Sprint Car Circle Original Articles

The author, Darryl Clarke, was a quarter midget driver in the fifties, and a dragster driver in the sixties in a front engine Chrysler powered rail. He was part of the NHRA fuel check crew at the 1964 Winternational Drag races, under the leadership of Dr. Dean Hill, who went on to found H&H Racing Gas. He then became a sports car racer in the seventies, first in formula vee, followed by an under two liter Daren sports-racing car, and an over two liter V/8 powered Genie Can-Am car, and during the winters, he spent several years in "ice Racing" on various frozen lakes in Alaska and Canada.

In 1980, he was the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs champion in the D/ Sports racing class. Also, l980 was his son's first year as a quarter midget driver, which brought him back to his first love. He helped build a track in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, in l980, which is still in operation, just north of Bellingham Washington.

In 1989, he restored a 12 year old Kurtis quarter midget, and built the engine for it, for the Gurtsen family, and Greg Gurtsen drove it to the Grand National Championship in Heavy Stock, against a field of new cars and pro-built engines.

In l995, he came out of retirement yet again, and restored a Stanley quarter midget (1979 vintage) which had been driven when new, by Mike Bliss. During the next four years, the old car was class champion twice, and runner up twice. He stays actively involved in the sport, having been presented with a life-time membership in 1999 by his home club, the Langley Quarter midget Assn, part of Region Nine.