..............UPDATED 03-12-2008..... added forsale page link........... Check it out!!........................

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The Home of the 

Thanks for visiting our humble website! 

Dan Franks here,  half of the B.R.T.  I have been at my hardware engineering job a little over four years.  Fancy term for a geek who replaces computer hardware!  

The other half of B.R.T. is my oldest son, Jeremy.  He is a computer programmer for a large company in Omaha.  Anytime you are in the Omaha area, give us a jingle via e-mail.  race_66@yahoo.com We'd love to get together and bench race something!

My youngest daughter Anissa,  is a good little helper and sometimes serves as my pit crew.  She is willing, although  much too petite to help with the heavy work.

My youngest boy Chance, has a similar problem.  He is an eager little helper but too young to get into the pits.  He will be a good pit man someday!   Here he is with a few friends.

Chance has good instincts!!

We have made some additions to the racecar line-up at Backyard Racing.  I recently bought the 34M  B-Mod from Bob Matson that raced at Blackbird Bend in Onawa, Iowa.  Here it is in racing action..

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It has new skins on it since these pics were taken and looks a little better.

The "NEW" Backyard Racing Shop 

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Race Cars and Parts for Sale

We finally have the new shop.  It is 30 miles away, but we own it.  No longer do we rent ANY space!  This puppy is big!  At 5100 square feet, it's more than three times the space we had before.  No adjoining renters or parking issues to bother with. The shop will house all  of our stockcars.  The 00,  the "new" 66, the model "A", and the '70 Chevelle (Sunset car).  It will also be home to my '41 sedan and '47 pickup projects. 

Here are some interior pics  of our shop, taking a pic in there is like photographing a cave!

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The deuce is traded off, the 64 Chevelle is Dave Kaut's now,

Having a dedicated shop to work on the cars has helped. We finally have some overhead space, the ceiling is about 12 feet up. Working out of our backyards for years really sucked!! That is where the BACKYARD RACING name came from by the way.

Jeremy bought the 11M car from Rocky Fagen.  It is a 46 Ford coupe.  He swapped in a 327 and we may paint our coupes to match. 

 ronk67.jpg (14191 bytes)Here it is in 1967 at Playland Speedway in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was built and raced by Don Ronk. Rex Baller,  John Ferguson, Paula Bonney and Rocky Fagen all raced this car. More Pictures are coming soon! This car has been raced for over a 25 year span.

 

 Here she sits on the dead-end stretch of blacktop in front of our old shop. "Old Blue" was reborn as the  "Devil Woman"  named after Marty Robbins coupe that he raced in the Nashville area in the late '60's and early '70's.

The Devil Woman on her first date at US 30 Speedway in Columbus, Ne. in 1999.

She had a slight fuel supply problem. She was very fast, starting at the back of the heat, she went right to the lead ....for a few laps. The engine kept dying and restarting, dying and restarting.... you get the picture. I had to leave the race.

 

Skinny Kid Grampa work on car.. We tried a few things and got her to Webster City Iowa for the 1999 Vintage Reunion there. She ran real hard. We climbed to 4th and the power steering died, I started going backward and came in 8th out of 24 cars. I finally bought the video tape. I have a photos page with Webster City pics from 1999. Look for your favorite car there. I may have of photo of it.

 

Out front, winning the heat at the 1999 Abe Lincoln Memorial.We raced at the US 30 Speedway in the "Abe" Lincoln Memorial 9-25-99. We won our heat and the trophy dash before missing the "A" feature with a flat tire. It was still a good night. I had never won a trophy dash before. What a thrill!! The folks at U.S. 30 are very good to GOTRA. We would like to thank them for a wonderful season and can't wait to return each season.

The Devil Woman, out front again, winning the trophy dashShe has a winters aluminum wide-5 quick-change rear, rear disk brakes (front are still coming) and a 3 speed transmission. "Old Blue " was originally raced with the "Nostalgia Stock Car Racing Association". It was set up with coil overs, pull bar and other no-no's, and had to be removed for GOTRA rules. I have taken a ton of pictures during the process of rebuilding this car.

some are here. (more coming).

 

Here's a recent picture of the 00 car.  Taken after a bath, summer 2001 

Click on her for a HUGE picture

This is a HUGE image!!!

 

Sold this 32.....

 The duece posing with my son chance (9years old) deuce01.jpg (34404 bytes) deuce02.jpg (31166 bytes) deuce03.jpg (34643 bytes) deuce04.jpg (40765 bytes) deuce05.jpg (30428 bytes) deuce06.jpg (31662 bytes)

She needs a little work!!

Here's the  early Chevelle (64 I think), that raced at Playland Speedway by Roy Foote.   I found parked along a gravel road where it sat for over 28 years.  We washed two inches of rotting leaves off the body.

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Yeah, she's a little rough.  I sold her to Big Dave Kaut.  He is restoring her for vintage racing.  

If you're keeping track, (wifey sure is!) I have a '46 coupe,  the '70  Chevelle Sunset Car (no pics yet) and the remains of the Model A.  Oh and an old supermod or more likely "hoo-doo" car. No pics of it yet either.  

My first sweetheart... Car #1

 Sure was purdy!  

Car #1, was a 1931 Model A Coupe, powered by a stone stock Chevy 327 with a 500 cfm Holley 2-bbl carb. It had a Ford 9-inch 4.56:1 rear and 4-speed. Unfortunately I crashed the coupe in '97 at Thunderlake Raceway, and it is currently slated for re-construction. All that remains is the shell, stashed in the new shop, a frame I picked up along the way, a seat, and enough miscellaneous parts to piece most of it together.

 

Sitting in the driveway at home.Building a car right can take a long time, we hoped to have it back in 1999. Hey, that rhymes!.... Of course it still hasn't happened.

 

DAN'S COUPE PAGE...   ....Pics of my Model "A" before and after crashing it.

Backyard Racing Team  NEEDS SPONSORS!! ----  IF you would like to sponsor a car that thousands of people see in a three or four state area (see the GOTRA schedule page), then this is it! These cars are very popular and kids love them. Backyard Racing takes part in car shows as well as an ever growing race schedule. Your sponsorship will help us attend more races. In return, we'll build your  website, help you through the entire process of becoming a DOT Com business. In addition, if you are local, Backyard Racing would love to do  appearances at your event or place of business!! Contact Dan Franks via e-mail at race66@gotra.com. Let's talk about what Backyard Racing can do for you!!

SUPPORT BACKYARD RACING.... Members of GOTRA, the Good Ol' Time Racing Association is a group of good ol' racers dedicated to preserving and racing vintage dirt track race cars.

Links:

Back to the GOTRA Page

  Jeremy's 66 Car Build Page ....Build pics of the old 66 car, see what we did to get her race ready.

Click here to see racing pics of the Backyard Racing Team (more coming) 

Webster City 1999  pics from Webster City..

Webster City 2003  pics from Webster City..

"Devil Woman" Build Page ....Build pics of the 00 car, and the 89 car.

DAN'S TOYS PAGE....Pics of some of my toys, past and present...Check it out!!(more pics coming as I find and scan them).

 Coupe Setup Page ....Setup info, basically..

Backyard Racing Photos ....Pics of Backyard Racing team on the track.

PLAYLAND SPEEDWAY PAGE....Dedicated to PLAYLAND SPEEDWAY, Council Bluffs, Iowa and the racers who raced there. Working on some more material for this page, more old racing stuff!!

"Devil Woman" ....Pic of the original "Devil Woman" race car. Owned and driven by the late Marty Robbins.

Racecars For Sale Page ....Click here to see our "CARS FOR SALE" Page. There are a few for sale here. E-mail me for the most current info.

Setup Tips Page ....More setup info, oriented toward modified or late model ..

Racecar Photos Page ....Friends of GOTRA, Pics of cars from around the country.

Dad's story in words and pictures....My Dad (and best buddy), Al Franks passed away at about 3 pm CST, March 8, 2001. A diary of sorts is here.

Canadian Motor Racing Historical Society ....The content of this page was provided by Don "Speedy" Smith, who passed away on March 20,1999. He will be missed by family, friends and race fans alike. This page is my memorial to him.

Have you ever been at a swap meet and wondered which shocks you should buy? Or what part number is used for which corner of the car? Check out the setup page.

Click here for Coupe Setup info!!!.

Click here to see our race schedule.

 

 

 

© Copyright by Dan Franks www.playlandspeedway.com 1999-2006.
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