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Race Cars of my Past
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The car that started it all. The year was 1976. This was a dirt circle track late model Ford that raced at Canadaigua Speedway, NY. The body is a 1966 Galaxy over a 1960 Ford box frame chassis. I was not the driver, just co-owner as I was 15 years old at the time and too young to drive. The car was short lived being totaled in its 3rd race. (1976) |
This is the first race car I built from scratch, 1969 Mercury Cyclone. Still very young and inexperienced. This was also the car that introduced me to welding. Not a lot of lessons learned on this early project, as suspension and chassis setup was an area I never considered yet. The car was raced a few times on asphalt then sold by the owner. (1977) |
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Dirt track racing was very popular in New York State during this time. This car, a 1967 Ford Fairlane was a retired asphalt car turned dirt and so was the racetrack Fulton Speedway. This car would have a best finish of 6th place before being retired in 1980 by its owner. (1979)
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My first venture on my own was a 1977 Ford Granada, and the second car I would build. It raced at Penn Yan speedway for the most part but by now my peer group of friends was settling down and I could no longer find a driver and the car was sold. (1981) |
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A favorite car of mine, but a poor choice for a stock car. 1974 Matador that I built for Bob Rue. The car was raced at Lancaster Speedway a few times before a job transfer for Bob and I would enter the Navy ended the project. This was a good-looking car. (1984)
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I was talked into it one last time. A 1978 Ford Granada (again) built for Perry Speedway. This would be my most successful circle track car competing the entire season with best finish of 2nd and no less than 6th. The constant bent metal and the car being destroyed twice made my decision not to circle track anymore. (1992) |
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I took time off from racing and enjoyed some time with the show cars. This 1976 Datsun B210 was a return to racing giving SCCA Solo2 (autocross) a try. The car was an old retired ITC road racer that I did little to other than change the fluids. This was to be a test to see if this type of racing was something I wanted to spend time with. Yes, Solo2 is fun. (1998) |
Being hooked on Solo2 I was co-driver of this 1980 Stinger F440 for 1999. I enjoyed the 2-cycle engine simplicity and the outrageous response of the formula racecar. I received my first win in motorsports with the Stinger. This would lead me to my next racecar for the next 2 years. The Datsun B210 was sold and I went shopping. (1999) |
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Two formulas were on board for 2000, the 1981 Red Devil Formula 440 was one of them. While an older car it lent itself into set up and engine problem solving and Jose River could get this thing around. It was a Regional Champion in 2000 before we went to 1 formula in 2001. (2000) |
1987 Red Devil Formula 440 was our best. I race this car to a Regional Championship in 2000 then Jose Rivera raced it in 2001 to 2 more Regional Championships. The car was quick and well developed. The thermal and friction coatings used on the engine let us increase the RPM well into a range never seen by us before. (2001) |
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