Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Been looking over the driver list for Knoxville. I don't see the Marty Johnson #81. Kaley Gharst was in it towards last in 2008. He has other plans the way it sounds. Anybody have any information on this team. Are they racing this year? Who is driving?

i'd love to drive that car. randy a gave it sum good runs and they got a motor that seems to run well. is this the same team that randy smith drove for

leave a good name and a legacy behind. then die ;) and 
then cum back to life! now thats living baby! do a 
good dead and help your neighbor. dream as if you live 
forever and live as if you'll die today. always 
remember where you came from. ;)

I remember the Days when it was owned by Terry Taggart and Drove by Jerry Reichert,Jr they were damn near unstoppable in the 80's no matter where they raced.I believe they won the Jackson Speedway and Husets Speedway 410 points titles in the same year in like 87 or 88.

It's the best sprint car team ever to be housed in Webster City Iowa I guarantee that

More weight, more regulation, more similarity in the 
cars.... that will ensure plenty of thrills for years 
to come.  Only the most average talent behind the 
wheel will be needed with such awesome equipment on 
the track!
minthess 8.28.14

all right i remember jerry in that car. i remeber this one thing. it's always had speed and been fast. they were competitive on a short budget and schedule last year. i'm used to that.

leave a good name and a legacy behind. then die ;) and 
then cum back to life! now thats living baby! do a 
good dead and help your neighbor. dream as if you live 
forever and live as if you'll die today. always 
remember where you came from. ;)

I don't have records on Jackson, but Jerry Richert JR's only Huset's championship was 1987. If memory serves me correctly, 1987 was the last year the 410s raced weekly at Jackson.

In 1986, the Jackson Speedway Unlimited Sprint Championship went down to the final point night on August 30th. Marlon Jones was leading Sonny by a mere single point (246-245).

Sonny established a New Track Record of 2:26.00 taking his Heat Race win. Then finished 2nd to Kenny Chapman in the Trophy Dash.

Bobby Houseman won the Feature that night over Richert, Roger Rager, Chapman, Rich Brahmer...Marlon was 3rd in his Heat and finished 9th in the Feature sealing the title for Sonny 281-268.

In 1987, Sonny and that Johnson 81 dominated the Jackson Speedway season winning as many as five straight Features until Jones was the first to break the stronghold on July 25th, the night on the first lap of the Feature after frontstretch contact between Gary DeWall and Rich Brahmer sends Brahmer flipping into the infield and struck among many things was Pit Steward, Roger Diekmann. Diekmann was taken to Jackson Hospital waiting to ride out to Sioux Falls for treatment of his serious injuries.

By the final point night in August, Sonny had not quite wrapped up the title and Jones still had a mathematical chance entering the night, but all Sonny had to do to secure was finish 3rd or better in his Heat (he was 3rd). Jones won the Feature over Todd Mack, Tim Monson, Bobby Houseman, Rich Brahmer...

1988 Was the last season of the Big Iron competing at the Jackson Speedway on a weekly basis. Marlon Jones finally gets his title as Fran Bruns earns the Limited Sprints title. Both men also won titles this first season under Rudins running Huset's.

----

Many memories of the 81, but more recent ones are personal favorites, as in May of '06 at Deer Creek Speedway at the IRA show, Johnson brings Randy Anderson to compete with us as Sonny teamed with the Kouba bunch and the post race was a neat visit as the teams were parked alongside each other and Sonny was impressed with a tool bench-chest in the Johnson trailer he thought he had helped install for Marty possibly twenty some years ago.

Then, Don Droud Jr. making the 2007 National Championship field in a basic primer body paneled black 81. No flash, basic aluminum wings, numbers hand drawn with what looked like chalk on the tail tank. Kinda showed hours of vinyl applications was not necessary for a car to perform well.

That Marty Johnson 81 was a strong fixture in Upper Midwest Racing with some of the best regional drivers for many years. Would be certainly missed this season and I hope he finds success in what ever he does decide to do.

I had a request for photos of Cliff "Woody" Woodward and many of those had him in the 81 car back in the late 70s and early 80s.

You can see the photos in the "Requested Sprints" on http://leejohnson.smugmug.com/

Also are some other requests for Lenard McCarl and Bob Hop