Okay, this is from listening to dad and uncle Gary talk, and laugh, about
this car over the years:
It all started one day when Gary walked into Joe Giusti's shop and asked Joe
to build him a race car. Now, Gary and Lynn Glass, pictured with Joe
and Paul Reeves to Joe's left, were regulars at Giusti's Automotive and none of
this was a surprise to Joe. Gary said he would supply an engine and
Joe got to work. All was well and dandy and Joe, who had keys to
Stockton's 99 Speedway, even coached Gary during the winter months.
As the racing season drew nearer, however, Joe noticed Gary getting...
apprehensive? When Joe confronted 'The Preacher' over his evident mood
change, Gary finally broke-down and explained it all to Joe. You see,
Gary had... appropriated the parts for the engine from his boss. Now Gary knew
that when the season started and his boss saw him racing that he would
know that Gary had taken the parts from him, He would be fired... or worse.
Not that Joe condoned stealing, but he had a soft-spot for GP. In
fact, in later years I heard Gary's daughter, Theresa, refer to Joe as 'Uncle
Joe'. Anyway, the challenge was at hand - how to rectify the situation
so that Gary could race without getting into trouble. By now you have
probably noticed that Gary is wearing a mask in the photo above and
'Phantom' is on the car? Now... people really can be, well, naive`?
Joe and Lynn came up with the idea for the mask and what followed is simply,
well, incredible to say the least!
Joe called reporters for the Stockton and Modesto newspapers and told them
he had gotten a phone call from a mysterious caller informing him that the
'local yokel' drivers had better learn how to drive because the Dancing
Phantom from the Okie Fanokie swamps was going to be racing in the area in
the coming season. Now, these reporters had to be skeptical... right?
Let's face it, Joe was never really into granting interviews, but after further assurances and some
'supportive' testimonials, both papers (I am told) ran articles about this
mysterious driver and his warning for the locals. All that was left
was opening day and to see if they could pull off this crazy deception.
I am told that a record crowd was on hand to boo the cocky 'outsider' and to
cheer the local drivers on opening day that year. I was never told
just how well the 'Phantom' faired against his rivals, but the band of
deceivers obviously got away with the plan - Gary kept his job and raced all
season as the Phantom! Only in America... only in the fifties:>)
I hope you find this story as entertaining as Joe and Gary did on the
numerous occasions on which they would tell this story and laugh wildly about
it, as well as many other stories I wish I could relate to you all. Remember, if you have a story you would like to tell, or a
correction you think should be mentioned, drop me an
email
with the juicy details and I will do my best to get it into Liar's Corner
for you!
