| Photo ID # | c10.20.06_292_MIC_NAZ_0074_1 |
| Car #: | #292 |
| Driver (s) : | Al Michalchuk |
| Location: | Nazareth |
| Date: | March or April 1974 |
| Photographer: | Jack Kromer |
| Photo provided by: | Jack Kromer |
| Comments: | (Note from 3-Wide: For those of you who know Jack Kromer, the
next time you see him, be sure to thank him for providing this great photo of my favorite
driver/car. Its moments like this, when I open up my email and receive a photo like
this, that energizes the Vault!) Here's a never before seen photo provided by Jack Kromer of Al Michalchuk in a rare visit to Nazareth (1/2 mile) in early 1974. This was Al's rookie Modified season and the plan was for him to be driving the Matt McMann #4 Gremlin full time and the #292 sedan above to be used as a backup car. Well, even with some very impressive run as a Modified rookie in the #4, Al was out of the #4 after just 3 races and the #292 shown above had was thrust into action. Al built this car from scratch with 3 X 3 rails and a front clip off of some kind of a street car. The body (shell only) was from the lavender #4 (sometimes #4a) that was driven by Craig McCaughey and owned by Matt McMann. As pictured above (probably during one of those March practice days at Nazareth) the car turned out to be a handful. Initially, Al found that he couldn't keep driveshafts in the car so he ended up moving the engine forward which solved that issue. After that, he decided to lower the rear and the car really began to work well. Al was extremely fast in this car early in the '74 season at East Windsor and on more than one occassion looked like the car to beat only to have a spin or something happen to take him out of the top spot in the late going. The final ride of this particular car came mid season when something broke on the front suspension coming down the homestretch at EWS with the car digging in and flipping violently into turn one. The #97 of Dave Ruberti also ended up flipping in the same accident, but Al told me that it was his (Al's) fault... that the part broke and he was just along for the ride from then on and that it was unfortunate that the #97 just happened to be in the wrong spot. As far as I know, the engine was taken out of the car and the rest was scraped. |
| Visitor's Comments | To add your comments about THIS PHOTO - Click Here | |
| Date: | Visitor's Name: | Comment: |
| 10/21/06 | Greg C | Fantastic photo all around! Not only one of the best looking Coach's ever fabricated [The car looked fast sitting in the pits] a real "Classic" Modified, but the photo itself is one of high quality and resolution [Crystal clear] in a true Nazareth pose, front stretch after turning right from the pit entrance before getting up to speed. The photo detail is unreal along with the fact that Jack captured Al in his 292 at Nazareth, this is a true rare gem! We don't know how fortunate we are, thanks Jack. |
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