelley, Mike Kelly, Bret Kepner, Kay
Kimes, Jim Lattin, Mary Ann and Jack Lawford, Fred
Lobello,
Dick Martin, Ron Martinez, Tom McIntyre,
Don McMeekin, Bob McMillian, Tom Medley, Jim Miller, Don
Montgomery, Mark Morton, Paula Murphy,
Louise Ann Noeth, David Parks, Richard Parks, Wally
Parks
(in memoriam), Eric Rickman, Willard
Ritchie, Roger Rohrdanz, Evelyn Roth, Ed
Safarik, Frank Salzberg,
Dave Seely, Charles Shaffer, Mike
Stanton, David Steele, Doug Stokes, Bob Storck, Zach
Suhr, Pat Swanson,
Al Teague, JD Tone, Jim Travis, Randy
Travis and Jack Underwood.
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