Greenling Organic

Swamp buggy

The early years

As more and more hunters built swamp buggies, they would gather together to share a few homespun-engineering tips, and before long, one hunter would challenge another to a race through a muddy bog on Raymond Bennett's potato farm, which, according to swamp buggy inventor Ed Frank, "was the biggest hole in the vicinity of Naples." The first organized races took place on Mr. Bennett's potato farm around 1943, featuring a dozen or so local hunters.

By the late forties, 30 to 40 racers would gather the week before hunting season to race for the valued prize, which was usually a new shotgun donated by a local merchant. On November 12, 1949, the first "Official" Swamp Buggy Races were held, with a field of almost 50 competitors, in Naples, Florida. The mid 1950s saw continued growth of Swamp Buggy Racing. ABC's Wide World of Sports featured the mud madness in a national television special and Hollywood stars like Gary Cooper were seen in Naples riding Swamp Buggies.

The Mile O' Mud

The potato patch has now evolved into the Florida Sports Park and the once unruly bog has been groomed into the famed "Mile O' Mud" it is as known today. The "Mile O' Mud" is a seven-eighths of a mile (1.4 km) oval, featuring racing lanes which are approximately 60 feet (18 m) wide, with a one-eighth mile (200 m) diagonal lane slashed through the center. The depth of the mud is hard to gauge because brown swamp water covers every inch of the track, making it appear to be a foot (30 cm) deep, though it drops to between five and six feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) deep in three places. Buggies driving through these holes often disappear up to their steering wheels and exhaust pipes. The largest pit, located in front of the grandstand, is the treacherous "Sippy Hole", named after "Mississippi" Milton Morris, a legendary driver who could almost never conquer the hole without stalling.

Present day

As the popularity of the sport has continued to grow, cash prizes purses of several thousand dollars replaced the shotgun, and the incentives to go faster also grew, until the swamp buggies became far too fast and too loud to be used for hunting wild game. Today high-tech buggies are designed for racing only. The pontoon-like bodywork fully encloses a powerful racing engine, and rather than relying upon big fat flotation tires, they stand upon tall and skinny tires, with paddle treads on the rears designed solely for forward motivation and almost bicycle-narrow front tires for rudder-like steering.

There are three races a year, January, March, and October, and all three races are taped and televised by the Sunshine Network. The races have also nationally televised by the National Geographic Channel, TNN,ESPN and the Travel Channel. Before every October Race there is a Swamp Buggy Parade in downtown Naples. Each of these events finds Naples pulling thousands of spectators from many states, and gives Naples and the Swamp Buggy sport extensive publicity.

Racing Buggy Classes

Jeeps

Air-Cooled (Usually powered by motorcycle or Volkswagen "Beetle" engines)

4-Cylinder, 2 and 4-wheel drive

6-Cylinder, 2 and 4-wheel drive

V-8 Super Stock

Pro Modified 2-Wheel Drive

Pro Modified 4-Wheel Drive

The Chessers, the first family of swamp buggy racing

In Indy Car racing, you have the Andrettis, and in the sport of swamp buggy racing, you have the Chessers, known far and wide in the world of swamp buggy racing as the ones to beat.

Leonard Chesser, known as the Godfather of swamp buggy racing, started racing in 1956 but it wasn until 1970 when his domination of the sport began. In a career now spanning over five decades, Leonard has been in the winner circle 24 times and was the 2003 Budweiser Points Champion. In the ever ongoing evolution of the swamp buggy, Leonard has been at the forefront with his innovations. Among his many contributions to the sport, he has been credited with inventing the skis which are now used on the front of all of today fastest buggies.

As if facing Leonard Chesser isn't enough of a challenge, you have to add his brother Lonnie to the mix, himself a six time winner.

Eddie Chesser, Lonnie's son, has also been adding to the the family trophy case, with 11 wins, all of them coming just since 1995!

Glen Chesser, Leonard's son, is now working up through the ranks in the stock V8 class.

And on the distaff side, Leonard's daughter, Amy Lynn Chesser, after spending years learning the mechanical end of things from her dad, began racing her own self-built buggy, saying lifetime goal was to be the first woman to take the entire field. In early March 2008, Amy Chesser accomplished this by becoming the first woman to win the Big Feature. If that weren't enough, she had two different buggies that made it to the grand finale (one in each of two different classes) and had her father stand in and drive her buggy 'Dat's It'. While her dad never made it off the starting line during the final race, Amy took the checkered flag in her buggy 'Aches N' Pains', beating Roy Ortega's 'Terminator' in order to make history.

In the mid 80s, Leonard's step-son David Hoolihan, now deceased, shared the track with Leonard, finishing in second place behind his mentor.

Winners

1949 Johnny Jones

1950 Harry Lowe

1950 Bud Popenhager

1951 George Espenlaub/Bubba Frank

1952 R.L. Walker

1952 R.L. Walker

1953 R.L. Walker

1954 H.W. McCurry

1955 Sippy Morris

1956 Arnold Walker

1957 H.W. McCurry

1958 H.W. McCurry

1959 H.W. McCurry

1960 Chester Byrant

1961 Chester Byrant

1962 Jack Hatcher

1966 Daniel Phypers

1967 Jack Hatcher

1968 Lee Hancock

1969 Jack Hatcher

1970 Leonard Chesser

1971 Leonard Chesser

1972 Leonard Chesser

1973 Leonard Chesser

1973 Leonard Chesser

1974 Leonard Chesser

1975 Leonard Chesser

1976 Roger McCandles (Oct)

1976 David Sims (May)

1977 Leonard Chesser (Feb)

1977 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

1978 Leonard Chesser (Feb)

1978 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

1979 Leoanrd Chesser (Feb)

1979 Lee Hancock (Oct)

1980 David Sims (Feb)

1980 Terry Langford (Oct)

1981 Lonnie Chesser (Feb)

1981 David Sims (Oct)

1982 Lonnie Chesser (Oct)

1982 Terry Langford

1983 Roger McCandles (Feb)

1983 Lonnie Chesser (Oct)

1984 David Sims (Feb)

1984 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

1985 Terry Langford (Feb)

1985 Terry Langford (Oct)

1986 Leonard Chesser (Nov)

 !987 David Sims (Mar)

1987 Lonnie Chesser (Oct)

1988 David Sims (Feb)

1988 Tommy Turner (Oct)

1989 Terry Langford (Feb)

1989 Terry Langford (Oct)

1990 David Sims (Feb)

1990 Wayne Cochran (Oct)

1991 Larry Andrews (Mar)

1991 Lenny Dunn (May)

1991 David Sims (Oct)

1992 David Sims (Mar)

1992 Eddie Chesser (May)

1992 Terry Langford (Oct)

1993 David Sims (Mar)

1993 Don Jolly (May)

1993 Larry Andrews (Oct)

1994 Lenny Dunn (Mar)

1994 Terry Langford (May)

1994 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

1994 Leonard Chesser (Mar)

1995 Eddie Chesser (May)

1995 Eddie Chesser (Oct)

1996 Albert Doria (Mar)

1996 Terry Langford (May)

1996 Eddie Chesser (Oct)

1997 Eddie Chesser (Mar)

1997 Eddie Chesser (Oct)

1998 Eddie Chesser (Mar)

1998 Eddie Chesser (May)

1998 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

1999 Michael Filmore ( Mar)

1999 Eddie Chesser (May)

1999 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

2000 Eddie Chesser (Mar)

2000 Leonard Chesser (May)

2000 Glen Filmore (Oct)

2001 Brain Langford ( Mar)

2001 Lonnie Chesser (May)

2001 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

2002 Glen Filmore (Mar)

2002 Leonard Chesser (May)

2002 Lonnie Chesser (Oct)

2003 Randy Johns (Jan)

2003 Leonard Chesser (Mar)

2003 Leonard Chesser (Oct)

2004 Eddie Chesser (Jan)

2004 Eddie Chesser (Mar)

2004 Dan Greenling (Oct)

2005 Tyler Johns (Jan)

2005 Glen Filmore (Mar)

2005 Leonard Chesser (Dec)1

2006 Tyler Johns (Jan)

2006 Tony Migliazzo (Mar)

1 - delayed from October due to Hurricane Wilma

References

Naples 1940s to 1970s, by Lynne Howard Frazier

Categories: Racing cars | Sports in FloridaHidden categories: Articles needing cleanup from February 2010 | All pages needing cleanup

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