Tom Rients in 1991 won 10 features at Kankakee Speedway, starting the season off by winning 5 or 6 straight with the left front tire way off the ground. Nobody could touch him. First time I ever seen it and back then I was going everywhere. Haven't missed a world since 1978.
Who Actually Pioneered The Lifting of Left Front And All The Rear Steer
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Kankakee started their season before most other tracks in the area in those days and Tom was winning right out of the gate that year. Word traveled fast at the spectacle Tom putting on at Kankakee and we talked to folks that came to triple K mostly to see Tom lift that left front. The stands were much abuzz when ol' Tom got in his rhythm with the left front hanging about a foot off the dirt.Originally posted by 7tracks View PostTom Rients in 1991 won 10 features at Kankakee Speedway, starting the season off by winning 5 or 6 straight with the left front tire way off the ground. Nobody could touch him. First time I ever seen it and back then I was going everywhere. Haven't missed a world since 1978.
Tom Rients may or may not have been the very first to hike the left front but one thing is for sure, he definitely was the first in his part of the country to do it. Much like 7tracks I was attending a lot of dirt late model races in those days both as a spectator and as a crew member and Tommy was the first I ever saw.
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Wasn't that a Bullitt car he ran?Originally posted by 7tracks View PostTom Rients in 1991 won 10 features at Kankakee Speedway, starting the season off by winning 5 or 6 straight with the left front tire way off the ground. Nobody could touch him. First time I ever seen it and back then I was going everywhere. Haven't missed a world since 1978.I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
and I am still alive
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This thread must be about the first Late Model racer who first hyked up the left front. Midwest racing news had pictures of mods in WI. hyking left fronts late 1960 s and early seventies.
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I remember it pretty much the same way.Originally posted by CIRF View PostKankakee started their season before most other tracks in the area in those days and Tom was winning right out of the gate that year. Word traveled fast at the spectacle Tom putting on at Kankakee and we talked to folks that came to triple K mostly to see Tom lift that left front. The stands were much abuzz when ol' Tom got in his rhythm with the left front hanging about a foot off the dirt.
Tom Rients may or may not have been the very first to hike the left front but one thing is for sure, he definitely was the first in his part of the country to do it. Much like 7tracks I was attending a lot of dirt late model races in those days both as a spectator and as a crew member and Tommy was the first I ever saw.
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Now its all about air shocks on the LR. Most cars never really settle down "off the bars" anymore. You can see them in the pits just sitting there and the LR is not settled, the air shocks are applying rebound as they sit there.
Back in the day I can recall a race where every car was carrying the LF around the track yet Bloomer wasnt and he set fast time and won his heat going away. When the announcer asked him about the attitude of his car vs. the others he simply said that these cars have 4 tires for a reason.
I still say he was one of the first to have REALLY long LF shock travel as well
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