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60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by john56h, Apr 11, 2007.

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  1. monksfan
    Joined: Apr 30, 2009
    Posts: 28

    monksfan
    Member
    from fonda n.y.

    I guess a couple were saved on my computer,but not all that uncommon of pics.Anyway,here is Chet Hames....
     

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  2. racemad55
    Joined: Dec 14, 2005
    Posts: 1,149

    racemad55
    Member

    Looks like Pete Corey in the 11, Where was that other pic taken ?
     
  3. monksfan
    Joined: Apr 30, 2009
    Posts: 28

    monksfan
    Member
    from fonda n.y.

    At Catamount I think,but I'm not sure.
     
  4. Third DodgeBrother
    Joined: Apr 18, 2009
    Posts: 196

    Third DodgeBrother
    Member

    Boy, is that a risky choice for a restoration. That was the most hated car and driver ever, as I can remember. I'll bet there are still a few around that will throw a beer can at it!
     
  5. BigFeet13
    Joined: Dec 15, 2010
    Posts: 71

    BigFeet13
    BANNED

    I disagree. I know he wasn't a beloved driver back in the day, although always one of my favorites. And the Valiant was my favorite car. I sat in the grandstands at Weedsport Speedway for almost the entire 70s, and I could tell you someone who was hated more (I was a fan of him too).
     
  6. racemad55
    Joined: Dec 14, 2005
    Posts: 1,149

    racemad55
    Member

    Was his initials W.C.
     
  7. LOU4
    Joined: May 4, 2009
    Posts: 3

    LOU4
    Member

    He cleaned house that day with his dirt car,he showed the ultra low and sleek,southern modified boys the short way around.
     
  8. retroridesbyrich
    Joined: Dec 2, 2004
    Posts: 1,872

    retroridesbyrich
    Member
    from Central NC

    I'll disagree as well, at that point in time Geoff was just starting to make his mark. Later in his career when he wheeled the Armstrong Big Red 1, was when he really started to ruffle feathers.
     
  9. LOU4
    Joined: May 4, 2009
    Posts: 3

    LOU4
    Member

    Dads dodge lancer was built by Sonny Seamon,he never bought anyone elses car.This was the first car he didnt build and never built another ont thanks to the tube chassis.
     
  10. ssffnomad
    Joined: Jul 23, 2008
    Posts: 954

    ssffnomad
    Member

    Anyway,here is Chet Hames.... "Thank you Sir"

    Lou4- Welcome to Great Forum <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
     

  11. Folks don't like a winner, especially when they come in from outa' town and make the locals look silly.

    Cagle and Bodine managed to do that. Bodine went to New England and set a record for a single season wins. The New York invader probably had more than one "full" beer can thrown at him.

    Weedsport promoter, Glenn Donnelly invited Dutch Hoag to come in and break Cagle's domination. After most of one season he told Glen, "I can't beat him, he's that good".
     
  12. catstad
    Joined: Jul 15, 2008
    Posts: 3

    catstad
    Member

    I would have gotten to you sooner, but I lost my password again. It's hell to get old. That other photo, beside the one of Corey in Chris Drellos' 11, was taken at the now - defunct Stateline Speedway, in North Bennington, VT. Featured in that shot is the Brush Radio #27, probably driven by George Welch then. The Tompkins 99 is Doug Garrison. Stateline was partly in New York, allowing the promoter to circumvent the Sunday Blue Laws in both states. The track closed in 1959. No trace of it left except the big old brick house directly across Rte 67 from the track.
     
  13. BKHRS
    Joined: Jun 15, 2009
    Posts: 73

    BKHRS
    Member

    [​IMG]
    Found this on Racing Junk
     
  14. BigFeet13
    Joined: Dec 15, 2010
    Posts: 71

    BigFeet13
    BANNED

    Maybe. :)
     
  15. LEE GREENAWALT
    Joined: Mar 3, 2010
    Posts: 322

    LEE GREENAWALT
    Member

    Reading Fairgrounds March 1979. enjoy! :D

    [​IMG]
     
  16. LEE GREENAWALT
    Joined: Mar 3, 2010
    Posts: 322

    LEE GREENAWALT
    Member

    more from Reading "79" enjoy! :D

    [​IMG]
     
  17. LEE GREENAWALT
    Joined: Mar 3, 2010
    Posts: 322

    LEE GREENAWALT
    Member

    2010 AACA Fall meet at Hershey. enjoy! :D

    [​IMG]
     
  18. LEE GREENAWALT
    Joined: Mar 3, 2010
    Posts: 322

    LEE GREENAWALT
    Member

    more from 2010 Hershey. enjoy! :D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  19. LEE GREENAWALT
    Joined: Mar 3, 2010
    Posts: 322

    LEE GREENAWALT
    Member

    and another one from 2010 Hershey. enjoy! :D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  20. New Britain
    Joined: May 29, 2010
    Posts: 88

    New Britain
    Member
    from England

    a) Do you reckon Bodine's reception from the fans might have been related to his driving techniques?

    b) Do you think that Bodine's equipment was comparable to that of his competitors?
     
  21. ryder99
    Joined: Jan 12, 2011
    Posts: 25

    ryder99
    Member
    from nj

  22. leadfoot4
    Joined: May 5, 2010
    Posts: 128

    leadfoot4
    Member

    I mostly saw Geoff drive on the western New York tracks. He didn't seem any more aggressive to me, that anybody else. However, I think Geoff was the first "professional" modified driver. Therefore, he spent far more time "massaging" his cars, and using his engineering background, to design a better mousetrap....

    With respect to the "nobody like a winner" comment, I personally think that Maynard Troyer got more than his share of "boos", at least at his home track, Spencer Speedway. The way I see it, Maynard was fortunate to have a solid sponsor, and his cars were well turned out, and ready to race, whenever their hauler pulled into the pits. This was at a time when most drivers were still racing modifieds as a hobby, on a limited budget.

    Oh well, you can't please everybody....
     
  23. BigFeet13
    Joined: Dec 15, 2010
    Posts: 71

    BigFeet13
    BANNED

    Yeah maybe that was a New England thing. The New Yorker dominating all the big races. I only saw Geoff run Malta and Oswego. Neither Cagle or Bodine were dirty drivers though. Although my Dad could never understand why I followed Geoff in the Cup series. He knew him from Shangri La and Oswego and said he was spoiled and arrogant.

    I think Donnelly warmed up to having Cagle run Weedsport regularly. I've heard from an unnamed source that Glen liked to create a little controversy between Cagle and some of the regulars. It did put butts in the seats. There was rarely an empty seat at Weedsport in the 70s. I probably saw more than half of his 84 wins there, and I still vividly remember the chorus of boos every time. I guess unlike Geoff, Will seemed like a real nice guy when I met him. He just had superior equipment, and knew how to skirt the rules a little better than most.
     
  24. JChimbolo
    Joined: Oct 16, 2008
    Posts: 39

    JChimbolo
    Member
    from Madison CT

    the 009 on post picture 10072 (crazy ain't it)

    Some know I love Danbury. Well some years back I was in my Dad's basement one morning doing some work. I hear this loud motor outside. And I am trying to concentrate on what I was doing, So I wnet outside to have a word with who ever it was, and I see the 009 car pictured here idling in front of my dads house! What the hell right. Well I was in heaven, imagine not having seen this car since the 1960's on the track and now it is in your front yard running. About the late 1990's this happened. What a great day.



    I guess the owner was borrowing the neighbors garage over the winter.
     
  25. ANSWERS:

    a) I don't recall Geoff having any driving techniques different from others, except he was motivated and a talent. His desire to drive and win in CUP series pretty much explains how good he is.

    b) Geoff's equipment was within the rules. He was an innovator, not a follower. Many of his racing innovations are still used today. He was an excellent chassis man. Any other race team could've had the same engines, so that's not part of his winning equation.


    Ya' know ya' can put driver X and driver Y in identical cars, send them out on the track and one will be faster than the other. Sometimes there is a talent that is exceptional. Cagle and Hearn on dirt, Bodine and Evans on asphalt. Just in terms everyone can understand, they're great drivers. Only one outa' the three mentioned would get cheers from the grandstand.
     
  26. Jimbo17
    Joined: Aug 19, 2008
    Posts: 3,959

    Jimbo17
    Member

    Great old photo of Lou Funk who raced for years at the Danbury Speedway located at the old Danbury Fairgrounds.

    These photos sure bring back some great old memories from the early day's of racing.

    A few years ago my cousin asked me to help him sell his old programs from Danbury and he had a large cardboard box full of them.

    One older racer from Mass. bought the entire box for his collection.
     
  27. hugh m
    Joined: Jul 18, 2007
    Posts: 2,143

    hugh m
    Member
    from ct.

    Why do you think Richie Evans was able to keep his "popularity" over the others?
     
  28. Moselli
    Joined: Feb 16, 2009
    Posts: 107

    Moselli
    Member

    Here's my take on your question. I had the privilege to be around Richie in the pits when we raced modifieds in the early 1970's. It was my observation at that time and still is, that Richie was popular with the fans and with his competitors because as good as he was, he seemed to still have humility and he never forgot where he came from.

    Let me give you an example. If we were struggling to get the car handling or had a question, we could go over to Richie and ask him his advice. He would listen and answer the question by saying, "Here's what I would try....." Not everyone was as open with questions from a competitor.

    The other thing that made Richie popular with the fans, was his style of driving. Fans know a dirty move when they see it. Richie was not one to "move" people out of the way. He had a unique racing technique he developed, called, "passing." He never got into a war of words with other drivers, he let his driving speak for him.

    If you boil down everything I said here, it comes down to one word - respect. His competition and fan respected him....

    Regards,

    Moselli
     
  29. shamrock 3x
    Joined: Jan 7, 2009
    Posts: 126

    shamrock 3x
    Member

    a) Do you reckon Bodine's reception from the fans might have been related to his driving techniques?

    b) Do you think that Bodine's equipment was comparable to that of his competitors?

    Well, I'm gonna check in on a) and say YES....I watched Geoff thru his entire learning curve in NY (can't say why the NE guys hated him, but read "Bugsy" and you'll get a clue) and I saw him use his front bumper waaay more than most other drivers at that time. Did that make him "dirty"? IMHO, yes....my heros (Dutch, Richie, Maynard-after I got to know him a bit, Merv T.) found ways to pass w/o using the bumper. Not to say Geoff didn't pass sometimes w/o using it, but more often than not, it was his first or second tactic. I saw him steal a win from Dutch in 1972 at Shangri-la that really highlighted it for me. Dutch had led practically the whole race. He was fast, but not dominate at that point in his career. Geoff in 2nd, just beat hell out of Dutch's back bumper (Dutch said later Geoff hit him so hard it knocked his foot off the gas pedal) until he finally was able to get a wheel in the grass and push him up the track to take the lead. Typical, it was for Geoff and NOT classy! Funny thing is that Geoff really could drive & if he hadn't had that attitude of not caring how he won, I think more people woulda liked him.

    Regarding b)....definately an innovator & a good chassis man. I believe his cars were certainly a little bit superior from an Engineering standpoint, than most of the cars he raced against. Maynard caught up with him pretty quickly in the technology dept, but when that Valiant 1st came out there were few that were better.

    All above is JMHO, so all you Geoff lovers, don't pile on me. I still love what Rip's done with his tribute Valiant project....AWESOME!
     
  30. shamrock 3x
    Joined: Jan 7, 2009
    Posts: 126

    shamrock 3x
    Member

    Moselli, as usual, has hit the nail squarely on the head!
     
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