60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

Lou Lazzaro-Here's one from 1973, I liked this Valiant

 

Jar....thanks for the info. Jim McClure's Syracuse run would have been with the Sandy McKinnon M3 car that he won 2 titles with @ Beech Ridge. Jim is the only driver to have won a title in all the modern classes(modified, LMS, C Class) @ Beech Ridge was inducted into the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame this year.
Regarding the Coutermarshes...Dave & Sam winter in Florida now. A Daughter lives in NH & they bought some land nearby. He may build a shop there at some point. Dave was inducted into the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2010. He still has his last #61 Cavilier mod stored inside an enclosed trailer. It was turnkey last I knew. The well known pinto mod sits in a clearing nearby, wrecked from its last run...rotting away. The veg mod #16 was restored by Dale Chadbourne, a Wiscasset racer. The former 5 time championship #61 Howard Konkey super has been pulled out of the woods where it sat for many years & is slowly being restored by some former crew members.....hopefully they'll be able to do it. I just recently saw (sigh) the 427 BBC to it...sitting upside down, outside in a junk pile near the old pinto mod. Take care Steve Pellerin

 

Moon Dog, Thanks for looking into it. The memories are somewhat fuzzy, but my first Syracuse Super Dirt Week was 1980 and I didn't attend another until Merv's first win. I remember Jerry Cook and the familiar M3 pinto of McClure rolling out for practice. It was surreal when the mods were out on the track and then the Weld/Balough creation hitting the track prior to everyone throwing their makeshift ground effects to try and catch up. After that everything changed.

Steve, "Sandy McKinnon" wow! I haven't heard that name in forever. Dave in the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame. No one more deserving. As I said, good people. With all of the traveling that was involved while my father worked for Speedway Scene, I feel very fortunate to have attended so many great races at great facilities.

There is still nothing like the smell of racing fuel and heated rubber mixed with the aroma of track snack bars!

 

Don Diffendorf in the 40 at the NYS Fair Labor Day Race, 1974.

 

Happy Birthday Neil 84 years young!!!!!!

 

Does Neil have a full name? Does Neil have a story? Please understand that a little bit of detail goes a long way ... While everyone on this thread presumably loves Modifieds, not everyone from one region instantly recognizes the faces from another region, or grasps the subtle inside jokes/gossip. Fleshing out these posts helps us all learn a few things ...

 

Not too familiar with him, but Neil Truesdell looks to have been a Lancaster regular.

 

Thanks, John! I only mentioned the need for more info because I have pals in Cali, Florida, and all over who love reading the "back stories" to these posts, just as I do ... And I'm with you, I'm so pleased to have so many of our heroes kicking around. So, Happy Brithday, Neil Truesdell!

 

I was familiar with the name (so I googled it). I never got out to Lancaster, but my Dad's friends did a lot, so I heard a few of stories. And a few of the regulars would come out to Oswego for modified events. I do remember Gary Kelly at Oswego though.

 

Sorry about not posting more info Indybones wasn't realy thinkin about that. I posted it because Neil Truesdell looks at these posts but never posts anything himself .It was just a happy birthday to him from me.
Neil was a pretty good driver in his day he won the 1960 can-am race at merritville speedway in canada which was a pretty big race back then and also finished 2nd at syracuse one year(not sure what year) driving john clements 409 chevy powered modified.I know he also finised 2nd in points at lancaster a few years and has 5 feature wins there. after 1971 he still raced some in modifieds at ransomville and merritville and did some latemodel racing. He helped my dad out at his auto repair shop and towing business. I grew up around him and to me he is a hero on the track and off.
Doug

 

Very cool stuff, DS112 ... The great thing about this thread is that it's both entertaining and informative. I love learning more about these guys, especially those I saw only rarely. Thanks for helping fill us in a bit more on Neil.

 

Louie's coupe...what a roach.I remember the 1st turn gang at Fonda(mainly Lapeys fans...Kenny Hanson crew..I was a kid & they would tell me the bubble gum holding that shitbox together was gonna break off tonight...sometimes it would.But at the end of 1976 when the Schwinning Gremlin arrived..well.....the battle for 2nd began.So my Dad would take me to see Louie,& my Lape friends would go see David....our Dads would meet about 1 hour later at the KP(Korner Pub) in Amsterdams West End...I played many games of 8 Ball at midnight in the KP-Fonda was great.

 

Happy Birthday Neil!!!!

 

Hey Roman fan, isn't that your car behind Don Diffendorf in posting 10568

 

The white car behind the 40, is Don's teammate, Mike Loescher. Both cars were hauled on the same truck.(post 10568)

 

Thanks for the clarification Moon Dog. It was a long time ago and the mind gets a bit fuzzy these days!

By the way, I love the Eddie Munster avatar!

ParkFan

 

Yes it is Willie Ed thompson's #19 it and the Pinto are loaded for the old timers reunion at Oswego speedway tomorrow.If any of you are around it
starts at 10 am and goes till 4.

 

got a new DVD coming Neil Happy B Day

 

OK guys, I really love this website, but I have the same complaint about it as I did my home site (Lones Star Speedzone), which is simply that you have literally hundreds of great photos posted, and the majority of them are not identified! Great photos, but who are they and when and where were they taken? This drives me nuts, but keep up the great site, we'll take those photos any way we can get them!

 

For you "old time" western New York modified fans, here's a link to an aerial shot of the "late, great, Shangri-La Speedway", in Owego NY. This shot was taken shortly before the gravel company exercised their "land rights" and chewed up the track, (from lower left, to right, in the picture)in order to access the gravel underneath.

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=r0...29114&dir=7.175141417994123&sty=b&form=LMLTCC

RIP.....

 

I agree. It seems, at least to me, that this topic started out as pretty much a "regional thing", and most of the fans/posters knew who the various drivers were, therefore identifications weren't all that necessary. However, due to the tremendous fan base of the modifieds, the word spread throughout the land, the east coast primarily, and all of a sudden, the posting of pictures went crazy!

Like you, I thoroughly enjoy viewing the pictures, but as someone who's lived in western New York most of my life, there are a LOT of cars/drivers pictured here that I don't recognize either.....

 

This car finally got driven yesterday, to a local car show, the lack of places that would allow it to run (here on the west coast) have resulted in the ongoing conversion to street legality.

 

tommyo, I agree pictures and places should be identified. Denny Z

 

Sometimes the person who posts the photo has no idea who the driver is or what track it was taken at or what year the image was made -- but they chose to share it with us anyway. And that's a good thing. Would you rather have them not post the photos if they can't ID them? Besides, that's what the experts are for...

 

Need help with this one for a friend. It's Langhorne and obviously no later the '71. Anyone know the driver?

 

Dr John, No I didn't mean to restrict some pictures I just think more could be identified. By all means if it's a neat picture post it. Denny Z

 

My own clumsy rule of thumb is that if I see a photo and the posts surrounding it are vague or perhaps even accidentally inaccurate, I do my best to help the process with a post of my own if there's something I know about that particular driver, car, or track. I figure that's the least I can do for this thread, which brings me smiles on an almost daily basis. I see lots of others doing the same thing, which is great. Guys like Dr. John are pretty sharp with their history, and of course my friend Denny Z. wrote some Modified and Sportsman history of his own on his climb toward Indianapolis. Some smart folks around this thread, that's for sure! Thanks, all ...

 

the 22 is tom greene from bordentown built buy Bob Rossell

 

Yes..Tom Greene....this car became the Roaring 20 Auto car owned by Jack Wischnick...driven by Tommie Elliott and crew chiefed by Don House

 

See what I mean about all the smart folks?