Picture of the Day April 28, 2009
Fonda Speedway July 14, 1966 NASCAR Grand National raceBLAST FROM THE PASTPosted for Tuesday April 28th..........................I've had this picture a couple of years now. I bought it at a Motorsports Show over in Plattsburgh.
I did some online research to get it right and it's the 1966 NASCAR Grand National Race at Fonda Speedway.
Back in the day, the top NASCAR division was called the Grand National Series. The season was in upwards of 50-60 races long, and most of the time the shows were oneday affairs. Especially the short tracks. Practice and time trials in the afternoon, race at night. They raced EVERYWHERE. Lots of small bullrings that would not come close to having a big NASCAR series now.
In 1955, they had a race at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh. Lee Petty won. In the mid 60's, they went as far as Oxford, Maine. Bobby Allison won his first race up there. Albany-Saratoga, NY. Places where Anthony now races a sprint car.
Anyway.................
The #6 is David Pearson. He was driving a Dodge for Cotton Owens, and he won the race. If you look closely at the blue car behind the #6, that's Richard Petty's #43. You can see PLYMOUTH on the box of the light blue hauler. #93 was Blackie Watt. The #55 was Lyle Stelter. There must have been a team car next to it that had a #15 on it. That was Tiny Lund. There is a white #88 up in back. It's in line with a white #87. 87 is Buck Baker, and the 88 is Ray Hill, also owned by Baker. Buck was the father of Buddy Baker.
The track was paved back then. Obviously it's dirt now. You are looking at turns 3 and 4 with the cars in the infield. The green area off in the distance where you see some vehicles, is where the pits are now. If you were to swing to the right, you would see the backstretch that runs parallel to the Mohawk River.
I think the Cow Palace building is still there.
We will be there Memorial Day Weekend(Saturday night) for the ESS opener.
Can
not
wait.
I was able to copy the race result from a Racing Reference site.
http://www.racing-reference.info/As you look at the results, Rene Charland used to race at Catamount Stadium and Thunder Road. Also, Don Biederman won a race at Catamount, and also won the 1977 Oxford 250.
Grand National race number 32 of 49
July 14, 1966 at Fonda Speedway, Fonda, NY
200 laps on a .500 mile dirt track (100.0 miles)
Time of race: 1:38:21
Average Speed: 61.01 mph
Pole Speed: 71.514 mph
Cautions: n/a
Margin of Victory: n/a
Attendance: n/a
Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
1 12 6 David Pearson Cotton Owens '65 Dodge 200 1,100 running 114
2 1 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises '66 Plymouth 200 675 running 23
3 26 03 Rene Charland Ed Ackerman '64 Ford 199 450 running 0
4 10 144 Roy Hallquist Roy Hallquist '64 Ford 196 300 running 0
5 9 87 Buck Baker Buck Baker '66 Oldsmobile 193 275 running 0
6 16 48 James Hylton Econo Wash (Bud Hartje) '65 Dodge 192 240 running 0
7 15 70 J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie '64 Ford 191 200 running 0
8 14 20 Clyde Lynn Clyde Lynn '64 Ford 191 175 running 0
9 23 34 Wendell Scott Wendell Scott '65 Ford 181 150 running 0
10 24 97 Henley Gray Henley Gray '66 Ford 181 140 running 0
11 27 93 Blackie Watt Harry Neal '64 Ford 179 130 running 0
12 19 88 Ray Hill Buck Baker '65 Chevrolet 177 120 running 0
13 20 78 Nick Rampling '65 Plymouth 176 110 running 0
14 21 31 Al White Al White '64 Mercury 175 100 running 0
15 7 64 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley / Henry Woodfield '64 Ford 172 100 running 0
16 13 4 John Sears L.G. DeWitt '64 Ford 147 100 axle 0
17 22 53 Jimmy Helms David Warren '64 Ford 133 100 overheating 0
18 31 94 Don Biederman Ron Stotten '64 Chevrolet 127 100 crash 0
19 6 00 Buddy Baker Emory Gilliam '65 Dodge 117 100 axle 0
20 5 59 Tom Pistone Tom Pistone '64 Ford 114 100 overheating 32
21 25 9 Roy Tyner Truett Rodgers '66 Chevrolet 92 100 engine 0
22 18 86 Neil Castles Buck Baker '64 Dodge 78 100 axle 0
23 11 06 Jack Lawrence John McCarthy '64 Mercury 68 0 head gasket 0
24 28 73 Bub Strickler Joan Petre '64 Ford 57 0 overheating 0
25 3 15 Tiny Lund Lyle Stelter '64 Ford 33 0 crash 0
26 2 19 J.T. Putney J.T. Putney '66 Chevrolet 32 0 crash 31
27 8 2 Bobby Allison J.D. Bracken '65 Chevrolet 32 0 crash 0
28 17 55 Lyle Stelter Lyle Stelter '64 Ford 31 0 crash 0
29 4 11 Ned Jarrett Larry Hess (Bernard Alvarez) '64 Ford 21 0 crash 0
30 30 96 Sonny Lamphear Homer O'Dell '64 Ford 4 0 overheating 0
31 29 44 Larry Hess Larry Hess '66 Rambler 1 0 engine 0
Lap leaders: J. Putney 1-31, R. Petty 32-44, D. Pearson 45-83, T. Pistone 84-115, R. Petty 116-119, D. Pearson 120-156, R. Petty 157-162, D. Pearson 163-200
Those were the days.
