Utica-Rome. A half day. Yahoo, and good
for me. Only problem is that everyone else
can smell it.. aaannd call as soon as they
do... so, maybe not a complete half day off
but close enough and shortly after a walk
with the dogs Thumper is chooglin' down
Rte. 17, then up 88 and 8 to New Berlin
where Dad and I meet to hike up to
Utica-Rome. We've been looking forward to
this night and the weather is co-operating,
so far. Former Late-Model driver Sonny
Stickles is joining us for the night and as
we pile in it's all smiles and anticipation
for Bill Wimble night. Lew Boyd and
Coastal 181 are releasing his new book 'I'll
never finish last again' and McCredy
Motors (original sponsors of Bill's #33 cars)
are sponsoring the night, should be a
special evening. Dad has the old S33
loaded and I'm taking the Flyin' 90 to the
Kotary neck of the woods. Top off at
Bridgewater and add some high test,
Thumper likes that better and pulls over
Paris Hill like duck soup. Up Rte 5 and
there it is, Utica-Rome Speedway,
transformed from the 1/4 mile asphalt
bullring of Wimble's day to a gem of a 1/2
mile clay today. Truly a nice facility, owner
Gene Cole and his staff have made this
track not only racer friendly, but fan
friendly as well. The bathrooms are clean,
the concessions set up with picnic tables,
and two places to get food for little, if any,
queing. Plenty of room for our set up as
well, it lacks for nothing. At the pit gate
Ron Hedger of the Saratoga Automobile
Museum and Reed Miller of Penn Can
greet us, the 90 and P-13 just came back
from there and it was excellent storage,
both started right up with only a battery
charge. Same tonight as smiles greet the
flathead powered cars as we pull them in.
Already in line is John Clark's cars, the
#10 Late-Model and 'Old Nell' 3X, set up
next is Pete Lazarro's sharp #4 next to
John McCullogh's #41 Bernie Miller
coupe. Bruce Dostal just beats us through
the gate with his cherry #69, and does
that engine sound good. John Mason is
setting up his #33 aside the autograph
booth with a nice display. Mike Newell has
spent the last few weeks repainting the car
with only a few set backs.. but he
persevered and it now looks fantastic. They
had it professionally lettered, added the
M&H Racemasters and it's spot on, a nice
representation of the McCredy cars that
Bill drove. Doug Fetterly is next in with
Frank Blanchard's C-38, a former Buck
Holliday car and Doug want's to know if
I've gotten to his films yet.., no, I haven't
but plan on it. Moving them from 8MM to
DVD takes time, I need to get that cloning
machine finished first... Jim and Kay
Chase are unloading the Larry Nye 150
and right behind them is Alan Weaver with
his sharp Ed Thompson #19 coupe. Last in
is Mel 'I had to drive bus' Ogden with the
Don Rounds 101 and Geroge Gallup 103,
both looking sharp. So there we are with
our bakers dozen, a really nice display.
Lew Boyd has his tent set up with the new
book for sale and right alongside is Bill
Wimble getting down to the business of
autographing them. The line fills up
immediately and I believe Bill was signing
for nearly four hours. We look at the line
and decide to wait, here comes Mr. Grady,
"I'm set up over there" he enforms me with
a point.. As we're looking at John Mason's
display he's identifying the pictures, "I
took that one here, that one is at
Albany-Saratoga.." - there's the guy that
needs interviewing.. I head over to his
booth with Alan Weaver and lo and behold,
whattya know I find a few I 'need'. What
are the chances of that happening? Back
to the cars and it's pretty much non-stop
talking, "Did Cliff run at Vernon?, Is this
the car he won at Syracuse with? Is that a
crossfire?" Yes, Yes, No. I'm gettin' hungry
and that line for autographs isn't gettin'
any shorter... Again I tag along with Alan
and we hit the pit concesssion which has a
shorter line. The cheesburger is just great,
better than you'd get at any fast food joint.
Later in talking with Mike Newell and
John Mason I find that Sid Wust is in
charge of all concessions at the track, he
does a great job. Sid is the son of Willie
Wust from Edmeston and always has been
an interesting character, I can remember
his hair straight out on the 43Jr. when my
father took me along to Willies garage to
work on the 43, and nights at the bowling
alley where Sid would 'dribble' for lack of a
better word, the bowling ball down the
alley. Great food and they had so many
flavors of ice cream it was hard to choose
which. It's hot and muggy but Bill is
plugging away in it, he's brought a
busload of friends to enjoy the night and
Gene has made accomodations for all. Ray
Bunzey is chatting it up and brought some
copies of Sidney Speedway tickets for us,
my cousin Bert Cole looks great and is all
smiles. Danny Ody has a booth set up
selling photo's and DVD's, he invites us to
his nostalgia party in the fall, should make
that one.. John Button is collecting names
of former drivers in attendance for
announcement later, track manager Barb
Clark is running around organizing. Don
Rounds and his son are marveling at the
101, they've brought many nice pictures
and bestow them to Mel, a nice gesture.
Otto Graham grabs me and is his shutter
is busy, McCredy Mechanic Extroidinaire
Fred DeCarr and his daughter Debbie
Brunschmid are enjoying the concessions
as I walk by, Brent Cross grabs our hands
with a vigorous shake, my jaw is on a
swivel. Speaking of a firm grip, 'Suicide' Al
Sanders, hip and back operations out of
the way, has made the scene as well. Get
ready when you see his hand out, he'll
take you to your knees. He's feeling better
and getting around pretty decent too.
Other drivers and mechanics in
attendance that I recognize are Frank
Mathalia, Willie Seamon (who wants to
join our club - "you're in"), Brent Cobb, Irv
Taylor, Ron Narducci, Bob Zimmerman
and Ralph Humphrey. The modifieds are
working the track now, the line for an
autograph is just starting to dwindle a
little, let's take a break and go watch some
racing. Grant Buck has the same idea and
we head over together. In the stands
Sonny likes it just off the 4th turn, so does
MVSCC President Frank Blanchard who
joins us for some spirited conversation and
racing action. The best are here tonight for
this ROC 50 lapper, Ward, Decker(s),
Hearn, Varin, the Johnsons, Freisen,
Shepard as well as the best local hotshoes,
gonna be some good racing tonight. The
CSRA sprinters are here as well, first time
I've seen them and man, for 305's those
things honk pretty darned good. The heats
are spirited and competitive. OK, now it's
time to get those books. One for me and
one for father's day. Lew graciously signs
both, and finally I get to Bill. "How you
holding up?" He's doing just fine and
signs with a smile, as he's been doing all
night. "How about some ice cream?"
Sounds good to me, nice way to cool off
before some hot feature action. And we get
just that, Mason Olmstead makes a last
lap pass for the CSRA Sprint win in
thrilling fashion while Bobby Varin holds
off Steward Freisan and Pat Ward amongst
others for the ROC win, great racing.
During the intermission and drivers
introductions, Dick Waterman, Dave Lape,
Lew Boyd and Dick Bergren all pay tribute
to Bill Wimble on this night honoring him
and Bill accepts it all gracefully, truly a
nice event made possible by Gene cole and
the staff at Utica-Rome Speedway who
deserve kudos for a job well done. We're
walking back to the cars and I mention to
member Richard Parry how lucky they are
to have such a nice facility to enjoy so
close to home, he agrees. As we're loading
up I'm chatting with Carl Carpenter when
Barb Clark comes over to shake our hands
and thank us. Carl looks at me and says
"You know, that goes a long ways." Sure
does. On behalf of our club, we'd like to
thank Gene, Barb and everyone at
Utica-Rome for making our night so
enjoyable. Almost ready to load up and
here comes another group, "Hey, this is
Dean Hendenberg, Don's son, mind if he
looks over the car?" By all means, Dean
has a pretty good grip too, Sander's like I'd
say. A few photo ops and more smiles, it
never ends, which is a good thing. The 90
fires up again and we're off, tie it down
and I tap my brake lights at Paris Green to
say so long to Dad and Sonny. It's a long
hike back to Bingotown on Rte. 12 but I
have many thoughts to keep me company.
Thumper chugs along and has me home to
greet the boys who meet me with smiles
and wags, a great night. Next week we get
to do it again at Penn Can Speedway for
the Legends of Penn Can, hope to see you
there.
for me. Only problem is that everyone else
can smell it.. aaannd call as soon as they
do... so, maybe not a complete half day off
but close enough and shortly after a walk
with the dogs Thumper is chooglin' down
Rte. 17, then up 88 and 8 to New Berlin
where Dad and I meet to hike up to
Utica-Rome. We've been looking forward to
this night and the weather is co-operating,
so far. Former Late-Model driver Sonny
Stickles is joining us for the night and as
we pile in it's all smiles and anticipation
for Bill Wimble night. Lew Boyd and
Coastal 181 are releasing his new book 'I'll
never finish last again' and McCredy
Motors (original sponsors of Bill's #33 cars)
are sponsoring the night, should be a
special evening. Dad has the old S33
loaded and I'm taking the Flyin' 90 to the
Kotary neck of the woods. Top off at
Bridgewater and add some high test,
Thumper likes that better and pulls over
Paris Hill like duck soup. Up Rte 5 and
there it is, Utica-Rome Speedway,
transformed from the 1/4 mile asphalt
bullring of Wimble's day to a gem of a 1/2
mile clay today. Truly a nice facility, owner
Gene Cole and his staff have made this
track not only racer friendly, but fan
friendly as well. The bathrooms are clean,
the concessions set up with picnic tables,
and two places to get food for little, if any,
queing. Plenty of room for our set up as
well, it lacks for nothing. At the pit gate
Ron Hedger of the Saratoga Automobile
Museum and Reed Miller of Penn Can
greet us, the 90 and P-13 just came back
from there and it was excellent storage,
both started right up with only a battery
charge. Same tonight as smiles greet the
flathead powered cars as we pull them in.
Already in line is John Clark's cars, the
#10 Late-Model and 'Old Nell' 3X, set up
next is Pete Lazarro's sharp #4 next to
John McCullogh's #41 Bernie Miller
coupe. Bruce Dostal just beats us through
the gate with his cherry #69, and does
that engine sound good. John Mason is
setting up his #33 aside the autograph
booth with a nice display. Mike Newell has
spent the last few weeks repainting the car
with only a few set backs.. but he
persevered and it now looks fantastic. They
had it professionally lettered, added the
M&H Racemasters and it's spot on, a nice
representation of the McCredy cars that
Bill drove. Doug Fetterly is next in with
Frank Blanchard's C-38, a former Buck
Holliday car and Doug want's to know if
I've gotten to his films yet.., no, I haven't
but plan on it. Moving them from 8MM to
DVD takes time, I need to get that cloning
machine finished first... Jim and Kay
Chase are unloading the Larry Nye 150
and right behind them is Alan Weaver with
his sharp Ed Thompson #19 coupe. Last in
is Mel 'I had to drive bus' Ogden with the
Don Rounds 101 and Geroge Gallup 103,
both looking sharp. So there we are with
our bakers dozen, a really nice display.
Lew Boyd has his tent set up with the new
book for sale and right alongside is Bill
Wimble getting down to the business of
autographing them. The line fills up
immediately and I believe Bill was signing
for nearly four hours. We look at the line
and decide to wait, here comes Mr. Grady,
"I'm set up over there" he enforms me with
a point.. As we're looking at John Mason's
display he's identifying the pictures, "I
took that one here, that one is at
Albany-Saratoga.." - there's the guy that
needs interviewing.. I head over to his
booth with Alan Weaver and lo and behold,
whattya know I find a few I 'need'. What
are the chances of that happening? Back
to the cars and it's pretty much non-stop
talking, "Did Cliff run at Vernon?, Is this
the car he won at Syracuse with? Is that a
crossfire?" Yes, Yes, No. I'm gettin' hungry
and that line for autographs isn't gettin'
any shorter... Again I tag along with Alan
and we hit the pit concesssion which has a
shorter line. The cheesburger is just great,
better than you'd get at any fast food joint.
Later in talking with Mike Newell and
John Mason I find that Sid Wust is in
charge of all concessions at the track, he
does a great job. Sid is the son of Willie
Wust from Edmeston and always has been
an interesting character, I can remember
his hair straight out on the 43Jr. when my
father took me along to Willies garage to
work on the 43, and nights at the bowling
alley where Sid would 'dribble' for lack of a
better word, the bowling ball down the
alley. Great food and they had so many
flavors of ice cream it was hard to choose
which. It's hot and muggy but Bill is
plugging away in it, he's brought a
busload of friends to enjoy the night and
Gene has made accomodations for all. Ray
Bunzey is chatting it up and brought some
copies of Sidney Speedway tickets for us,
my cousin Bert Cole looks great and is all
smiles. Danny Ody has a booth set up
selling photo's and DVD's, he invites us to
his nostalgia party in the fall, should make
that one.. John Button is collecting names
of former drivers in attendance for
announcement later, track manager Barb
Clark is running around organizing. Don
Rounds and his son are marveling at the
101, they've brought many nice pictures
and bestow them to Mel, a nice gesture.
Otto Graham grabs me and is his shutter
is busy, McCredy Mechanic Extroidinaire
Fred DeCarr and his daughter Debbie
Brunschmid are enjoying the concessions
as I walk by, Brent Cross grabs our hands
with a vigorous shake, my jaw is on a
swivel. Speaking of a firm grip, 'Suicide' Al
Sanders, hip and back operations out of
the way, has made the scene as well. Get
ready when you see his hand out, he'll
take you to your knees. He's feeling better
and getting around pretty decent too.
Other drivers and mechanics in
attendance that I recognize are Frank
Mathalia, Willie Seamon (who wants to
join our club - "you're in"), Brent Cobb, Irv
Taylor, Ron Narducci, Bob Zimmerman
and Ralph Humphrey. The modifieds are
working the track now, the line for an
autograph is just starting to dwindle a
little, let's take a break and go watch some
racing. Grant Buck has the same idea and
we head over together. In the stands
Sonny likes it just off the 4th turn, so does
MVSCC President Frank Blanchard who
joins us for some spirited conversation and
racing action. The best are here tonight for
this ROC 50 lapper, Ward, Decker(s),
Hearn, Varin, the Johnsons, Freisen,
Shepard as well as the best local hotshoes,
gonna be some good racing tonight. The
CSRA sprinters are here as well, first time
I've seen them and man, for 305's those
things honk pretty darned good. The heats
are spirited and competitive. OK, now it's
time to get those books. One for me and
one for father's day. Lew graciously signs
both, and finally I get to Bill. "How you
holding up?" He's doing just fine and
signs with a smile, as he's been doing all
night. "How about some ice cream?"
Sounds good to me, nice way to cool off
before some hot feature action. And we get
just that, Mason Olmstead makes a last
lap pass for the CSRA Sprint win in
thrilling fashion while Bobby Varin holds
off Steward Freisan and Pat Ward amongst
others for the ROC win, great racing.
During the intermission and drivers
introductions, Dick Waterman, Dave Lape,
Lew Boyd and Dick Bergren all pay tribute
to Bill Wimble on this night honoring him
and Bill accepts it all gracefully, truly a
nice event made possible by Gene cole and
the staff at Utica-Rome Speedway who
deserve kudos for a job well done. We're
walking back to the cars and I mention to
member Richard Parry how lucky they are
to have such a nice facility to enjoy so
close to home, he agrees. As we're loading
up I'm chatting with Carl Carpenter when
Barb Clark comes over to shake our hands
and thank us. Carl looks at me and says
"You know, that goes a long ways." Sure
does. On behalf of our club, we'd like to
thank Gene, Barb and everyone at
Utica-Rome for making our night so
enjoyable. Almost ready to load up and
here comes another group, "Hey, this is
Dean Hendenberg, Don's son, mind if he
looks over the car?" By all means, Dean
has a pretty good grip too, Sander's like I'd
say. A few photo ops and more smiles, it
never ends, which is a good thing. The 90
fires up again and we're off, tie it down
and I tap my brake lights at Paris Green to
say so long to Dad and Sonny. It's a long
hike back to Bingotown on Rte. 12 but I
have many thoughts to keep me company.
Thumper chugs along and has me home to
greet the boys who meet me with smiles
and wags, a great night. Next week we get
to do it again at Penn Can Speedway for
the Legends of Penn Can, hope to see you
there.
