Who was the best? In which category, the most skillful, the hard charger, the driver with the most wins, or what. In my opinion Pete was the best, an unflappable aloof master of his craft that did things with a car that made you say, "HOLY SHIT". One Saturday night I had a car to drive that had some balls, and during the heat race I had the pleasure to battle with the master. Back and forth we went, Pete ahead, Otto ahead, and after the heat was over and we were on the cool down lap Pete pulled up alongside and gave me the thumbs up sign. I was on cloud nine, god approved of my work. I have seen Pete go into turn three fifth, and come out of four first, I've seen him pass two cars on the outside going into one, cut down the track and pass a couple more going out of two. This was with cars that didn't handle great. The man was a magician. If he was here today, and read this stuff he'd laugh it off and tell us he was just lucky.

Louie and Bill Wimble were cut from the same cloth, both drove the shit out of their cars. Wimble won 41 features in the sixties, and Monks won 44. Both were good guys, Bill's mainspring was always wound up tight when he was behind the wheel, while Louie gave the impression of being laid back, but both were always up on the wheel when the green dropped. Louie was shy, Bill was not.

Shoe was in the same league as the past two, knocking down 29 features between 60 and 69. I never knew what to make of Kenny, there was something about him that I couldn't put my finger on. I suspect he had a short man complex. He certainly was skillful, both with a wrench and a racecar, and he wasn't afraid to tell you so. However, Kenny was successful nearly everywhere he went, he's in a load of Halls of Fame around the country, and he earned it all.

The professor, the pro, Mr Danish, they all mean the same. Steve's best years were in the fifties, but he was no slouch in the next decade. Because of his demeanor, and his reputation, everyone looked up to him. I had heard that Mr Danish and Hully Bunn were brothers-in-law, but when I asked him about it he said it wasn't true.

Rene Charland, racings Clown Prince. Rene loved to play jokes on folks, your stature in racing didn't matter, everybody was fair game. Maynard Forrette thought he heard something in his engine, and was standing by the front fender revving the engine and listening. Rene sneaked up behind the car and when Maynard gave the engine a rev Rene would tap in Maynard's back bumper with a wrench. Maynard was going nuts, tap-TAP-tap Tap-TAP-tap. The Cyclone was about to throw in the towel when he spotted Rene squatting by his rear bumper. "Damn son of a bitch" Maynard blurted out, and that started a mad Frenchman chasing a wise Frenchman through the pits. For a while Rene painted the top of his cars black. You see Rene was a start jumper. On re-starts Rene could jump three or four spots, and because of the black roof it was difficult to see the jumper doing his jumping. The pit steward ordered Rene to paint the roof another color, he painted it dark blue. "No one specified a color" Rene said, "just paint it another color". Four NASCAR Sportsman Championships, feature wins everywhere, the man fell in love with Fonda, picked up sticks from his east coast home and relocated to NY.

Chuck Mahoney is here because he was the Prince of Knuckle Heads, a very brave prince. Read some of his story below.

Tom Kotary joins this group as the King of Rowdy. A fine clean (as all in this group were, well almost all) racecar driver, and actually a decent guy to be around, lots of funny stories, but when he feels like he's been screwed, and there's a crowd around, keep your helmet on, and if he's had a couple of beers look for the exit.

Eddie Pieniazek joins this elite group because he was king of the wrench's, maybe the best pit man in Fonda's racing history. Eddie's driving skills were excellent (he won 9 feature races at Fonda) but were over shadowed by his ability to have his drivers (Pete, Shoe, Irv and others) car prepared and ready to win, no matter if the effort was to repair crash damage, engine problems, or just normal weekly maintenance.

 

Pete Corey, the "Crescent Hillbilly" - Photo courtesy of Jo Towns

Pete had the most skill, he did things with a racecar that made me (and lots of others) say "wow, how did he do that", twice NASCAR driver of the week, with a driving style mirrored in later years at the Reading Pa Fairgrounds by Kenny Brightbill.

Bill Wimble, "The Flying Farmer", and car owner Dave McCready - Photo courtesy of the Herbert collection

Two NASCAR Sportsman Championships (one of those championships was a draw with Dick Nephew)

Louie "Monks" Lazzaro. Ralph Oudekirk center and Vinny Maugeri right - Photo courtesy of the Herbert collection

The most productive driver of the sixties with 44 feature wins.

Kenny "the Shoe" Shoemaker with Ted Vogel's #95 - Photo courtesy of Jo Towns

29 feature wins in the sixties, following 10 fifties feature wins. Get his book "They Called Me the Shoe" from Lew Boyd at coastal181.com

Steve Danish, "The Cropsyville Courier" - Photo courtesy of John Danish

No matter what nickname others gave this man, it was always "Mr" Danish from my perspective. Mr. Danish was a professional and a role model. Five feature wins in the sixties, and 26 feature wins in the fifties.

"Da Champ", Rene Charland

The Clown Prince of "the Track of Champions", and everywhere else he went. NASCAR National Sportsman Champion four times (1962-65), 18 feature wins at Fonda. That allows us to call Rene a Prince. Look at him, he's thinking up a practical joke to play on somebody right now.

Chuck Mahoney - Photo courtesy of Jo Towns

Without a doubt Chuck was the most fearless of them all, close to the point of being reckless. I recall a Labor Day at the NYS Fairgrounds when Chuck was sitting in the #53, first in line at the track entrance waiting for the track to clear for modified warm up laps, revving the car's motor every few seconds. When it came time to go a pit official leaned into Chuck's window and told him to "take it easy". Yeah right. When Chuck came by the grandstand on his first lap he was right up against the outside wall going probably 140 miles an hour. So much for taking it easy.

Cliff Kotary told me the story about he and Chuck being in Michigan with one of Chuck's friends Bill France. Mr France told Chuck that he was planning to develop a tour for late model cars (Grand Nationals), and he knew of a Hudson that needed a driver for the upcoming races. Chuck declined, as he had a girlfriend in NY, and the new tour would keep him in the south and away from his new love. Bill France later offered that Hudson driving opportunity to Herb Thomas, who didn't refuse.

Chuck drove Al Kotary's #188 for a while. Al had cut a hole in the car's firewall so he could ride in the car (someone else driving) on some of Rome's back roads and adjust the distributor for maximum performance. After finding the best performance setting Al always retarded the distributor a half a degree to promote longer engine life. DURING the feature on the Syracuse Mile Chuck unfastened his seat belts and was trying to reach (unsuccessfully) through the hole in the firewall to turn the distributor for more speed. Can you even imagine.

"Tiger" Tom Kotary - Photo courtesy of Jo Towns

No doubt, Thomas was in charge of rowdy, always ready for a beer or an altercation. Rowdy or not, I liked the man.

Eddie Pieniazek - Photo courtesy of Jo Towns

Eddie isn't here for his driving skills (although he won nine feature races between 1968 and 1975), Eddie was the mechanical wizard in the pits who wrenched cars that Pete Corey, Ken Shoemaker, Irv Taylor and others won feature races with.

Well there you have it, all though I'm positive you all have other idea's about this, for better or worse those are my picks.