Anyone who lives in or has visited Rapids knows of the big blue tower building that houses the Ev Kamikawa Ferrari Museum. Most people forget that there are several buildings in the Rapids Museum complex that house cars and drivers in addition to Kamikawa. The main brown building hosts cars from all kinds of drivers that competed in ARA, Indyslotcar, SlotIRL, and ISF competition at Rapids. Sometimes the museum brings out the other cars from Kamikawa's career. Here are images from the most recent exhibition before the 2018 Indyslotcar Grand Prix.
The Penske Indyslotcar. Winner of several races and a 500. Painted by Mark Walczak and given to Ev as a present.
A prototype F1 car for the ISF F1 division
A drone shot of the first floor of the Rapids Museum
The National Guard Indyslotcar. Driven for one season. Ev said the only thing he could paint were army tanks so commissioner Mike Kristof told him to paint a car in camouflage. When the National Guard sponsorship became available Ev took up the challenge
John Shea painted this Penske car for Ev when they became teammates again in 2007. This car lasted one practice session before breaking. Notice the rising sun design Shea painted on Ev's helmet. Kittenzilla often reaches into the museum to try and get the car out in order to eat the tires. Unfortunately this car is now in worse shape then when this photo was taken
Paul Kamikawa took part in one qualifying session and started an invitational. After he died the car he used was put in a display with mannequins of his family included
Ev missed the first half of the 2007 season. He returned as part of Team Australia with Shea and won his first race back. This is another of Shea's paint jobs
Never raced by Ev but given to him by Jacky Stewart (not the famous F1 driver) as a congratulations on opening the museum
When Indyslotcar banned Ferrari, Ev switched to Target. The first race of the season September 13, 2001. Ev put the American flag on his car that night as a solidarity with the country for the events of 9-11-2001. The flag has been on the car ever since. This car also raced in SlotIRL competition
Ev made one start in the Kmart car. It was his fifth start. The car was so slow he switched to Ferrari
Ev made two starts for Benetton. It was the first car he bought
Ev was going to race Jaguar but never raced as
Jaguar soon signed John Wiedemann and Mike Lack
Jaguar soon signed John Wiedemann and Mike Lack
Ev's return to Indyslotcar in 2005 was with the fully funded Wallshot Racing. John Wiedemann created the decals and Ev detailed his and Shea's cars. This car won the 2006 Indy 500
Another
Wall Shot racing car. Shea painted up two different cars for he and Ev
to try. Ev ran this car in one race and decided it was too cool to race
and he had better luck with the other style of car
Another car that Ev drove in SlotIRL events
Ev drove this Firebird to pole and victory in the first ARA race ever. Commissioner Shea banned the car immediately saying it was too fast and needed a closed roof.
Ev drove the 24 car in ARA. So when the ARA began a truck division Ev took this truck
Another car Ev won the ARA Late Model title with.
He financed the ride as you can see by the sponsorship
He financed the ride as you can see by the sponsorship
One of Ev's 24 cars. He won the coveted Tyco Triple event three times in his career. This is the car that won the only Brickyard 400 race in ARA history raced at Southshore Speedway
The ARA started a Super Stock series for more powerful cars. Ev won the division championship twice. Once with a 24 car and another time with this 18 car
Ev's three 24 rides for the ARA Heavy Metal Challenge Series
based on NASCAR Winston Cup
based on NASCAR Winston Cup
The ARA had a one season Super Stock league using Life-Like cars. Ev again drove 24 but the division proved unpopular and dropped after one season
The ARA also ran a nostalgia division based on historic NASCAR. Ev ran this car through the many seasons and finally won a race in it during the final season of ARA competition
Ev's original ARA Thunder Truck
Ev ran the 18 car in the premier ARA division, Heavy Metal Challenge Series, after winning the Super Stock title in the 18 car the previous year
The most popular ARA division with the drivers was the Dirt Late Model. This is the second generation of those cars
The championship winning Camero from the ARA Late Model division. Ev won
the last four races in a row to overcome the legendary John Shea to
take his first ARA title
After his firebird was banned Ev switched to the Camero. This version didn't win much
The three cameros Ev ran in ARA competition
Finally Ev had a firebird in ARA again. The cars were too heavy and were not fast and hard to stop in the corners so it wasn't a good race car. Looked good though
Ev's first HMCS car in the ARA. The first cars were based on Matchbox models before the league switched to NASCAR Winston Cup models
After the 82 camero was banned by the league after Ev won his late model title, the late 1990s camero was allowed. It too won a lot for Ev before the league switched cars again for the division to older HMCS cars
Originally a HMCS car, it didn't win for Ev, but the Adam Petty color scheme did win when these older HMCS cars moved to the Late Model division
Ev won a lot in dirt late models including three championships in a row in the #1 car. Ev decided to retire that car and a few seasons later won another championship in the 15 car. The dirt in this display is from the Hales Corners Speedway oval
Hiro
introduced himself to everyone when he was little as "Richard Petty" so
he and his dad both have a Petty car. Both admit most people come to
see the cars because they were Petty's and not because they belong to Ev
So when you come to Rapids for the race, take time out to visit any of the Rapids Museum buildings and admire some racing history.
Until next time...It's not bad being in the pits!
Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett
Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett
