found this old t-shirt in a bag of rags at my workshop in AUSTRALIA! and wasnt sure wether it was a real speedway or not. cool shirt tho so i made a wooden frame and stapled it to it and hung it on the wall
Did a little digging.. check out this site, looks like it was for real. http://www.weissglassspeedway.com/
I looked in the History of American Speedways past/present, and it say the 1/5 mile paved oval was torn down in '73. The site is now a sewage treatment plant. You have a pretty cool souvenier there. The website tinyelvis found has the rest of the shirt for sale! Bil
it just seemed unusual that it would turn up in a bag of rags, half way around the world, and then actually be noticed by someone who thought it was cool
I Am A Son Of A Driver And Weissglass Did Exsist And The Site Given Is Real It Will Show Picsof Some Of The Cars And A Breif Story
Glad you found us. Castle Hill was another race track in NYC, held indoor midget races starting in the late 1930's. About 20-25 years ago the remains of Rick Decker's Miller 122 came out of his body shop on Staten Island. It is now in the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing.
the shirt that you found is a reproduction from noted weissglass speedway historian george le blanc - george has a museum and a collection of restored vintage stock cars at his home/museum on staten island - quite a diverse collection of vintage oval racing stuff from many venues - george is reproducing t shirts and decals from many shuttered east coast speedways, including weissglass, old bridge, flemington, harmony, pitman, alcyon, etc. - contact george through the web site listed above - he does a great job - big john 37
Here's a link to Marty Hime's museum, which contains tons of NYC and Long Island racing memorabilia: http://www.thehimesmuseum.vze.com/
Where is the museum? Theres a small one in pawtucket RI, has a few cars in it Z& lots of pics. You going to the gathering next week? If ya see me intro yourself.I know i met ya before but i kep missing ya at shows jimV
I saw Himes at a lost race tracks conference at the Saratoga [New York] auto museum in April. From what I can gather. Weisglass was a WPA project during the Depression. It was an all-purpose stadium that also allowed for about a one fith mile racetrack. Some of the stars are certainly mentioned by Himes. Bruno Brackey and Al Lucky are the onlytwo I remember from my one trip there. Bill
Hi,I'm George LeBlanc. My website ,www.weissglassspeedway.com covers an accurate history of Weissglass Stadium here on Staten Island. It was not a WPA project. It was originally a baseball field called Sisco Park built in the 30's. It became a cinder motorcycle track and sporting facility called Braybrook Oval before and after WW2. In 1952 ,local sports promoter Gabe Rispoili took it over and in 1953 it was a paved 1/5 mile track for stock cars which lasted until 1972. The property was owned by George Memoly,who had a Dodge Dealership next to the track. It was named Weissglass Stadium because Allan Weissglass gave Gabe $700 for some needed repairs. I sell T-Shirts not only of Weissglass Speedway,but also Freeport,Oldbridge,Flemington,Wall Stadiums,plus my extensive line of stickers of old race tracks. I can be reached at 718-727-6126,or email at billeblanc@aol.com. I will have my Island Princess coach at the Rumblers show next month,and I will be at the Warren ,New Jersey vintage race car show Sept.7th with at least one of my 37 Ford Stock Cars and my complete line of shirts and stickers. I ship daily so if anybody has an interest please contact me. Thanks,George.
There was a George LeBlanc that ran a Troyer Modified with the SNYRA at Danbury Racearena. Any relation ?
He was my cousin. I met him at Wall Stadium when he came down for the Turkey Derby one year. I heard he sold the family business and moved to Florida. His recycling operation was right next to LaJoie's.
WOW ...Small world ..Not with the HAMB ! NOW.. I DID some shirts for the last year of the Racing There... Think it was '71 Funny ,nobody mentions Danbury especially since they ran Flatheads right into the sixties Check your e-mail. Dino
Yes, here is some video of an LOld GTimer's Day at Riverhead Raceway. There are two Weissglass cars in it. Both on the track and also short interviews as well as some close ups of the cars. There were also 2 other tracks on Staten Island that I was not aware of. From what I was told that day, one is still there but is overgrown but the track can still be seen if you work your way to it. I believe it's all in part 1. I could be wrong. It is a 3 part series in the Pit Box section of the site. http://www.pitstoppitbull.com/pitbox.htm
CORRECTION: I have been notified that the two cars in my prior post were NOT raced at Weissglass nor did the drivers run there. I wasn't involved in the interviews but did see Weissglass Speedway stickers on the cars. Sorry if I misled anyone.
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