60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

classic!!!!

 

Looks like we have a milk man and an escaping convict with officers hat on and no one seems to mind here! lol sorry my sense of humor takes me away at times! But seriously who let them on the track and where was he delivering the milk? lol

 

All of these photos came from Gater Racing News' 1973 Yearbook, which contained mostly 1972 photos, but a few 1971s and some early 1973s...



Dave Lape at Fonda




Holland (NY) Speedway Limited Modifieds, 1972:


Merv Treichler at Lancaster, early 1973:


Chuck Boos at Lancaster, early 1973:

 

Thanks!!! Nice article, I'll forward it to my dad.

 

J-bull??? We're on a roll here!!! Let's keep it going boys!

 

BullFather, your Danbury pics bring back some awesome memories for me every time you add more to the mix here........ Excellent stuff !!

Thanks !!!!!!

 

More Danbury "carnage",, I often wondered why SNYRA kept on racing in "Leahey's Alley",,,that front straight tore up more cars,,,,,,,,

 

From what I understand, this was the Czarnecki's last coupe. Lots of history there. Two champions drove this car, the late Bob Stefanik, and of course Ron Wycoff. Wycoff is a local guy who's involved in the area car cruise nights and is often seen lining up show cars. He also played a major role in the "Plainville Stadium Reunion" recently at the Berlin Fairgrounds in CT., which can be reviewed on Facebook.
I last saw this car at Waterford Speedbowl's NEAR night a few years back but it has since disappeared from the New England scene. I'm glad to see that this car will be back where it belongs amid the many 'correct and original' modifieds touring the regional tracks and showing the newbies just what modified racing was in its heyday. I also would like to see some of the other 'original' modifieds (which are currently in museums and garages) back on tour with NEAR.

 

We used to call it the "Danbury Crasharena".

 

WTF happened there!?!

There's GOT to be a story to those two photos.

 

Whoever raced at Danbury wanted to stay at Danbury and be part of the crashes because they ran for 40% of the front gate. I went there only once near the end Danbury's existence and the place was packed...and easily held over 5,000 people. I seem to recall that at the end of flathead era a feature win was worth $1,800-$2,000 or so...in the 70's!!! I wish someone who raced there at the end would chime in with what the winners share was.

I regret not going there often, what a passionate crowd and take no prisoners racing with a lot of dicing. And many of the fans that were there each night probably stopped going to the races completely.

 

Weedsport Speedway program, 1975.

 

All of these photos came from Gater Racing News' 1973 Yearbook, which contained mostly 1972 photos, but a few 1971s and some early 1973s...

More Holland (NY) Speedway Limited Modifieds, 1972.


Upstate N.Y. Limiteds, 1972




Asphalt big-block Modifieds, 1972 (I believe Loescher's Pinto is an early-'73 photo)
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Remember in the sixties, in a car that was hard to get $3500 into, it would pay like $2500/$2700 to win. And to win there was quite a feat, could be sixty guys racing that night. The track was a moat at one time, so there were walls on both sides of the front straight. Certainly contributed to alot of the carnage, there was nowhere to go...

 

Lots of the "correct and original" mods can no longer run with NEAR. Seems like after years of squabbling about what is appropriate to run, and finally splitting into two clubs, it has come full circle, and we no longer have as many actual old modifieds running as they actually were...we now have "safety" inspections, so of course any truly authentic car is now unable to run...IE: square roll cages,etc. Too bad, but that's what the bureaucratic minds do. If it's kept up these cars will no longer be antiques, but late models.

 

Trying to help a friend in Fla. find pics of his uncle's Northeast Modified:

From Steve: "My Uncle's name was Frank Donato and he ran the No. 22 on a black-and-yellow Ford coupe (ran East Windsor and I think Old Bridge). Later he had Chubby Hower drive for him. Chubby says he says he has no pictures. The later car was a bronze-and-yellow Plymouth that also was No. 22.

The February 1974 issue of Hot Rod Magazine has an article called "The Real Last American Heroes" about racing in New Jersey by Ro McGonegal. There is an uncaptioned picture of my Uncle Frank and Chubby next to the car."

Can anyone help with pics?

 

Thanks for the welcome Bullfather and all that you do with this board. I found this thread in late October and have been on it almost all day, everyday since then. Just now starting to get to the end. I'm about your age and share a lot of the same memories from the 70's and 80's. My dad's shop was directly across the street from Riverside Park at Gasoline Alley where the Mario Fiore 44 and a few others called home for about 30 years. My fondest memories as a kid was when the races got rained out, everybody used to go to Mario's and party. My brother and I would poor beer from the keg that was in the back of a pickup truck to Richie Evans, George Kent....and many others. One night Richie welded a modified bumper on the front of the pickup truck. It was so funny at the time. He had this crazy grin and laugh going every time he was about to pull a prank. And I also remember that laugh as I hung from the wall by my underwear one day as well as I'm typing this. I was soooo mad. After that I would always rub it in his face if the 44 finished in front of him to say "ha, ha"...you got beat. And then he proceed to lock me in the cube van or give me a wedgy.

 

Also, another friend, who is the son of the late, great Western N.Y. car builder Bill "Doc" Hoctor, recently received a number of old Lancaster Speedway photos that he is unable to ID. These are from the early 1960s -- before photographer Gordy Reinig's time (and mine, of course). I do not want to post them here because the cars a "Super Bombs" a.k.a. Supers on this Modified thread. Anyone on this thread who has knowledge of the cars from that track and era?

 

Dr John, re post #7846 the Holland Speedway Limited Mods, # 28, Howard ( the Hare) Maybee, #4, John Carpenter,( ran a V6 Buick) #22, Jim Remery, #36 Charlie Pangrazio, # 60 Larry Arnold. I was either in front of them in my #48 coupe, or chasing #36. I won 12 out of 16 features that year(1972) at Holland, and was track champ at Holland and Perry ...what a summer!
Ken Garrett, HemiHead NC

 

Which are the 'two' clubs? I'm a NEAR member (renewed after a fifteen year hiatus) and I've not heard of a rift, although I've yet to attend a meeting. I did notice that there were two separate vintage events at Waterford last year and did not see NEAR scheduled to run there in 2011. Seems funny that these cars have to be modernized only to run a 'make-believe' race. Maybe what we need is a real vintage racing club, much like the sporty car scene. These guys run hard. My idea would be for the 'originals' to run a choreographed event and the 'modern' cars to run ten laps for real. I was at Thompson last August and some of these guys were running fast laps, although no 'race' was run.

 

My Dad built stock cars competed at Lancaster from 1959? until 1964. I remember going to the track as a kid.