WINTER CAR SHOWS 2006
Article published in Vol.41 #4 of Gater Racing News 3/24/06
slicks and put on the knobby’s…after weeks of nice weather March 2nd came in with a blustery wind and dropped 7 inches of fresh snow, just in time for the Binghamton Raceworld show at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City. Undeterred, the racers showed up on Thursday night to set up and all pitched in to make this a really nice event. All the fresh machinery at the show was truly a sight for sore eyes signaling that the beginning of the season is not far off. The Midstate Antique Stock Car Club was on hand with two flathead powered modifieds for area race fans to oogle as well and our booth did brisk business, especially in the bs department. It was really good to see former Midstate chauffer Marty Ackley, always friendly we shot the breeze for over an hour. Also had the pleasure of meeting Mark Butcher, son of former 5-Mile Point champ Bob and learned that he still has his father’s circle 22 coupe in the garage, hope we were able to talk him into joining us. The club generated much interest at the show and I must say we had a great time, right up until I missed the ramp loading the 151. Oh well, at least Ted Schmidt got a good laugh out of it. Many thanks to my father, Nikki, Richard and Sharon Parry, Gary Wood and Bob Jenks for their help in making our display attractive. Next up was the Carquest Motorsports Exposition at the NYS Fairgrounds – the Gater show. Many plans were laid for this show as the club not only had five modified stock cars on hand but also sponsored an autograph session with seven of the best drivers ever to take a wheel. Our display also boasted the talents of veteran photographer John Grady who showcased his wares in a fashion we’ve come accustomed to…if you want a picture, John has it. Now, finding it, well, take your time..We’re signing in on Friday night and John dons this black cher wig for the event, back over to the booth with the doors open now and he’s got this balloon arrangement on his head that goes nearly to the ceiling of the building, and they’re tall ceilings, tough to miss John. To call him colorful is an understatement, he’s a lot of fun, just ask Mr. Schmidt. Behind all this tom foolery was our cars; Mike Newell’s #40, one of Chuck Akulis first coupes, Mel Ogden’s #103 that George Gallup campaigned at Fonda and Midstate, Richard Ackerman’s P-13, the Tom Wilson coupe driven to victories nearly everywhere it ran, John McCullough’s #41, the Bernie Miller coupe driven to a win at Martinsville and my #151, Chick Stockwell’s coupe driven to fame at the Danbury Racearena. Truly a nice display of historied, original modified stock cars to give fans a view of how racecars of the 1950’s and 1960’s were built and raced. The cars and John’s photo’s proved to be a magnet for the entire event as we greeted many an old friend and made many more. It’s good to see them all, fans, competitors, the track promoters, former drivers, they’re all here as this is one of the biggest Expo’s, if not the biggest, in New York State during the off season. The Gater staff really does an excellent job in putting on this event and it’s not to be missed, from the crowds I saw, not many did. On Saturday the club held an autograph session with Cliff Kotary, Dutch Hoag, Don Diffendorf, John McArdell, Larry Nye, ‘Irish’ Jack Murphy and Bernie Miller all in attendance. This was truly the highlight of the event for me, to see former competitors like Dif and Dutch shaking hands, smiling and patting each other on the back just made my day. And the fans showed up in droves to get their autographs and pay homage to these pioneers. John Grady and the club provided the autograph seekers photographs of each driver to get signed and the entire session could be deemed nothing less that a success, I saw nothing but smiles everywhere I looked and the participants signed until every last fan was satisfied. The session must have lasted two hours and used up nearly every sharpie we had on hand. Even Ron Hornaday got in on the act and came over from his booth for a photo op relating that he ‘wanted to have his picture taken with these guys’. Not only was it enjoyable for us, but for the drivers too, Cliff Kotary related that “I had a lot of fun, got to see people I hadn’t seen in years.” Doris Hoag asked “Who’s the white haired fellow on the end?” “That’s Don Diffendorf”, I replied. “Oh, I should have known.” she smiled. Don also garnered some other well deserved attention, Tom Schwarz of 07 Racing Collectibles in Endwell, NY has been working on this for years and hopefully its taken seed. As I’m getting yet another one of Diff’s autographs, this fellow asks if he can have a minute with Don, ‘Sure, I’ve monopolized him enough for now, but I think he’s getting used to it.’ Don just smiled and turned his attention to Dave Moorehouse, owner of Dave’s Racing Collectibles who promptly requested Don’ s permission to produce an S/360 die cast. I’ll take two thank you. I do hope it comes to pass and that then Dave starts making ’34 Ford die casts as well, who wouldn’t like a 60X or 150 or Leanin’ 11 replica in their display right!?! I want to thank all of the drivers for taking the time to come and take part in this event, as I said, it was the highlight of the show for many of us and their efforts are sincerely appreciated. Teardown Sunday afternoon and I fire up the 151 as I’m heading out the door past Reed Miller of Penn-Can Speedway, the Flathead sounds good and makes my blood boil as it throbs through the parking lot, WOP! As we were waiting to sign in on Friday and I’m chewing the fat with Dick Sweet and Reed, he relates the show coming up the following week at the former Ames building on Front Street in Binghamton and wango tango we’re on again. Reed took care of everything for the club and so the Don Elliot #24 that ran at Penn-Can in '64 and '65 became part of their display this past weekend. Again a well attended event by racers and fans alike it only proves that racing in the Southern Tier is alive and well. And that the season is but a few short weeks away. Again we got to meet many an interested and interesting fan as well as the racers themselves that pour so much time and effort into these rides. I wish them all the best for the upcoming season. I’d like to thank Reed for involving us in this event in promoting their ‘Legends of Penn-Can’ night July 14, just one of the many ‘throwback’ events on our schedule. Also must give thanks to the many people who helped make our winter shows as successful as they could be; My wife Nikki who put up with all of this, my Father for hauling our cars, Richard and Sharon Parry for their support and hauling the P-13 to Syracuse, our members Mel Ogden, Mike Newell, John and Barb Clark and John McCullough for preparing and hauling their cars, John Grady for being John Grady and of course the Gater News staff for providing us the vehicle to promote our wares as well as Robin Oltz, Paul Szmal of the Raceworld show and the many others who pushed and strained at moving these hulks around. It takes effort, and the effort showed. That’s it for this week, now it’s back to the shop for some engine building and then some time on the scanner to finish up our club website – midstateantiquestockcarclub.com – coming soon to a browser accessible to you. Now if I could only get Belvedere to quit slobbering all over these pictures… |
photo by Otto Graham
photo by John Grady
photo by Otto Graham
