60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

Hi Bullfather, just wanted to say thanks for the top pic in post #6105, the #78 car with the bus. Its one of the Stony's Diner team cars out of the Dover NH area if I remember right, looks like the Beech Ridge (Me.) pit area 63 or so. Ray Worcester drove it then before becoming techman at Beech Ridge Speedway. The car was then turned over to the Ironman Dick Wolstenhulme to renumbered it #0. The bus sure made a great hauler back then!!! steve pellerin

 

Steve from Jerry , Thats Dick McGarry with the car that George Welch drove..1958ish
The autograph has been cut off the top....Give me a call

 

Don't recall who this is (But, he was having a bad day) but was a MAD division car during Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium, I have the whole sequence on negs, but only had these two shots in print.

 

Mike McLaughlin in the 'Cup Machine - Thomspon Speedway

 

John Blewett Islip Speedway

 

Unfortunately a lot of the people involved with the actual voting don't really recognize the modifieds of the '60s to early '80s as being any different than today's series. Sadly, even some of the main-stream supports use Stefanik's numbers in the same context as Cook and Evans.

Don't get me wrong, I think today's modifieds put on a great show, but there are very few who do not see it as development or feeder series to the "Stock Car" classes, and that's how many people will measure Evans' accomplishments.

I hope I am wrong, but I think it will be a long time before we see a modified driver inducted to the NASCAR HoF.

 

I think Evans is a lock. Maybe not this year but surely in none the less. One of his cars is already on display. I know the full fender mentality does dominate especially done here in Charlotte/Concord,but Evans is a sure thing. I personally think alot of the early guys belong there but unfortunately you may be right. To have been as dominate a presents as Charlie J, Ed Flemke,Bugs Stevens and their peers and not be in the HoF seems impossible.

 

You're probably right. It is not always possible to figure out the logic behind the various "official" lists and entirely subjective awards.
NASCAR Modified All-Time Top 10:
For example: Jimmy Spencer? If we were to look at only his Modified career in isolation, which presumably should be the basis of the "Modified" list, I'd be surprised if he would be in Top 20. What he later did in other series should be irrelevant.
Jerry Cook is another. He amassed loads of points, but in races including the top boys, I don't recall his being competitive more than 10% of the time. If you were a fan of one of the top guys, he wasn't a threat. He was good, but he never was really good. One suspects that his second career as a NASCAR official had an influence on his being named.
Of course another factor is the "NASCAR" bit. Quite a few of the all-time great Modified/Sportsman drivers spent some or most of their careers competing outside of NASCAR events.

 

Geoff Bodine should be a future candidate. Not a NASCAR Champion in any division, but his win numbers, technical contributions and fact that he was selected as one of the top 50 NASCAR drivers a few years ago paves the way for his entry.

 

Your right about Cook being a threat to win he was not often. But he had quite a few championships and the Nascar Official job has probably put him in front of the fast guys right or wrong.

 

A lot of the older cup drivers know who Richie was, just ask someone like Rusty Wallace or even Richard Petty...they all know. His legend both as a contempory of theirs and as a legacy looms large. If Richie had gone 'Cup racing...NASCAR 'Cup history would have been very different.

 

Fans can vote for the Hall of Fame here:
http://www.nascar.com/promos/hof/2010/vote/

 

Nice to meet Jbull this weekend, wish we got more time to talk and wish I had more room up there too to move hahaha.

 

Same here, where do you race?

Next race for us is on the best 1/2 mile dirt track in Canada ,Autodrome Granby, July 30th. The other dates we have are on asphalt , Aug 14th and 21st.

Last Saturday was our first day on the track, with some good results, just need to work on the set up a little.

 

Florida Feb 1957...unknown track... Speedy Thompson, Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, WV's Owen Spradling #12 after wrecked

 

GREAT first post WV Bootlegger!

 

This is my favorite Tommy "The Tiger" Baldwin modified of all time. R.I.P.

 

I used to watch him at Riverhead, when they raced on wednesday nights.Always loved that car also, was a bueatifull car.

 

Kennie Childers modified driven by Claude "Cowboy" Frazier to several track championships at Dunbar, Charleston (Skyline) and Huntington,WV.

 

As a young boy, while Tony Gazinski was building that car I would hang out at the shop, hand him tools and clean up a little..but, mostly I was probably a pain in his ass.

 

OK this is a great thread, been following it since it began, but for us who may have only had a casual aquaintence with "modifieds" and thier various terms.

Coupes, coaches, center steers, pintos gremlins, and vegas oh my! dirt mods asphalt mods, 6 cylinders, bombers, sportsmen, etc. How about a good pic example of the various types and where they ran and when, and what the sanctioning bodies required.

My last real exposure to it was the Brewerton, Fulton, Utica Rome dirt circuit, with center steer 6 cyl and flathead V8's with straight front axles in the early to mid 60's. My brother who is 7 years younger got into the pinto and vega bodied 320 or 355's in the late 70's.