John Isom photos from 1967-68 Champ Car races

Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Art Pollard in the infield at the 1968 Champ Car race at Hanford Motor Speedway. Note Unser’s heeled dress shoes. (Photo courtesy of John Isom). Drivers’ meeting at the Hanford Speedway Champ Car Race on March 17, 1968.  From left:  Billy Vukovich, Jr., Chuck Hulse, Mario Andretti, Art Pollard, Bobby Unser, &  Unidentified driver.  (Photo courtesy of John Isom). CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER SIZEPiecing together this history of Marchbanks Speedway and Hanford Motor Speedway has been rewarding thanks to the wonderfully detailed memories so many people have shared of the track and the wildly diverse forms of racing there. 

That includes John Isom, who photographed three races at Hanford: the 1967 and the spring and fall 1968 Champ Car races. What’s special about Isom’s photos is they were shot with a Rolleiflex twin-lens 2.8E2 professional camera, utilizing medium format (2-1/4-inch x 2-1/4-inch 120 film. For those who aren’t shutterbugs, the Rolleiflex is a tidy camera with a unique design. 

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Photo of 1951 NASCAR race

For way too long, it was very hard to find information and photos abouty Marchbanks online, which is what inspired me to start this project to begin with.

Thankfully, the world is digging deep and beginning to share stuff on social media. And it was on Facebook that I stumbled upon Marchbank-related posts that help supplement my History of Marchbanks Speedway, aka Hanford Motor Speedway.  

First is this post from A História da Nascar that includes a photo of Danny Weinberg in the 1951 NASCAR Grand National race at the relatively new Marchbanks Stadium track. 

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Video from 1961 NASCAR race

I just ran across this cool video showing "Fireball" Roberts at the 1961 NASCAR Grand National race at Marchbanks. 

The only detail shared by YouTube poster Richard Trivette, Roberts' son-in-law, is that the video is 8 millimeter film with no sound. It shows Glenn 'Fireball' Roberts in the Fresno Pontiac during practice, and later being interviewed by famed broadcaster Chris Economaki. 

The quality isn't great but there are some terrific views from within the infield showing cars shooting down

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