60'-70's Vintage Oval Track Modifieds

The famous Evans on the wall for the win was at Martinsville when he & Geoff Bodine were the two cars to beat race in and race out and neither driver would give an inch BUT they never dumped each other to make a pass.

Well this year at M/Ville Geoff & Richie were back & forth with the lead and, as usual, were each using every inch of the track to get an advantage. On the white flag lap going into 3 for the checker they fought for the same real estate all through the turn and were hammer down coming out of 4 all tangled up with each other and Richie ended with his two right side wheels up on the wall.

Richie being the incredible racer that he was kept the throttle down and crossed the finish line two wheels up on the wall. As I recall there was no confrontation between Geoff & Richie...it was just racing for the win.

By that time Richie had won a lot of Clay Earle's grandfather clocks which were awarded to the winners but Evans addressed it something like this:

"I've won a lot of these grandfather clocks, but this one I'm going to keep"

What a great time for the modifieds!!!

 

If I may, I'd like to start my first post by thanking everyone who has contributed to this rich thread. I first came across it recently, and it has taken a bit of time to go through the 287 (to-date) pages. You all have created a priceless testimony to the sport that we love.

The first race that I attended was at the Syracuse State Fair, in about '60. After that, our father would take my two brothers and me to Utica-Rome, where we became fans of Ed Flemke in particular. In late '64 our family moved to near Albany, and by a great stroke of luck a few months later Albany-Saratoga opened. Because of its racing on Friday nights, it immediately became part of the circuit that was run by many of the top New England asphalt drivers, including Ed.
What first brought us to support Ed was partly the fact that he was such a good driver. That fact, however, was reinforced by many others. For one thing, although he won countless races, he always seemed like something of an underdog. He was a little guy with an odd name. Although his cars were always tidy, they looked modest in relation to all the other successful cars that we saw (apart from Len Boehler's, later). It was clear that Ed's success wasn't being bought.
We also got much pleasure out of the way that he drove: smoothly, cleanly; his car flowed through the field.
For my brothers and me, Ed became our hero. To watch him race, we went to as many races in as many places as we could manage and afford to do.
It was only over subsequent years that we came to appreciate that what made Ed special was not only his driving, but also his character. Ed's mentorship was vital to Evans, Hamilton, Zimmerman, and many others. Back when racism was common in racing, Ed was instrumental in persuading the racing fraternity to accept and respect Booker T. Jones. Ed cared about the fans, too: on numerous occasions, when he was in the lead and clearly the fastest on the track, he would subtly back off to let the others catch him up and make a show of it. If he wasn't universally respected by his peers, he was as close to it as a man could be.

Speaking of Ed's character, earlier in this thread there are a couple of posts relating to Rene Charland's "French Barbeque" at Albany-Saratoga. Bullfather asked for additional information about it.
The incident happened right in front of us. Coming out of the 4th turn, a couple of cars tangled, Charland couldn't avoid them, and was knocked into and then bounced off the 4th turn wall. In the few seconds between when his car hit the wall and when it came to rest in the middle of the track, it burst into a fireball.
For years, the only photos of the burning car that I had seen were the Johnny Grady images, of which this, posted above by George M., is the best known:

This picture was actually taken some time after the fire began. It burned for many minutes.

I had always remembered the fire as having been much more intense that the Johnny Grady photos suggested, but there seemed to be no evidence for that. (Grady's customary photography position was inside the 2nd turn, so it would have taken him a bit of time to reach the crash site.) I was very interested to see the image, new to me, that Bullfather posted on this thread:



(If that is the Charland fire, my brothers, dad and I might well be amongst the people pictured in the stands in that image.)

Our full attention was fixed on the fireball before us. Only a few seconds after it had erupted, however, I saw a lone figure running from the infield towards the burning car.
At the time, I was 16 y.o., and had a lot of experience in sports, so I had a reasonable sense of how quickly people could run, and what was "fast". As I saw this figure run towards the fire, I swear to you that the first thought that ran through my head was, "That's the fastest I've ever seen anyone run in my life - he's like Bob Hayes!"
In those brief moments when the figure was sprinting towards the inferno, the only other thing that registered in my mind was that he was wearing dark trousers and a white, short-sleeve shirt.
The figure went into the flames and was not visible to us for, I'd guess, about 12-15 seconds. Then he emerged from the flames, half-carrying Charland by holding him under the armpits. It was then that either my dad or my brother said, "Is that Eddie?" Sure enough, it was.
Ed Flemke was about 5'6" and skinny, although his arms and hands were immensely strong after all those years of turning wrenches and steering wheels. Rene Charland wasn't a monster, but he was much larger than Ed was. How Ed was able to drag Charland out of that burning car we shall never know.
After witnessing this act of incredible heroism, it was beyond doubt that Ed Flemke was something special.

In the next few years, we started to get to know Ed. One of my brothers, along with Ed's elder daughter Paula, started the "Ed Flemke Fan Club". I had become an art student, and one of my brothers got the idea that I should paint a helmet for Ed and give it to him as a surprise. I spent quite a bit of time on the design and actual painting, which resulted in this:

We found out where Ed was going to be working on a given night, which was around Southington, IIRC. Our dad and one brother came from Albany, the other brother and I came on the train from NYC, we went to the garage and surprised Ed with the gift.
At the time, people who saw this helmet thought that it looked great, and I thought the same. In a number of images of him in this thread, Ed is wearing this helmet.
Two years later, however, the paint was pretty well banged up, so I took the helmet back in order to redo it. Since I had made it, I had not seen it close up again, but in that time I had learned a lot about lettering and design.
When I got the helmet back, I was shocked and embarrassed to realise how absolutely abominable my first design had been. I couldn't wait to strip off the old paint.
The second time around, I did something rather different. This poor-quality image of it is all that I have:


Although I did that 38 years ago, when I was 22, I think it stands up well today. It's the first piece of lettering I did that I still like.

Above, in this thread, there was some discussion about the Judkins 2x Pinto, was it the first Pinto, etc.
It definitely was the first NASCAR Modified Pinto. As I recollect, at that time there was a rule that allowed the Mustang-type bodies, but forbade the smaller Pinto shape. I think the problem was that, to be eligible, a body shape had to be at least 3 years old. The Pinto road car was first produced in late '70.
Bob Judkins had decided in, I think, '69 that he wanted to run the 2x coupe on Saturday nights on the Fonda dirt, rather than at Stafford, because the Fonda purse was bigger. Ed never liked dirt, so Ken Shoemaker drove the 2x at Fonda. Judkins would tow the car back to Thompson for Ed to drive in the Sunday show, but the car would always, inevitably, have bits of dirt in every nook and cranny, which Ed found difficult to abide. Therefore he left Judkins and drove other rides.
In '71, Judkins decided to put a Pinto body on a modified. Everyone knew that there would be a confrontation with NASCAR, but he thought he could bring them 'round, and so he did. The car was allowed to race, and the rest is history.
Judkins asked Ed to drive the new Pinto for him but, because this was mid-season, Ed was not willing to break the commitment that he'd made to drive a full season for his current ride. (I think this would have been the Mills-Welch #79. With no disrespect, that car clearly was not in the same performance league as Ed's other rides, and it is another mark of the man's class that he stayed with it, even though one expected the new Judkins Pinto to be a blinder of a car.) I understood that this was what led to Gene Bergin's being the first to race and win in the Judkins Pinto.
At the end of '71, Judkins sold that first 2x Pinto to Long Islander Frank Vigliarolo. Frank painted the car blue, as #34, and hired Ed to drive it for much of that year. I have to tell you that, on many nights, and as usual against Bugsy, DeSarro, Evans, Cook and all the rest, Ed in the 34 was so much quicker than everyone else that it got embarrassing. As I said above, Ed was always conscious of not spoiling the show, so, after he had effortlessly carved his way through the field, he wouldn't run away from them, but on many nights he looked like an unstoppable force of nature as he made his way forward.
During '72, after he had sold his first 2x Pinto, Judkins did not race. Over the '72-'73 winter, he built his second Pinto, which Ed had agreed to drive.
The "2x" logo was distinctive on all Judkins's cars, but artistically it had some shortcomings. I had the idea to clean up the design, keeping as much as possible of the original theme but just fixing the obvious mistakes. I contacted Judkins (whom I don't think I had ever met) and proposed that I do the lettering on this new, forthcoming Pinto for him free of charge. I had to persist at it, but eventually he agreed. I next spent a lot of time working out exactly what needed to be done with the design, then traveled with one of my brothers over to Judkins's garage on the Berlin Turnpike. It took me a couple of days to do the job. It was funny - there was no question that what I did to the "2x" logo improved it, but poor Bob had got accustomed to the old version, which he'd been seeing on his cars for ages. He was unfailingly polite to me, but I could sense his pain as he tried to come to terms with my alterations.
During the new Pinto's either first or second race, somebody turned Ed into the wall. The crash wrecked the new car's new logo, at least on one side. The next time that I saw the car, the old design was back on both sides. ;-)


As the above may suggest, my passion for racing in general and the old modifieds in particular was amplified by my affinity with their aesthetic ethos.
The single best-looking modified that I ever saw was the Wood Brothers coupe. I was very happy to find some images of it here on this thread. One image of that gorgeous car that I did not see here, however, was this one:

(http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Sonny_Hutchins.htm)

As I was a northern boy, the only time that I had the pleasure of seeing this car in action was at Trenton, in I think '68.
In the many years since that race, I have always believed that it was driven there by Sonny Hutchins.
The modified that Hutchins more often drove was the Donlavey 90/91:

(Sorry, but I have tried and failed to locate the source of that image.)

This car, too, was at that Trenton race. I have always thought that it was raced there by LeeRoy Yarbrough.


I have one question about modified history on which I'm hoping that someone here might shed some light.
Ed Flemke had a friend named "Ziggy", IIRC, a burly fellow who owned a garage where Ed sometimes worked. Ziggy had been around racing for years and for periods of time would come with Ed to races and lend a hand.
In I believe 1971, I was chatting in the A-S pits post-race with Ziggy and he related to me what had happened the weekend before.
As I understood it, the previous weekend there was a very big modified show in Pennsylvania. Having recently scoured the internet, I believe this would have been the first modified race at Pocono, when they had just finished the 3/4 mile oval there.
On the Thursday or Friday evening before this major weekend show, there was a show at Shangri-La. Because the top cars and drivers from up and down the East Coast were going to Pocono, they all went to Shangri-La beforehand. Thus, according to Ziggy, this was as competitive a field for a short-track race as one was ever going to see.
He told me that, in the Shangri-La race, Ed was for the first time driving a coupe with an experimental torsion-bar suspension. I've always had the sense that this car was red, and that it had a two-digit number, second number "9". If I had to bet, I would bet that the car was the Art Barry #09, but I am not sure of it.
According to Ziggy, Ed started the feature in about 24th position. By the 4th lap, he said, Ed was in 5th or 6th. At that point there was a crash in front of him, a bunch of cars including his were taken out, and that was it for the night. They weren't able to get the car right for the big Pocono event either.
Ziggy's point was that, although it had lasted only 4 laps, this exhibition, against the top competition in the sport, was the most impressive Modified car/driver performance he had ever seen.
If anyone knows anything about this race, or about Ziggy, I would be most grateful to learn more.


One final, non-Modified thing. I never raced Modifieds, or anything on an oval, but after I moved to England I started doing a bit of racing over here.
The most interesting and challenging circuit in Europe, and I daresay the world, is the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Yes, it has as many right turns as left turns, but it's still a massively gratifying circuit to race on, or even to drive on. Another thing that I can tell you about the racing world here in Europe is that Germans, notwithstanding their cold, brusque manner, are really good, honest racing fans. They are hugely knowledgeable, they respect racing heritage, and they have big hearts.
I compete in an endurance series at the Nordschleife (a lap is 15 miles long, with about 85 turns). Although we might have to go to another thread so as not to go OT here, if anyone were to have any questions about this racing world, I would be more than happy to try to answer them.

Thanks again for the absolutely fabulous thread, guys. Sorry that I have no more images to contribute to it, but I shall always try to put my dubious memory bank at your service.

Cheerio.

 

Claremont, to be exact. Allen also owned General Auto Salvage which sponsored his cars. The Salvage yard is up the road from my house about 2 miles, if that and is still open and I believe he still owns it,too.Allen had a son, Allen Jr that ran a few Pro Stock races at a couple N.H tracks back in the early 90's with some success.

 

Welcome New Britian and thank you for the history lesson and eye witness account.

 

I agree with you New Britain. The Wood's #21 coupe was the best looking modified ever built. The photo you've got posted was given to me by Glen Wood several years ago to copy. I posted it on Lasheefs and it bloomed from there. That's the small block version that Sonny drove. The big blocl 427 SOHC had the front and rear fenders cut more and was driven by Donnie Allison,Runt Harris as well as Sonny. It was wrecked (totaled @ Martinsville by Eddie Royster and was located and restored a few years ago by Butch Humphreys. It looks great,but has a small block in it.

 

Ditto that from me. The ED helmet graphics are great.

I also attended Albany Saratoga during that time period. It was a gathering of almost all NASCAR's best. It was a time in asphalt modified racing that will never be repeated .

Albany Saratoga (Malta) track started out with a UNITED Sanction, not NASCAR, under the guidance of Harvey Tattersall. I was there for opening night and watched as Kenny Goodermote, a customer on my paper route and longtime UNITED competitor rode in the official pace car with Tattersall. There's more to the story, but I'll save that for another day.

 

I'm a '36 Chevy coach fan myself, but the way they cut that car leaving the fenders and most of the windows along with the black wheels. Just was very cool. Notice they used NASCAR GN wheels instead of wide-5's.

 

How killer is this shot, check out those legends!!!

 

Welcome to this site New Britain, Great post. Yes Eddie helped lots of young drivers. In my case he started helping me at the very beginning of my career. Meaning that for the first 5 years of my career I was "schooled" in the basics of driving race cars. It gave me a great foundation for later on in open cockpit racing. I'm sure Pete would echo my statements too. Eddie just liked helping folks get better and I'm sure he took pride in our accomplishments.

Eddie also was wise in that he knew what it took to put people in the grandstands, read put on a show. In other words don't run away from the rest of the field. Of course try to win but only go fast enough to win, no faster. He was also a master at avoiding accidents.

Denny Z

 

Taken on 05/30/2010 at Tulare's Thunderbowl Raceway

 

Welcome New Britain :O)

neat cars on dirt there 15a, must be a ball to drive and watch

 

Wow ! We have one of the Eastern Bandits here! Hello Mr Zimmerman.

 

I second that! I absolutely loved it when the Eastern Bandits came to race at Islip Speedway! Welcome to the H.A.M.B. Dennis Zimmerman. How about some stories about your trips to Islip with the rest of "The Eastern Bandits".

 

Yes please! Maybe even some of those tales about your raids south of the Mason-Dixon!

 

Hello Folks, I'm also on the sister site to this (Vintage Sprint Cars). Actually I didn't run Islip much although Eddie and Rene did. I will say this my very last time in a modified was at Islip. I drove Little Eddie's (Ed Flemke Jr) car and spun out in the heat. I think 1974.

With the "Bandits" I/we ran a lot at South Boston, Southside Speedway, Manassas, Marlboro, New Egypt and of course Old Bridge. For a long time we were running 5 nights a week.

I'm getting old so I've forgotten a lot but I remember this.....I still hold the one lap record at the old Richmond Fairgrounds half mile dirt (Strawberry Hill). After Ray Platt died I got to drive his car. I believe it was a 50 lap race and everyone time trialed for position. I had fast time (and a new track record). I finished second that day to Ray Hendrick. The reason I still hold the record is because there was never another modified race held there and never will, the current Richmond International Raceway is built on top of the old fairgrounds location. How cool is that.

I think/hope there is going to be a reunion this summer at Manassas VA for all the folks that ran there in the old days. I hope to go and I will let you know when it is in case anyone wants to go.

Had a nice talk with Gil Hearn the other day. Hope I spelled your name right Gil.

Ooops gota go...wife has an assignment for me. Denny Z

 

Me again.....Toward the end of my "bandit" days I wound up living in Richmond so I could still run 5 nights a week without having to drive back to Connecticut every week. I think Red Foote still lives in Virginia.

Just to set the record straight, there were some very great drivers down south when we first started going south, the reason we had so much success was our cars were light weight and handled very well compared to the much heavier southern cars. Eddie changed all that....true to form he started helping the southern folks set up their cars and pretty quick they were handling as good as our cars. Once again Eddie made it more competitive the fans loved it and the southern drivers welcomed it.

Just a thought....my thoughts....although there were many great drivers down there in those days, I could name names but at the risk of leaving someone out I won't, but two were in a league of their own Ed Flemke and Ray Hendricks, way above me.

Gotta go, Denny Z

 

Hey Denny, I'm in Va. and talk to Harold Smith often. He was the chassis man for William Mason(Perk Brown,Paul Radford,Bobby Allison) he was telling me a story of Eddie Flemke wrecking a car down here and selling it at the track. The new owner found that the roll bar was exhaust tubing,any truth to that? I guess light handled better and definitely braked better!
My uncle, Gus Proctor, also raced a few times around Flemke and said he was so good at handling he could set the car up at a new track without getting it off the trailer (no practice) just looking at the lay of the track.
You guys have nothing but respect from all the old drivers I've talked to.

 

Why would you be suprised at exhaust tubing cages, it's easier to weld than electrical conduit.

 

Thanks, Dr. John. Flyin' Brian 12 and Shamrock 3x for all of the info on Dick Emerson, the valiant bodied cars, Sonny Seamon, et all. Very interesting.

I think I recall seeing a picture of that Bobby Krull valiant now that you mention it (black and white #23?).

JBull

 

Radford46, Yup true, roll bars and all the nerf bars, in my cars. Those 3 drivers you mentioned were in the list of drivers I consider Great drivers.

 

Just heard, the reunion at Manassas will be Saturday September 4th. Denny Z

 

Some more Geoff Bodine and others

Geoff passing Ollie Silva going the wrong way.



What beer is that? lol



Geoff alongside the neat McClure coupe driven by Greame Bolia


Geoff not sure where or by who



I believe a Fred Smith photo

 

And a few more left in the 99 era for Bodine

alongside Bernie Miller at Utica Rome



Dueling with Bob Sweeney (in a capri) and Jerry Cook




Geoff I believe in the pits at Freeport



At speed at Pocono



A short stint in the Vigliarolla owned #34 for Bodine. I believe the shots racing Fred DeSarro in Len Boehler's #3 are at the Spring Sizzler.

 

Mr Dennis Zimmerman! This is an honor.

In those days, although racers such as Pete went down to race Grand Nationals, it was very rare for someone to go straight from Modified-Sportsman to the very different world of Indy cars. Everyone thought that you were quite brave to make that career leap, but no doubt you had to be even braver to do a 169.755, eh?

Well done, sir.

 

Stafford??