When? Where?

When and where was this ATQMRA photo taken?

It’s a trick question.  The photo was taken on Saturday, June 22, 2013, at Bethel Motor Speedway during the combined ATQMRA and Vintage TQ program at the fun and family-priced little track.  But it sure looks like a photo from decades ago, doesn’t it?

The Vintage TQs turned out a solid field of 18 preserved and restored TQs.

Gettin' Ready!

Stan Ploski may be retired from active competition but he looks fit and ready to race as he slides in to the former Kindberg 10x at Evergreen Speedway last month... before the rain washed out the day’s planned activities.

So what was to be the Vintage TQ Club’s 2013 season opener with “Stan the Man” participating will now become a season wrap-up in October, and this Saturday’s double-header with the modern ATQMRA at Bethel Motor Speedway will be the Vintage TQ Club’s kickoff for the year.

It will be “Jack Duffy Night” as we honor the man who won the only race run in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, who raced the last classic coupe-bodied Modified at Daytona, and who today, in his 80s, still races!

It should be a great evening at Bethel, a track ideally suited to both the modern TQs and the vintage cars.  The track, located in White Lake, New York, is billing the program as a TQ Spectacular, but there will be much more on the program than just  TQs – the track’s regular Sportsman, Legends, Bandolero, BMS Modified, and 4-Cylinder classes will be on the bill as well.  For $6 spectator admission – six bucks! – it is probably the best bargain in racing today.

More information, including directions to the track, can be found on the track’s web site,  www.bethelmotorspeedway.com .

A Common Link

Four guys with the ATQMRA in common.  This photo, taken at the Pocono Raceway when the IndyCars were there for a test session earlier this year, includes (left to right) Mario Andretti, Ace Lane Jr., Jim Maguire, and Gary Mondschein.  All four of these men raced with the ATQMRA.

Younger viewers might think of Ace Lane Jr. only as a racing photographer, but he raced with the ATQMRA at Pine Brook, Atlantic City, Grandview (yes, Grandview) and elsewhere.

Gary Mondschein raced with the ATQMRA in the Pine Brook days and extensively with ARDC as well.

Jim Maguire won in TQs, Midgets, and Sprint Cars, and today is an active supporter of the vintage racing.

Mario Andretti also won in TQs, Midgets, and Sprint Cars, along with the 1967 Daytona 500, the 1969 Indy 500, and the 1978 Formula One World Championship.

Not a TQ, 2

In early April we posted a vintage photo of Jerry Wall’s rear-engine “Yellowjacket” Chevy V4 midget, even though it is not a TQ. We posted it because Jerry Wall had been an active and successful ATQMRA competitor. (We also posted it because we flat-out loved the car.)

We now have another reason: The car has been acquired by George and Marilyn VanVarick and Dimension Design, where it now resides awaiting restoration in the midst of several Vintage Division cars. We cannot wait to see this car's return to the track!

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