6/1/09

A big thanks to Steve Rader of Baltimore for submitting photos of Dorsey Speedway in the mid-70's. You will find the photos on page four of the Dorsey page. I apologize that the photos are not as sharp as they could be but for some unexplained reason they sometimes do not transfer very clearly but I think you will enjoy them. I know they will rekindle the memories that these pages were created for. Enjoy.



5/25/09
While this is a stock car racing website I'd like to mention something about drag racing.As information for those of you that may have attended drag races at one Maryland's drag strips (Aquasco, Capital, Cecil County, 75-80, or Mason-Dixon-Hagerstown during the '60's I just read an excellent book about super stock and f/x drag racing from 1960 thru 1970. The book is titled "Factory Lightweights"-Detroit's Drag Racing Specials of the '60's by Charles R. Morris.  This is a fascinating book and covers all of the great super stock cars and dirvers. What is especially good about the book is that many of Maryland's drag strips are mentioned in addition to some of the cars that raced out of Maryland dealerships (Archway Ford in Baltimore, Bob Banning Mopar of Hyattsville, Academy Ford in Laurel.) This is not a muscle car book. It's all about the factory built lightweight cars (Fibreglass hoods, doors, aluminum bumpers etc.) and how they came about and who was selected to get them. I think we all remember those radio ads " Saturday, Saturday night under the lights at beautiful Capital dragway see the altered wheelbase Plymouth of Ronnie Sox  take on Phil Bonner's Archway Ford "Daddy Warbucks" in a best of three match race. Be there"  I bought the book at Borders Booksellers. While I attended stock car races during the '60's, I also participated in drag racing. It was a wonderful time.
5/17/09
I have too many irons in the fire. Haven't been posting to the website lately. I just posted 3 new photos to the Beltsviile Speedway page. Unfortunately they can't be blown up so we have to just look at them the way they are. Maybe some will recognize the drivers and cars. Thses photos are from the Calvalcade of Auto Racing newsmags from the late '60's. They do not transfer well. As a matter of fact they are not of a high quality to begin with. But we have to make do. The pictures will be in the Beltsville scrapbooks at the reunion for a better view. The big news is that Jim (Buff) Kemp has loaned me 1,000 ft. of movie film of Beltsville Speedway in 1967. Jim took the film from the infield and grandstands. What a memory these films bring back. The films show the sportsman-modified coupes and the late model sportsman cars which would eventually become the Busch and now current Nationwide series. I will be putting these films onto DVD's and show them at the Reunion in November. If anyone has or know of anyone that has any old films (8mm or Super8mm) of Maryland tracks I will gladly pay to have them transferred to DVD. It's quite expensive but that's life. Just notify me at oldtimers@mdscrhof.org. These Beltsville films will now give us film of Westport Stadium, Dorsey Speedway, Hagerstown and Beltsviile.

12/13/08
Haven't done too much to the site lately. I would like to bring to your attention the availability of two dvd's that may be of interest to some of you. During the late '50's several of Maryland's more prominent drivers raced at two racetracks in New Jersey, Alcyon Speedway in Pittman and Vineland Speedway in Vineland. Grover Productions, www.groverproductions.net, has made a dvd for each of these speedways. On these dvd's you will see still pictures and videos of the following Md. drivers: Johnny Roberts, Ralph Smith, Ed Lindsey, Pee Wee Pobletts, Pete Kantorsky, Reds Kagle, Ken Marriott, Ace Canupp and Glen Guthrie. The Vineland tape actually has video of Johnny Roberts winning a race in the Slayton number 7 red and white flamed car in 1960. The dvd's are $15.00 each and offer some of the best video of racing in the late '50's available. Many other prominent east coast modified drivers are also on the videos.
There are two new books on the market now that may be interest. One is about the hisory of Langhorne Speedway in Pa. The other is "Win It or Wear It" by Joyce Standridge and features stories as told by many of the leading sprint car drivers. The Langhorne book is a big book and costs $75.00. I haven't read either of these books but have seen both of them and they are really well done. $75.00 sound like a lot of money but this book is about 700 pages long with many, many photos and is a high quality publication. Langhorne was a one mile oval north of Philadelphia. Every year they held the a one hundred mile  Sportsman-Modified race in October that drew well over 125 cars. It was the biggest event of the year in the Northeast. Glen Guthrie of Temple Hills, Md. won the race in the mid- '50's. I will be posting how Marylanders did at the track in the near future as several had top ten finishs up there. The track was more noted for it's Indy Car and  NASCAR and USAC late model races. Naturally I have put them in my letter to Santa this year. Both are available from www.coastal181.com.

I would like to take this time to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and thank you for making the website and reunion a success. I have met so many wonderful fans, drivers, mechanics,  and car owners because of the site. I hope you'll continue to visit as I have a lot more to put on here.

In 2008 I had a hat made for the Hall of Fame. Availabilty was very limited and it sold old. I have a had a new hat created and am awaiting delivery. This hat will have a modified coupe on it. These hats will be embroidered. Next I will create a hat that will feature a late model on it. As soon as I receive the hats I will post a picture of them. I also plan on doing some t-shirts in 2009.

I will have a display at the "Dirt Trackin'" show at the York County Fairgrounds, York, Pa. January 23, 24 and 25, 2009. Stop by and say hello.

11/18/08
One word sums up the Second Annual Reunion: WOW, approx 225 in attendence.
What a time this was. Here is a list of the drivers who were present, sorry if I miss a few):
Reds Kagle, Bobby Ballantine, Dick Boswell, Carter Ayres, Junior Tauber, Pee Wee Pobletts, Pete Kantorsky, Ken Festerman. Kevin Sprague, John Imler, Jim Dockery, John Broussard, Bobby Sherbs, George Lorton, Mike Tauber, Ace Canupp, Andy Anderson, Fred Krickbaum, Ernie Tester, Bucky Guilfoy, Chuck Talbert, Slim Devilbiss, Ed Chaney, Jim McBee, Duane Lowrey, Ron Rowles, Mike Heath, Butch Barkey, John  Dodd Jr., Rick Mendelson and I know there were more.
Other notobles attending:Bob Adams, the owner of the famed Flying 11 late model Chevies driven by Ray Hendrick at Beltsville, of Richmond, Va., 1959 NASCAR National Modified Champion Glen Guthrie's daughter, Janie and her husband were in from California, modified star Ed Lindsey's wife and daughter Sharon, mechanic Spider Thomas, modified driver Walt Bowman's sons, and my memory is slipping.
Race cars on display were: Junior Taubers NASCAR Sportsman '39 Ford no. 115, PeeWee Pobletts no. 46 supermodified, An Al Hamilton Sprint car, The Flying Dutchman cut down modified from New York, Fred Krickbaum's PenMar vintage racer cutdown coupe, Walt Bowman's early '30's modified .
Frankm Sagi, legendary announcer at Beltsville, Hagerstown and Lincoln was our Emcee and Doo Wop Jack played the music.
Movies shown were from Westport Stadium, Dorsey Speedway, Potomac Speedway, Hagerstown Speedway. 
At least 15 large scrapbooks were available to bring back the memories. 
Mike Tauber brought two really large display boards of old photos.
It was so neat to walk by the movie and hear someone say "hey that's me on there". 
The group consumed: approx. 300 beers, 250 soft drinks, over 100 cups of coffee, 60 lbs of potato salad, 45 lbs of cole slaw. 200 lbs of meat, 240 kaiser rolls, many jars of pickles, umpteen bags of chips. 
Ray Herrod of Dover, Pa. and Greg Deeth of Midlothian, Va. were on hand with many very nice die cast cars and not NASCAR Cup stuff. Old coupes and late models.
I don't think any one would disagree that this was truly an event to be remembered.
We'll be there same time next year.



The mission of this Hall of Fame is to preserve the history of stock car racing in the state of Maryland and to maintain the memory of those individuals who excelled in the sport. The Maryland Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization created to provide a history of stock car racing in Maryland. Access to the website is free and plans are to keep it that way. Hopefully the Hall of Fame will bring back many pleasant memories of those days spent at the wonderful speedways that once thrived in the Free State. I hope many of you are still supporting our current speedways: Potomac, Hagerstown and Cumberland.
 
Induction to the Hall of Fame will be determined by the following criteria: a track, state or national championship in the following categories: 1950's Sportsman, Modified, Late Model Sportsman, Sprint Car, Super Late Model and Grand National (Currently Nextel Cup). To simplify things the term Super Late Model will be used for the Late Model class that replaced the Modifieds as the primary class at Hagerstown and Dorsey. Potomac also had a late model class as their primary class. These late models evolved into the Super Late Model class. The Hall of Fame is for drivers, mechanics and car owners who were from Maryland. Drivers from other states that raced in Maryland to win national championships and Maryland speedway championships will also be included. There will be special Hall of Fame categories for promotors, officials and others that contributed to the sport in Maryland.
 
All of the material contained in the website is from my own personal collection which has been acquired over the years. A special thank you is due Mike and Junior Tauber, Danny Woolford, Bucky Guilfoy and Jim Carlsen for loaning me their scrap books and video tapes. Additionally I would like to thank the following: Doug Johnson, Dick and Merrilee Jones, Harold Sears, the Danie Ferguson Family, George Dilks, Jeffrey Slayton, Franklin Taylor and Roddy Langley. Viewers are welcomed to notify me of any errors that may appear. If you possess any photos, stories or other information that you would like to have included on the website please notify me. I am currently looking for info about Potomac Speedway champions and Hagerstown Modified champions for the 50's and early 60's. Also, if you reproduce anything from the website it would be appreciated that you acknowlege us. Contact us at: oldtimers@mdscrhof.org

As information: My Name is Al Torney and I live in Annapolis, Maryland. I attended my first stock car race in 1953 at Westport Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. I have been a fan ever since. More than any thing else I miss the old Sportsman-Modifieds of the '50's and early '60's before they started cutting them down. However,I still love them all.