I was running into Doug Mentzer at a local dirt track a few years back, havent been there in a while, if he's alive and kickin im sure he'd love to see this thread!! He was recalling tons of stories..... good stuff !
Sinistri! Any word yet if "Buckshot" will be at the York reunion?? Looks like Larry Lombardo is going. -Dean
Hey Colesy; here ya go..lets keep them here ,if ya don't mind.. They were taken by the Junior stocks guys from Windsor. Rick
Frank Iaconio's car was fuel injected and always was....... He ran it with a powerglide and the lower HP hydraulic cammed F.I. engine in M/SA for a year or two when the 4 speeds were no longer allowed. He set the record a few time with that combo...... I always joked with him about how he could just turn the big screw on the F.I. unit to make it go faster.....he liked that one.....
That would be Ray Whitney, and The Dog catcher car. Originally driven by one of my old friends , the late Dennis Kutsavage. The engine combo was originally in a 62 Impala hardtop ,then a 61 post SS car, and finally the wagon, for F/Stock. Dennis went on to drive Mopar Pro Stocks in the early seventies, then helped us out as an announcer at Connecticut Dragway. He has been mentioned somewhere way back in this thread.
Frankies car was a 283CI/283HP- FI, I ran him many times at Island dragway and at INDY with my 57 Vette 283CI/250HP Fuelie in I/S. I also raced him with my I/SA Vette (in eliminations not class)when he was driving the "VILLAIN" for Callihan & Sulk. Lou LAW
I think Ray's son has been on here a few times and mentioned they were restoring the Dog Catcher. I always wondered if they changed the driveshaft under the wagon to a one piece. I saw them spit one out at Island racing against Pat McVickers (he almost ran over it) and I don't remember the piece being very long, though that doesn't say much. It certainly was a fun car to watch.
Tales of the weird:I'm sure everyone has a " strange" story or 2 from their years at the track. This happened at Island before the days racing began. There was a very sharp looking 68 or 69 Ranchero that ran G/SA or H/SA from the Garfield, NJ area (Maybe Rich remembers it, I think it was Gerold's Auto Body) blue metalflake with a silver roof. Jack and Gerold were the team (Thought they were husband and wife?). Island has that ditch on the backside of the pit area and whoever was driving was making some engine adjustments and then launching toward the ditch from along the fence in front of the staging lanes. I'm not sure if the throttle stuck, or he was farther along than he realized but..... bath time for the Ranchero. Not a lot of damage but a ton of that "muck" on the nose. It seemed like it went over the edge in slow motion. It went tar, to gravel, to grass, to splash!
The "moat" at Island is still there......I never saw anyone go into it but have heard it has happened.......and it is not to difficult to see how it could happen. I was told the farmers just dredged it and left the dirt all piled up along it so it could drain better and reduce flooding I have been going there for many years but don't go much anymore The place looks very run down to me anymore and needs a total revamp and new ownership for sure They have done some things to keep it going but it looks like crap overall there to me and my friends that race They are going to be having a 50th Anniversary deal this year. Don Garlits will be there for it. He will probably wonder how the heck he ever went 200mph there in 1964! He will probably think he entered a time warp when he rolls down the entry road ! Even he will be wondering how the place could still look the way it does!
Remember Country Park Raceway? Joe Super tried to make a go of it but it is a small track and land locked. Time warp indeed. I ran at a couple of tracks in Southern California that felt the same way... Carlsbad, L.A. County (nothing like a gravel pit on one side to enhance the view. Sure made the top end an adventure when the wind was blowing) and Riverside. Sadly all are gone, which makes you hope Island can find an influx of cash somewhere to spruce it up. Last time I was by there it looked sad indeed. Lots of fun memories though.
As the memory bank clears, a little at a time, I remember one of the Cieri Bros names was Anthony and I think the wagon ran with a blue front clip for a while. Thought they were from Plainfield, NJ. Maybe not. They call these the "Golden" years because it takes a lot of gold to survive them.
on the island dragway web site it was stated that the track was ground and repaved for this season i ran my car at island last summer i thought the track was rough the car seemed hard to handle at top end. the car was going 12.50 @ 105. i race at two tracks around the tampa area and i think island is not that bad i think its what you are used to. i think island has not changed since the late 60s its like going back in time Robert
Thanks to everyone, for backing me up on the 'Banana I' being a 283/283hp F.I. 57' 150 car. Back to Johnny 57', I found that 1968 I/S record. June 68' ET; 13.11. From what I can remember, your Pop was running 14.70's with 4.30 gears. During the summer, and before the Super/Stock Magazine Nationals, your Pop went to 4.88 gears (he put the gears in at my fathers Amoco Gas Station), and had the heads done by Ronnie Dollinger at Elmsford Speed Parts Center. He also had Competition/Plus put in a Lunati Camshaft, re-jet the Carter carburetor, re-work the distributor, and install a Schieffer clutch set up and Hurst shifter. Then the 66' Biscayne started to move. Paul (Junior stock history)
To cool! I know I have posted this before, but here's Barkley's '57 along side the "In-Bomber" and "Tension". P.S. We're still looking for ANY photos or footage of the "In-Bomber" in action, ask around and find those old photo albums! -Dean
They were the Cieri Bros. Anthony Cieri drove I believe and yes it was a stick 283 running in SS. They were T/K customers. They really wound that engine up on the starting line.....I was running my '69 Camaro in SS/JA a couple seasons and we had some races at Island. 1980-1982....Stock-SuperStock and had some pretty good car counts a few times. I was R/Up to Jerry Stein at one....The Cieri's weres till racing then I think..... When we built our sedan deliveryin 1966, John Barkley held the record in our class.....14.78 I think it was and probably set at Half Moon Bay.....was like the west coast version of Atco! That was pretty fast in 1966 and hard to believe a powerglide could run that fast.....The only cars around here with powerglides were usually slow compared to the hydro equipped sedan deliveries....
That is very generous of you to share these photos with us. I sincerely hope that are several more--and they don't have to be Junior Stocks either! Just let us know where else on this forum you will post them (if you have any and if you decide to). Attn: Tweed; is that your Olds (in the photo) to the left of Yoo Hoo Too S.D.? It does say Ron Garey on the rear quarter panel and the car is white. Regards, Pete
I never knew Sweitzer ran Junior Stocks. First I heard/seen of him was when he was campaigning one of Ed Hamburger's "For 340s Only" Plymouth Dusters in the early 1970s; then later, his Super Gas Arrow and Super Stock/GT Camaro. Pete
Uh, that's South Plainfield; BIG difference between the two. I recall spotting their wagon parked in the driveway of one of the Cieri's suburban home one afternoon sometime in the mid-1970s as I was taking a shortcut through S. Plainfield. Pete
From what I remember it was a stick car; that's one of the main reasons I took notice. Automatics back then, especially if it had a small-block Chevy in front of it (snooze....). Pete
I think the 'Cieri Brothers' 65' Wagon (SS/O) is a 327/250HP (Engine Code 'EA'). Also, the 65' and 66' Chevy II (Nova) hardtops with the 283/220HP engine also ran the same class. Before Super/Stock, these cars ran in M/S in 71'. Paul
"I think the 'Cieri Brothers' 65' Wagon (SS/O) is a 327/250HP (Engine Code 'EA')." Not so. They ran a 283 ci/220 hp combo. Skip Asay
Skip, Can that possibly be a SS/Q on the window? Than that would be a 283/220HP engine. I remember back in 71', the 65'/66' Chevy II Hardtops ran in M/S with the 283/220HP engines. Put them in SS/O in 72'/73'. Am I in the ball-park? Paul
One of the Cieri's still lives in Piscataway, (Anthony?) the wagon is still in the garage, at least it was a while back, right around the corner from Pat Riccardi's (Pafoo Drag-on 57 K/S and G/MP) brother Greg's house -
That (blue front clip) makes sense ... must have been after the Cayuga staging lane mishap. Great image Bill -- leave it to you to dig that up!
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