Semi-Monthly Racing Commentary with
LEW BOYD
June 18:
CATCHING UP WITH BRAD
DOTY
.(Shane
Carson Collection)
This Web Site Designed By
Established 1981
The New England Antique Racers club is a non-profit organization that
supports the history of New England auto racing. NEAR has been in existence since 1981 and
has a growing membership of approx. 350-400 members and 80 antique race cars. Members live
throughout New England and are available, on a no charge basis, for exhibition events
at local race tracks in New England and several tracks in the New York area, with
both original and historical replica race cars.
Since 1998, we have inducted 102
individuals into the New England Auto Racers Hall Of Fame,
which is administered by the New England Antique Racers. Some very notable inductees
include Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard, Bugs Stevens, Rene Charland, Pete
Hamilton, Fred DeSarro, Ed Flemke, Sr. and Billy Greco.
UPCOMING EVENTS
New General Meeting Location
Triple A Restaurant
1209 Main St. (Rt. 5)
East Hartford, CT
<<Click Here>> For Map
NOTICE
If you would like to help out with promoting the August
22nd Vintage deal at Thompson by having your car on display on the midway
any Thursday night from now till August 22,, let me know. Thompson will give
(2) free passes for each car that is on display.. No limit to cars on
display.. let me know
near69@comcast.net
NOTICE
Seekonk Speedway
Rt 6 Seekonk MA Saturday July 4
Sign-In Noon
Baystate Auto Show
East St. exit off RT 128
Dedham MA
Sunday July 12
Sign-In 6 - 8 A.M.
Northeastern Speedway Reunion
Waterford, VT
Saturday July 18
Sign-In 8 to 9:00 A.M.
Danbury Reunion
Danbury, CT
Sunday July 19
Sign-In 8 to 10:00 A.M.
New Waterford Speedbowl
Rt 85, Waterford, CT * S Saturday
* R Sunday Sat. & Sun.
July 25 & 26
Sat. 1:00 P.M.
Sun. 10:00 A.M.
CLUB NEWS
Lew Boyd's Coastal 181
Publishers Coming Out with New Book On NEAR Hall of Famer Bill Wimble
Coastal
181 is proud to announce the upcoming release of the much-anticipated
autobiography of Bill Wimble, a NEAR Hall of Famer and one of the most
respected figures in American racing.
The two-time NASCAR National Sportsman Champion spins tales of his
incredible journey from a New York dairy farm near the Canadian border to
the short tracks and superspeedways along the East Coast, to his honored
career as an entrepreneur in New York and Florida.
Awards that Bill has won throughout his career include the John Naughton
Memorial Sportsman Award in '63, Champion spark Plug's Buddy Schuman Award
in '64, and Kodak's All-time Greats Award in '72.
Bill loved racing on the dirt at Stafford. "I used to work in the hayfield
till noon on Friday, take a bath, pack and drive 330 miles to Stafford to
race. It made a long day but I loved every minute of it."
During the 1967 season, Wimble competed at three New York tracks,
Utica-Rome, Albany-Saratoga, and Fonda. In true Wimble fashion, he won
championships at all three tracks. Bill dominated at Fonda in the 60's,
winning 5 track championships between 1960 and '67.
Besides being a NEAR Hall of Famer, Bill Wimble is a member of the New York
Stock Car Association, Fonda Speedway, Dirt Motorsports, and Eastern Press
Association Halls of Fame, and is a member of Daytona's Living Legends of
Auto Racing.
I’LL NEVER BE LAST AGAIN is an American success story, full of
poignant messages for all of us.<<CLICK
HERE>>FOR A SPECIAL
PRE-ORDER OFFER!
Hall of Famer Marvin
Rifchin Passes At Age 94
Marvin
Rifchin, owner of the former M&H Tire in Watertown, passed away Tuesday at
the age of 94. A grave side service will be held in Sharon, MA. @ 12:45p.m.
Friday June 5th at the Sharon Memorial Park, (park is located at 50 Beach
St.). Marvin, a 1999 inductee into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame,
started in racing after WWII as the owner of midgets. Later on he got
involved in stock cars. His cars raced at many area tracks, including
Thompson and Waterford. He won championships at Seekonk and Stafford. The
last race car he owned was the #7 pinto bodied modified, driven by Ron
Bouchard in the years before Bouchard moved south to become the 1981 Winston
Cup Rookie of the Year.
But it was not as a car owner that Marvin is remembered but as a builder of
racing tires. It was very difficult to get racing tires for local cars on
the 40’s so Marvin formed M&H Tires, and provided all types of racing tires,
until closing his doors in 1986.
Marvin recalls that, unlike today, there were no track tires, and M&H or
Firestone were the two main choices for early racing tires. With the limited
technology of the time, everything was trial and error. He estimates that,
between midgets, stock cars, dragsters, and formula cars, he sold over
100,000 tires through the years.
Like so many others, Marvin sees money as the biggest change in racing over
the years, “In the early days, everybody was so broke, I’d have to give ‘em
a tire every now and then to keep ‘em going. You know, I worked with a lot
of fellows in racing, and I never found a bad one.
The Marvin Rifchin owned
Pinto with Ron Bouchard behind
the wheel. (Photo From The Danny Pardi Collection)
NEAR
Invited To Bear Ridge Speedway
After the Northeastern Speedway Reunion
NEAR
is invited to the Bear Ridge Speedway. See dirt track racing at its
finest, in Bradford, VT. Directions are listed below. Owner/Promoter
CV Elms has invited NEAR in for parade laps and trackside interviews
with NEAR members as the celebration of the Northeastern Reunion
continues at the “Home of the Coupes”. Don’t miss out on the fun. CV
Elm’s dad, Chuck, owned the #6 convertible that was driven to many wins
at Northeastern by NEAR Hall of Famers Stub Fadden and John Gammell.
Meet and greet John, Harold “Hard Luck” Hanaford, and the rest of the
Northeastern gang as the fun continues Saturday night, July 18th,
at the Bear Ridge Speedway, right off Rt 91, in Bradford, VT.
Directions: Heading north on Interstate 91 take exit 16
at the end of the ramp, take a left to South Road, then to Kidder Road.
heading south take exit 16 at the end of the ramp, take a right to South
Road, to Kidder Road then on to the track.
Randy LaJoie Donates A “Gift of Safety” To
The New England Antique Racers
For years, Randy LaJoie’s company “The Joie of
Seating” has provided competitors with an extra-measure of safety by
producing state of the art aluminum racing seats available for use
in a wide-variety of applications. From NASCAR Nextel Cup to Go
Karts, chances are they have you covered.
LaJoie, a two-time NASCAR Bush Series champion and 1981 champion at
Connecticut ’s Danbury Fair Racearena, has generously donated one of
his “Saturday Night” model seats to the New England Antique Racers.
Randy at Daytona early in his Busch Grand
National Career. (Photo from the Danny Pardi Collection)
“Randy wanted to contribute to NEAR, and we’re
certainly excited that he’s gifted us with one of his seats,” stated club
Technical Inspector Jim Torok recently. “Randy’s dad Don is a 7-time
Danbury champion and a member of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame,
so the family definitely has a strong-connection to vintage racing scene.
As with Randy’s company, safety is priority-one with us. This is truly
appreciated and a great way to help kick-off our twenty-eighth season.”
Randy at Daytona early in his Busch Grand National Career. (Photo from the
Danny Pardi Collection)
The LaJoie name remains prominent on today’s motorsports scene via the
successful racing endeavors of Randy’s sons, Corey and Casey.
A lucky club member will be custom-fitted for the seat before the 2009
season starts. Donated to the club rather than an individual, it will stay
with NEAR. Should a driver opt to retire or depart the organization, it
will go to another member.
For more information on products from The Joie of Seating, visit them on
the web at www.joieofseating.net.
This Sunday Jan 25, NEAR presents the 2009 New England Auto Racers Hall Of
Fame Induction at LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor , CT.
By Pete Zanardi
Three drivers, two owner/builders and three from the promotional side make
up the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Class of 2009.
Drivers John Fitch, Bobby Dragon and Paul Richardson, promoters Bob Bahre,
Jim McConnell and Tom Curley and car owner/ builders Rollie Lindblad and
Art Barry will be inducted on Jan. 25, 2009 at LaRenaissance Banquet Hall
in East Windsor, CT.
Bobby Santos was one of the many drivers to
earn wins in
Art Barry owned car. Barry is one of the inductees in this
years Hall of Fame.
(Photo from the Danny Pardi Collection)
Tickets, $42 apiece, will go on sale in November on the New
England Antique Racers website NEAR1.com.
Still to come are three selections form the Veterans Committee along with the
Jack Ratta Memorial Media Award and the Danny Pardi Memorial Award winners.
Currently the president of the American Canadian Tour and the co-owner/promoter
at Vermont’s Thunder Road International Speedway, Curley, 65, has been RPM’s
Northeast Promoter of the Year three times. A one-time competitor, he’s been on
the promotional side since the late 1979s. Guiding the fortunes of NASCAR North,
ACT and a number of individual tracks, his resume includes the ’04 RPM North
American Promoter of the Year, 1992 Trackside Magazine Promoter of the Year and
2003 Lowe’s Motor Speedway Short Track Promoter of the Year.
The still active Dragon, 62, joins brother Harmon “Beaver,” on the Hall of Fame
roster. The Vermonter has almost 140 victories in Late Models and Modifieds,
including the 1972 Milk Bowl, two New England 300s at Catamount Stadium and
Busch North wins at Watkins Glenn and Nazareth. In addition to four Catamount
championships, the ’78 NASCAR North champ, he has two Thunder Road and one
Devil’s Bowl crowns.
Few drivers surpass Richardson, 61, when it comes to versatility. Starting at
Pines Speedway in a bomber in 1965, the Groveland, MA resident is fifth on the
all-time New England Super Modified Racing Association win list. He scored
back-to-back Star Classic wins in 1985-86. He won a Modified crown at Star in
1973 and posted Late Model wins at Catamount, Thunder Road (the Milk Bowl) and
Hudson. Injured at Star in 1996, he endured months of therapy to win the series
opener at Star in 1997 in one of New England’s great comeback stories.
Rollie Lindblad, 61, has touched a multitude of auto racing disciplines often
with revolutionary results. Coming from drag racing, he turned to Midget racing
with the Badger in the early 1970s. He did the same in Supermodifieds (winning
an ISMA owner title with Denny Wheeler), in Modifieds (notably the #7
Ron-Bouchard-driven Vega) and in Pro Stocks, winning three titles in the latter
class at Seekonk. He just may be New England’s most prolific builder of winning
racecars.
Generally acknowledged as the man who brought “major league’ auto racing to New
England, Bahre, a Northeastern Midget Association owner, “saved” Maine’s Oxford
Plains Motor Speedway. He made the track and the Oxford 250 one of the top
facilities and short track events in the nation. He changed the face of the
sport with the mile-long New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Although it has hosted
Sprint Cup racing since 1993, Bahre made sure “local series,” notably the
Modifieds and Late Models, were part of the program.
Back-to-back NASCAR Whelen National Modified championships (2001-02 with driver
Mike Stefanik) top the resume of Barry, 73. In 56 years of competition, the
Glasgo, CT native, who started racing at nearby Waterford Speedbowl, has won on
26 tracks from Maine to the Carolinas. His major wins include two Thompson 300
wins, two Spring Sizzler wins, two wins at Martinsville and two at New Hampshire
Motor Speedway. Barry’s SPAFCO brand is the top of chassis in Modified racing.
Fitch, 91, has incredible credentials including impressive performances on the
grandest courses in the world (Italy’s Mille Miglia, Watkins Glen, Sebring,
LeMans) over an 18-year span. A competitive sailor before becoming a driver, he
drove for, among others, Mercedes-Benz and Connecticut’s Briggs Cunningham. A
World War II hero, he was the Sports Car Club of America’s first champion and
Lime Rock Park’s first general manager. He continues to be one of the world’s
top crusaders for safety on both the track and highway.
Jim McConnell, 96, is regarded as the founder and grandfather of racing in the
State of Maine. He was an innovator as builder, promoter, organizer and
championship car owner. A life-long Mainer, he built Beech Ridge Speedway in
1948-49, setting in motion the excitement the state now enjoys. His Maine State
Stock Car Association, started in 1949, lasted 35 years. McConnell had a direct
hand in the establishment of many tracks including Oxford Plains, Unity, and
Arundel. He played a leading hand in the establishment of Star Speedway.
NEW ENGLAND AUTO RACERS HALL OF FAME MEMBERSHIP
Dave Alkas 2008, Gene Angelillo 2006, Dick Armstrong 2005, Jack Arute Sr. 2001
Bob
Bahre 2009, George Barber 2007, Art Barry 2009, Dick Batchelder 2008, Gene
Bergin 1998, Dick Berggren 2008, Len Boehler 2004, Red Bolduc 2005, Vic Bombaci
2006, Ron Bouchard 2000, Smokey Boutwell 2005, Joe Brady 2008, Bert Brooks 2009,
Howie Brown 2008, Hully Bunn 2001; Moon Burgess 2003
Jean Paul Cabana 2007, Fats Caruso 2000, Rene Charland 1998, Leo Cleary 1999, on
Collins 2005; Russ Conway 2006, Robbie Crouch 2006, Joe Csiki 2005, Red Cummings
2006, Tom Curley 2009, Ralph Cusack 2001
Dave Darveau 2008, Fred DeSarro 1999, Dave Dion 2007, Dick Dixon 2004, Beaver
Dragon 2004, Bobby Dragon 2009, Homer Drew 2000
Dick Eagan 2007, Charlie Elliott 2000, Richie Evans 1998
Stub Fadden 2003, John Falconi Sr. 2007, John Fitch 2009, Ed Flemke 1998, Red
Foote 1999, Nick Fornoro Sr. 2002, Fred Frame 2004
Ernie Gahan 1998, Johnny Gammell 2008, Dick Garrett 2007, Sharky Gaudiosi 2006,
Harry Grant 2005, Billy Greco 1999.
Pete Hamilton 1998; Harold Hanaford 2009, Billy Harman 2004, Hop Harrington
1999, John Hoenig 2003, Dave Humphrey 2000
Charlie Jarzombek 2004, Bob Johnson 2007, Booker Jones 2003, Bob Judkins 2003
Johnny Kay 2006, Buddy Krebs 2000, Sonny Koszela 2002
Don
LaJoie 2000, Bob Libby 2006, Phil Libby 2006, Rollie Lindblad 2009, George
Lombardo 2008, Fred Luchesi 2008
Don
MacLaren 2002, Don MacTavish 2001, Dick McCabe 2002, John McCarthy 2007, Jim
McConnell 2009, Jim McGee 2006, Jocko Maggiacomo 2000, Ray Miller 2002, Ralph
Moody 2000
Ron Narducci 2000
Sammy Packard 2004, Bob Polverari 2003, Bob Potter 2007
Sonny Rabideau 2005, Billy Randall 2006, Paul Richardson 2009, Oscar Ridlon
2005, Marvin Rifchin 1999, John Rosati 2007, Joe Rosenfield 2006, Fred Rosner
2001, Don Rounds 2001, Art Rousseau, 2001
Bobby Santos 2001, Ollie Silva 1998, Bill Schindler 2004, Mike Scrivani Jr.,
2008, Boston Louie Seymour 2006, Bill Slater 1998, Bertha Small 2009, Ken Smith
2006, Joe Sostilio 2003, Ken Squier 2002, Bugsy Stevens 1998, Chick Stockwell
2001, George Summers 2000
Harvey Tattersall 1998, Johnny Thomson 2002, Paul Tremaine 2004, Reino Tulonen
2005,
D.Anthony Venditti 1999, Bob Vitari 2006
Bentley Warren 2007, Dick Watson 2003, Phil Walters (Ted Tappett) 2002, Bill
Welsh 1998, Eddie West 1999, Bill Wimble 2002, Dick Wolstenhulme 2006
Marvin
Rifchin, owner of the former M&H Tire in Watertown, passed away Tuesday at
the age of 94. A grave side service will be held in Sharon, MA. @ 12:45p.m.
Friday June 5th at the Sharon Memorial Park, (park is located at 50 Beach
St.). Marvin, a 1999 inductee into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame,
started in racing after WWII as the owner of midgets. Later on he got
involved in stock cars. His cars raced at many area tracks, including
Thompson and Waterford. He won championships at Seekonk and Stafford. The
last race car he owned was the #7 pinto bodied modified, driven by Ron
Bouchard in the years before Bouchard moved south to become the 1981 Winston
Cup Rookie of the Year. 
NEAR
is invited to the Bear Ridge Speedway. See dirt track racing at its
finest, in Bradford, VT. Directions are listed below. Owner/Promoter
CV Elms has invited NEAR in for parade laps and trackside interviews
with NEAR members as the celebration of the Northeastern Reunion
continues at the “Home of the Coupes”. Don’t miss out on the fun. CV
Elm’s dad, Chuck, owned the #6 convertible that was driven to many wins
at Northeastern by NEAR Hall of Famers Stub Fadden and John Gammell.
Meet and greet John, Harold “Hard Luck” Hanaford, and the rest of the
Northeastern gang as the fun continues Saturday night, July 18th,
at the Bear Ridge Speedway, right off Rt 91, in Bradford, VT.
