History SUNDAY SUNDAY at Aquasco Speedway

I was down at the race track a couple of months ago and I met the new owner. He let me take some pictures and says he has no plans to really do anything with the property. I have attached a few pictures of what the race track looks like today and will be adding additional pictures from the early '60s. Enjoy!


Mike

 

A few more pictures from today and couple from back in the day.


Mike

 

More pictures from the early '60s.

 

Just a few more...

 

This is it for today. Let me know if there are any other cars that you would like to see. Mike

 

what the hell happened

 

Hey Mike. Thanks for posting these great old photos. Never raced there myself, but sure remember watching some great cars and drivers there. Names like Bob Bernardon, Malcolm Durham, Gene Mori (V-8 Volkswagon), cars like Leroy's Toy, Jolly Dolly and the occasional appearances by wheelstanders like The Hurst Hemi Under Glass, Dodge's Little Red Wagon and Ford's Little Yellow Wagon. Man those pictures bring back wonderful memories, not only of drag racing history, but of a special time in this country when we were all much younger and anything seemed possible. Thanks, Don.

 

Damn, here I thought that a second Maryland track was going to come back from the dead.

 

I'd like to see more pics of any cars at Aquasco. It seemed like we raced there every week. If you have more please post 'em. Thanks, lots of great memories at that track. Mike

 

Ask and ye shall receive.I posted these awhile back.Sorry for the quality;they are pictures of pictures.My scanner died.Taken sometime in the summer of 1965 IIRC.A friend named Charlie Daniels was running his 56 Chevy h/t with a hot 6 in it that day.don't know why I don't have any pics of it.

 

Thanks for the pics., I raced at Aquasco starting back in 1963, it was quite a neat old place! I remember most all of the cars in Your photos, I still have a bunch of trophies, funny thing, they all say Aquasco Drag (not Drags!) Great memories!

 

Aquasco was a great little place. Only about 45 minutes from home. Any shots of a black '42 Willys pickup sponsered by Big Ed's Speed Shop? Or a dark green '33 Willys? Both were BB/GS cars. I crewed on both of them but wasn't smart enough to take pics.
I really liked the incline up to the starting line. It was like, once you got up there, you were the show. Thanks for the pics. Mike

 

Your welcome the pleasures been all mine I like hearing about all the great memories you guys have about aquasco. I spent a lot of sundays as a kid there up until it closed in 79 and going back looking at it today sure brought back a lot of memories for me. I'll be scanning more slides this week and I hope I can find the cars your looking for. Also if you have the names of the drivers or owners of these cars I might be able find them in some of my Drag Times or Eastern Drag news and scan them for you. Thanks again Mike

 

Great photos schwinn. Let me help you out with a few I.D.'s

This car (Lil Bit) was owned and driven by Rufus Boswell. It was one of the strong running cars from the Maryland area. He won B/Modified Production at the NHRA NATIONALS in 1965.

Please post all the photos you have...I'd love to see them!

 

This looks like Homer Raymond from Washington D.C.

 

This one is yours truly. The photo is from 1964 with the new Hill-Zartman fiberglass doors. It looks to be very early in the season, no leaves on the trees and everyone is bundled up. Thanks for posting this one.

DH

 

This is Elmer Kidd from Bailey's Cross Roads, Virginia. He and his father owned and operated a Sinclair gas station. I believe this car was an AHRA National Record Holder for a while in 1963 or 1964.

 

Tommy Heffernan from Alexandria, Virginia in his B/MSP Corvette. This car was originally owned by Chuck Stolze, who also owned the S&S Parts Company in Falls Church, Virginia.

After purchasing the car from Stolze, Tommy Heffernan put a Willys frame under it and went on to become an NHRA National Record Holder.

 

Dang man, that's kinda sad....
It all just goes back to Mother Earth......

 

Now I really like this one. That's me bending over the engine.....I have no idea what I'm doing. Probably fixing some broken rocker arm or something!

Aquasco was a great place to race. I can remember when they would race on Saturday nights and then again on Sunday. We used to race Saturday, just sleep in the pits and race the next day!!! This was probably in 1961-62.

Thanks again for the memories.....and if you have more photos, please post them.

DH

 

Cool Pictures..

 

Now I really like this one. That's me bending over the engine.....I have no idea what I'm doing. Probably fixing some broken rocker arm or something!

Aquasco was a great place to race. I can remember when they would race on Saturday nights and then again on Sunday. We used to race Saturday, just sleep in the pits and race the next day!!! This was probably in 1961-62.

Thanks again for the memories.....and if you have more photos, please post them.

DH[/quote]

I had a feeling that was you under there. That's a great shot. I remembered Rufus Boswell but the car name threw me off. I'd forgotten that. Pretty cool to see the old stompin' grounds again, eh Dave? I miss those days. Mike

 

Your welcome Dave and thanks for all the info on all of these greats cars. I'm glad I found this website to be able to share these pictures with everybody. I will be posting more as soon as possible. Thanks again Mike

 

Schwinn....thanks for the old photos of Aquasco (they're some of the best shots I've seen of the track). That strip was before my time, but I have visited it as it stands today. Pretty amazing it's been untouched for 30 years.

-Lee
Atomic Radio
www.atomicpinup.com

 

The Tall fellow whose head You see just in fromt of the windshield is John Rowley, a buddy of mine who ran a 57 chevy B/MP and was the part time starter,He raced for many years and passed away several years ago.

 

I remember John Rowley very well. He was a permanent fixture at Aquasco. Sorry to hear of his passing....nice guy!

DH

 

This looks like Doug Hewitt, another strong Modified Production Racer from the Maryland area. There was also another guy with a car called "Gang Green" if I remember correctly...Leroy Dewdney. I can't remember if his was a 55 or 56 Chevy but it also ran very good. Running Street/Modified Eliminator against all the good running cars from Maryland was never easy in the early to mid 60's. And we should not forget Bob Bernardon's "Jolly Dolly" 39 Chevy or Ferd Napfel's "Storming Bull" 55 Chevy F/Gasser or Dave DeYoung's 51 Chevy H/Gasser. Got any photos of those guys? Or Jimmy Davis, Fred Bear, Gene Altizer, Pork Zartman, Carl Hegge, K.S.Pittman .......man those were the days!!!

 

Malcolm Durham's stretched wheelbase Corvair funny car. Malcolm sold this car to Gene Altizer in 1968. Gene ran it in an Injected Nitro Funny Car Circuit for a few years. Malcolm was a true pioneer, the first successful professional black drag racer, and a genuine nice person. We lost Malcolm a few years ago. RIP.

 

Dave....here's the Gang Green Chevy @ Aquasco:



-Lee
Atomic Radio
www.atomicpinup.com

 

I remember Leroy Dewdney,I think his car was called "LeRoy's Toy" but I could be mistaking,anyway, later in life He became crew chief for a couple of different funny cars as I remember. I was a young punk hanging out with Tom"Smoker" Smith and Harry Peapers (H/G) 39 Chevy.