Saratoga Automobile
Museum
Sunday Am and I'm off again
to Saratoga thanks to my
neighbor Emily Virgil who
takes care of the boys while
I'm away. They mind her
better than me anyways.. Roy
and Cliff Kotary have invited
me out to look over the
'Syracuse Mile' display Ron
Hedger has assembled and
I'm looking forward not only
to seeing them but the
museum as well. It is a long
drive, but it'll be worth it I'm
sure. Hope that 'Teardrop' car
decides to roll a little better
tommorow evening, deal with
that later, off I go.
It was a beautiful day to
travel, clear skies, clear roads,
lots of thoughts in my head. I
hadn't been up the northway
in years and luckily I missed
the turn to the museum and
got to see Saratoga.. Finally
found the Avenue of the Pines
and the Bottling Plant which
houses the Saratoga
Auotomobile Museum. Ron
Hedger gracioiusly met me at
the door and gave me a quick
tour before heading upstairs
to the display - this museum
is nice, I mean really nice.
And full of beautiful cars,
more like art than
automobiles, some are
priceless.
Shortly afterward here comes
Roy Kotary with the 1963
State Fair Trophy in hand. His
entire family has gathered to
look over the car, the
museum, and take pictures
with Cliff. Since we had last
planned on meeting here cliff
has undergone some trouble
health wise and related that it
was touch and go there for a
while. He's back on the road
to recovery now thankfully
and said that although it's
taking him longer to recover
now than in his earlier days,
he's feeling stronger each
day. Looking over the car he
talked of how it wanted to
"dart on me when I first drove
it, I think that's how Dudley
got hurt in it. We took it back
to the shop and installed a
Willy's front axle in it, had
quite a drop to it, and then it
handled fine. In fact it was the
best handling car I drove at
the fair." We looked over a
carburetor I'd brought along -
I've been gathering pieces to
build an exact replica of one
of his engines and am gaining
as both Roy and Cliff agreed
that the Rochester 2G I have
is correct, I have two of them
so now onto the next item. We
also looked over my
combustion chamber cutter, a
mushroom tappet and what's
left of a cam I got from
Maurice Marriotti - who in
turn had gotten from Cliff. It's
a nice paperweight now but
he remembered it. Cliff's
grandchildren and great
grandchildren milled about
the car, asking questions and
taking pictures. Two year old
Willem got right in and
grabbed the wheel, he was
ready in his racing suit, only
needed some goggles and a
helmet. Grandsons Kyle,
Mark and Sean each had
questions about the car and
restoration. Grand daughter
Kate and Roy's wife Maggie
took photos while Cliff and his
wife Clara took it all in. It was
really a nice time, the
Kotary's are good people, a
nice family and I'm glad they
invited me along to take part
in this day at the museum.
Truly good to see Cliff and
Roy again, as well as meet
their family. Seems like it was
over before it started. Roy and
I stepped aside to look over
the Offy powered sprinter and
Ron opened it up for us to
reveal the jewel-like engine.
Steve Miller restored this car
for Bob McConnell and does
beautiful work. The car was
driven by the likes of Len
Sutton and Jim Hurtibise and
is immacualte. These cars
were fast, gorgeous, and
dangerous. Roy related to me
that 'there were some old
drivers in these and some
brave drivers, but not a lot of
old, brave drivers', true as
many got hurt or worse in
them. Back over at the Flying
90 Roy related to me again,
'I'll bet that's the only car that
won Syracuse with two
different drivers.' That was a
really nice thing to say - my
favorite memory of racing was
the day we won there with
Cliff, Roy, and Mark in
attendance.
We said our goodbyes, shook
hands and whisked through
the rest of the museaum,
honestly, you could spend a
lot of time here, there isn't a
car there that doesn't deserve
more than a look. An Auburn
Boattail Speedster, a
Delahaye, Jaguars,
Pierce-Arrow, Maserati,
Ferrari, Gary Balough's
Batmobile, the Offy Champ
car and my $50 1933 Ford
coupe that Cliff won the NYS
Fair with in 1963. A
wonderful display and
celebration of the automobile
throughout.
On the way home I thought of
all the wonderful people I've
met since we decided to get
involved in stock car racing
and what Joe Donahue Jr.
had said to me the night
before. "Racing isn't just
about racing, it's about
people." He's absolutely right,
it is about people and I've met
some lifetime friends due to
my involvement in racing that
I wouldn't have otherwise. It
was a great weekend, best I've
had in ages, and I want to
Thank the Diffendorf's,
Donahue's, and Kotary's for
making this one special.
Back to the Oakdale Mall,
Mom and Dad are there to
help load up the Teardrop and
with a few adjustements to
the brakes, it pushes better.
Better still once show
promotors Robin Oltz, Paul
Szmal and 5MP promoter
Andy Harpell join in. At the
doorway I take over for Mom
and it fires right up, onto the
trailer and we're home again
home again, jig a jig jig. Some
slurpy smiled kisses from the
boys and I'm crashing, a busy
weekend indeed and worth
every minute. Next week our
club will have a display at the
Motorsports Expo in Syracuse
and I'm sure that'll be a good
time to, so get some rest. And
now, the photo's - enjoy.
Museum
Sunday Am and I'm off again
to Saratoga thanks to my
neighbor Emily Virgil who
takes care of the boys while
I'm away. They mind her
better than me anyways.. Roy
and Cliff Kotary have invited
me out to look over the
'Syracuse Mile' display Ron
Hedger has assembled and
I'm looking forward not only
to seeing them but the
museum as well. It is a long
drive, but it'll be worth it I'm
sure. Hope that 'Teardrop' car
decides to roll a little better
tommorow evening, deal with
that later, off I go.
It was a beautiful day to
travel, clear skies, clear roads,
lots of thoughts in my head. I
hadn't been up the northway
in years and luckily I missed
the turn to the museum and
got to see Saratoga.. Finally
found the Avenue of the Pines
and the Bottling Plant which
houses the Saratoga
Auotomobile Museum. Ron
Hedger gracioiusly met me at
the door and gave me a quick
tour before heading upstairs
to the display - this museum
is nice, I mean really nice.
And full of beautiful cars,
more like art than
automobiles, some are
priceless.
Shortly afterward here comes
Roy Kotary with the 1963
State Fair Trophy in hand. His
entire family has gathered to
look over the car, the
museum, and take pictures
with Cliff. Since we had last
planned on meeting here cliff
has undergone some trouble
health wise and related that it
was touch and go there for a
while. He's back on the road
to recovery now thankfully
and said that although it's
taking him longer to recover
now than in his earlier days,
he's feeling stronger each
day. Looking over the car he
talked of how it wanted to
"dart on me when I first drove
it, I think that's how Dudley
got hurt in it. We took it back
to the shop and installed a
Willy's front axle in it, had
quite a drop to it, and then it
handled fine. In fact it was the
best handling car I drove at
the fair." We looked over a
carburetor I'd brought along -
I've been gathering pieces to
build an exact replica of one
of his engines and am gaining
as both Roy and Cliff agreed
that the Rochester 2G I have
is correct, I have two of them
so now onto the next item. We
also looked over my
combustion chamber cutter, a
mushroom tappet and what's
left of a cam I got from
Maurice Marriotti - who in
turn had gotten from Cliff. It's
a nice paperweight now but
he remembered it. Cliff's
grandchildren and great
grandchildren milled about
the car, asking questions and
taking pictures. Two year old
Willem got right in and
grabbed the wheel, he was
ready in his racing suit, only
needed some goggles and a
helmet. Grandsons Kyle,
Mark and Sean each had
questions about the car and
restoration. Grand daughter
Kate and Roy's wife Maggie
took photos while Cliff and his
wife Clara took it all in. It was
really a nice time, the
Kotary's are good people, a
nice family and I'm glad they
invited me along to take part
in this day at the museum.
Truly good to see Cliff and
Roy again, as well as meet
their family. Seems like it was
over before it started. Roy and
I stepped aside to look over
the Offy powered sprinter and
Ron opened it up for us to
reveal the jewel-like engine.
Steve Miller restored this car
for Bob McConnell and does
beautiful work. The car was
driven by the likes of Len
Sutton and Jim Hurtibise and
is immacualte. These cars
were fast, gorgeous, and
dangerous. Roy related to me
that 'there were some old
drivers in these and some
brave drivers, but not a lot of
old, brave drivers', true as
many got hurt or worse in
them. Back over at the Flying
90 Roy related to me again,
'I'll bet that's the only car that
won Syracuse with two
different drivers.' That was a
really nice thing to say - my
favorite memory of racing was
the day we won there with
Cliff, Roy, and Mark in
attendance.
We said our goodbyes, shook
hands and whisked through
the rest of the museaum,
honestly, you could spend a
lot of time here, there isn't a
car there that doesn't deserve
more than a look. An Auburn
Boattail Speedster, a
Delahaye, Jaguars,
Pierce-Arrow, Maserati,
Ferrari, Gary Balough's
Batmobile, the Offy Champ
car and my $50 1933 Ford
coupe that Cliff won the NYS
Fair with in 1963. A
wonderful display and
celebration of the automobile
throughout.
On the way home I thought of
all the wonderful people I've
met since we decided to get
involved in stock car racing
and what Joe Donahue Jr.
had said to me the night
before. "Racing isn't just
about racing, it's about
people." He's absolutely right,
it is about people and I've met
some lifetime friends due to
my involvement in racing that
I wouldn't have otherwise. It
was a great weekend, best I've
had in ages, and I want to
Thank the Diffendorf's,
Donahue's, and Kotary's for
making this one special.
Back to the Oakdale Mall,
Mom and Dad are there to
help load up the Teardrop and
with a few adjustements to
the brakes, it pushes better.
Better still once show
promotors Robin Oltz, Paul
Szmal and 5MP promoter
Andy Harpell join in. At the
doorway I take over for Mom
and it fires right up, onto the
trailer and we're home again
home again, jig a jig jig. Some
slurpy smiled kisses from the
boys and I'm crashing, a busy
weekend indeed and worth
every minute. Next week our
club will have a display at the
Motorsports Expo in Syracuse
and I'm sure that'll be a good
time to, so get some rest. And
now, the photo's - enjoy.
~ Thanks to Dif, Joe Jr., Ron, The Kotarys,
Mom and Dad for making this weekend great! ~
Mom and Dad for making this weekend great! ~
| Updated 3/5/08 Press release from Ron Hedger |
For Immediate Release
Contact: Ron Hedger @ 518-885-7481 or Alan Edstrom @ 518-587-1935
KOTARY’S FIRST RACERS TO PURCHASE MUSEUM BRICK
Saratoga Springs, NY Few racing families have the pedigree of the Rome, NY based Kotary
clan. The name was made famous by driving stars Cliff, Robbie and Tom Kotary in the 1960’s,
with their strong work ethic and desire to win passed down to succeeding generations.
Cliff Kotary will be known forever as the only six-time winner of the New York State Fair
Championship but he was also a winner at Watertown, Waterloo, Fonda, Rochester and a
host of other speedways.
Still sharp as the proverbial tack in his mid-80’s, Kotary recently entertained a group of
family and fans at the Saratoga Automobile Museum, recounting the glory days of his career
and reliving his 1963 Syracuse win in the famed #90, now owned by Jeff Ackerman. The car,
currently on display in the "Syracuse Mile" exhibit at the Saratoga Automobile Museum,
provided the perfect backdrop for Kotary’s recollections.
Always a pacesetter, Cliff and his son Roy kicked off the museum’s "Buy a Brick" program by
purchasing a brick to be inscribed "Cliff Kotary – Six Time New York State Fair Champion." It
will be installed alongside the museum’s entrance along with other bricks dedicated to
museum supporters.
The brick program is an excellent way for racers and their families to support the museum
while remembering past accomplishments, track championships, noteworthy wins, racing
associations, fan clubs or anything else that will fit in the 51-character grid on the bricks.
Forms are available at the auto museum, with racers encouraged to make their $125
purchase soon to be together in the first batch of bricks to be installed.
Contact: Ron Hedger @ 518-885-7481 or Alan Edstrom @ 518-587-1935
KOTARY’S FIRST RACERS TO PURCHASE MUSEUM BRICK
Saratoga Springs, NY Few racing families have the pedigree of the Rome, NY based Kotary
clan. The name was made famous by driving stars Cliff, Robbie and Tom Kotary in the 1960’s,
with their strong work ethic and desire to win passed down to succeeding generations.
Cliff Kotary will be known forever as the only six-time winner of the New York State Fair
Championship but he was also a winner at Watertown, Waterloo, Fonda, Rochester and a
host of other speedways.
Still sharp as the proverbial tack in his mid-80’s, Kotary recently entertained a group of
family and fans at the Saratoga Automobile Museum, recounting the glory days of his career
and reliving his 1963 Syracuse win in the famed #90, now owned by Jeff Ackerman. The car,
currently on display in the "Syracuse Mile" exhibit at the Saratoga Automobile Museum,
provided the perfect backdrop for Kotary’s recollections.
Always a pacesetter, Cliff and his son Roy kicked off the museum’s "Buy a Brick" program by
purchasing a brick to be inscribed "Cliff Kotary – Six Time New York State Fair Champion." It
will be installed alongside the museum’s entrance along with other bricks dedicated to
museum supporters.
The brick program is an excellent way for racers and their families to support the museum
while remembering past accomplishments, track championships, noteworthy wins, racing
associations, fan clubs or anything else that will fit in the 51-character grid on the bricks.
Forms are available at the auto museum, with racers encouraged to make their $125
purchase soon to be together in the first batch of bricks to be installed.
~ 3/3/08 ~
| Updated 3/23/08 Press release from Ron Hedger |
~ Thanks Ron ~