07 Racing Collectibles. It
was a beautiful morning, a
little muggy but we'll take it.
The Teardrop is getting a bath
as my folks pull in the drive, a
quick chamois job and she's
ready to load. Shorlty after
we're off to Tom Swartz's 07
Racing Collectible show in
Endwell - my personal
shortest tow of the year.
Thumper pumps along past
Enjoi Gulf club and the Triple
Cities Airport, through Union
then Endicott, nice ride that I
do nearly everyday. Upon
arriving we find one of the
Zacharias modifieds on hand,
right next to John Hellmer's
modified that I competed
against at Tioga the one year
we tried the class. Both look
super, John is now using his
for road racing and having a
ball doing it. Tom greets us
and directs to a couple of
spots right up front. I have the
McClure 15 on the trailer
where it stays and squeeze it
in next to Bob Riply Jr.'s
chassis 'in progress'. Rip is
building a Geoff Bodine
replica and from the looks of
the chassis, is doing an
absolutely beautiful job. Truly
nice work to date and nice
material as well, this will be a
fine car and he's putting a lot
of effort into it. The Teardrop
is ready to come off and fires
right up. I tinkered on this
lately as it wasn't running up
to snuff - three carbs, two coils
and a new set of plugs later,
it's better than ever and does
it sound good. That little 90hp
21 stud engine sounds like a
lot more and will get it pretty
loose in the corners at CRAP
Speedway... I thought about
leavng the FISH in place but
decided in the end to go with
a Stromberg, runs great and
heads turn. Club member
Howdy Witter and John
Hellmers help us get it off the
trailer while Steve Bronson
direcst me. Set up we now
greet the people who have
beat us to it, Steve has
brought not only his photo
stands but two tables worth of
racing programs as well for
fans to look over. From the
late '60's and early 70's they
are all interesting, Steve's
photo displays (as
contributted to this site) are
set up and have drawn a
crowd. I brought a few of Fred
Smith's photo albums as well
and we have a good chunk of
local history covered. What we
don't have, Grant Buck does
and his display is full of older
pictures, many that I haven't
seen before, another wealth of
history to be investigated. But
the real stars here are the cars
and former drivers. Many ask
where we found the McClure
15 - *top secret* I reply, it's a
hit. I finally get to meet former
driver Jerry Lilly who usually
get's 'name that photo'
correct, nice guy and he wants
to contribute some his
photo's, it'd be my pleasure to
post them. Don Diffendorf is
on hand and signing diecasts
of his S/360, he looks great
and man what a grip! Dad
related he nearly crushed his
hand... We're looking over the
Strosahl car and Don related,
"Bill set fast time at
Langhorne one year, and is
sitting on the pole. Before the
race he's on the pit wall
looking nervous, smoking one
after the other. I went up to
him because I could see
something was wrong. He was
worried, I said to him 'Bill,
you've got the fastest car and
nobody in fornt of you,
Saturday night at Shangri-La!
He led for 15 laps or so and
then pulled in, that was it."
When I interviewed Dutch
Hoag he had related that Bill
didn't like Langhorne,
obviously it didn't bother Diff
or Dutch but Bill had a thing
about the track. "Al (Mcclure)
and I talked aobut me driving
for him at times" Don
continued, "but it never came
to be. They had a top shelf
team." As we're talking here
comes another car down Rte.
17C and this is a nice
surprise. It's a sweet looking
1937 Ford slantback with Al
Tasnady's colors on it.
Beautiful car. Ed (we didn't
catch his last name) from
Pennsylvania has brought it
along for the show and it's
going to steal it. The car has
an original 1/2 ton stell
Frankland quickchange jsut
like the one in Dad's 43A, nice
car. Don is looking it over and
I get to meet Willy Vermilya
who has driven his sweet
Studebaker Champ to the
event. Willy worked with Bob
Page on the Jerry Hayes cars
and remembers as he's talking
with Don, "You won the
feature and championship for
us, beat yourself." True, Don
did win a feature in the #87
late in the 1968 season when
the S/360 conked out and
Jerry wasn't able to drive. The
two, (along with Strosahl) were
battling for the points title at
Shangri-La and had gotten in
an accident at Lancaster. The
accident ahd hurt Jerry's leg
badly and the S/360 coupe
was never the same, at that
time points went with the car
so in winning the feature in
the 87, Don clinched the title
for the team over himslef and
the McClure 15. It also made
Jerry Hayes the third driver to
win championships at both
5MP and Shangri-La - the
other two? Don Diffendorf and
Bill Strosahl.
Joe Buchak has brought an
album and some pictures to
look over. Joe is a wealth of
information, if it ran in the
Southern Tier, Joe probably
knows it. And if it was built in
the greater Binghamton area,
Joe definitely knows it. He's
full of it as ususal, at first he
looks at the 15 and says "No
way, can't be the car." I know
better than to argue with Joe
and leave him to study it. A
while later, he's back. "You're
right, it is the car. Got
boogered a little.." Yep, next
up is the de-boogering... JJoe
has this great picture of
Kneisal and Ken King at
Shangri-La from the 1950's,
and stories of Red Harrington
and Dave as well. It's all
smiles, snorts and laughs
when Joe is holding court,
always a leasure to talk with
him.
Benny Stephens shows up
next and we're getting quite
an array of former drivers at
the show. Joe get's right to it
about Benny's departure from
Trenton.. "I was lucky it was in
the Vega, that was a lot tighter
than the coupe. If it'd beenin
the coupe I'd have been in
trouble." Trenton was an
ungodly fast place, Joe
relates, "133 Mph and I wasn't
fast enough for the consi!!"
Benny relates, "They took all
us first timers and rookies,
which I was one at that place,
and talked to us. Ed Flemke
had a good talk with us and
told us if we get into trouble,
don't hit your brakes. That's
the owrst thing you can do, he
told us to ride it out and see
where it's going before slowing
down. We're coming down the
front chute and I see smoke
up ahead, oh boy.. so I took it
right to the top of the track.
The guy beside me went to the
infield and should've been
able to slow down but he
didn't adnd when we got to
turn one I'm up against the
wall with no where to go and
he hits me. We had been to
Watkins Glen a week before
and I had put in these
shoulder pads on each side of
the seat to hold me in the
turns. Good thing they were
in, it held me in place." The
wreck was spectacular to say
the least. In Doug Rundell's
album the photo is well
preserved, Doug built the cage
for the car and his teachings
through the Wimble/DeCarr
years were put to good use on
that day. Today though it is all
smiles and laughs as the three
former competitors talk of
doing it all over again, that
would be fun to watch..
It's hot out so I beg off and
check out Tom's store.
Diecasts? You want Diecasts?
Tom has an amazing amount
of them and has started doing
custom ones as well, sweet
stuff. There is a model display
and the work here is very
impressive, these fellows put
nearly as much time into their
models as we do the cars,
maybe more.. Webmaster Greg
Holland has organizied the
model display and I finally get
to meet him as well, another
nice fellow. Tom has ordered
pizza and kept cold drinks on
hand all day, he's a great host
and I don't believe I saw a
frown on anyones face the
entire time I was there. We've
got to beg off now though,
Mom and Dad are off to
Rochester to see friends Denis
Bouthillier and Richard Lane -
with the trailer I'll add - we'll
see what comes back, (if
anything...). Thanks to Tom
and all at 07, great time.
Back home I talk Dad into
trying the Teardrop out. He
takes it for a quick spin
around my 'superspeedway'
and comes back with a big
smile. Takes a little effort to
drive it and it'sjsut fast
enough to be exciting. A great
day and now they're off. The
sun is shining and my boys
await, time ofr a walk. See you
at 5MP.
was a beautiful morning, a
little muggy but we'll take it.
The Teardrop is getting a bath
as my folks pull in the drive, a
quick chamois job and she's
ready to load. Shorlty after
we're off to Tom Swartz's 07
Racing Collectible show in
Endwell - my personal
shortest tow of the year.
Thumper pumps along past
Enjoi Gulf club and the Triple
Cities Airport, through Union
then Endicott, nice ride that I
do nearly everyday. Upon
arriving we find one of the
Zacharias modifieds on hand,
right next to John Hellmer's
modified that I competed
against at Tioga the one year
we tried the class. Both look
super, John is now using his
for road racing and having a
ball doing it. Tom greets us
and directs to a couple of
spots right up front. I have the
McClure 15 on the trailer
where it stays and squeeze it
in next to Bob Riply Jr.'s
chassis 'in progress'. Rip is
building a Geoff Bodine
replica and from the looks of
the chassis, is doing an
absolutely beautiful job. Truly
nice work to date and nice
material as well, this will be a
fine car and he's putting a lot
of effort into it. The Teardrop
is ready to come off and fires
right up. I tinkered on this
lately as it wasn't running up
to snuff - three carbs, two coils
and a new set of plugs later,
it's better than ever and does
it sound good. That little 90hp
21 stud engine sounds like a
lot more and will get it pretty
loose in the corners at CRAP
Speedway... I thought about
leavng the FISH in place but
decided in the end to go with
a Stromberg, runs great and
heads turn. Club member
Howdy Witter and John
Hellmers help us get it off the
trailer while Steve Bronson
direcst me. Set up we now
greet the people who have
beat us to it, Steve has
brought not only his photo
stands but two tables worth of
racing programs as well for
fans to look over. From the
late '60's and early 70's they
are all interesting, Steve's
photo displays (as
contributted to this site) are
set up and have drawn a
crowd. I brought a few of Fred
Smith's photo albums as well
and we have a good chunk of
local history covered. What we
don't have, Grant Buck does
and his display is full of older
pictures, many that I haven't
seen before, another wealth of
history to be investigated. But
the real stars here are the cars
and former drivers. Many ask
where we found the McClure
15 - *top secret* I reply, it's a
hit. I finally get to meet former
driver Jerry Lilly who usually
get's 'name that photo'
correct, nice guy and he wants
to contribute some his
photo's, it'd be my pleasure to
post them. Don Diffendorf is
on hand and signing diecasts
of his S/360, he looks great
and man what a grip! Dad
related he nearly crushed his
hand... We're looking over the
Strosahl car and Don related,
"Bill set fast time at
Langhorne one year, and is
sitting on the pole. Before the
race he's on the pit wall
looking nervous, smoking one
after the other. I went up to
him because I could see
something was wrong. He was
worried, I said to him 'Bill,
you've got the fastest car and
nobody in fornt of you,
Saturday night at Shangri-La!
He led for 15 laps or so and
then pulled in, that was it."
When I interviewed Dutch
Hoag he had related that Bill
didn't like Langhorne,
obviously it didn't bother Diff
or Dutch but Bill had a thing
about the track. "Al (Mcclure)
and I talked aobut me driving
for him at times" Don
continued, "but it never came
to be. They had a top shelf
team." As we're talking here
comes another car down Rte.
17C and this is a nice
surprise. It's a sweet looking
1937 Ford slantback with Al
Tasnady's colors on it.
Beautiful car. Ed (we didn't
catch his last name) from
Pennsylvania has brought it
along for the show and it's
going to steal it. The car has
an original 1/2 ton stell
Frankland quickchange jsut
like the one in Dad's 43A, nice
car. Don is looking it over and
I get to meet Willy Vermilya
who has driven his sweet
Studebaker Champ to the
event. Willy worked with Bob
Page on the Jerry Hayes cars
and remembers as he's talking
with Don, "You won the
feature and championship for
us, beat yourself." True, Don
did win a feature in the #87
late in the 1968 season when
the S/360 conked out and
Jerry wasn't able to drive. The
two, (along with Strosahl) were
battling for the points title at
Shangri-La and had gotten in
an accident at Lancaster. The
accident ahd hurt Jerry's leg
badly and the S/360 coupe
was never the same, at that
time points went with the car
so in winning the feature in
the 87, Don clinched the title
for the team over himslef and
the McClure 15. It also made
Jerry Hayes the third driver to
win championships at both
5MP and Shangri-La - the
other two? Don Diffendorf and
Bill Strosahl.
Joe Buchak has brought an
album and some pictures to
look over. Joe is a wealth of
information, if it ran in the
Southern Tier, Joe probably
knows it. And if it was built in
the greater Binghamton area,
Joe definitely knows it. He's
full of it as ususal, at first he
looks at the 15 and says "No
way, can't be the car." I know
better than to argue with Joe
and leave him to study it. A
while later, he's back. "You're
right, it is the car. Got
boogered a little.." Yep, next
up is the de-boogering... JJoe
has this great picture of
Kneisal and Ken King at
Shangri-La from the 1950's,
and stories of Red Harrington
and Dave as well. It's all
smiles, snorts and laughs
when Joe is holding court,
always a leasure to talk with
him.
Benny Stephens shows up
next and we're getting quite
an array of former drivers at
the show. Joe get's right to it
about Benny's departure from
Trenton.. "I was lucky it was in
the Vega, that was a lot tighter
than the coupe. If it'd beenin
the coupe I'd have been in
trouble." Trenton was an
ungodly fast place, Joe
relates, "133 Mph and I wasn't
fast enough for the consi!!"
Benny relates, "They took all
us first timers and rookies,
which I was one at that place,
and talked to us. Ed Flemke
had a good talk with us and
told us if we get into trouble,
don't hit your brakes. That's
the owrst thing you can do, he
told us to ride it out and see
where it's going before slowing
down. We're coming down the
front chute and I see smoke
up ahead, oh boy.. so I took it
right to the top of the track.
The guy beside me went to the
infield and should've been
able to slow down but he
didn't adnd when we got to
turn one I'm up against the
wall with no where to go and
he hits me. We had been to
Watkins Glen a week before
and I had put in these
shoulder pads on each side of
the seat to hold me in the
turns. Good thing they were
in, it held me in place." The
wreck was spectacular to say
the least. In Doug Rundell's
album the photo is well
preserved, Doug built the cage
for the car and his teachings
through the Wimble/DeCarr
years were put to good use on
that day. Today though it is all
smiles and laughs as the three
former competitors talk of
doing it all over again, that
would be fun to watch..
It's hot out so I beg off and
check out Tom's store.
Diecasts? You want Diecasts?
Tom has an amazing amount
of them and has started doing
custom ones as well, sweet
stuff. There is a model display
and the work here is very
impressive, these fellows put
nearly as much time into their
models as we do the cars,
maybe more.. Webmaster Greg
Holland has organizied the
model display and I finally get
to meet him as well, another
nice fellow. Tom has ordered
pizza and kept cold drinks on
hand all day, he's a great host
and I don't believe I saw a
frown on anyones face the
entire time I was there. We've
got to beg off now though,
Mom and Dad are off to
Rochester to see friends Denis
Bouthillier and Richard Lane -
with the trailer I'll add - we'll
see what comes back, (if
anything...). Thanks to Tom
and all at 07, great time.
Back home I talk Dad into
trying the Teardrop out. He
takes it for a quick spin
around my 'superspeedway'
and comes back with a big
smile. Takes a little effort to
drive it and it'sjsut fast
enough to be exciting. A great
day and now they're off. The
sun is shining and my boys
await, time ofr a walk. See you
at 5MP.
