A Quarter-Century

Crossing the finish line first is Dick Peterman, in the second race ever run in the Niagara Falls Convention Center.  The date is January 26, 1985, and the other car in the photo, #79, was not the second-place car.  Dick had a commanding lead.

While this was Dick’s last indoor race victory, it was not his first.

His first came a remarkable 25 years earlier, on February 20, 1960, in the Teaneck Armory.  He won again in Teaneck before recording a substantial number of outdoor race victories in the late 1960s.

Dick drove for several car owners through the years, but this Niagara Falls win came at the wheel of his own car, numbered 98 as were all the race cars he owned throughout his career.

Standing at the right in the victory lane photo below is Paul Mecca, who was one of the race organizers at Niagara Falls at the time.  Earlier this month Mecca visited the indoor TQ races in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, there with drag racer Ron Capps on behalf of event sponsor NAPA.

Dick Peterman, now in his 80s, is still very much with us and is seen regularly at the track.

As always, you can click the photos for an enlarged view.

February 1, 1958

In this photo from 55 years ago we connect three generations of racing enthusiasts.  (As always, you can click the photo for an enlarged view.)

It is February 1, 1958, the opening night of that year’s winter indoor races in the Teaneck Armory.  Driving car #4, which has a Harley-Davidson engine, is Tommy Shortino.  Shortino is en route to victory in the first heat over Chuck Arnold and Tony Bonadies.

The photo was given to us by Keith Majka, who along with his son is an active member of the Vintage Division.  The photo has special meaning to Majka because the car belonged to his father, Fred Majka, and this was perhaps the only time that it won a race.

“My father’s car was not fast,” Majka told us.  Indeed, Shortino’s name does not appear among the top 12 finishers listed for the feature that night.  Chuck Arnold, who finished second to Shortino in the heat, won the feature.  There were 32 cars in the pits on that evening, and a sellout crowd of fans on hand.

Keith Majka was among those fans, sort of.  His mother was in the stands, very pregnant with her son who was born two months later.  “I didn’t see the race,” Majka said, “but I was there!”

Taking Stock

Mike Calla – who raced with the ATQMRA years ago – got this great shot of the defining moment in this past Saturday night’s “Gambler’s Classic” in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall:

That’s Ted Christopher’s car flipping over the car of Jimmy Blewett with only a handful of laps remaining.  Both Blewett and Christopher were chasing Anthony Sesely, who went on to score the victory.  (As always, you can click the photo for an enlarged view.)

Sesely, Blewett, Christopher and the driver of the next car in this photo, Rowan Pennick, are all drivers who came to the indoor races not from Midgets or TQs, but from Modifieds.  Christopher’s flip eliminated him from the race, but Sesely, Blewett, and Pennick finished 1-2-3.  All of these men are "stock car guys," and they were far from the only stock car guys in the race.

What does this have to do with the ATQMRA?   Well, after decades of dominance in indoor racing by drivers who cut their teeth in TQs and Midgets, the pendulum has swung back to where it was more than 50 years ago.  Stock cars guys were prominent figures in the ATQMRA's winter indoor races in the Teaneck Armory and Island Garden in the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Drivers such as Al DeAngelo, Jim Hendrickson, Bruno Brackey, Pete Frazee and others, known primarily for their exploits in stock cars, raced indoors with the ATQMRA.  And, just like the top three in Atlantic City this past weekend, they achieved considerable success in the small cars even though they were better known as stock car racers.

One distinction, however, may be that the stock car guys from years ago also raced the TQs in the warm weather months when their schedules permitted.  Because Pine Brook was a Friday night track, the stock car drivers of the day often raced there. DeAngelo won the 1962 ATQMRA championship, and Hendrickson was the point leader at Pine Brook in 1962.

Six Bits

As the racers of the modern ATQMRA get ready to compete in Atlantic City this weekend, we take a look at an Atlantic City victory lane from 42 years ago... January 23, 1971.  Click the photo for an enlarged view.

Jack Duffy has won, driving the Zrinski #75, a car nicknamed "Six Bits."  That’s a youthful Lou Zrinski seated to Duffy’s left, while announcer Walt Chernokal conducts the post race interview.

STP was a contingency sponsor of the indoor races back then, and at the far right is STP representative Art Maxim.  An STP jacket was part of the swag a driver would collect for an Atlantic City win, and Duffy is wearing one... but it has Maxim’s name embroidered on it.  Presumably, a jacket with Duffy’s name would come later.

Next to Maxim and behind Zrinski is Crocky Wright, who would later move to Indiana in protest of wings on Eastern midgets.  In Indiana Wright became an early supporter of a young driver named Tony Stewart, and later, after Stewart had achieved fame and championship success in NASCAR, Stewart quietly saw to Wright’s needs in Crocky’s last years.

Mostly obscured behind Chernokal, and arguably the tallest figure in the photo, is Don Crabtree, himself later a TQ car owner.  Flagman Nick Fornoro, Sr., is at the left.

Finally, this note: The Zrinski car was a roadster, and this was before roll cages.  Duffy is sitting on the car, having simply hoisted himself out of the seat and onto the tail.

Vintage Whazzit?

A new photo riddle this week, courtesy of the photo collection of Gary Mondschein.  Gary knows nothing about this car, and neither do we!  Can you help?  (Click the photo for an enlarged view.)

The photo was taken at Pine Brook, of course, circa 1962-63-64.  A&C Radiator provided push truck service at Pine Brook in those years, but we are not certain whether this Chevy truck is a 1962 or later model.  The push truck driver is struggling to see the low-low car!

The car is vaguely reminiscent of Mickey Thompson’s 1963 Indy car, which appears in the photo below.  Could this car have been inspired by Thompson’s car?  (A note of racing trivia:  The tires on Thompson's car were much smaller in diameter than any used at Indianapolis previously, and he had to have them specially-made.)

Unfortunately, the Pine Brook photo is grainy to the point that it is difficult to discern any details.  We can tell that the car's driver is certainly very exposed at the forward end of this rear-engine car, and it appears that whatever rollover protection is present is dedicated more toward protecting the engine that the driver!

Do you know anything about this car?  If so please contact us via this link.

Forcepower

Two photos of the same race car, taken more than 40 years apart.

At Pine Brook in 1972, smiling for the camera before climbing aboard his number 26, is Bill Force.  There is some last-minute attention being given to the right-rear corner of the car by Bill’s crew, and National Speed Sport News correspondent Bill Shand looks on.

At the Dimension Design shop in 2013 sits the same race car, freshly restored for the upcoming Vintage Club season.  There is some last-minute attention yet to be given to the car – the rear bumper is not yet installed, for example – but the car is nearly ready to go in a photo taken this past week.

As always, click either photo for an enlarged view.

In 1972 Bill Force teamed with his father, Hank, to field the car.  Today, Bill Force is teamed with his own son, Bill Jr, in the Vintage Club.

Tom & George

Driver Tom Arntz appears a bit peeved in this photo from Atlantic City from 30-some years ago, and car owner George Spafford doesn’t look all that happy, either. But it’s just an unflattering photo – both men were generally cheerful and a pleasure to have at the track.

Perhaps the reason for the unhappy faces is that neither driver nor owner had the success with this car that they enjoyed with the traditional upright number 30 that preceded it.

In the background of this shot is the Smith rear-engine #5 that is currently awaiting restoration for participation with the Vintage Club.

The Arntz name remains active in racing in this region. The next generation – also named Tom – is a regular participant with the Vintage Club.