Larry Gaynor has one of the best collection of Riverside short course off road racing photos that I have seen! Even the infamous Jeep Celebrity race! This set, of the 1979 race, has all the big names. Rod Hall, Frank Vessels, Walker Evans, Ray Russell, the Randalls, and more!

Editors Note: Although I never met him, John Konitzer was a east coast off road racing legend. His smile and friendly attitude was well known, as was his win over Walker Evans in ” a junkyard motor and half bald tires”. Farmer John will truly be missed in the short course racing world.

John A. “Farmer John” Konitzer, 72, Abrams, died Saturday, July 09, 2011 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Green Bay following complications from atrial fibrillation which happened at home four days earlier. The 2nd of 15 children, he was born October 2, 1938 in Oconto Falls to George and Irene (Van Haren) Konitzer. John grew up on the family farm in rural Oconto Falls where he attended St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School and graduated from Oconto Falls High School with the class of 1957.

On August 22, 1959 he married Carol “Cookie” Brokiewicz at St. Casimir Catholic Church in Krakow. Along with his wife, “Farmer John” farmed in the Abrams area for most of his life and was always willing to help out his neighbors. One thing that gave him great pleasure was working his land and watching things grow. John and Cookie adopted their three children as infants who were always loved and made their life complete. John participated in off road racing since the early 1970’s with many of his brothers and followed the series until the time of his sudden death. He also enjoyed fishing, hunting, playing cards, welcoming friends and strangers into his home and being involved in numerous capacities in the Abrams area, including serving as a town supervisor and on the fire department years ago.

Survivors are his wife, Carol “Cookie” Konitzer, Abrams; their three children and their families, Troy (April) Konitzer, their children, Paige and Quinn; Tim (Shannon) Konitzer, their children, Logan, Evan, Justan and Brendan; Amy (Don) Demeny, their children, Cole and Drew; all of Abrams; his 12 siblings, Chester (Barbara) Konitzer, Oconto Falls; Fred (Janice) Konitzer, Gillett; Georgia Grenke, Oconto Falls; Robert (Sherri) Konitzer, Lena; Gary (Cookie) Konitzer, Wausaukee; Norene (Gary) Vorpahl, Oconto Falls; Peter (Barb) Konitzer, Abrams; Blaine (Debbie) Konitzer, Stiles; Phillip (Cheryl) Konitzer, Sam (Cindy) Konitzer, Chris (Bert) Williquette, Curt Konitzer, all of Oconto Falls; two sisters-in-law, Rosie “Tootie” Konitzer, Popple River; Julie Konitzer, Oconto Falls; his mother-in-law, Lorraine Brokiewicz, Green Bay; Cookie’s two brothers, Jim (Mavis) Brokiewicz, Mountain; Charlie (Bonnie) Brokiewicz, CO; numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers, George on October 20, 1991 and Wayne on February 18, 2011, one brother-in-law, Arlin Grenke on March 28, 2011 and his father-in-law, William Brokiewicz.

The Konitzer family would like to thank their good neighbors the first responders, Ray Rybka and Sue Berg; and the entire ICU staff at St. Mary’s Hospital for their kind and considerate actions shown toward John and his entire family.

John will lovingly be remembered as a wonderful husband and father, an amazing grandfather to his eight grandchildren, and a good brother, uncle and friend to many who had a great sense of humor. Because of John’s pride in his family, many neighbors and friends heard the same stories over and over again but never complained!

Do you remember the Mickey Thompson stadium off road racing series that travelled across the nation bringing short course off road racing to thousands of fans? The late 80′s and early 90′s brought us new technology in suspension design that shocked the world. Take a look at the former Ivan Stewart driven Toyota off road race truck built by Cal Wells and the crew at PPI.



The truck is lovingly being restored by Allen Russell, aka RaceHacker. The truck was built before bypass shocks were invented. It was also built in a time period when rising rate suspension was first being used on dirt bikes. Toyota (PPI) use “A LOT” of rising rate suspension design on this truck. Front suspension uses triple rate torsion bars on the lower arms & a single “bump stop” torsion bar on the top arm. All stages are adjustable and many different diameter (rate) torsion bars are available. The Bilstein shocks are mounted in a lay down, cross over fashion. The front suspension is capable of 18+” of wheel travel, but is limited to 16″.



If you thought the lay down, crossover shock mounting on the front was interesting, check out the rear suspension! Cantilever arms on rollers, bump control on shock extension, dual torsion bars..strange, but it worked! The rear suspension is also “limited” to around 16″, but can get much more. Toyota had limited the suspension on the truck to get it to fly through the air level. Rear suspension uses a cantilever front arm that extends (pulls) the shocks on wheel up travel & compresses the shocks on wheel drop (normal rebound). Complete opposite of how most suspensions function. The cantilever arm also uses a torsion bar for the spring. The rear arms also use torsion bars for an additional spring. As the axle cycles forward, the spring rate is increased at a rising rate as the axle pulls on the arm/linkage forward. The cantilever arms rest on top of the axle between a set of rollers. As the wheels compress, the roller roll up the arm changing the rate (rising) of the shocks and torsion spring). Confused yet? Perhaps the photos below will help you out!



We hope to keep everyone updated on the restoration of this famous Toyota off road race truck. Follow along for future updates! Via Race Dezert

For years, I had heard about Dirt: The Movie, but had never seen it. Now, we have the ablility to view the whole movie on You Tube. Follow Clarke Gordon as he travels across the states to learn more about this thing called off roading. Desert racing, sand drags, swamp buggies, hill climbs, Pikes Peak…this video has it all! It is a great collection of vintage off road racing! thanks to Ewillys and Race Dezert for finding these videos!

Here is a great vintage photo from the midwest short course racing vault. I have heard comments that it is Rod Attig’s buggy in the front with his brother Sid’s off road race buggy in the back. Also, it may have been taken in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Can anyone confirm this or provide more information?

Do you remember the Cal Wells prepared Toyota factory off road race trucks in the Mickey Thompson MTEG stadium races? We are looking for more photos of the trucks. Ivan Stewart, Robby Gordon, Butch Acerio and others. Can you help us?

Do you remember Glen Harris and the California Gold-Team Mazda off road racing team? They raced some desert races, but mostly the Mickey Thompson MTEG stadium races. They were a force to be reckoned with! Do you have any photos you would like to post?

Talk about a great collection of photos! Some of these photos were taken from the Old Shortcourse Photos thread on Race Dezert, while I have collected others from around the net. Click on the photos below to view larger. Enjoy!

A recent post on Race Dezert.com brought back a ton of memories for midwest off road racers. The post is filled with photos from the 70′s and 80′s. Do you have more photos of midwest off road racing? Check out the thread, then if you have other photos, please leave links in the comments section or email me the photos!

A new Canadian Off Road Racing website is gaining a lot of new members! Make sure to check out the photos as there is a ton of vintage off road racing photos from both BC and Ontario. Check out the new network on Ning.com