60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

I guess a couple were saved on my computer,but not all that uncommon of pics.Anyway,here is Chet Hames....

 

Looks like Pete Corey in the 11, Where was that other pic taken ?

 

At Catamount I think,but I'm not sure.

 

Boy, is that a risky choice for a restoration. That was the most hated car and driver ever, as I can remember. I'll bet there are still a few around that will throw a beer can at it!

 

I disagree. I know he wasn't a beloved driver back in the day, although always one of my favorites. And the Valiant was my favorite car. I sat in the grandstands at Weedsport Speedway for almost the entire 70s, and I could tell you someone who was hated more (I was a fan of him too).

 

Was his initials W.C.

 

He cleaned house that day with his dirt car,he showed the ultra low and sleek,southern modified boys the short way around.

 

I'll disagree as well, at that point in time Geoff was just starting to make his mark. Later in his career when he wheeled the Armstrong Big Red 1, was when he really started to ruffle feathers.

 

Dads dodge lancer was built by Sonny Seamon,he never bought anyone elses car.This was the first car he didnt build and never built another ont thanks to the tube chassis.

 

Anyway,here is Chet Hames.... "Thank you Sir"

Lou4- Welcome to Great Forum <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->

 

Folks don't like a winner, especially when they come in from outa' town and make the locals look silly.

Cagle and Bodine managed to do that. Bodine went to New England and set a record for a single season wins. The New York invader probably had more than one "full" beer can thrown at him.

Weedsport promoter, Glenn Donnelly invited Dutch Hoag to come in and break Cagle's domination. After most of one season he told Glen, "I can't beat him, he's that good".

 

I would have gotten to you sooner, but I lost my password again. It's hell to get old. That other photo, beside the one of Corey in Chris Drellos' 11, was taken at the now - defunct Stateline Speedway, in North Bennington, VT. Featured in that shot is the Brush Radio #27, probably driven by George Welch then. The Tompkins 99 is Doug Garrison. Stateline was partly in New York, allowing the promoter to circumvent the Sunday Blue Laws in both states. The track closed in 1959. No trace of it left except the big old brick house directly across Rte 67 from the track.

 

Found this on Racing Junk

 

Maybe.

 

Reading Fairgrounds March 1979. enjoy!

 

more from Reading "79" enjoy!

 

2010 AACA Fall meet at Hershey. enjoy!

 

more from 2010 Hershey. enjoy!

 

and another one from 2010 Hershey. enjoy!

 

a) Do you reckon Bodine's reception from the fans might have been related to his driving techniques?

b) Do you think that Bodine's equipment was comparable to that of his competitors?

 

driving

 

I mostly saw Geoff drive on the western New York tracks. He didn't seem any more aggressive to me, that anybody else. However, I think Geoff was the first "professional" modified driver. Therefore, he spent far more time "massaging" his cars, and using his engineering background, to design a better mousetrap....

With respect to the "nobody like a winner" comment, I personally think that Maynard Troyer got more than his share of "boos", at least at his home track, Spencer Speedway. The way I see it, Maynard was fortunate to have a solid sponsor, and his cars were well turned out, and ready to race, whenever their hauler pulled into the pits. This was at a time when most drivers were still racing modifieds as a hobby, on a limited budget.

Oh well, you can't please everybody....

 

Yeah maybe that was a New England thing. The New Yorker dominating all the big races. I only saw Geoff run Malta and Oswego. Neither Cagle or Bodine were dirty drivers though. Although my Dad could never understand why I followed Geoff in the Cup series. He knew him from Shangri La and Oswego and said he was spoiled and arrogant.

I think Donnelly warmed up to having Cagle run Weedsport regularly. I've heard from an unnamed source that Glen liked to create a little controversy between Cagle and some of the regulars. It did put butts in the seats. There was rarely an empty seat at Weedsport in the 70s. I probably saw more than half of his 84 wins there, and I still vividly remember the chorus of boos every time. I guess unlike Geoff, Will seemed like a real nice guy when I met him. He just had superior equipment, and knew how to skirt the rules a little better than most.

 

the 009 on post picture 10072 (crazy ain't it)

Some know I love Danbury. Well some years back I was in my Dad's basement one morning doing some work. I hear this loud motor outside. And I am trying to concentrate on what I was doing, So I wnet outside to have a word with who ever it was, and I see the 009 car pictured here idling in front of my dads house! What the hell right. Well I was in heaven, imagine not having seen this car since the 1960's on the track and now it is in your front yard running. About the late 1990's this happened. What a great day.



I guess the owner was borrowing the neighbors garage over the winter.

 

ANSWERS:

a) I don't recall Geoff having any driving techniques different from others, except he was motivated and a talent. His desire to drive and win in CUP series pretty much explains how good he is.

b) Geoff's equipment was within the rules. He was an innovator, not a follower. Many of his racing innovations are still used today. He was an excellent chassis man. Any other race team could've had the same engines, so that's not part of his winning equation.


Ya' know ya' can put driver X and driver Y in identical cars, send them out on the track and one will be faster than the other. Sometimes there is a talent that is exceptional. Cagle and Hearn on dirt, Bodine and Evans on asphalt. Just in terms everyone can understand, they're great drivers. Only one outa' the three mentioned would get cheers from the grandstand.

 

Great old photo of Lou Funk who raced for years at the Danbury Speedway located at the old Danbury Fairgrounds.

These photos sure bring back some great old memories from the early day's of racing.

A few years ago my cousin asked me to help him sell his old programs from Danbury and he had a large cardboard box full of them.

One older racer from Mass. bought the entire box for his collection.

 

Why do you think Richie Evans was able to keep his "popularity" over the others?

 

Here's my take on your question. I had the privilege to be around Richie in the pits when we raced modifieds in the early 1970's. It was my observation at that time and still is, that Richie was popular with the fans and with his competitors because as good as he was, he seemed to still have humility and he never forgot where he came from.

Let me give you an example. If we were struggling to get the car handling or had a question, we could go over to Richie and ask him his advice. He would listen and answer the question by saying, "Here's what I would try....." Not everyone was as open with questions from a competitor.

The other thing that made Richie popular with the fans, was his style of driving. Fans know a dirty move when they see it. Richie was not one to "move" people out of the way. He had a unique racing technique he developed, called, "passing." He never got into a war of words with other drivers, he let his driving speak for him.

If you boil down everything I said here, it comes down to one word - respect. His competition and fan respected him....

Regards,

Moselli

 

a) Do you reckon Bodine's reception from the fans might have been related to his driving techniques?

b) Do you think that Bodine's equipment was comparable to that of his competitors?

Well, I'm gonna check in on a) and say YES....I watched Geoff thru his entire learning curve in NY (can't say why the NE guys hated him, but read "Bugsy" and you'll get a clue) and I saw him use his front bumper waaay more than most other drivers at that time. Did that make him "dirty"? IMHO, yes....my heros (Dutch, Richie, Maynard-after I got to know him a bit, Merv T.) found ways to pass w/o using the bumper. Not to say Geoff didn't pass sometimes w/o using it, but more often than not, it was his first or second tactic. I saw him steal a win from Dutch in 1972 at Shangri-la that really highlighted it for me. Dutch had led practically the whole race. He was fast, but not dominate at that point in his career. Geoff in 2nd, just beat hell out of Dutch's back bumper (Dutch said later Geoff hit him so hard it knocked his foot off the gas pedal) until he finally was able to get a wheel in the grass and push him up the track to take the lead. Typical, it was for Geoff and NOT classy! Funny thing is that Geoff really could drive & if he hadn't had that attitude of not caring how he won, I think more people woulda liked him.

Regarding b)....definately an innovator & a good chassis man. I believe his cars were certainly a little bit superior from an Engineering standpoint, than most of the cars he raced against. Maynard caught up with him pretty quickly in the technology dept, but when that Valiant 1st came out there were few that were better.

All above is JMHO, so all you Geoff lovers, don't pile on me. I still love what Rip's done with his tribute Valiant project....AWESOME!

 

Moselli, as usual, has hit the nail squarely on the head!