THE INVADERS
The definition of invader at the
Track of Champions was: any future
Hall of Famer that occasionally
visited the speedway to hopefully
pick up what they may have thought
to be an easy buck, or just to test
their metal against the best. Many
of the regulars at the speedway
started out as invaders, like Ernie
Gahan, Maynard Forrette, Guy
Chartrand, Rene Charland, Don
MacTavish, and Buck Holiday. That
group stayed and competed with the
Fonda regulars on pretty much a
weekly basis. The drivers below were
a different story, they came to the
speedway only occasionally, the
first two (Cliff and Dutch) came at
the invitation of car owners Hal
Kempeny (113) and Mike Michaels
(10-10), the others brought their
own equipment.
Cliff Kotary. Cliff ran in Waterloo
and the North Country, Watertown
Fairgrounds, Kingston and others.
Cliff knew how to make flathead
Fords run fast, and stayed with what
he and his brother Al knew best. I
remember watching time trials for
the modifieds and sportsman class
(Syracuse had big plans for that
year, running a full program of OHV
modifieds, a sportsman class, and
late models. Daylight nearly ran out
by the time mod and flathead time
trials were finished). Cliff time
trialed third overall on the
Syracuse Mile (against modifieds and
everybody else) with his flathead
powered 34 Ford that day. Cliff won
six straight, yes six, Labor Day
races on the Syracuse Mile.
Somewhere along the way Cliff
acquired the moniker "The Copper
City Cowboy".
"Dutch" Hoag. "Dutch" won an
estimated 400 feature races, won at
Langhorne 5 times, 3 on dirt in
1956, 60 & 63, twice on asphalt in
1967 & 68. Track Champ at:
Shangri-La 1965, 69 & 70, Spencer
1965, 66 & 67, Syracuse Mile 1967 &
68.
"Irish" Jack Murphy. Most of the
Irishman's visits were in the late
fifties, and always turned into epic
battles with Pete Corey. Pete won a
NASCAR Driver of the Week award as a
result of one of those battles. Pete
and Jack were dueling in the feature
race when Pete was forced to go into
the infield as the duo were
approaching the third turn. It was
told that Pete drove off the bank on
the inside of the turn (the third
turn's inside bank was higher than
the track surface) and flew over the
top of the speeding Irishman,
regained control and won the feature
race. Sounds impossible, but it
happened.
Bill Rafter won everywhere but
Fonda. Track champion at: Lancaster
Speedway 1960 & 65, Buffalo Civic
Stadium Champ 1949, 1955 and 1959.
Car builder and owner was Gil Bruss,
Bill Rafter's brother-in-law.
Don Stumph. Stumpy's home track,
asphalt paved Wall Stadium in New
Jersey rained out so Don towed up to
Fonda (1956) to try his luck.
Fonda's groove was in the middle of
the track at the time, so Stumpy
drove the bottom and went under
everybody for the feature win. After
that the Fonda groove moved to the
inside of the corners.
Ken Meahl with the car owned by 16
year old Jerry Cook. 1960 and 1966
track champion at Ransomville
Speedway.
Ed Ortiz won two feature races in
1962. Ed was the 1962 track champ at
Ransomville Speedway.
Jim Hurtibise came to Fonda several
times in an attempt to win a
guaranteed starting spot for the
fall Langhorne classic. He won a
Langhorne qualifier in August of
1970. North Tonawanda NY's Hurtibise
was an open wheel racer and was an
"Indy" veteran. Jim was badly burned
in a 1964 Milwaukee champ car fire,
and had his doctors mold his badly
burned hands into a permanent shape
that would fit a steering wheel. I
received an e-mail from a gent that
was in the Texas hospital with the
burned Hurtibise, and helped Jim by
being his go-for guy. The gent said
that "Hurtibise was one tough
cookie".
Gene Bergin made rare trips to The
Track of Champions. Gene and Rene
Charland have the distinction of
being the only ones to have won dirt
and asphalt feature races at
Stafford Springs.
Dick Nephew. Nephew and Bill Wimble
tied for the controversial 1961
NASCAR Sportsman Championship title.
Dick made the trip to Fonda from his
Moors Forks NY home rarely.
"Black Jack" DuBrul. I'm told that
Jack made the Fonda trip from his
Northern Vermont headquarters on
occasion.
Most of the photos on this page are
courtesy of Jo Towns
These guys are the ones I
remember, some like Jack Murphy and
"Dutch" Hoag did their best in the
late fifties, but you can never rule
out that one of the above, or more
might show up unannounced on any
Saturday race night at the Track of
Champions. They all were tough
customers on their home tracks, but
most couldn't get past the track's
quirks, or the large group of
talented regulars that had figured
out the track's quirks a long time
ago.
How did I get in trouble with
Paul Marshall? It was a long race,
50 laps maybe, and it was winding
down to the last few laps with Paul
Marshall in the lead. I was whipped,
my arms had turned to spaghetti, and
while in a corner slide I was
holding my knee up against the
steering wheel to help keep the
front wheels turned to the right (We
didn't have power steering then). I
knew Paul was coming up to put a lap
on me, and was looking out for him
in the mirror so I would be sure to
give him room. Exiting turn two I
pulled to the inside to give Paul
room, and then I saw the car ahead
of me slow to a stop. Rather than
plow the car in the rear my reflexes
took over and I whipped my car to
the right and around the crippled
car, right into Paul Marshall's
path. Paul whipped his car around
mine and entered turn three out in
the loose stuff, didn't miss a beat,
powered his car back into the groove
and continued to lead the race. I
said to myself right then "oh shit".
Needless to saw Paul paid me a visit
immediately after the feature was
over, he was hot. I explained
myself, told Paul that if I hit the
car I was out of business. To his
credit he cooled off, and explained
the unofficial rules, all the while
I was nodding my head yes, saying
"yup, yup, that's right Paul". I was
thankful as hell I didn't get beat
up. But, in all the years I've been
going to races I have never
witnessed a fight, a lot of jaw to
jaw discussions, but never a fight.
I'd like to mention a couple of
friends that have vintage stock car
web sites with excellent content and
photos. Jeff Ackerman resides down
state and has a lot of material on
drivers and tracks of the area.
Jeff's web site is
Midstate Antique Stockcar Club.
Bill Ladabouche lives in Northern
Vermont and has a large collection
of vintage material about tracks and
drivers from his area. Bills web
site is
Catamount Stadium.com. Check
them out if you get a chance.
NEXT WEEK: Photos you may not
have seen. |
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