47TH Anniversary Reunion-
"Racing to our 50th"
Another
year older and another year closer to our "golden
anniversary". Saturday July 25, 1998 turned out to be a
glorious day weather wise, and also a very fulfilling day
racing wise. Our reunion committee made up of myself, Bruce
Swartz, Ted Renshaw, both former drivers, Mark Lovell,
vice-president of the Canadian Motor Racing Historical
Society and Jim Irvine General Manager at Merrittville
Speedway, was up to the challenge by preparing a reception
for 392 dinner guests. As 5:00 p.m. approached, the guests
started to arrive, and it was a who's who of both Canadian
and U.S. racing pioneers. Merrittville Speedway may be a
grass roots dirt track, but its roots go back to July 1,
1952. Drivers such as Jeno Begolo, Bill Rafter, Ken Meahl,
Hughie Tripp, Bruce Van Dyke, Cam Gagliardi, as well as many
other notables made their way through the gates to attend
our event.
It was particularly gratifying to see
people who once competed against each other sit down, over
dinner and trade racing stories of years gone by. Our aim as
a reunion committee is to honour those individuals who
contributed greatly to Merrittville's history, whether as a
competitor, car owner, official or track owner.
Unfortunately, a couple of our pioneers such as Wilfred
"Wimpy" Nicholls, a very innovative car builder from
Hamilton, had passed away and also legendary Indy car racer
Jim Hurtubise, was also inducted posthumously into the 1998
DIRT Hall of Fame. It is our aim to try and honour the
individuals on our Wall of Fame while they are still with
us. So after a chicken barbeque and after looking through
the volumes of memorabilia supplied by Bruce Swartz and Rick
Kavanagh, it was time to inspect the antique race cars
provided by the members of the C.M.R.H.S. After a brief but
thorough drivers' meeting, it was time for the vintage
racers to take to the track for warm ups. There was a broad
array of racers ranging from Jim Young's vintage midget, to
Hughie Tripp's 1936 Chevrolet Coach modified powered by a
454 Chevrolet making it's debut.
As the sounds of
the racing engines were heard, it was time to take our seats
in the grandstands for the evening. We still feel that part
of the evenings most important fact is not only honoring the
past, but also having our racing alumni experience the
sights and sounds of the present. For example, many of our
alumni have 3rd or 4th generation drivers competing in the
various divisions. Whether it was Brian Stevens, Jimmy
Begolo, Tammy Willard, Bobby Davidson, Brian Halliwell, Don
Spiece, the sons and daughters of the racing alumni put on a
memorable show for all. It was especially fitting that Tammy
Willard in her #77 Sportsman won the feature, with her
grandmother Anne present, and sharing victory lane. Racing
is about family and dedication, and after our parade lap
with my Dart Sport pacing the field of vintage racers along
with the St. John's fire department's 1925 Reo fire truck,
it was time to announce our 1998 inductees on to our Wall of
Fame. The first honoree were presented by Mel Swart and
Welland-Thorold M.P.P. Peter Kormos to former track owners
Ken Kavanagh and posthumously to Bill Russell, his wife Dawn
accepting. Track owners who laid the racing foundation by
owning both Merrittville Speedway and also Speedway Park in
Hamilton, from the formative 50's to the sensational 70's.
Our second inductee was Cam Gagliardi a pioneer
driver of the Lazy 8 stock cars, who along with partner Gil
Cramer competed and built cars raced at both race tracks in
Ontario and the U.S. from Daytona to Merrittville Speedway,
with a career spanning over 40 years from Lockport New York.
Drivers such as Larry Frank and Lee Roy Yarbrough drove
their cars at Daytona. Wilfred "Wimpy" Nicholls was honored
posthumously as a pioneer car builder, who built
Chevrolet-G.M.C. powered stock cars, in the era of the
flathead Ford. Drivers such as John Bezanson, Alex Gunn, Bob
Davidson as well as long time friend Jimmy Howard all
respected this man's achievements winning as Merrittville's
stock car points champion in 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963. Our
final Wall of Fame inductee is a legend in the sport of
stock car racing. Bill Rafter originally of Clarence Center
New York, now of Daytona Beach, Florida attended to the
delight of us all. Now near 70 years of age, he appeared fit
still wearing his brush cut. The gentleman raced midgets at
Civic Stadium in Buffalo, in the 1940's and stock cars on
the beaches of Daytona in 1950's and has won numerous track
championships in and out of NASCAR. Bill who along with
brother in law Gil Bruss, accomplished much in racing became
1964 Sportsman champion at Merrittville Speedway, but was
also 1959 Sportsman Champion for New York State in NASCAR,
as well as winning 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1964, 100 mile
Sportsman events at Syracuse, competing against the likes of
Ned Jarrett. It was especially fitting to have Bill don a
driving suit donated by Ted Renshaw and have Bill take a few
laps in heat action in Dave Armstrong's replica 1937
Chevrolet #22 coupe with its familiar blue and white
colours. Bill Rafter's career was truly looked up to by many
of his competitors and his career spanning four decades
reflects that image as the Champion's Champion.
In
1992 Bill was inducted into the DIRT Hall of Fame, and in
1998 we inducted him into our Wall of Fame. The night and
honours were not over as when we announced both Jeno Begolo
and Bill Rafter into the Canadian Motor Racing Historical
Society's Hall of Fame a loud cheering went up from the
3,500 fans in attendance. Jeno Begolo nicknamed the "Mayor
of Thorold South" by Wheelspin news' "Dizzy" Dean Murray won
over 9 track championships during his career along with 2 at
Merrittville Speedway and 2 at Speedway Park retiring at the
end of 1974 at the peak of his career, now supporting his
son Jim's career at the wheel of the Swiss Chalet modified.
Again a surprised Bill Rafter was inducted into the CMRHS
Hall of Fame, as well. Many of us in attendance will
remember this night and especially the camaraderie that
existed for this brief moment in time. I would personally
like to thank each and every alumni guest for attending,
since all of their racing contributions helped weave the
fabric of our 47 years of racing history. But the night
still had racing to perform. The vintage feature had
seventeen cars in it, and the sounds of six cylinders
Chevrolets and Dodges, Flathead Fords, as well as the open
headers of the big block coupes put on an excellent show.
The feature event was won by Pat Sonnenberg in his Will
Cagle #24 coupe chased closely by Hughie Tripp's #3
Chevrolet Coach. The modified feature was won by Alan
Johnson driving Mike Maroney's racer, his 7th feature win of
the season, chased closely by Pete Bicknell.
I would
like to take this opportunity to thank my co-organizers of
the reunion and also Rick Wales, Mark Lovell and all the
members of the Canadian Motor Racing Historical Society and
especially those that towed their cars to be part of our
memories. They are: Garry Le Clair - 1933 Ford Coupe #303
Denny Lindberg- 1937 Chevrolet Coupe #88 Paul Lindberg- 1936
Chevrolet Coupe #15 Doug "Red" Ryder - 1936 Plymouth Coupe
#101 Bill Mepham- 1940 Ford Flathead coupe #60 Dave
Armstrong - 1936 Chevrolet #22 Pat Sonnenberg - 1937
Chevrolet Coupe #24 Keith Waters - 1932 Chevrolet Coach #70
Rob Konig - 1936 Chevrolet Coupe #78 Don Ledingham - 1936
Chevrolet Coupe #31 Al Patrick - 1932 Ford Victoria #02B
Hughie Tripp - 1936 Chevrolet Coach #33 Ray Tremblay - Dirt
Asphalt "Bug" #98 Elliott Boyuk - 1952 Flathead Ford #52 Bob
Duell - 1949 Hudson Hornet #39 Jim Young - Vintage midget
#51 Fred Starr - Vintage asphalt hobby cars #T-16 and #3 ½.
We hope everyone had an enjoyable evening and our reunion
committee will start planning our 48th anniversary soon.
Before we know it, our golden anniversary will be here. We
welcome all suggestions and comments so we can make our
events even better.
We hope many of Old Autos
readers who are interested in vintage racing history will
attend our event next year. Picture #1 - 392 Reunion guests
gathering and visiting at the Pavilion before the races.
Picture #2 Doug Ryder's #101 1936 Plymouth Coupe dueling
with Bob Duell's #39 Hudson Hornet. Heat #2 Picture #3 Gary
Le Clair's #303, 1933 Ford Coupe leads, with Pat
Sonnenberg's #24 and racing legend Bill Rafter driving Dave
Armstrong #22 Chevrolet Coupe. Picture #4 Hughie Tripp's #3,
1936 Chevrolet Coach racing with Ray Tremblay's "Bug"
supermodified #98. Picture #5 "Two Generations of Begolo's"
from left to right- current racer Jim Begolo, along with
present track owner Bryant Irvine, Reunion Chairman Rick
Kavanagh and 1998 CMRHS inductee Jeno Begolo.