Grant King Race Shop

I went to Indy Saturday night with one of my "saddle pals" that I rode the Cowboy Trail with last summer. The event was held at the Grant King race shop and featured Donald Davidson as the speaker for the evening. I've followed Indy car racing here in Indiana for a long time but I must confess most of my knowledge has been from watching or listening to the race on television or radio. The media never goes into much depth as far as the constructor, owner or crew on the cars so I never knew much about Grant King - still don't as far as that goes - but the shop is a cool place. It's a working shop and a museum combined. It's what I'd have if I hit the lottery. There were quite a few cars on display and they, along with all the equipment and tools were out where you could check everything out up close and personal.

The top photo is of Donald Davidson and John Martin behind a car like I'm planning on building some day. The car appears to be built off the print that I've got. The car is beautiful both in its appearance and in its simplicity. I'm thinking it's well within my range of ability to fabricate. Maybe get the plans out this week and start putting a list of materials together. John Martin, by the way, is an accomplished race car driver and builder and I think he restored it. He said the color is the same as Chevy engine orange.  My buddy Don and I had a nice chat with Mr. Martin. I learned a little something about welding in our short conversation - he built a car that he gas welded together using white coat hangers for filler metal. I've always steered clear of coat hangers due to the excessive amount of carbon they have but he said the white hangers rather than the black ones were the way to go.

The bottom photo is Donald Davidson and the host and owner of Grant King race shops, Bob Throckmorton. The format for the evening was Mr. Throckmorton would toss out a question and then Mr. Davidson would run with it. Quite a bit of what he talked about was his personal history and how he got involved in Indy car racing. Great story and a great story teller.

Very nice night out for both Don and I. Cuzzin Ricky couldn't make it due to illness but he would have loved it. If they have another one of these, he'll have to make sure to attend.