60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

Doug,
I grew up in Camden,NY and Dick Waterman and his wife Dorothy were kike second parents.Do you remember his two sons Richie and Jeff.I think Dick took over Utica Rome in 1963-64 or so.Sadly his wife Dorothy passed away last year so tell your dad if he isn't aware. Dick is doing fine,if your dad wants Dick's number send me a private message.One more thing to jog your memory.Do you recall Mike Price on WNYS-TV making several appearances as Baron Daemon the vampire.He was a big hit in central NY from 1962-1967.I have pics of him in the UR pace car with Dick Waterman driving.Also pics of the Baron in Buddy Thurston's and Kenny Platt's car with Cliff Kotary handing him the checkers.

 

Great find, do you plan on racing it again? If so Hope to see you in Granby and Plattsburgh on the 29th and 30th of July for the Can-Am Vintage Nationals.

 

Dick Clark the driver, otherwise known as "Pickles"............16x

 

New Britain,

Is this the "new" Art Barry coupe you were thinking of from 1971? This shot is from the Vintage Modified sit (not sure of the photographer)

 

BKHRS,

Re: your post #9785...That Tant / Mitchel coupe won a LOT of races. First time I saw it was Langhorne 1969. Ray Hendrick won in it and I remember being amazed by 2 things. The car had independent suspension, as you stated, and it also had a small block. Back then all the Upstate NY guys were running big blocks, so I was surprised to see how fast a small block could be. The way that car looked & ran made it one of my all time favorite coupes.

 

If your talking about the hall of fame car, that was a year ago, those pictures were and have been all over facebook, before this site. Please keep this disagreement off the boards, "we" don't need any altercations to hurt this thread. Which page are they on?

 

I remember being in the pits at Shangri La Speedway in Owego, NY somewhere in the early '70's when Ray Hendrick was touring the Northeast for some of the big shows with the Tant/Mitchell #11 Coupe. We all had a close look at the car and it had a small block Chevrolet, but it was the "400 Small Block/Big Block." It would not surprise me if it was bored and stoked and came out in cubic inches at about the same as a 427.

The other thing that I noticed was the low rake that the car had. One of the tests that I would do is walk up to a car and put my foot under the car and move it up until it hit the frame. I could barely get my foot under the left side at the drivers door of the #11.

While he (Hendrick) ran pretty good, not only was he running against some big motors, but there were some pretty fair "Shoes," there - like Evans, Troyer, Hoag, Bodine, to name a few. This is not to take anything away from Ray as he was in their league and didn't get the nickname Mr. Modified by parking cars at a swanky restaurant...

Regards,

Moselli

 

You're asking a question that has bedeviled me for the last 30 years.
One Friday night, I was in the Malta pits after a race, talking to "Ziggy", who had traveled to races with Eddie off and one for years. He mentioned that, the previous Thursday or Friday, they'd been to a show at, I thought, Shangri-La. The big names from all over the East had towed there because that weekend there was going to be a big-money show fairly nearby (at Pocono, IIRC).
Ziggy related to me the anecdote that I repeated in my post. The only thing is, I'm not certain of which car he was speaking.
This conversation would have been in '70 or '71. He told me the car #, of which I'm sure only that it ended with "9". He said that it was a dark red coupe.
In '70, part of the time, Eddie drove the Mills & Welch #79, but that was dark blue, and I'm not aware that they ran a successor car to that one.
In '71, part of the time, he drove that Art Barry #09 in the image that you've posted. That car's red, and Art of course has been building Modifieds ever since. Ergo, for 30 years now, I've assumed that Ziggy was referring either to that #09 or to Art's successor car, but I wish I could be certain of that.

 

Okay, cool. New Hartford, NY here. The non-driver DC lived around the corner from us for awhile, which is only reason that I remember the connection.

 

Hey RAF - Tremendous pix of Riverside and Eastern States, keep 'em coming!

The guy 3rd from the left with the #6 and alone with the #6 in the pictures on pg. 481 - Post # 9618 is my uncle! No mistaking - he only had one arm. His name was Normand Buteau and he raced at Stafford when it was dirt. He just passed away last fall (83 yrs.). I don't have any pictures of him racing or at the races so if you find any more of him, can you please post?

You made my day - Thanks!

ParkFan

 

Hello Parkfan,
Looked through the rest of my pictures and only found one more of your uncle, did find a couple more of the car before and after an accident. The ones of your uncle at the Eastern States were taken in September 1959. The one of after the accident was in 1960. Glad you now have a couple of shots of him at the races.

 

Here are a couple more cars from Riverside.

 

Here's a shot of Gene Bergin but not sure of the track.

 

Great find!! Lucky!!! Been looking forever for something like that!!! Hope to see you out on a vintage track!!

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the great Jerry Humiston at Riverside Park.

 

Richie Evans


Roger Treichler, winner

1971 Race of Champions, Langhorne (photographer unknown)

 

Those pickels he made were the hottest damn thing I ever tried to eat! Phew!

 

Looks like Norwood Arena ,pits were right off turn 4.I was usually there every Sat. night 1963

 

I loved the line several posts ago (a few pages, actually) about those old Eddie Flemke dollar-sign and cent-sign Modifieds having "some primer" on them! Denny, some of those coupes you and Eddie drove MIGHT have had "some paint" splotches between the primer! But, geez, those old things are still beautiful to look at. Haven't had a chance to check out this site for a while, but the pics I see here amaze me, whether they come from the North, the South, or the "neutral turf" tracks like Pocono. Brings back memories of some great people, great tracks, and great races ...

 

Hi Bones, I will see you in INDY I will be there in time for the Old Timers BBQ.
Ya I know primer with bloches of paint, more truth to that than most new. I think I told this before but during a period Eddie and I were working on our cars out of Bert Brooks garage, Bert threatened to use the torch and cut out the new dents in my car and with a grin he said in two weeks there will be nothing left. Denny Z

 

Yes, Denny, I look forward to seeing you ... Gosh, between you and Eddie, plus John Stygar and Bert, that old shop sure had a lot of talent in one place! Those must have been great days ... See you soon.

 

Speaking of primer, I've only just noticed in this image:



that not only is the hood in a strange color, but, judging from the A-pillar and roof, it appears that the right side of the car doesn't match the left.
I guess you didn't need a nice paint job to go fast.

 

Bones, Others that would show up at Bert's shop...George Flemke, Jake Flemke (Jake was George and Eddies Father) Johnny Kay, George Lombardo and many more. Denny Z

 

Wow, that sure is a lot of walking, talking history in one place, Denny! And Bobby Judkins told me he spent a few afternoons at Bert's shop helping Eddie weld up a new car. This was even before Eddie drove Bobby's famed #2X coupe ... apparently, young Mr. Judkins already had a reputation as a fine welder. And thanks for another cool shot, New Britain!

 

Just love the history lessons here. They are stories we would never have heard anywhere else, ever. Thanks to all you historians who share your time and memories and stories of east coast modified racing. They (and you) are priceless.

 

Zoera, I'm with ya!!! Thank you guys so much for the stories you share and will continue to share with us! Thanks for keep the memories alive.