• In Memory • - Legacy Tobacco Documents Library

Remember John Beauchamp ::
(Port II )
If you recall from last month's article . the late John Beauchamp, was definitely a tough man to beat on o
race track. He seemed to enjoy starting at the rear of the pack and delighted in "weeding" his way to the
front, usually in a smooth, but cautious manner . Though there were times when he'd do it, in just a few laps
it seems, to prove he could do it either way .
Al Baker (Kartville), owner of the cars John piloted these couple seasons of dominance, (1966 and the
start of 1967), says "John was easy on equipment . He kept the cars out of trouble, and very seldom complained.
If the car didn't handle quite right in a given night, he'd jut make up for it with his driving ability ." Al
does recall however, a few weeks in a row when John would come in after the race or "hot laps" complaining
of the brakes not working. The crew would check the problem time and time again but could find
nothing. So Al says "We'd just crawl under the car and act like we did some adjusting and John would go
back out and "run like crazy" and do just great, than come in saying it was better, when they actually hadn't
done anything at all . This kept up for quite a while until Al finally crawled in himself, and after a few "hot
laps" was startled to find he didn't have a bit of brake . Definitely making a believer out of him I It seems as
though the brakes weren't foiling until they were heating up after midway through the programs, thus mak .
ing the problem a bit harder to detect . After now brakes were installed all the way around, the rest of the
season turned out to be "a piece of coke . "
Al says "to have a good top racing organization takes a lot of teamwork, people who want to help work
day and night, a fat pocketbook, and more time than mot people hove, or are willing to give . in keeping a
racer going. It never seems to pay off financially, we won big at Peoria that first season, and won consistently
at a couple other tracks and still had a problem meeting expenses . Racing is just a hobby, even for the
'above average' racer, and the sooner they realize it, the more fun they'll have. -
The fun went out of it for Al, John, and crew when in 1967 on the way to a race, an accident with the car
and hauler took the life of their good friend William Brophy, who often accompanied them to the race track .
"We race for the fun of it," said Al . "And after that, the fun was gone and so were we ."
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http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ecb81b00/pdf
Jerry's Pit Sto p
"New and 730 N . College (217) 4MI177
used" Decatur, IL 62522
Race Cars and Parts
e 1970 Mustang For Sale e
Coll Front - Aft Fuel Cell - Quick Change
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2570794