The colors that Karl Tipton had on his dirt late model at Central Arizona Raceway brought back memories for many. They were those carried by Carl Trimmer, a legendary Arizona racer.
As a young child, Karl idolized Carl, watching him race at the old Central Arizona Raceway and now-defunct Manzanita Speedway.
When Karl started to race, he found Carl next to him in the pits. Carl yelled to him, “Hey kid, your mother spelled your name wrong. Karl is spelled with a ‘C,’ not a ‘K.’”
A friendship was born.
Carl Trimmer is credited with more than 800 feature wins, both on pavement and on dirt, over the course of a 50-year career.
“Carl was actually a very quiet guy,” Karl, of Gilbert, Arizona, said. “His son, Rick, later became his crew chief. He kept the records — 800 wins. Most of us wouldn’t be in 800 features in our lifetime.”
Carl passed away on November 9 at age 86.
“After hearing of his passing, I wanted to honor Carl,” said Karl. “What better way to do that but with a tribute car. I called Rick and asked him if it was okay to have a tribute car to his dad. He was tickled, and he showed up to see what I created at Central Arizona Raceway a couple of weeks ago.”
Karl typically runs the 22, but he adopted Carl’s customary 74 to complement the throwback paint scheme.
“The number 74 came about when Carl went to Manzy to test his car,” Karl said. “On the way back from Manzy, he and his crew pulled off the highway to check the trailer. A sign where they pulled off said, “Tucson 74 miles.” That’s how the car got its number.”
Bookman’s Used Books sponsored Carl’s cars. They still exist, albeit rebranded Bookmans Entertainment Exchange.
Karl Tipton also carried two messages that his hero also carried.
The first, “Remember Vicki Lynne.” Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was 8-year-old girl who was abducted in 1984 while mailing a card to her aunt. They discovered her body more than 7 months later in the Sonoran Desert. They found her murderer and he was executed.
“It was a horrible story, one that most Arizonans would remember to this day,” said Karl. “Carl wanted us never to forget and we haven’t.”
The other message? “Lola.” Carl put that on his cars to honor his wife, the driving force that kept him racing. The two married in 1960. She predeceased him in 2020.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
