Big Dave Kaut
Car #44

Page 10 of 11 Pages

Welcome to Page Ten  of 

The  Racing Years

By David L. Kaut

1974 Racing

i AM PLANNING ON RACING THE CHEVELLE AT lINCOLN AND THE "57 AT pLAYLAND.  bOTH CARS ARE READY.

IT' is a good year for sponsors:  Jimmy Flynn's tavern- $150, Sutherland Lumber, Lincoln-$350, K&M Contractors-$100, D&M Muffler-$50, Schlitz-$150, Ray Kaut-$200, TOTAL- $1000

Midwest Speedway in Lincoln had an open house for practice a week before the season started. The car didn't handle too well.  We started making chassis adjustments and the engine started to heat up. We blew a head gasket. I was trying a new kind of head gasket with this engine. After four weeks of trying to get them to work I put the old kind back on and the problem was gone.

First race- May 5th, 1974- Midwest Speedway- The race year started with a big bang. We made a few adjustments- raised the car 1 1/2" on all four corners.  It helped quite a bit in warm-ups and then it happened.  On the 5th lap, the engine blew up.  So we really didn't get a chance to try the car out that night.  Brought home a sick car. Won $0.00

First race- Playland- May 11th- Won my heat.  Came in 2nd in the trophy dash and 3rd in the "A" Feature.  The '57 is running like old times. '57 has got the 327 that I built 3 years ago.  Won $90.

Second  race- May 12th, 1974- Midwest Speedway- We took the '57 to Lincoln with the small engine, not knowing what it would do but we figured we'd try it.  Came in 2nd in the heat, 6th in the trophy dash and 8th in the "A".  Won $55. We're working on a deal for an engine for the chevelle.

Second  race- Playland- May 18th- rained out

Second  race- Playland- May 25th- ran part of a heat and got rained out 

Second  race- Playland- May 27th, 1974- Memorial Day Race-  Luck isn't with me this year.  Was running good in the heat, then cut my tire on Paul Zdan's tire.  So my only chance to get into the "A" Feature is to qualify through the "C" and "B". I worked my way up to 5th in the "A".  Something happened to the car. The brakes went out so I fell back to 9th.  Won $60.

NOTE: Point sheet was too big, this is the sheet as scanned from the top of the sheet.

Third race- lincoln- May 26th- When the 350 blew, all we could salvage was the heads and the carburetion .  Dutch found an engine built by Bill Albert.  It's a 370 stroker.  It's got the short block, cam shaft, lifters, 8 qt aluminum pan, special oil pump, Cloyes dual roller timing chain, and heavy duty harmonic balancer for $525.  Herb and Dad loaned me $400 to help me buy it.  Engine pushed water out all night the first time I ran the engine.  Won my heat, came in 4th in the trophy dash and 8th in the "A". We've got trouble with the engine overheating also.  Won $50.  We checked the head on the left side and found it was cracked from blowing the 350.  Bought a new head.

Third  race- Playland- June 1, 1974- '57 is running terrific. Figured out how to get it around the track. Won the trophy dash, came in 2nd in the "A".  Won $135.

Fourth race- Lincoln- engine overheated in the heat.  Had to leave the track. Raced in the "B" until I got pushed out by another car.  Won nothing.

Fourth race- Playland- June 8 and 9th, 1974- Rained out.  - June 12th, 1974-  Ruined the radiator in the heat. Came in 2nd in the "B" and 8th in the "A". WOn $30.  I've decided to quit racing because of all the work involved.  Kathy talked me into racing the rest of the year.  I decided to put the '57 to rest and run the chevelle the rest of the season.

Fifth race- Playland- June 15th, 1974- Ruined head gasket in the warm-ups with the chevelle.

Sixth race- Playland- June 19th, 1974- "HAWKEYE CHALLENGE"- came in 2nd in the heat, 4th in the trophy dash and 4th in the "A".  Won $110.

Fifth race- Lincoln- June 23-engine overheated again in the heat.  Put on a different restrictor. Won the "B".  Won $100.

Seventh race- Playland- June 29th, 1974- Had grand slam.  Won all three races for a total of $230.  Denny is driving the '57 because he wrecked his own car.  he won the "B" and I got $30 from him.

Sixth race- Lincoln- June 30- Came in 5th in the heat and 4th in the "A".  Won $110.

Eighth race- Playland- July 6, 1974- Came in 4th in my heat and 5th in the "A"  Feature.  Won $55. Denny got 7th in the "A".  I got $20.

Seventh race- Lincoln- July 7-  Came in 4th in the heat.  Heated up to 220 degrees.  Blew a transmission in the "A".  Won $10.

Ninth race- Playland- July 13, 1974- Came in 4th in the heat.  In the "A" Feature, was doing real well (about 5th) when the spindle broke on the left front tire and I flew up in the air about 5 feet- then landed.  Got the wind knocked out of me but otherwise was ok. Won $5.00

Tenth race- Playland- July 20, 1974- Came in first in the heat.  Blew a transmission in the "A" Feature. Won $15.  Denny Won $25.

Eleventh race- Playland- July 27, 1974- Came in 3rd in the heat, and 6th in the "B".  Blew another transmission but was able to finish the race.  Won $45.  Won $25 from Denny.

Twelfth race- Playland- August 3, 1974- Came in 4th in the heat, and 2nd in the "A".  Won $115.  No winnings from Denny.

Eighth race- Lincoln- August 4th-  Came in 5th in the heat and 3rd in the "B". Won $65.

Thirteenth race- Playland- August 11, 1974- We were rained out last night and are making it up tonight. Came in 4th in the heat, and 4th in the "A".  Won $70.  Got n $17 from Denny. Total $87.

Fourteenth race- Playland- August 17, 1974- Came in 3rd in the heat, and 5th in the "A".  Won $65.  Denny gave me $15 and Dave Widtfeldt gave me $20 for renting the 327 engine.  Total $100.

Ninth race- Lincoln- August 18th-  Came in 3rd in the heat and 2nd in the "A". We finally had a good night for a change.  Won $162.

Fifteenth race- Playland- August 24, 1974- Came in 5th in the heat, and 7th in the "A".  It's getting harder to keep up with the other guys.  I am going to have to do something if I'm going to get point champion. Won $35 and $20 from Dave.  Denny locked up his engine, done for the year.

Tenth race- Lincoln- August 25th-  Came in 4th in the heat and 11th in the "A". This is the last night I plan on racing on the dirt. Too bad I couldn't do better but I just couldn't get the car around the track.  Won $10.

Sixteenth race- Playland- August 31, 1974- Came in 4th in the heat, and 5th in the "A" Feature.  We decided to make a gear change- went from a 790 final to an 861 final to try and get the engine to work better and it did.  We went for broke and made it.  Clinched the point championship by 3 points.  Won $60- $20 from Dave.  Total winnings $2,184 $321 from Denny and $60 from Dave W.

I've decided to quit racing.  I'm tired of it.  Dad doesn't want me to quit and I can't face up to it.  Heb understands my point of view.  I don't know about Kathy.  Dutch wants what I want. 

44 is dead.  Long live 44!!

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