15th Annual Millers at Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car Event
by Steve Zautke
1/7/2010
There was lots of sun and fun at the fifteenth annual 'Millers at Milwaukee' Indy Car event held at the historic Milwaukee Mile. This event has grown over the last ten plus years as the must see vintage oval event on the summer calendar. The event is hosted by the Harry A. Miller Club, a Wisconsin-based club founded to honor the achievements of the distinguished engine and racecar designer, Harry A. Miller, who grew up in Menomonie, WI.
This year's event held Friday and Saturday, July 10-11, thus far has an uncanny ability to dodge rain. Only a few times has the event been delayed briefly on the opening day due to showers. This year partly cloudy to overcast skies and seasonal temperatures greeted vintage Indy Car fans on Friday and gorgeous sunny skies greeted visitors on Saturday.
This year over 30 cars were present in the pit area at The Mile. Mike Cleary's California-based '32 Studebaker Indianapolis Special, chassis No. E2948 was one of the gems of the event. Cleary found the car via a mis-numbered classified ad back in the 1970's. After many years of restoration, the car participated in the Great American Race and the Monterey Historic Races in the 1980's.
Many consider the 1950's and 1960's the heyday of Indy Car racing and that era was well represented with Dale Mueller's 1953 red Kurtis 3000 Peter Schmidt Special that was originally driven by Chicagoan Pat Flaherty. Mueller who also calls Chicago his home furthermore owns a roadster that was built several years ago by master builder A.J. Watson. Watson recreated his 1956 winner, the desert rose-colored John Zink Special that Flaherty drove to victory at Indianapolis. Richard Dittman brought his 1953 Kurtis 4000 that popular Jack McGrath drove to victory in the 100-miler at The Mile in '53. Also, Phil Reilly's beautiful 1959 Bowes Seal Fast Kurtis-Kraft 500J which was rebuilt by Quin Epperly in 1960 made many laps around the one-mile oval. Many fans at the track remembered Joe Freeman's black Joe Hunt Special, a Wayne Ewing built roadster from 1960 that was driven in the "500" that year by East Coast midget driver, Al Herman.
It was a pleasure seeing the returning cars of Eric Anderson and his 1932 Chrysler Riverside Special, Buz Hahn's trusty 270 c.i. Offy-powered open wheeler along with Lou Natenshon's Detroit Gasket Ford-powered Special. In addition, Dave Thomas and Indy 500 Hall of Famer, A.J. Watson brought their No. 43 Grancor Special recreation and Charles Lawrence's 1935 Miller-Ford recreation added spice to the event.
Many two-man cars of the 1930's were present including the aforementioned, Natenshon Detroit Gasket Spl, and Chuck Davis III 1935 Miller-Ford. Also present was Dana Mecum's Gilmore Sparks-Weirwick that the legendary Rex Mays drove as well as Sam Mann's Chrysler Golden Seal Spl. And David Uihlein's 1931 Indy 500 winning Bowes Seal Fast Special that Louis Schneider drove to victory. Bud Taylor, Dr. Robert Dicks and Charles Jones made many laps in their popular Indy roadsters replicas making many bench racers reminisce about drivers like A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones and Tony Bettenhausen.
However Millers are king at this event, even though the Miller car count was lagging a bit, fans got to see Chuck Davis' beautifully restored front-wheel drive Miller that Pete DePaolo drove as well as the Miller-Ford of 1935. Mr. Uihlein's white 1931 Indianapolis winner accented with black and red trim shares Harry Miller heritage.
Although mechanical woes sidelined Gordon Fuhr's 1938 Miller powered Stevens Indy car, which drew many interested visitors as the car won a race at the Mile in 1947 with Charlie Van Acker driving. Steve Truchan's time-honored cars were also seen at the track. Furthermore, Sam Mann's 1910 Kline White and Joe Freeman's 1915 Duesenberg showed many observers where the Indy Car family tree started.
However the talk of the event was Cass Casmir's unrestored late 1920's sprint car found in Chicago several years ago. Answering an ad for wire wheels in the Chicago Tribune, Casmir saw what appeared to be the remains of an old open wheel car. The family said it belonged to a deceased uncle and a deal was made for Casmir purchasing the lot which included boxes of parts, body panels, etc. At first the plan was to restore the car and tool around with it at vintage events. However once together the car proved to be a rare car just on behalf of its condition. The car wears a fine patina of over 60 years of age but is unrestored and was not modified or altered during or after its life as a Midwestern sprint car. Most likely put away just before WWII, the car with its Fronty DOHC conversion, wires wheels, hand formed body and original interior was the talk of the Meet. The good news is the car is staying as is.
Adding to the event is not only the cars on the track and on pit road, but many notable cars in the paddock and a notable vendor area. David and Tana Salvaggio and Lance Turner brought out their historical midget cars that graced the paddock and vendors such as Greenfield Gallery, Jim Himmelsbach, Greg Kishline and First Turn Productions displayed their wares. Also authors, Gordon E. White, Thomas Saal and Bert B.S. Levy helped add a historical balance to the affair with their entertaining auto racing-themed books.
Many thanks to Lenore Heinzelmann the Club's secretary as well as the Board Members, David Uihlein, Founder/Director and president, Dana Mecum and Directors, Brian Brunkhorst, Herb Lederer and Tom Malloy for their continual guidance and lead in preserving open wheel history.
With the uncertainty of the future of nationally sanctioned racing at the historic Milwaukee Mile in which the grounds are state owned, the Miller Club is expecting to continue the event in 2010.
Update: After positive discussions with the Wisconsin State Fair Board the Club's the 2010 date is set. Come on out in Friday and Saturday, July 9th and 10th, for the 2010 "Miller at Milwaukee" Harry Miller Club event. We're working on making the event bigger and bringing about a truly unique field of cars.
