Irwindale Speedway 2007

[Tow411]

Topic Originally Created by The Tow God on Tow411 in October of 2007.

 

In March of this year, our company took over towing services for Irwindale Speedway. I wanted to share some pics with you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the driver of this Outlaw Figure 8 car is Jesse James.

 

 

This last pic is of my family. Can't miss me, I'm the really ugly one in the AAA jacket. Our race year isn't quite over yet, and the pics are still coming in. Really can't post all of the pics we get, but wanted to share a few with you. Hope you all like them. And if by chance you get to Irwindale for the races, please come down and introduce yourself, the pleasure will be all mine.

 

Mr Waialae Chevron said:

Go in, get the car, and GET THE HECK OUT OF DODGE.
You gotta be fast for this job.

 

FTI Groups said:

Great pics. Thanks.

 

Tow 4 said:

Got to love pics with race cars and good looking towtrucks! Should have brought in the new tri-axle Jerr-dan to use, looks like overloading the GVW on some of those trucks! LOL Thanks for sharing!

 

The Tow God said:

I've taken the 50 ton several times to the track, but the race director says its too big for the track. I told him it has enough reach it could probably get the cars from off-track, but he doesn't have a sense of humor. Thanks for the comment on the trucks. I order the trucks and letter them as well, so its nice to see someone other than myself likes them.

DJ
Freddie MAC's, Inc.South El Monte, Ca

 

jj2020 said:

does that wrecker with the number 2 on the side of it have a 3 stage boom????? -Jason-

Perry's Wrecker Service
12 Middle St. Rome Ga 30161
706.234.5787

 

brattleborotowing said:

i was wondering the same thing both trucks look like they have alot of reach

 

The Tow God said:

These trucks have a standard boom on them. I have a friend at Hydraulic Cranes, Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, Ca. I asked him if he could build me some extensions to keep the cars off the wheellift when they are picked up by the boom. He came to our yard and checked over the factory Jerr-Dan boom, and he fabricated the extensions for us. We asked Jerr-Dan if they built anything like it for racing. We were told that the boom extensions that are made for Jerr-Dan race trucks are destroyed when the truck is no longer in service at the track. They do have a lot of reach with the extensions, but with the added length, you loose a lot of structural integrity, and so your boom capacity is greatly reduced.

 

In this pic, we had to bring the boom in to pick up the weight of the tires so that it wouldn't bend the boom. You should see the boom flex lifting these tires at full extension.

DJ
Freddie MAC's, Inc.South El Monte, Ca

 

Brian Bell said:

What kind of $ does an asphalt track pay for a wrecker service per night?
Also what kind of $ are some of you guys that do dirt tracks paid per night and how many trucks do you supply?

 

The Tow God said:

The boss has never discussed what the track pays for the trucks. The driver's don't get paid a ton of money either. We supply 2 wreckers and 1 rollback for Irwindale Speedway. When they have televised events, there is a 3rd wrecker on standby at the track. Irwindale is a small track. It has a 1/2 mile and a 1/3 mile oval as well as an 1/8 mile drag strip. Irwindale has asked us for several years to do the towing for them. We have always told them that Haddick's Towing was doing an excellent job, and we would not do anything to take it away from them. When Haddick's officially told Irwindale they were no longer interested in providing the service, Jan agreed to provide it. Haddick's was gracious enough to allow one of the driver's to stay on with us, and he has been in charge of the track services. This guy has not missed a race in 10 years, he has given us good training and has no plans to end his race tow career anytime soon.

DJ
Freddie MAC's, Inc.South El Monte, Ca

 

jj2020 said:

we work the local track and we get paid 75 for one wrecker 3 guys in and free meal and all free drinks and if we give an advance notice we can get 2 people in the stands -Jason-

Perry's Wrecker Service
12 Middle St. Rome Ga 30161
706.234.5787

 

Trucker Jeff said:

Dj that's neat can't wait to see you guys on the Speed channel with the shoot out the Nascar puts on out there. Always thought it was a neat track (Didn't the track in Plamdale get closed.) We got to do the Long Beech Grand prix 2 or 3 times back in the day man it was a fun filled day. Congrats on the contract and also on the way Jan approched getting it . 1st class move by a 1st class company . Man you guys have grown over the years (Me I was a Ben Warners driver till the pick your part buyout and then Anaheim Fullerton till I moved back here.) Maybe with the reach of the of the tator you could sit it in the infeild and pick and swing. oh wait Chp would say it weighs too much .

 

ResqTator said:

'Saw the Jan's trucks at the track the couple of times I've been there this season and wondered if you were there, DJ. Next time I'll track you down. The trucks look great; I've really liked the cool door design over white since seeing it the first time on the 50 ton at CTTA. Thanks for posting. That's a good lookin' family from start to finish!
Rich

 

Gotta add: The Jan's operators look very uniform and professional.

 

The Tow God said:

I am there most every weekend. Im usually on the track during the autograph session. There have only been two races I didn't work, but I was still at the track.

DJ
Freddie MAC's, Inc.South El Monte, Ca

 

tow04 said:

DJ, how about posting some pics of the 50 ton! Trying to decide between 50 ton or 35 ton tri-axle for a new toy. Let me know what made u decide for the 50 ton. Matt

 

The Tow God said:

Matt, We have a 35 ton Century, and all though it is really a good truck, it seemed to be lacking in its recovery abilities. We looked into both the 9055 Century and the 1000/565 Jerr-Dan. When you are looking at boom length and tip height and weight capacities, we were convinced that the Jerr-Dan was superior to the Century. We contacted Jerr-Dan and they had a 50 ton built to the specs that Stepp's uses sitting in Pennsylvania. So we bought it. Now you can't really compare a 35 ton to a 50 ton fairly. If you are looking for a truck to just tow with and you don't expect to do a lot of recovery work, then I would go after the Century 7035. It is light weight, handles most everything you will come in contact with, and in general is a damn good looking truck. If you plan on doing a lot of recovery work, like rollovers and such, then I highly recommend Jerr-Dan's 1000/565. This is the Century 7035.

 

This pic is our 50 ton Jerr-Dan

 

These pics below are both trucks at play.

 

 

They both are really good trucks. The 35 ton will scale better than a 50 ton. The 50 ton will do more in recovery than the 35 ton.

 

Hey Rich, were you at Irwindale for Fire Fighters Appreciation night? I was out there with the crew. Come over and say hi. I spoke with Pat Cahill and he said they contacted you about building you a rotator. I hope you guys took the tour of the plant and can work something out. Jan keeps teasing me saying he has them building me a rotator, but so far I haven't seen anything. If we get it, you'll have to come see it and try it out. Hope to see you at the track.

DJ
Freddie MAC's, Inc.South El Monte, Ca