Chevrolet. Devil’s Bowl Speedway,1959

by Johnny Rutherford

My first race was April 5 1959 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Dallas, Texas. Guys in my hot rod club had helped me build a ’32 Chevrolet for dirt-track racing.

We warmed up the car and drove it in the heat race, but mostly we were just watching and learning. We made the feature race but one of the track regulars had trouble, so I asked him if he wanted to drive my car. Clyde Daniels drove my car in the feature until the battery came adrift and bounced on the track ’til it disintegrated. Only the battery posts were still attached to the terminals.

The following week we went back to Devil’s Bowl and as soon as we got there I saw another driver, Billy Jack Casper, walking toward me with something under his arm. “Rutherford,” he said, and took out a brand new pair of Levis, “you owe me a pair of pants!” He must have been following behind Daniels and showed me that the battery acid had made holes in his new jeans just like a shotgun blast.”