Paving the way with Help

Thank you very much for the great compliment. Yes, I was lucky enough to pave the way, but don’t forget how many people there were that help by opening doors for me. Bob Laidlaw of Laidlaws Harley Davidson was really the first big stepping stone. He was the first to believe in my racing, without him in the beginning there would never have been a Joe Smith. Yes, I also remember the thing about racing cars in the old days. The way it worked was the top Car that day race the top Motorcycle of the day; it was called Top Eliminator of the day. I was in quite a few at that time, won a few too. I used to race “Gene’s Brake Shop” (driver John Bradley) flat head dragster for that Trophy almost every Saturday night at Old Fontana Drag Strip, and you have to go back a long, long, long way to remember that place. I used to have to fire the old Knucklehead on gas, cover the engine with a old blanket so the engine would get hot, pull the blanket up far enough to put some fuel jets in trying to keep the engine hot so it would fire on the nitro, Boy was those the days. One of the other Gentlemen that was a big help later in my career is in the picture I will post with this. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHO IT IS? That his wife and the girl on the left is my wife, Pat.