Wayne Weeks

"Why the heck do they call this place the Nor-Way Pines Speedway?" the old race fan asked. "There ain't a doggone Norway pine on the place; just white pine."

Oh, ye of little mind. First, we need to discuss a little history.

The little dirt track on the Rumney / Wentworth town line began life around 1961 as the Legion Bowl. American Legion Post # 66 owned - and still owns - the land, and they also ran it in the early days, as they do now. It closed in the mid-60's and lay fallow for the better part of a decade. Finally, around 1974 or so, two enterprising racers leased the property from the Legion and re-opened the track. These two men were NORman Roulx and WAYne Weeks. Hence, NOR-WAY Pines. Get it now?

Wayne, giving Mike Vincellette the flag after a Qualifier victory.

According to legend, Wayne Weeks and his wife, Louella, came home one evening in 1958 and discovered a '54 Ford that hadn't been there before. The next day their nephew, Norm Roulx, showed up and announced that the Ford was their new race car. They raced the car, and its successors, at various tracks for the next ten years or so, centering their activities around Barre, VT's Thunder Road. They co-owned the car and hired drivers, the most prominent being the late, great Hank Montanden.

Finally, in 1968 Wayne became one of the ownership group that founded the Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT along with C. V. Elms and George Barber. Eventually, he and Norm broke away to re-open the old Bowl.

Wayne giving a trophy to 4-time Nor-Way Pines / Pines Speedway / Legion Speedway champion, Ray Heath, Jr.

Wayne was the flagman, and Norm served at the track announcer. Norm eventually moved on and Wayne ran the track by himself, continuing to operate the Speedway into the mid-1990's. Eventually, he found someone to take over the lease and he retired to Florida where he and Louella, and most of the kids, live today.

Wayne with the late, great Larry Welch

Everybody's got their favorite memories of Wayne Weeks. When he was frustrated with a driver, he would jump down from the flag stand and shake the black flag in their face. He took a lot of crap from a lot of people over the years, and all with stoic silence. His word was law. If he kicked you out for two weeks, you were out. Period.

He ticked off a lot of people by not changing his mind and ruling in their favor. Most of these people miss him badly now. Whatever else you want to say about Wayne Weeks, he was fair. His perspective was that of a race fan. He knew where the Nor-Way Pines sat on the racing food chain; at the bottom. And he liked it that way. He made his rules so that any half-decent shade-tree mechanic could put together a competitive car. And he ran his track so that anyone with their head screwed on straight would get a chance to do their stuff.

He will be happy to learn that the Legion post that owns the land is using him as a model now that they're running things again. They have bypassed a lot of avenues for increasing revenue, like making teams buy tires from the track or jacking up the prices at the consession stand. Instead, they're making it easy to race, and to go watch.

Wayne has been very ill recently, but his youngest daughter, Alicia, says he'd be thrilled to hear from race fans and anybody else from up North. You can leave comments here, or email Alicia at alicia13@tampabay.rr.com. Be sure to tell him I said hello.

A Model Citizen

A Model Citizen

Neal Davis is a long-time race fan from New Hampshire who makes models. As you can see, he does a really good job of it, too. He even makes them to sell. He's already shown his work at Canaan USA Speedway, and we're hoping to have him at the Legion Speedway soon.

This is a model of Jim Fadden's old coupe that he used to run at the Nor-Way Pines. I think Jim finished second in the Coupe division one year. He also ran very successfully in the Late-Model class. This car dates back, I think, to the early '80's.

This is the car that Tyler Rich drove to the B-Coupe championship in 2007. Tyler comes from Lyme, and is one heck of a driver. I believe he's got a new car for '08, so this is already a piece of history.

This is Bill George's '34 Ford coupe, built from pictures shown on this very blog. I'm so happy . . . Bill was my hero, and this car was actually built by my uncle Jim Parris back in '63. Bill won the championship at the 106 Midway Raceway with this in '64. If the name of that track doesn't sound familiar, it later became Bryar Motorsport Park, and finally New Hampshire International Speedway.

If you want to know more about Neal and his models, drop him an email at:

Nealtameradavis@aol.com

Hope you don't mind, Neal. If he complains, I'll edit this post and take the addy off, but you really should drop him a line. He does great work.

Still More Random Snaps

All taken from the old Nor-Way Pines, circa late '80's or early '90's. Maybe even mid-70's actually. Man, I can't believe I haven't put anything up here since December of '07! Got to busy, I guess. Well, I'll try and make up for it.

And, once again, I would ask that you please leave comments. Especially if I got something wrong, but mainly so that the other people who check this page would be able to communicate with each other. After all, that's the whole point, isn't it?

There were two Bill Moses'; one, Big Bill, I've already done an extended piece on with plenty of pictures. He was Buck's son. This one is Dusty's son, Billy "Geetar" Moses. Dusty was one of the best-loved country musicians in New England back in the day, and Billy inherited Dusty's musical talent as well as his talent behind the wheel. Above is his late-model, which he won the track championship with back in the early '90's. Warren Emery was part owner of the car. I actually drove this car to a victory in the annual Official's Race one year, but don't have a trophy to show for it. Ah, well.

Below is the coupe that Billy ran in the early '80's. I spoke with him about this car recently, and he said it was one of his favorites. I remember it being rather heavy, but very well built. Tough as nails, and he won quite a few races with it. If you know Billy, you know the car had to be tough.

Below is a picture of one of my favorite dirt cars ever. This is Bunky "Grizzly" Adams, from somewhere in Vermont. Just look at the lines on that thing. Low, narrow, all business. Man, that's a pretty race car. As for the driver, well . . . MAN, that's a pretty race car. In the early days of the Nor-Way Pines there was a Modified 6-cylinder class and a stock V8 "hobby" class. After four or five years the sixes got upgraded to coupes. In the first year of the coupe class Butch Clogston and Ed Smith shared the title. The second year it went to Bunky Adams. After he won the championship he vanished, and never returned to the Pines. I don't know if he ever raced anywhere else, but while he was around he was the one to beat.

The sharp-eyed among you have spotted the car sitting next to Bunky's # 42. Yep, that's Franny Comeau's old 89. More on him at a later date, I promise.

This is just one of the late, great Larry Welch's race cars. He raced in the coupe division toward the end of his career, but this was the car he won the Late Model (formerly Hobby) class with one year. Larry tragically died in an off-season accident, but his memory lives on. He was a great driver, and one helluva guy in general.

The last two seasons the Legion Speedway has featured a Sprint car division. Alan Nichols showed up in this Sprinter back in the early nineties and ran with the coupes. A couple other fellows tried the same things, but Sprint cars are just too fragile to run with the heavier coupes. They sure put on a great show when you've got a full field of them, though. All the Sprint car fans at the Speedway have Alan Nichols to thank for breaking the ground.

That's about it for now. In the news, the Legion Speedway had it's second annual March Madness Enduro in the snow. It was a bit of a cluster, uh, ahem, well, let's just say it could have gone off better. Still had fun, though, and I met several of you readers there. I'm gratified that the word is getting around about this page. Please, leave comments here, especially so that others can see what a dope I really am about all this stuff. Really, the only thing that makes me anywhere near an expert is that fact that I know all of you. So keep checking in, and don't forget you promised to send me pictures.

ps - Billy, I forgot to pick up that CD you said you were going to leave me in the eating shack. And, if you leave a comment, be sure to leave the link to your music site. Folks, Billy "Geetar" Moses has given up racing to spend more time doing music, and you've just got to hear it. It's great. Bill, you've got to leave a link now!

See you all Memorial Day weekend in Rumney.

When emailing me . . .

Put "DIRT TRACK NH" in subject line of emails!

Hi.

This post is intended to address a possible problem. The biggest kick I get out of doing this blog is getting feedback from you readers. There hasn't been much, and yet I get the impression that the word is getting around. I hope you are enjoying seeing the history of the sport I love through my eyes, and be assured that it will continue.

I would like to ask one favor, if I may. If you email me at rclogston@hotmail.com, PLEASE mention Dirt Track NH in the subject line. The reason for this is that this account is set on 'exclusive,' so unless you are a regular contact of mine your message will go into my spam bucket. I do look through those, and if you put that in the subject, I'll fish it out and read it. I just read one that said 'blog,' and I took a chance, but I learned the hard way NOT to open emails from people I don't know unless I have good reason to believe that I should.

What I'm saying is, if you've emailed me, it probably got deleted. Supposedly, it is possible for anyone to leave a comment, and that is how I would prefer to hear from you, because I would also like everyone else to have a chance to see what you want to say as well. Still, there are indications that some people have found it difficult to leave a comment. That is something I have no control over.

But I do like getting emails from you, so feel free to write. Just remember; if you don't put Dirt Track NH in the subject line, it WILL be deleted. Don't get mad because you put 'blog' or 'race fan' or something, and you don't hear back from me. Twice I've been wormed and lost my whole hard drive, so I take NO chances. I've spent a lot of hours digging through old photos and scanning them into my computer. Yes, I've saved them to disk, but I'm still not risking a bad spam.

And please, leave a comment if you can.

Warren Randlett

Here's a couple of shots of Warren Randlett's '34 Ford, which raced around NH in the '50's and '60's. Warren is the gentleman standing beside the car, and these shots are only about 10 to 15 years old. The assumption is, this car is still around. Last I knew, Warren was living in Homosassa Springs, Florida. The pictures are by my father.

Promises Kept - More Random Snaps

Hi. I've been promising to post some more, and here it is. I've also been promising all summer to post some pictures just as soon as I could put my hands on them and get them scanned into the computer. Well, I finally found them, and here's some of them. These pictures show some of the family connections of NH dirt track racing.
Here's a shot of a pair of young men who would grow up to both be very good race car drivers. The big guy in the white t-shirt is Corey Avery, who became a very good Late Model driver. He got off to a slow start, but after a couple years became very fast indeed. The real shame of it was that he climbed out of the car just as he was getting good. The little guy on the left is his brother, Ryan, who just won the Mod title at Bear Ridge Speedway. And the car they're standing in front of? Why, that's one of the 01's that their dad, Jim, co-owned with driver Butch Clogston. Ryan and Corey have both carried on with that number since Butch's passing.

I kept getting requests for any other pictures I could find of "Sweet Lou" Ottati. Well, here's the only other one I've found so far. Lou was a very good driver and a really good guy.

Do you attend the races at the Legion Speedway in Rumney/Wentworth? Well, if so you've seen this big fella. That's Bob "BA" Ayer, the managing director, back when he was crewchief for Billy "Git-tar" Moses. The lady in red is Mary Emery, the wife of the car owner.

This is two of my favorite drivers, together as always. On the right, Donnie Sharp, Sr, one of the greats of the Late Model drivers. To his left is his son, Donnie Jr., who went on to star in Sprint Cars in New York state. They both came back to their roots this summer, taking turns racing the Sprint at the Legion Speedway. This is one of Donnie Jr's first Modifieds at the same track back when it was called the Nor-Way Pines.

I've been promising to post this one for a long time now, and couldn't find it until recently. If you remember the old 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon (now known as NHIS) then you probably remember Ernie Gilbert's #51. Well, this is Ernie Jr at the Pines.

Stay tuned. More coming when I get time.

Don't Keep Me In Suspense!

Okay, bad pun alert. This is a semi-technical piece, from somebody with little or no technical expertise. Feel free to comment, and correct. Here goes.

Suspension. Gotta have it. Keeps the car from resting on the wheels. Like any other part of a race car, it's gone through a lot of changes. Back in the day, when race cars were cars chopped down for racing, the original suspension usually kept on providing its original service. Leaf springs and shock absorbers.

A prime example of '60's era racing technology, as built by Jim Parris of Groton, NH. This car was soon given the number 30 by its next owner, "Hard-Luck" Harold Hannaford.

Out in New York and the midwest, where there were huge crowds and a lot more money, things progressed a lot quicker. I was fortunate enough to see the cars made out of pre-war coupes and sedans with their fenders removed. On tracks that allowed it, a Jeep or International Scout frame was a popular upgrade. Soon, the old steel bodies became the only link to the cars raced after World War II. Even they began to give way to fiberglass replicas. Eventually, the bodies completed their evolution to flat panels of steel or aluminum rivetted to the chassis.


During these final transitions we began to see a beast known as a "bar car," meaning torsion bar suspension. In an over-simplified nutshell, this is a suspension system based not on a bending spring, but on a twisting bar. Torsion bars have been around since the 1920's, and were part of Ferdinand Porsche's original ideas for the car that came to be known as the Volkswagen. Torsion bars have several advantages, including easy adjustments, relative simplicity, and they were cheap to boot.

Alan Larter in a late-80's "Bar Car."

Another suspension system that became popular around this time was known as the "four-poster," using coil-over springs. This is, as the name suggests, a coil spring with a shock absorber in the middle. This is the type of suspension used in Nextel Cup racecars. A variation can be found in Champ cars and Formula One. It's a bit more expensive and complex than torsion bars, but also appears to be superior.

Doug Murphy, of Center Harbor, NH with his "Four-poster."

Both systems are in common use these days in dirt track racing, all the way up the ladder. Still, that has not kept creativity from being expressed. In the late '80's and early '90's, Jack Cook of Moultonboro started using a single transverse leaf spring made of fiberglass. I recently found out that this probably came from a school bus. Not one of the regular types, but those square ones with the flat nose that look like a loaf of bread going down the road. It worked very well, but I've never seen it used by anyone else.

Another alternative was tried by Buck and Big Bill Moses on his #15 car about the same time. They tried using an independant rear suspension out of a Corvette. It worked very well, but was too fragile to be used on a dirt track. The funny part of that was that they were still running a flathead Ford V8 at this time.

All this was done in the name of keeping the wheels on the ground. If you watch a Strictly Street or 4-Cylinder race, especially if the track's a little rough, you can quickly see what a disadvantage leaf springs and shocks have. All the wheel bounce, especially on the rear-wheel-drive cars, is almost non-existent in a Modified or Sprint.

"Smiling" Bill George

 

This fellow was my hero when I was growing up. He was from Andover. I'm not sure what he did for a living, but he had oxen that he used to pull at the fairs, so I suspect he might have been a logger. His brother, Woofie, had a garage in Andover. Woofie - whose real name was Carleton, I believe - also raced a little, but Bill really had the gift.

He won a track championship at the old Legion Bowl, and another one at the 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon. He also raced at Claremont back when it was dirt, and probably a few other places as well.

This picture is from the Legion Bowl in Wentworth, circa 1963. On a historical note, that's Raymond Heath, Sr. in front of him in the original "Sweet 16."

Yeah, that's me about the same time. It's also me with Bill in the top picture. This is the first car I saw him in, and the one up above he picked up late in the '63 season. By the way, that one was built by my uncle, Jim Parris. More on him later.

From what I understand, Bill passed away just a couple of years ago; '04 or '05. He'd have been around 90.

As usual, anyone who has any more to say about Bill is more than welcome to leave comments.

Early Thunder Road

 

I've been getting requests for the real, real old pictures, so here's a few. I got these out of a 1972 Northern Nascar program that Wilbur Martin very graciously loaned me. There was a section of the program that referred back to "the old days" and had these pictures. Btw, I had always thought that Thunder Road in Barre, VT started in the fifties, or maybe even the late forties, but Bill Ladabouche's excellent site on the Catamount Speedway says the place started in 1960. This fellow is Tony Colluchio. At least, I think that's how you spell his name. I remember this car, but even moreso I remember its predecessor; a jet-black Hudson #0 that everybody called "The Big O." I also remember the night he destroyed it. We still rooted for him, but somehow it was different seeing him in a flathead Ford instead of the big Hudson.

Tony was my brother, Butch's hero. Everybody remembers Butch now as "the Duke" driving the # 01 patterned after the Dukes of Hazzard. Before that, his car always was #0 and black, after Tony's Hudson.

This is the great Paul Martell, in his most famous Thunder Road car. I saw him mostly at Keith Bryar's 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon, where he was all but unbeatable in the blue-and-white #444. To be honest, I can't tell you much about this car outside of the obvious, but mister-man could this ol' boy drive a racecar.

Ronnie Marvin was always Tony C's arch-enemy. We would boo him just as hard as we'd cheer Tony. In truth . . . well, Ronnie may have been a little rough, but he was a real nice guy, and a great driver. And that 13 car would really fly!

The Ingerson brothers used to race at the Legion Bowl and Loudon as well, although their cars were never this pretty after an evening of racing on dirt. As I recall, Doug was probably the better driver of the three. Russ was nicknamed "the Wild Child." I'll have to steal that for somebody at the Legion Speedway. The trouble is, there's so many it could apply to. ;>

Well, that's about all for now. More later, of course. Enjoy.

And, if anybody out there has any pictures, or wants to share a story, about any of these guys, go right ahead. I'm especially interested in anything you might have on Tony Colluchio, who seems to be the forgotten man of old-time racing.

Dynamite Dave and Old 97

This picture's from the late 1950's, from the pits at Claremont. I remember this car, or one just like it, from the Legion Bowl and 106 Midway Raceway in the early '60's. Note the bull horns on the roof. They were a recurring theme for Al.

See? This car was the one Al raced in the early 1980's. I always loved the look of this one. I don't know what kind of chassis this is but damn, that's a pretty car.

If I'm not mistaken, this was Al's last race car, Alf. The Sanville's always named their cars. I suppose it gave them personality, as if the driver didn't already do that. By this time, Al was in his early '60's and still winning races.

Eventually, he turned over the steering wheel to a succession of drivers, and the operation of the team to his sons. Wally Langlois was probably the best of the hired guns, winning a track championship one year at the Nor-Way Pines.

Eventually, Al's son Dave took over the driving chores. He quickly earned the nickname "Dynamite Dave," which sticks with him to this day. Over the years Dave has won many championships at several different tracks. The unsung hero of the Sanville team is Dave's brother, JJ. He's the engine and chassis guy, and Dave will be the first to tell you he's not really competitive if JJ's not turning wrenches for him. This car is the famous Miss Emily, which Dave raced (and won with) in many different forms for almost twenty years. Different bodies, six or eight cylinders, Miss Emily was a winner.

Thanks to JJ Sanville, and to Norm Roulx, for supplying some of these pictures. I took the other ones. I'll add more as I get them.

FYI: Dave's still racing, and JJ's still his crew chief. He and his new car, Sassy Theresa, can be found at Canaan Dirt Speedway and the Legion Speedway about any Friday or Saturday night.

Racing becomes an obsession, you know. I've seen it dozens - no, make that hundreds - of times. It becomes the center of your life. And your family's life, too. Even though it's never more than a hobby, everything revolves around it. And of course eventually the kids are going to take it up as well.

 

That's what it must have been like around the Sanville house. Like so many others. Y'know, I've been around the Sanville's for years, and I have no idea what any of them do for a living. They certainly don't race for a living. Nobody at this level does.

Except in a few, very rare, cases, it always costs more than it ever makes. And yet, come Friday and Saturday night, there you are again. And evenings during the week, either repairing or upgrading. And all winter, hitting swap meets, heating the garage so you can tweak things for next season.

Al Sanville was the dad, of course. And the Old 97 was at just about every track in the area. And, it was always one of the ones to beat. Some thought Al was a little rough sometimes, but the simple fact is that the front of the field is crowded. Sometimes, you've got to use your elbows a little bit.

Ted Winot

There are certain constants in the racing universe. For example, dirt track racing works best at night, because the track doesn't dry out as fast. I could go on and on, but the point is that one of those constants is this; you need a good flagman.

The flagman is the glue that holds a race together. He/she is the law out there on the track. You may not realize it, but they have a lot more to do than keep track of how many laps left to go. They have to see literally everything that is going on, which makes a couple of good assistants indispensable. Plus, once they've seen everything, they have to be able to execute the necessary authority to see justice done. And they have to do it quick!

It's a largely thankless job, because when you get it right, it's expected. But God Almighty help you if you get it wrong! Or, if anyone has the perception of your being wrong. And all you have to do for that to happen is make a decision. Guaranteed, whoever you rule against has a section of grandstands eager to tell the world what a rotten, blind, lousy S. O. B. you are. You've got to be able to take it all with a smile. IF you can do that, and be a born showman on top of it all, you're on your way to being nearly as good as Teddy Winot.

I first became familiar with Ted when he was flagman at the Legion Bowl in the early '60's, but he already had a widespread reputation before that. He had flair, that's for sure. At the beginning of a race he would take a green flag in one hand and a red one (later yellow) in the other. He walked down to the beginning of the first turn and waited. Coming from the other direction was the field of race cars, lined up two by two and moving slowly out of turn four. He would stand on the infield, wagging the flags at them, beckoning them to come on.

Suddenly, he would leap into the air, the green flag waving. Switching it to his left hand he ran up the infield toward the start/finish line as the cars roared past. He usually timed it so that he and the last car met right there. Then, he would sprint across the track and leap onto the flagstand. He would perform this same ritual every time he started, or re-started, a race. He must have run ten miles every race day.

After a couple of years at the Bowl Keith Bryar came calling, looking for officials for his new track in Loudon, and a team was born. Marge and Pearl Clogston (my mother and grandmother, respecively) were the checkers, Sonny Clogston (my dad) signed on as Pit Steward, and Ted Winot would handle the flags. It was a combination that would also work together at the Riverside Speedway in Groveton, and the Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT.

It was a combination that would go a long way toward writing the book on how to run a race track, but to be perfectly frank the only irreplacable part of the machine was Ted. I've seen several good flagmen, and a bunch of mediocre ones, but there's never been one like him. He was easily as interesting as most of the races he presided over. As with anyone like that, the most memorable moments were the ones that went just a little wrong.

The 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon was a place where the best laid plans often went south. The reason was two-fold; the place attracted a ton of cars, and the track was tiny. About a fifth-mile, with an asphalt front straight, and I don't know where Keith Bryar got his clay but the rest of the track might as well have been paved also. Fast doesn't begin to describe it. Sometimes, too fast.

This was back when there was only one class. You brought a race car, and you raced. Sometimes fifty or sixty cars would show up, but that many cars simply wouldn't fit on the track. The max was 24, which meant a lot of racers watched the feature from their trailers. With that many cars, Dad and the Tech Inspector would come out to be infield flaggers.

So one night the feature's lined up, Ted's in turn one, the cars come out of turn 4, and up into the air he goes. He runs, the cars go, and he gets to the flagstand just as the last car goes past. He looks at turn 4, and here comes the leader. He hesitates. Big mistake. The field comes by, and there stands Ted on the wrong side of the track. Dad was laughing so hard he sat down in the infield. Eventually there was a wreck, the red flag came out, and a red-faced Ted flagged the rest of the race from the flagstand.


The Riverside Speedway in Groveton was a good track. It started about 1965 as a dirt track, but clay was hard to come by that first season. So, the owners used a mixture of fine sand and old drain oil. The picture here is of Ted in his trademark top hat after a hard afternoon. This was where he earned his nickname, "Rastus." If you think this is funny, you should have seen what he looked like after he took the hat off.

For its day, Riverside Speedway was one of the most well-thought-out facilities any of us had ever seen. Instead of a rickety set of bleachers, they built actual grandstands. The judges stand stood high above everything, and there was a VIP lounge below. At the back of the grandstands there was a large refreshment stand with a restaurant-quality kitchen, and under the stands was all the storage a track would ever need. There were even enough bathrooms.

The track was a large quarter-mile with steeply banked corners, and a solid concrete retaining wall. The flagstand was recessed into the wall, and a heavy-duty chain-link fence kept the fans and the track seperated. If you went up to the fence, there was a good three-foot drop to the track. Ted, of course, was athletic enough to be able to make the leap up to the flagstand. The only flaw in the design was that the door in the fence that allowed the flagman to bail out and into the grandstand area was on the turn 4 side of the stand, instead of the turn 1 side. This turned out to be an almost fatal flaw one day, as a car came out of 4, hit the wall, and went up into the air. It landed again right into the flagstand, and hung there. Ted dove for the door, and it's a good thing it opened easily because he actually went under the car to get away from the spot it came to rest.

It's odd how some things will make an impression on a kid. The thing that always amazed me about Ted when I was young was when we would leave the track at Loudon late on a Saturday night. There was a little place in downtown Laconia that would stay open until about 1 am called Mr. Sub's, that made the best toasted grinders you ever had. (Grinders? Oh, they call those subs now.) After the races the place would pack out with drivers, crews, fans, and of course the officials. The memory I will always have of Ted is him cruising from table to table in Mr. Sub's, holding the biggest, sloppiest meatball sandwich you ever saw in one hand, and never spilling a drop.

The team finally broke up in the early seventies. I don't know the reason, but I guess Ted just got tired of going to the races. His replacement wasn't very impressive, and he was the first in a long line who made us miss Ted all the more. I'm not even sure if Ted is still alive. If anyone knows, or has any more stories, feel free to post your comments.

By the way, the first photo is from the Legion Bowl, circa 1963. Both pictures were taken by Sonny Clogston.

Bear Ridge Speedway

Happy Birthday, Bear Ridge Speedway


I was recently told that Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT turns 40 this year. Boy, it doesn't seem like that long. I guess stock car racing really does keep you young, or at least allows you the delusion that you still are.


Now, I hope the friends I work with at the Legion Speedway won't mind me saying so, but if you get a chance you owe it to yourself to go some Saturday night this summer over to Bradford. Bear Ridge has been one of the premier dirt tracks in Northern New England these four decades. It started out as a state-of-the-art venue, and has kept up nicely with the times. Plenty of parking, good big pit area, and the food's even pretty good.


Oh, I guess I've got to share some boring memories of the early days, don't I? It's kind of expected, I suppose. Hmm . . . I guess I was about 13 when George Barber, one of the original owners, invited my folks up to his place for a visit. I remember that George restored old cars, and he had a particularly nice model-B Ford that he was working on.

At the time, Mom, Dad, my grandmother Pearl, and flagman Ted Winot were working Saturday nights at the 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon (now NHIS) and Sunday afternoons at the Riverside Speedway in Groveton. To make a long story short, George convinced Dad and Dad convinced the rest of the crew, and Sunday afternoons would now be spent in Bradford.


It was about that time that Loudon became Bryar Motorsport Park, and the little dirt track was gone, so we were down to one day a week. The four-person group had bounced around several tracks during the 1960's, so it wasn't a real big deal to drop Groveton for Bradford.

Still, there was something about George Barber and the whole thing that told us all that this one was here to stay. And, by george, it has!

Random Snaps

Been digging up some old pictures, which is what drives this whole thing in the first place. You who have been following this right along will be interested in seeing some new additions to the Big Bill and Tommy Richardson pieces. I've been scanning in a bunch of stuff, including some really old black-and-whites from the early '60's which I'll let you see in a while.

By the way, if you happen to have something that you'd like me to post here, just let me know.

This particular batch of photos were taken at the Nor-Way Pines Speedway in the early to mid 90's.

This gentleman is "Sweet Lou" Ottati, who I think hailed from Franklin or somewhere near there. (As always, feel free to leave comments that correct my errors. Hey, I'm a race fan, not a historian!) Lou drove mostly in the Dirt Stocker class at the Pines. I think this was one of his later cars, or at least paint jobs. By his own admission, Lou sometimes got a little over-excited and drove a little rough, but he was actually a very good driver. He collected several feature wins over the years, and challeneged for the division title on a regular basis.

He had one of the scarier moments in local dirt track racing one night when his engine went up. The radiator exploded and doused Lou with boiling-hot water and anti-freeze. The safety crew got him out of the car and he sat down right on the front straight while the EMTs determined whether or not he was going to be all right. He turned out fine, but he sure had us worried for a while.



This is "Flying Fred" Fecteau, from Belmont, NH. As of 2006 he was still driving this car, although with completely different body work. It still ran great, too. This car was originally one of a pair built by John and Royal Moses, who came from around Hill and Franklin. This was Royal's, while John kept his and eventually got a track championship with it. It's a great little car, from the days when the Modified division at the Pines (and most everywhere else in the area) was running on V6 power. The engine is placed almost in the center of the frame, and it was a beautifully balanced little rig.

Fred's never really been a big threat to the big-money teams, but he's really a very good driver and has taken quite a few trophies home over the years. The biggest memory I have of Fred, though, was one night when he gave Warren Emery's wrecker crew a chance to show just how good they were. Fred got in a wreck, and I mean he really trashed the thing. They towed it off the track and left it in the infield until the end of the night. Then, they got two wreckers and put one on each end of the car. They picked the whole thing up off the ground and Fred backed his trailer underneath it, and then they lowered it down. It was the only way they could load it. Happily, he was back in a couple weeks, and as I've said he's still racing that car.


Beany O'Haire's number 09 was a good car, but I always liked the old Nova he used to run. Won a bunch of features with that old rig. By the mid 90's the Late Model class was going to these tube-frame cars, and this was one of the better ones. I still think Beany just raced for fun, though. If he got behind he seemed to lose interest. Great driver, though, and always raced clean. Eventually his wife, Carol, became the Pines' pit steward, and Beany stopped racing for the most part. I've heard he's still got this car.

I always loved this picture. I was writing the weekly piece for the Plymouth Record, and took my own pictures. I was getting tired of pictures of the winning driver shaking hands with the flagman in the dark, so I went around the pit before the races and asked the drivers to "do something interesting." Mark Jenot of Rumney did this. About this time he won his first feature, so I got to put this picture in the paper. God is good!

I used to call him "Miracle Mark," because of a move I saw him pull in a Dirt Stocker qualifier one night. There were three cars dicing for the lead going through turns three and four, and they were taking up the whole track. Coming across the back stretch was Mark, and you could tell he had his foot in it and wasn't going to back off. Coming out of four, just at the last possible second, all three of the cars ahead of him bashed fenders and parted like the Red Sea. Through the gap, with inches to spare, was Mark. He went on to win the qualifier. Beautiful, gutsy, and incredibly foolish move that paid off.

I'll throw some more stuff on in a while. Enjoy. And, don't forget that racing season starts up pretty soon. Hope to see you at the races.

Why I Don't Watch NASCAR Any More

Wow. It's hard to believe that I haven't posted here since last November. To tell the truth, I've been busy with work, music, watching Star Trek reruns, and so forth. Yesterday something happened that made me think about dirt-track racing, and longing for spring and the sound of V8 iron; the Daytona 500.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a long-time NASCAR fan. In fact, I like just about all kinds of racing. I particularly like Formula One, and will watch just about anything this side of shopping carts. I'm really getting sick of NASCAR, though, and The Chase in particular.

The start of this season had a lot of potential, too. For once, Fox got to cover the 500. I'm so-o-o-o glad that NBC isn't doing it any more. I like BP, may he rest in peace, but if I never get to hear Mike Joy announcing a race again it will be too soon. Give me more DW! Boogity, boogity, boogity!!

Ah, but we're in the New NASCAR era. It's not about the race, it's about the chase. And, about making every single second as exciting as . . . well . . . a WWF wrestling match, actually. I think that's the audience they're after now. More and more I'm hearing long-time race fans that are more and more tired of the New NASCAR.

Think about your favorite sport for a minute. What's it really about? Where did it come from? Besides auto racing (and baseball, of course) I was always a boxing fan. It's easy to figure out what the beginnings of boxing were; two guys having a fistfight. The basic fistfight has nothing to do with excitement, crowd-pleasing, money-making, or any of that. It was about two guys with a disagreement, and honor being served (somewhat perversely, I'll grant you) by one knocking the other one down and making him stay there. It's awfully exciting to watch a good fistfight, though. Once you set up rules, mark a square, pad their fists, and take the anger out of the equation, you have a sport. The more barbarism you remove, the bigger your audience, but it's still just a fistfight.

Racing is just as simple. Pick a start point and an end point, and the first to traverse the distance in between is the winner. It wasn't long before two different places were replaced by an agreed-upon distance. 500 Miles, for instance. There was a time that travelling 500 miles in one shot was quite an accomplishment for any automobile. Now, they do it in about three hours, and you'd better have faster pit stops than everybody else, or you'll finish off the lead lap. Yesterday, there were (I think) 28 cars on the same lap. If not for the finish-line pile-up, the 20th place car would have finished about five seconds behind the winner.

As racing has become refined over the last century, the rules have gotten tighter and tighter. There are now more different kinds of race car than Carter's has got little liver pills. Stock cars, Champ cars, Formula One, Prototypes, Outlaws, Sprints, you know the drill. That's all just to decide who gets to start the race; what the layout will be, how much power they're allowed, how heavy, how safe, etc. etc. etc. Once the green flag drops, it's back to basics. There's the finish line, first one there wins.

But NOT in the New NASCAR. 500 Miles isn't enough if there's a caution period during the last ten laps. Then, we stick a green-white-checker onto the end. Or, red-flag the race and begin again with a whole new two-lap race. Seven times during the 2006 season races were finished with the green-white-checker. The first year of The Chase, the whole season championship was decided by one. A three-lap mini-race tacked onto the end of the last race of the season decided the championship by Kurt Busch over Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson, AFTER the regulation 500 miles were already finished. And none of those three even won the race!

And don't get me started about the chase. Nobody is allowed to dominate a season. If you have a really outstanding season, you find yourself five points in front of your nearest competitor, and a flat tire or bad pit stop can ruin what should have been a championship.

As far as I'm concerned, they can make the rules as convoluted as they want before the race. Once the green flag drops, let who's best decide who wins, even if they win by a mile.

There. Enough ranting. Back to REAL racing, please. Don't forget the Legion Speedway's 100-lap enduro on March 3.

Big Bill Moses

Buck and Big Bill

Bill Moses, taking a victory lap

If you’ve spent any time around race tracks in New Hampshire, you’ve undoubtably heard the name Moses. I am proud to be able to call a number of the Moses family my friends, but two of the clan that impressed me the most are the father-and-son team of Buck and Big Bill Moses.

Buck, in front of Bill's car

I can remember Buck driving his own car back in the ‘60’s at the 106 Midway Raceway in Loudon. (More on that place later.) One of my all-time favorite racing stories features Buck, and his nemesis Paul Martel. One year, the two were neck-and-neck for the track championship going into the last week of the season. Paul blew his engine in the qualifier, and all Buck had to do to take the title was line up for the green flag in the feature. Instead, he loaned his car to Martel. Now, if you wrote that into a piece of fiction, nobody’d buy it. It’s too ridiculous. My dad was the pit steward, and I swear to God it happened just that way.

The one thing I remember most about Buck is that he could do more with less than any car builder I ever heard of. He also wasn’t above seeing how far the rule book could be bent. Once, he brought his car with some new “improvement” into the pit at 106. Dad found it, and asked Buck about it. Buck protested that it was legal, and he should be allowed to run it. To his surprise, Dad agreed. That REALLY got him mad.



“You mean, EVERYBODY’S going to be allowed to run that way?” he protested.



Still, I think if my life was on the line over a race, I’d want Buck to build my car.

I think even Buck would agree that, as successful as he was as a driver, Big Bill was better at it than he was. There were, of course, two Bill Moses’. There was Buck’s son, and Buck’s brother, Dusty, also had a son named Bill. Dusty and his Bill were both musicians, so the other became known as “Billy Gee-tar.” Gee-tar Bill has some recordings somewhere on the web, and if he or somebody he knows reads this, maybe they’ll leave the link in the comments. (HINT!!)

Bill at Nor-Way Pines

Gee-tar Bill also raced, and was very good at it, but Big Bill was truly one of the greats. With Buck building his cars, he went from victory to victory and made it look easy. They were the last team I ever saw run a flathead Ford, and the last season they did they were still winning features with it. When they finally gave up the flatty and switched to a straight-6 Ford truck engine, Big Bill won the track championship at the Nor-way Pines. They were also the first I ever saw try an independent rear suspension on a dirt-track car. Somehow, Buck came up with a rear end out of a Corvette, and they spent half a season trying to get it to hook up properly. Never did get it to work quite right, but nobody else could have done half as well with it either.



I got into trouble with Bill once when I was track announcer at the Nor-Way Pines, over one of Buck’s clever innovations. They had built a new car and from what I hear they didn’t have enough money to put a proper body on it. Instead, somebody gave them some corrugated aluminum swimming pool lining, so they rivetted it onto the bare frame and went racing. When I heard that, I thought it was a great idea. What turned out to NOT be a great idea was my decision to call the new car “The Flying Bathtub.” Now, most racers have a sense of humor about the nicknames I make up, but Bill was actually planning to hit me with a pie. He was really mad! Of course, I apologized, and swore I’d never use the offensive name again. I honestly didn’t think there’d be a problem, because most of the other racers only saw it from the rear anyway.



I think it broke everybody’s heart to hear about Big Bill’s passing. It happened during the off-season, and I don’t recall what year it was, or what the situation was. I’m hoping somebody will post something to the comments section and give us the details. I know the loss was felt by everybody in the racing community. Bill was a great guy, and if he’d never won a race in his life there’s an awful lot of people who would still miss him. No matter how he did on the track, he was a true champion.

Buck, Sarah, and Bill

Three generations of racing Moses'

The last I knew, Buck is still with us, although I haven’t seen him in years and I don’t know if he still goes to the races. Bill also had a daughter, Sarah, who’s quite a race driver in her own right. Sarah married another good driver, Sam Comeau, from another racing family that includes such dirt track heroes as “Flying” Franny Comeau and “Hard Luck” Harold Hannaford. And, of course there’s the endless parade of Moses cousins, etc. who keep the dirt flying wherever they go. “Prince” John, Ray, Billy, Royal, and the rest of the gang. Good people, every last one of ‘em.

A picture of me and Leanne Weeks

Tractors

It's Columbus Day weekend, and I just spent the last two days being the announcer at Sandwich Fair's antique tractor pull. Had a blast, as did everybody else, and I can never go to one of these without noticing the similarities between the antique tractor crowd and the dirt track racing crowd.

First, it's heaven on earth for the shade-tree mechanics. Even more so for the mechnical dummies like me, because the tractors look like even I could work on them. Engine, drive train, four wheels (sometimes) and a seat.

There's also a lot of overlap with both the participants and the fans. There's a lot of the same people in the pit area, and in the stands. It seems to be a place where burnt-out racers go to get their gadget fix. It's a good place, because the entry fee - i. e. the price of an old tractor - is relatively low, and you don't go banging up your equipment against the other guys.

It's also a lot more family friendly. Literally anybody can drive a tractor. The youngest competitor over the weekend was 12, and one of the class winners was 13. Another of the winners was 77. Men and women both compete with equal standing. Dirt track racing on the local level is also very family friendly, but the pit area is a lot more intense and, quite frankly, more dangerous as well.

The most disturbing thing, although it's also very amusing, is how John Deere is the center of the universe. You either love or hate John Deere tractors. There seems to be little middle ground here. I guess it's not all that black and white, as both sides will easily acknowledge the value of the other's preferred tractors, but it is rare to find somebody who collects both. You're either all JD, or all anything else.

At the antique tractor pull JD's won their share of prizes. They also have a very distinctive sound all their own. They seem to do best at low rpm's. Still, it's such a partisan thing that, to me at least, rooting for John Deere seems too much like rooting for the Yankees. The Farmalls, Olivers, Cases, Cockshutts, and the rest certainly held their own in every division, and no single brand dominated.

The greatest extreme that anybody takes brand loyalty to would have to be Rick Merrill of Loudon, NH. Rick has a working farm, so he's not just a rich collector with a herd of trailer queens. From what I understand, most of his tractors earn their keep. They'd better. He owns 45 of them, and every single one is a Farmall. Still, many agreed with Tom Marston when he stated that, "Tractors are green and yellow. All the other colors are for scrap metal."

Don't get me wrong; I'm not quitting the races to go tractoring. Still, it's a great atmosphere, and if you get the opportunity to go to an antique tractor event, you should. I know, if you're reading this blog, that you're going to have a great time.

Tommy Richardson

Tommy Richardson, receiving a trophy

from starter Ted Winot

at Bear Ridge Speedway, Bradford VT

I promised when I started this that from time to time I was going to talk about some of the more interesting people I've known in this sport. A while ago I was being interviewed for a story, and the writer asked me what the most memorable race was that I ever saw.

Now, I've got to tell you, I've seen a lot of races in the last 45 years, but it didn't take long to come up with an answer. It was in the early 1960's at what was then known as the Legion Bowl in Rumney/Wentworth, NH. At some point in the feature, whatever held the hood down on the leader's car broke. Probably a piece of rope. The hood flopped up over the windshield. The driver then stuck his head out the driver's side window and kept on going. Not only did he finish the race with the hood covering the windshield, he won. That driver? Tommy Richardson.

Tommy was from Enfield, NH. When everybody else was running Fords his car was an old Plymouth coupe bearing the number 574 jr. Why "jr"? No idea. Don't care. Tommy sure could make that thing go, though. He was a uniquely talented driver. I can remember him in that old Plymouth, tail hanging out, and he was smooth when everybody else was just trying to get around the track in one piece.

To be honest, I don't remember if he was ever the track champion, but he sure did win his share of features at the old Bowl. I never really knew that much about him, either. As far as I know, he is no longer alive, but he still has family in the area. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers Tom. He had a nephew, Bobby, who raced Modifieds in the area in recent years, and showed quite a bit of his uncle's talent.

From what I gather, Tom had his share of health problems as he grew older. The last time I ever saw him race was in the early 1970's at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT. The impression I got was that he'd just shown up to watch the races. One thing led to another, and he got invited into the pit area. The owner of a Ford coupe, # 319, offered him the use of his car for the afternoon, and I guess Tom couldn't resist. I also got the impression that it had been some time, possibly years, since he'd driven a race car. He went out and won the feature in convincing fashion.

That is how I will always remember him. Standing on the front stretch, shaking hands with the flagman, holding the first-place trophy. That, and with his head sticking out the driver's side window, grimly chewing dust on his way to that trophy.

-----------------------

You long-time readers noticed that I recently added the picture at the top of this piece. I fished it out of an old scrapbook I've kept since I was a kid. I sliced through the tape on the edges of the 8x10 to put it on my scanner, and when I did I noticed that he autographed it on the back; "Tom Richardson - 574". I still get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. Miss ya, Tom.

Catamount Stadium

http://www.catamountstadium.com/

Found another cool link. This is the website that belongs to the fellow that writes the column I've referred to from The Racin' Paper, Bill Ladabouche. It's a tribute to a track near his home, Catamount Stadium. I can remember drivers, etc. referring to this track. The impression they gave to me as a boy was that, if you were a serious racer and thought you could run with the big dogs, you were going to leave whatever little bullring you were currently toiling at and head for Catamount.

The Guy To Beat

It is NOT one of the constants of the universe, but it happens frequently enough so that you might think it was. It's an interesting phenomenon, and almost unexplainable once you look it over. Also, it seems to be more and more difficult to achieve as time goes by. It's when there's one driver who almost completely dominates a race track.

The first time I remember seeing it was at the old 106 Midway Raceway, the tiny dirt bullring that eventually grew up into NHIS. The driver in question was a gentleman named Paul Martel. He was a driver of exceptional skill, and although he reportedly knew nothing about mechanics, he drove for a car owner who definitely did.

For a few years, Paul Martel could not be beaten. Simple as that. He drove the # 444, and it went like stink. After a long period of domination it was discovered that the 444 was built on an International Scout frame. Now, you've got to remember that this was about 1964, 1965, and there were no Troyeas and such. A racecar was a pre-war coupe with a roll cage welded to the frame and the fenders removed. A Jeep or Scout frame was the ultimate, but quite illegal at most tracks.

To make a long story short, Paul was given two weeks off and the car was outlawed. When he returned, it was in a legal car and the other drivers thought it would be open season. No such luck. Paul went right back to his winning ways in the 3J, which was a pretty basic old Ford, just like everybody else was running. Paul was flat-out good, and there was nothing anybody else could do about it.

In the A class at Riverside Speedway in Groveton, there was a fellow named Sylvio Bilodeau. He drove a '34 Ford sedan, # 92, painted purple. It had the words "Al Capone" on the back. During a three-year period in the mid-sixties, Sylvio and the Al Capone Special won over half the A-class features. At Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT, Alan Whipple brought a beige # 47 with a Chevy six and ruled that track for a couple of years.

It's not that they were never beaten. It's just that they so clearly outclassed the field that it was ridiculous. These drivers won features and championships with an ease that was disconcerting. Consequently, they were hated passionately by the average fans. You would hear their names over the loudspeaker, and it was always followed by a chorus of boos.

In retrospect, this was the weirdest part. In each case, the drivers in question were the nicest of fellows, and almost always drove an honest race. Sylvio Bilodeau in particular was a real sweetheart of a guy, who lived quietly in North Stratford and drove a logging truck for a living. One day a week, he was a villian of Darth Vader-ian proportions who greeted the boos with a smile and a wave.

The only driver I ever saw beat this stigma was Franny Comeau. Fran owned the Late Model division at the Nor-Way Pines Speedway in Wentworth for over a decade. In that time, he won nine championships. He started out with a '56 Ford sedan that had already been beaten to death by another racer and discarded. Fran won either four or five titles with it. Then, he and his car owner put together a Mustang. For years after it was plainly obselete, Franny was the one to beat at the Pines. When he finally quit racing, the majority of the Late Models were tube-frame pure-race cars, and he was still beating them with that old Mustang.

And the best part of it was, the fans loved him. I mean, absolutely loved the man! For a while, the track held a Favorite Driver poll, but Fran would win every year by a country mile, so they just didn't bother any more. If you had a Late Model and raced at the Pines, you were racing for second; both on the track and in the hearts of the fans.

I haven't seen anybody in recent years that dominated like those four. If you have, feel free to post your comments, but in the last ten to fifteen years it seems to be getting tougher and tougher to do. One reason could be the vast number of classes now being run. It has thinned out the race fields considerably, at the same time as it has increased the car count at most tracks. Another factor closely related to that is the fine-tuning of the rules over the years. It's become harder to come up with a combination that can't be easily replicated.

Still another reason could be that, once a driver proves his domination in one of the lower classes, they give in to the temptation to move up, and the magic disappears. I've seen it happen to a pair of drivers who, each in turn, ruled the 4-cylinder division at the Pines for a couple years at a time. Both John Chase and Pete Royea came off big championship seasons and moved into Modifieds, only to find themselves running mid-field.

It's like Ray Evernham said back when he was Jeff Gordon's crew chief. First, you're competitive. Then you're a winner. Then, a champion. Finally, a dynasty. In 45 years of NH dirt track racing, I've seen four dynasties. Who will be next?