Tommy Astone

1950- 2020

2018 inductee

Growing up in Fresno, California, Tommy Astone’s father, Tom Senior, was a race car owner and by the age of ten Tommy knew he wanted to be a race car driver. Astone started racing super modifieds at the age of 17 before he moved in the ranks of midget racing in 1969 with the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA).

During his breakout 1970 BCRA season, Tommy swept a twin 50-lap program at San Jose Speedway and the 50-lap Western States midget championship race at Tahoe-Carson (T-CAR) Speedway. In August at West Capitol Raceway, while he challenged for his consecutive straight BCRA feature win, Tommy tangled with another car. His midget flipped eight times and Tommy suffered a broken collarbone and broken ribs and missed five weeks. 

In the 1970 season’s final BCRA race at Roseville Speedway, Tommy entered with a 12-point lead and only had to finish the feature to be crowned the champion. The youngster was black-flagged during the feature by BCRA officials and Gary Arnold finished in third place and won the championship over Astone by 14 points.

By December 1970, Tommy now 21 years old and able to race with the United States Auto Club (USAC) made a clean sweep at the ½-mile Irwindale Speedway, as he set fast time, won his 20-lap preliminary race and then captured the 100-mile feature. 

During the 1971 season, Tommy raced with USAC, the BCRA, and the Southern California-based USRC and URA midget clubs. In 1972, Astone made his first full-season foray with USAC, finished seventh in points and was named the rookie of the year.

Astone claimed his inaugural USAC win on June 20, 1973 at the 3/8-mile clay ‘34 Speedway’ in   Burlington Iowa. The 1973 USAC midget championship was settled on the final day of the season at a twin 50-lap program at Phoenix International Raceway, and Larry Rice emerged as the champion over Astone.

In 1974, Astone spent much of the USAC season in second place in points as he won the prestigious ‘Night Before the 500’ race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.  Tommy missed the final two races of the season due to injuries he suffered in a violent crash at Clovis Speedway but had amassed enough points to again finish second in the USAC midget championship.  

In 1976, Astone finished in third place in USAC midget points before he returned to racing on the West Coast primarily with the BCRA.  Tommy’s USAC midget career includes seven USAC national wins and five USAC Western States midget wins. Tommy Astone was inducted into the Bay Cities Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2009, he was welcomed him into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame as member of the class of 2018.

Tommy Astone Junior passed away April 14 2020 RIP

Boots Archer

Born in 1913 in Oakland California, in 1931 David J. Archer Junior, known as  "Boots" started to work for a Bay Area well drilling company. He worked in the well drilling, pump installing and repairing field for other for ten years until he decided to start his own business in San Francisco in May of 1941 named Pump Repair Service Company. As the business grew, his wife Helen joined the company and managed the office.

In 1955, Boots’ son, David “Dave” Archer III joined the family business. Over the years, Dave learned the business and eventually in 1980 took over ownership of the company when “Boots” retired.  The company is still family owned by Dave Archer and his sons Wayne and Steve.

‘Boots’ first entered the “racing game” as a mechanic and partner in a Ford touring stock car with his friend Lynn Deister in the mid 1930’s. Sadly, Deister died in a midget racing crash at Bayshore Stadium in South San Francisco on Labor Day 1947.

After World War Two, ‘Boots’ served as the Business Manager for the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) from 1945 to 1948, when he was forced to resign due to the growing demands of his pump business. While he was the Business Manager of BCRA, “Boots” made a strong effort to unite the BCRA (Northern California) and United Racing Association (URA) of Southern California but his efforts fell short.  

Less than a year after he resigned, ‘Boots’ returned to the BCRA Business Manager’s role on an interim basis after 1945 BCRA champion Bob Barkheimer who quit his race driving career to take over as BCRA business manager, resigned to take over management of the San Jose Speedway. “Boots” managed the BCRA operation for nearly two months until Ab Allen was hired as a permanent replacement. 

‘Boots’ served throughout the 1950’s and  1960’s as the referee at BCRA racing events, including the legendary winter time Pacific Coast Indoor Auto Racing Championship midget auto racing events held indoors at the Oakland Exposition Building.  For most of those years, ‘Boots’ was assisted by Northern California auto racing legend Jerry Piper, while Mel Fernandez served as the flamboyant starter.

Boots’ racing efforts were not confined just to midget auto racing, as due to knowledge of racing rules he also served as the referee for many major west coast stock car races promoted by Bob Barkheimer, such as the 1953 National 500-lap Stock Car Race held at Oakland Speedway. 

‘Boots’ also served as the chairman of California Auto Racing Fan Club (CARF) and for many years hosted that club’s annual Indianapolis 500-mile breakfast and remote viewing party. In September 1970, ‘Boots’ served as the referee of the inaugural ‘California 500’ USAC (United States Auto Club) championship car race at Ontario Motor Speedway, working alongside stewards Richard King and J. Gordon Betz and starter Shim Malone.

Boots became a member of the BCRA Hall of Fame in 1987 and passed away at age 83 in 1996.

Hall of Fame spotlight 

Johnnny Mantz

John Robert "Johnny" Mantz was born in 1918 in Hebron Indiana but grew up in Southern California and worked on his family’s farm before he started racing motorcycles. In 1940 he switched to racing midgets with the United Midget Association as a teammate to his car owner, Gib Lilly, before he joined the military in April 1942.

With the war over,  Mantz resumed action with the United Racing Association (URA) and posted three feature wins during 1946. In 1947,  Mantz finished second in the standings on the URA ‘Blue’ circuit for Offenhauser powered machines with eleven wins and placed eleventh in the URA ‘Red’ or non-Offenhauser circuit points with nine wins. 

During early June 1947, Johnny won five races in a three-week stretch and in September he won three races over a six-day period. “Joltin’ Johnny’s” 1947 season wins came at tracks in Bakersfield, Culver City, Carpinteria, the Rose Bowl and Balboa Stadiums and the Orange Show Speedway where Mantz won four features and scored six trophy dash wins.

After 1947 Mantz raced a ‘big car’ and championship car for JC Agajanian, won two American Automobile Association (AAA) championship car races, and was crowned the 1949 AAA Pacific Coast ‘big car’ champion. 

While he retired from racing open-wheel cars in early 1950, Mantz continued to race stock cars – he ran four of the five Mexican road races and scored a best finish of second in class in 1952. On Labor Day 1950, Mantz drove a 1950 Plymouth coupe to victory in the first 500-mile ‘Strictly Stock Car” race at Darlington South Carolina and he was crowned the inaugural 1956 USAC stock car champion.

Johnny lost his left arm after a horrific winter 1962 highway accident, and he died on October 25 1972 in another highway crash near his home in Ojai California. 

Mantz was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2004, and since 2009, the NASCAR ‘Southern 500’ has awarded the Darlington race winner the “Johnny Mantz Trophy.” We are proud to have midget racing pioneer Johnny Mantz as a member of the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.