The Venango Museum of Art, Science and Industry has a new exhibit that highlights an industry built on speed, low gas mileage and sheer entertainment - auto racing.
The exhibit, on view from now through October, was created by race fans Bob Graham and George Stroupe. Much of it comes from Graham’s personal collection.
There are some unusual and not well-known entries:
1. Miniature replicas of actual drag cars built by Mike Kase of Seneca are in one case. Kase’s creations, sponsored largely by Quaker State, actually hit the race circuit. His Top Fuel Dragster was the first car to break the 300-mile barrier.
2. A tire in the exhibit is a Goodyear 50th anniversary tire that Tony Stewart used in a NASCAR race at the Indianapolis Speedway.
3. The display includes a rare comic book from 1989 that features Brett Bodine, a Winston Cup driver and owner.
4. One of the more unique entries features photographs and a narrative about Ray Harroun, who won the first Indianapolis 500 race in 1911.
Harroun (1879-1968) decided he didn’t want an auto mechanic to share the car with him, which was standard procedure, and instead used a device he called a rear-view mirror. The newfangled mirror was allowed.
Harroun also used Firestone tires and he called the company to ask what the maximum speed was for them. Told the tires should not be used over 75 miles per hour, Harroun won the Indianapolis race by racing at an average speed of 74.602 miles per hour.
“The rest of the racers were driving at 80 and had to take time to change their tires which took three to five minutes. So he beat them,” Graham said.
After winning the race and pocketing $12,000 in prize money, Harroun never raced again and instead turned his attention to building airplanes.
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