US riders of the 30's

[iris123]

Interesting, if off topic

Edgar Elder, the original driver of this 1938 “Farmall Special” Midget, made a name for himself in the early days of circle track racing as a driver, designer and builder. Born in 1923 and hailing from Fresno, California, Elder grew up around racing and was introduced to motorsports early; his father, “Sprouts” Elder, was not only a legendary motorcycle racer but also half of the team that invented the Harley-Davidson “Knucklehead”-derived Drake midget race car engine, paving young Elder’s way into the sport. During Edgar’s formative years, the Fresno area was a hotbed of early circle track racing development, and he would go on to design and build several well-performing midgets while developing his own driving career—one that spanned the West Coast and brought him to some of the more well-known tracks of the Midwest. The days of Edgar’s race car helmsmanship came to an abrupt end, however, after a particularly serious crash at the famed Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles before the track was torn down in 1952. Still, he would go on to make a name and career for himself in the sport as he crewed, designed and built winning midgets, even designing and building a few Indy cars by the early ‘60s. The Farmall Special—named for its warmed-over 123 CI Farmall 4-cylinder and originally driven by Edgar—was campaigned across Northern and Central California from 1938 through the mid-‘60s and possesses a provenance made more historically important because of Edgar’s well-rounded and documented contributions to the golden era of independent circle track racing, USAC and the Indy series.