60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

Dr. John: That Wes Moody pic of him "flying", was that at Lancaster? Thanks, Neal

 

Great Pic of Cagle

 

Found this on SJDR board...This guy has the right idea!

 

Jerry Mathis, 1969, at Lancaster (NY) Speedway. Gordon Reinig photo. (Sorry -- the pic and negative are long-gone, so I had to scan this from a program cover.)

 

Buffalo's old Civic Stadium (a.k.a. "The Rockpile" to Buffalo Bills fans). Opened in 1937. Midgets started racing there in 1938. The last stock car race was held there in 1959. Contrary to popular belief, the Bills did not "kick the stock cars out." Offerman Stadium -- where the Buffalo (baseball) Bisons played -- was old and the land was needed for a new high school. So Offerman was torn down and the cars were thrown out of Civic so that the track could be removed to build the baseball diamond.

This photo was taken sometime during the mid-1950s. All that's left now is the front facade, and the last time I visited there, in 1990, the city had built a high school sports arena, including -- ironically -- an oval-shaped running track.

 

Well, folks, I'm tapped and done! My computer took a dive a while back. I got a few emails here and there about not getting credit. It's a message board and the purpose was to bring a smile to some faces!!! I hope I have done that! After years of having tons of modified photos through out the country, the names of the photographer were never saved on file information. Tried not to step on any toes along the way and made lots of great friends.

My time now is filled with racing,music,editing videos,more editing,downloading,burning dvds and more editing! Plus work!!! I do it all with a smile. I'm glad Dr. John stumbled upon this site and I hope others can continue to contribute and keep this thread alive, it's a message board, it's not an official homepage! For some it might be saved that way! lol

I'm still around, checking it out every day! Just been busy! Maybe one day I can get my hands on some of Marty Himes stuff, he has a gold mine that sitting and makes it out to the public every now and again! The guy a great guy!

Hey let's stop bickering and share with the world a bit of our racing history! Watermark your photos lol

 

It just ain't the same Pete and I'm not saying that cause your my kid. No offense Dr. John or anyone else. Wish Richie had the time to scan all his photos and post them but, as he has said, many are negatives. I have quite a few I never posted just don't have the time with 16 Ministries on line.
I'll be daily though.

 

Lancaster (NY) Speedway by Gordon Reinig.

Jerry Mathis (80) stops just short of hitting the spun-out Dave VanValkenburg in Turn 1 in late 1972.


Bobby Hudson, 1972.

 

Bob Owens (a.k.a. Bob McKenna) standing next Ron McDonald Sr., 1963, at Lancaster (NY) Speedway. Photographer unknown.

 

R.I.P. Ron Kent -- George's brother and car owner

KENT, RONALD E.
Age 56, of Ruskin, FL, formerly of Horseheads, NY, passed away on Monday, June 7, 2009. Calling hours will be held at the BAKER FAMILY FUNERAL HOME on Thursday from 4-6 p.m. Funeral services and interment of Ron's ashes will be at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family will accept donations at Ginger Baker, 616 Partridge St., Elmira, NY 14904. He is survived by his wife, Nancie (Baker) Kent; daughter, Shawna; grandchildren, Kendyl and Chance, all of Ruskin, FL; sisters, Clara Davis, Shirley (Ray) Sullivan, Joyce (Jeff) Easton; brothers, Gary (Tina) Kent, George (Linda) Kent; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Francis and Jeanine Baker; brothers-in-law, Frank Baker and Hugh (Lynda) Baker; and several nieces and nephews. Ron is predeceased by his parents, George and Phyllis Kent; and nephew, Eric Easton. Ron was the owner of the former Plaza Mobil gas station in Horseheads and the #26 modified race car.

The donations will be used to cover Ron's final expenses. His battle with cancer completely drained his personal funds.

 

My first post here and one of my favorite pics from the Reading Fairgrounds.

 

John, I appreciate it but as I said in our PM, I have them on line. Plus right now? I would love to download a couple you just posted but my photos files are corrupted and if I try to download them, my computer will freeze up. I'm working on it though.

 

From Shangri-La Speedway in Owego NY circa 1964

 

Oops, Trying again

 

Crossing my fingers ... #426 (Don Yeingst), #04 (Mike Zopp - I believe...)

 

George, I ran Islip with Bobby Holmberg 1960 to 67. If you were around then, you should know who started the "Hogans Goat" expression. My car was the # 4-U, a yellow 37 chevy sedan. If you run across any pictures of it, please let me know.

Nick Cottone
[email protected]
732-929-2256

P.S. check out my 71st birthday party on youtube. search for microstocks. then look for video 7-5-08, Oakland Valley. I'm in the black 5 car !

 

PS Check with Marty Himes, I'm almost certain he has pics. He has the Ed Appolt archives.

 

I moved to NJ in 67 and later sold the car to Tony. He re-built it into the Crown 7 which was later driven by Tommy Baldwin. The car is now restored and in my town of Toms River, NJ, owned by Ray Shea. Talk about weird !! Never heard about the coach body being used for the 15x. Funny, cause I was with Paul [billy spade] at the "Modified RE-Union" at New Smyrna in 2008.

Gotta go to my twin Grandsons Little League game. Catcha laita !

 

I remember the 4-U and I definately remember Nick Cottone! There's a name from the past that brings back great memories. 1960-67 I was a fan in the grandstands, I didn't know Bobby until 1970 when he drove my 9A. I didn't own my first Modified until I was 20 years old in '70. We won the feature at Islip on opening day in our very first race and it was all down hill after that. LOL! No not really, but winning at Islip was tough to do with the likes of Hendrickson, Jarzombek, Harbach and on and on. I rememnber Tony Gozinsky when he worked with Tommy Baldwin on the # 7 Yellow coupe. Richie Cristopher did all the numbers and lettering on our cars. Nick Cottone.... WOW! How are you? Hogans Goat doesn't ring a bell though. What's the story with that?

 

Don Yeingst


Larry Groover

 

Yep! That's Don Yeingst...
................http://midstateantiquestockcarclub.com/wood44.html

And that is Mike Zopp in the 04...nice job!
http://www.vsrnonline.com/GoodOldDays/ShangriLa/ShangriLa_Mod_Pics.htm




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Hey Rich! Does it get any better than this? Check it out...
....http://midstateantiquestockcarclub.com/odds_ends_projects1.html


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We used to have a team of four USA drivers v's Australias best four at each track in 2x2 (2 usa and 2 au cars per race x 12 races) four lap match racing back in the early to late seventies, some awesome action and close racing in WWF type of environment.

They raced the same cars on dirt and tar tracks, just tyres and suspension changes.

They were mainly west coast drivers in the early days, Gene Welsh, Mike Klien, Ed Wilbur, and Wayne Sue were the first ones to come out in the Vega's in 1974.

 

Monza's in 1975.

 

Hi George, you had to know Al DeAngelo to understand "Hogans Goat". It goes back to the early 60's when Al took a car out to practice. He returned to the pits, climbed out and said "this car is as ****** up as Hogans Goat". From that day on, any thing that was wrong was bleeped Hogans Goat. When I began racing small cars in 2004 at age 67, I thought that Hogans Goat would be a suitable handle online.

I attended the Modified Re-Union at New Smyrna in 2008 and was thrilled to find Billy Spade and Mickey Corr there. We talked about Frank Ariano [8X] and we tracked him down. I invited Frank to my home in NJ, but sadly, I received a call from Billy telling me of Frank's passing soon after I spoke with him. I spent 3 nights a week in Frank's "4 Aces" garage from 63 to 67. He was a very special guy !

 

Wow cool stuff! They even have Bolia's 15.

 

Some neat stuff in that link. Glad to see the interest in restoring these old cars is gaining speed.

 

Oh, I knew Al DeAngelo! He was a character, but he could drive a race car. He's without a doubt one of, if the the best, driver ever on Long Island! Didn't he drive your 4-U a few times? Apparently the phrase Hogans Goat goes way back! Look at this...
.........http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/7553/hgoat.htm


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The Count of Monte Cristo! Great driver, but don't piss him off or the Jolly Roger will be hoisted!

I liked Al because he was the bad guy. My mom didn't like Al.