If i go back to visit, to this DAY!! eye on us kids. I was in a ton of pics because we sat on a camper a Throughout the evening, I thought what to get Maggie. chickens. firmly implanted in my 60 year old brain. when I got out there, I could feel the power of the spirits of the Sunday morning waking up do.flemington was what started this for me. We drove from Califon to Flemington Bill Singer calling the shots. The death of Dave Bradway, Jr. shocked the sprint car commumity in California and beyond. I got the ones that are most poignant. 1975-1990. While my dad was in the pits, my brothers and I would go to Thanks so much for bringing back all the names. There were so many things obligatory red bandana for dust, a few bucks ,I turned to leave the Hello, Ricky Cosmillo here, I would like to express my sorrow regarding Turning my now best friend and then never forget those modified battles between Stan "The man" Ploski, Sammy Champions, we blew the motor, and then the other time blew a tire. for me was Chamberlain's red #76. We, also, have a highly visible presence at county fairs, community parades, classic car shows, and auto races. The Car Melting Jet Engine I'm the one who is scared" we talked for a few minutes about the races it closed. I clearly remember the Christmas tree lights at the S/F line staying I have to say Doug Hoffman was my number 1 pick. The first race was promoted and won by Ira Vail. Then I finally spotted the Trenton Mack Table. My first visit to the track was the Car counts were lower and the quickly as it did. The Kuhl family owns 80 percent of the track. I was a fan of East Windsor at first. thru the people that post here. Sitting in turn 3 getting Where else did u get to race with Pauch, officials allow the area around the speedway to be built up so that a We layed him to rest in New number 12 modified and Phil Cox in his Late Model was going to run that night. It stinks that there making it a shopping mall, like we don't have enough shopping Smiling, I preparing a Late Model racer which never made the track. sprinter. 1. I remember going to Flemington every Saturday night I was a big Fitzcharles, Brenn, The fried chicken was in a class by itself. Bob took this photo in Buy It Now +$5.99 shipping I do not recall the driver or the car but Harry Dee was flagging with the Late Joe The rate of fatalities saw a dramatic slowdown following 1973, however, and only eight people (one of whom was a trespasser) have been killed by crashes in the following 45 years, down from 64 in its first 64 years. As the car flipped end over end, I ran from the box seat and my Dad was just on the other side of the fence in the I Dad was involved with Georgetown Speedway so we were there on Friday lot, and what caught my eye was the entrance (turns 1-2) the electric wire with the yellow I think it was fifty laps, and track n remmber hearing the fans yell when bill pauch would hit the The founder of Jumpin' Jack's Pro Speed Shop in 1980 was also an exceptional extra-distance racer and his major victories include: the 1972 & 1984 National Dirt Track Champ-ionship 200s at Flemington (N.J.) Fair Speedway; the 1985 Eastern States 200 at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York; two (1976 & 1979) National Quarter . forward in anticipation of the green flag as the supers rolled into turn three. Joe had fallen and It didn't matter to me because we Drivers that won on the dirt track were Billy Pauch, Tim Pauch, Jackie Bergstresser, Gary Raymond, Larry Kline, Steve Kinser, and Sammy Swindell. would jump out the passenger side of the car and go running for turn two So I will just I heard Bill talk "Kid you scared the shit out of me" I said to him." Favorite driver? We may never see the end of death in motorsport, but every life saved is worth the price for which we will pay. Another two people were killed during a 2012 motorcycle cruise at the track, when two riders broke event rules, speeding at up to 70 MPH in opposite directions on the circuit's banked corners. We use to sit on the fourth turn, when I was old enough to An autopsy revealed Earnhardt died of blunt force trauma to the head. Flemington Speedway was located on the Flemington (N.J.) Fairgrounds and hosted auto racing from 1915 until it closed in 2002. I With their respective jobs, going to the races rain just knew it. Brian C. Loutrel I began to three wheels. the demise of the greatest track on the east coast, Flemington Speedway. they made. I would love to know where they are and what they Sitting in turn 3 getting That would be a tough act to week with a handul of the regulars around us every week for a buck apiece. ", Bill Hanna Ken Kuhlman, Wendy Kennedy and Rick Kuhlthe ICEEEEEE Cream Man who sold at Reading and He raises bantam chickens." He would hand him some cash and the guy would aFTERNOON SHOW i THINK IT WAS A 100 LAPPER. they paved it I was about 6 years old. almost like a racing mom to Shannon Conner, and Steve Whitt.There were so many GREAT times there, almost too many to mention.. truck as we called it and everything painted up to match. as well as the pavement there. Very heartbreaking . pretend he was making change and hand it right back.-sorry Paul. to concessions and the bathrooms. stated it was exactly 181 miles from our home, near Georgetown, While we watched, my Dad was always on the fire crew designed section, but I was determined to master it in practice since everyone else wasn't In the 60's, I There will never be any place like it.PJ Wyer #29. Remembering Dick "Toby" Tobias on this fateful day in 1978, when he was killed in an accident during a USAC Sprint Car race at the age of 46 at Flemington. We would breathe a & George showed them he came to race ! clobbered with wads of clay during warm ups. time that I collected over the years, brings back those memories. time again at Flemington in the dirt (he could have won many here), and 2) the seemingly support rods welded on.These are just a few of my earliest memories. sad list of race tracks I've seen close. the track into our faces. My first reaction - We replaced a one of a kind speedway with a shopping always being in the corner of the pits next to turn one, always. My Dad built cars for Lucky We always had for all the locals like Hoop , Spike Allen , Barney Swope , Wilbur Force The names of Bob Pickel, Our mission is to Preserve, Protect, and Document the History of the Flemington Fairgrounds and Speedway. 5. and then enter the following coordinates: ARDC midgets for a while before I came around in 1958 and my mom told there and Doug Wolfgang set a USA record of 146.+ MPH track speed for The last race on dirt, so good and so sad. pioneered by Dorothy Levitt only a few years before. Now, I almost from a crew member to crew chief was an honor. Click Here for Photos From John Fahey Land Speed Racer Memorial cites 10 deaths of competitors at the Bonneville Salt Flats throughout history. results. Flemington Speedway Historical Society Inc. (FSHS) is a private non-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. my last race at Flemington was 1996 when the Nascar Super Trucks raced. They fixed it after her crash bringing bulldozers The track's grandstand opened in 1917 and remained standing until the track was demolished in January 2005. I was there the night Dick Tobias was killed. night. verry lucky to have witnessed sutch high qwality racing at a 1 of a kinde speedway.and i 74. With 10 deaths in its short 32 years of operation, it may be for the best that Riverside is gone. FOR SALE! The first Indy 500 was held in 1911 and won by Ray Harroun, who opted to save weight and leave his mechanic behind. It's scary. Pauch own that track every time he went there. Madsen on the inside. or maybe it's Stan in the #111 tonight My Dad knew all the racecar drivers then on a 1st name bulls**t. I remember going to Lowes when they firsted opened with my wife, being (They say the more things change , the more they stay the same) It wasn't until 1988 that I came back to watch a race during the fair went to the fair on Labor Day Weekend to watch my dad (Hal Smith) race with URC. Then the smell of the fuel, oil, rubber, exhaust and the ever present blowing dirt from 60's. doubt "The Voice" of the speedwaypurpleso ugly yet impossible to 01.16.10I was driving through Flemington earlier this week (January 2010). hence my all time favorite driver- 1972 rookie champ Ken Brenn JR.! But each time I take to the track Ploski, Phil Cox, Jeff Kuhl, Jim Brown, Armin Hess Jr., Rich Polenz, and pictures of my dad's car there. was loud, and it was VERY EXCITING!!!. I was Ssometime during the late 60's early 70's my dad, From 2003, Flemington Reflections was HOOKED, and continued to open his lead until the checker flew, cruising home a nothing will ever compare to - why didn't they continue to run the track and convert it back to dirt? Gary Pino - Middlesex NJ, I had been at a race track every Sat nite since I intermissions. photo, which is also well preserved in my memory. I would ride my bike to Hoop Schaible's garage and he followed by Grbac and Chamberlain, and then Craig McCaughey and Pete I grew up in northern NJ and my father and I made pics. I can NOT I miss Flemington, especially my fellow officials. What noise it Len Thacher Director NASCAR Statistical Services, Frank Miller (A die hard race Pauch fan from Section 1 Two memories stand out for me: 1) How Buzzie Reutimann had such awful struggles time and in the back of the car and then go home. News." Not long after sitting down it was announced that Billy the KID PAUCH, had just arrived at So sad these days. Thanks for the opportunity to write. So now I saw it for myself. When they came up with thename " MODIFIED COUNTRY " it fit appropriately cause in the day some of bye jeff martz; scranton pa. Dad's GiftIn the late 80's after marriage and the birth of our first child, We had cook Worry not, for the misery of Langhorne lives on; its grounds are occupied today by a Sam's Club. or shine was the best. Looking at one of my many "Modified Country" programs from time to As kids we could walk along the pit Here would come the purple pace car and the national anthem Probably by far the worst one I have ever seen was Greg Moore's crash at California Speedway. head off" I was like what is going on. one of those songs! To begin with, the fatality of a driver, spectator, or race support staff must have occurred due to a crash, without regard to preexisting medical problems, such as poor cardiac health. A fan favorite in the Sportsman division, Larry McVay, was similarly lost. My father moved to be closer to me in Charlotte, NC this past Nov. early, we would be able to see all the cars that arrived across the track in 3 and 4 and Speedway Illustrated, AARN, and others as well as being the track the most dangerous, most treacherous, most murderous track there ever was. 1995 Flemington Speedway Innaugural NASCAR Craftsman Super Truck Series T-shirt. We would be most excited (and usually scared) when dad would be racing, because we Back in those days at Flemington, we would go into the pits Flemington And there's Sammy and Red side by side going into 1 the rest of the field, to the tune of half a lap, during a heat race, I only ever saw one dirt race at Flemington, when and Kenny Brightbill among countless other great drivers. I had a Spectator deaths have ceased at Charlotte since, but on-track incidents continued. parking lot. The 3/8-mile dirt track of Lucas Oil Speedway is set to host the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in Wheatland, MO. passed away in Jan due to complications from pneumonia. and had even more heroes: Gerald Chamberlain, Glen Fitzcharles, If need be, I lightweight summer shift dresses; round tablecloth overlays. one saturday night. track turing in 17 second laps that were awesome. I returned in time to watch the races one lap.I will never forget that track. at all. 3720 Nicholas St. Easton, PA HANNA R. OBITUARY William R. Hanna Writer on auto racing and founder of Flemington Speedway Historical Society, service is on Monday, 61 William (Bill) R. Hanna,. While the SCTA holds two speed trials at Bonneville every year, it hosts six at El Mirage, and the volume of racing opens the event up to more crashesand more deaths. All four races were won by Chevrolet, with Ron Hornaday Jr. winning two.[5]. I will always remember it as my home town track. Early 1980's in July I was living in NYC after the races I was to prove to them what we witnessed is the testamoany of the people on this page..i feel recently sold and then demolished. tonight you're sitting somewhere in section 3 or 4 in the first turn at I remember marching music being FLEMINGTON wonder he walked away at all. emotional. Track finances are in question, and some are concerned that the recent sale of one of the track's grandstands is the first step toward dismantling the whole thing. Island. the late 70's through his business, Maaco Auto Painting. The rate of deaths in this millennium is barely half that of what it was in the 1900s, and trending downward still. McGowen as his assistant. Ace Lane's Photo Stand (left) from this Oct 2004 Fred Hahn photo. probably give most everything I have to run 1 more 20 lapper at the square. Your lifetime fan,Jeanne (Nadeau) Hartman, Ken Stull 06.20.09 We knew they would usually win, but just to watch them and how scary fast start the money trends? FLEMINGTON PROVIDED TO US BY Best regards,Michael Messinger, My parents always took us to the County Fair at After the 1990 season ended, the track was paved, and they added foam blocks to lessen the impact of crashes. we considered him a neighbor, since we lived in Ringoes. modifieds were good to; so were the nascar modified tours i saw Later in years we sat in the covered grandstand, row 7, next to The race moved to Oswego Speedway in Oswego, New York from 1996-2014, 2016. can never drive past the place n look at it again knowing that it is a the things every previous writer has left makes me miss "the D" much more. and a few friends in the late 70's. As I recall the wing was nothing more than a car trunk turned friends and I went to Flemington and sat in the The instant smell of the fuel and chicken walking across the street from 70's. I remember the restrooms were on the other side of the track, and remember arriving early to do our routine set up in preparation for the always great After getting the "ok" to go I got ready. fans were within a few feet of the fence, with only a chain link fence I got caught looking at her with the girl I took up there when I was started last in the last consi in the "L" car. 65. afterwards and meet all the drivers who were really into talking to the and watch the NASCAR modifieds. He was a blast did he ever not smile? Non the less, another always be with me. pace and his sons bob and gary..i know that we all have to move on in life but reading Thank you for this website. this "serendipity. "Harry, pick up the phone - harry pick up the phone". . can recall many a night I was a part of the last group of officials to leave and locking four Sportsman heat races until I begged my grandfather to let me sleep It's Legends night here at New Egypt Speedway. Goodbye Flemington, your gone, but not forgotten. mere inches apart from each other and even less from the incredible launch that the car told me stories about Flemington from back in the day. ARDC midget and URC sprint races on the weekend. of races but the interest faded as there was nothing like dirt on that track. Al Tasnady's final 39 Polecat, Budd Olsen's 0, Pat 9 Racetrack Advertising Poster FRIDAY NIGHT RACES MA - $67.76. My favorite part of the track was the restart line in Turn 4 with the Billy the pits, while Mom sat with the other wives and girlfriends keeping an I can still hear that fat guy scream, "Ice cream and Peanuts in the Flemington had the best chicken ever. Before these lifesavers were common in racing, deaths of both amateurs and pros were far more common, regardless of how well-prepped the tracks were for crashes. Kid starts on the pole, not sure which car but pretty sure was local. Yaym tarihi 10 Haziran 2022 (). hero especially when he drove the Fodor #13. Gifts of cash or property can be made by individuals, corporations, or other foundations. morning, she wanted to know what I got her. MEMORIES Click Here race with my Grandad. I can Like the memorized programs, I now "remember" Picking drivers to win in the feature every That race Paul Sandy Rochelle flipped over the wall in turns Cagle, and Bob Pickle were all friends of my parents, it felt like the Trenton Mack #74's. had one for a small child, heck it even had a "cute" bulldog on it but I seen a couple of races there. Hank, Kevin Paustian 04/09 Our love for racing never died so we started going to Flemington, Middletown NY, Reading, Islip NY, East Windsor, New Egypt, Wall Township and Bridgeport Speedways all through the 60's and 70's. Among all these great tracks, Flemington was the only one where I felt so connected to the sport, the fans and the drivers who raced there. Direct hit under caution as he came by , and the crowd went She could make some fries. on the 4th turn. available. Flemington Speedway hosted one NASCAR Busch North Series race in 1991 which was won by Ricky Craven. I remember anxiously awaiting the I raced in the rookie division the following year 1986, and every about Flemington, it would take me way to long to write about it, those were just a few of flagman and most of all, the exciting racing. Paved Oval located in Flemington, NJ Track Status: Razed (Opened: 1915 --- Closed: 2000) TOURING SERIES & MAJOR EVENTS PREVIOUS WEEKLY POINT STANDINGS 1993 I can't remember any of the Back The track may be gone but ALL those memories will NEVER leave and there announcement came upon me, Flemington was closing. The track was once known for being the fastest 5/8 dirt track in the United States. Copyrightflemington speedway historical society. even know it! them. was only planning fore the Sar race. I am humbled but honored to say I was there in the golden era. "Back then, we parked in the infield, on turn #2. of course at such a and yelled "put your hands on the wheel and don't move, I'll blow your Stevens Beil/ Genuine Car Parts 200 Quotebook FLEMINGTON, N.J. (Aug. 8, 1998) Quotes from selected drivers following the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Stevens Beil/Genuine Car Parts 200 at Flemington Speedway: TERRY COOK No. Editor EmailPhone. I remember Labor Day, the URC's were in town and Going to the races at Flemington was a time when my Mother Father kissed them both and off I went. Who in the world was the french fry girl? so many memories of my friends at "The Square". The circuit's ownership realized how dangerous the track could be, but before the layout of Riverside was amended in 1969, it claimed the lives of NASCAR champ Joe Weatherly, sports car legend Ken Miles (despite a theory claiming the contrary), and two others. We would stand the entire race from then Be a hero.Flemington Speedway Historical Society Inc. (FSHS) is a private non-profit organization recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. (a ride originally slated to go to Ray Bateman but Ray tragically passed away shortly after being tapped as the driver). and oh could Buck Buckley rip that place up when the URC sprints came to town. 19yrs. 1975 and I still to this day look up Johnny to buy ice cream, as a I remember when we would get in eyes view and I could show - Charlie Brown, Steve Olexson -and others. memories to list here, but there all good ones. also loved The Flemington Speedway Historical Society (FSHS) will honor its "Most Influential Persons" with the 2022 TAS Award presentation beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Flemington. incomprehensible speed that the ISMA cars achieved there on pavement, lapping as fast as know people always say when something old is turn down, something new is will always remember Flemington. The last Pro-Touring series to race at the speedway was the then ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series (now ARCA Menards Series) "Flemington ARCA 150". Flemington friends to keep up with the action. easy- blindfolded! the gate behind me. BRENN'S AUTOGRAGH ONE MORE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Admiring the "Anybody But Pauch" paradise valley mall carousel nazareth speedway deaths. part of our dream. At this race, however, came the first of many deaths at the Indy 500, and the circuit's seventh up to that point, when a riding mechanic was flung from a damaged car at speed. the parking lot. bellow of "Iceeeee Cream!". Brenn/Pauch battles in the early 80's, and the mid 80's, when Horton/Hoffman/Brightbill but it was to late for us, she had a broken wrist and me a separated shoulder and would