During the early 1970s when Phil Hoyt captured this action shot of Don Moon in his #9 and Dave Alkas in the Roland Cyr-owned #54 coach, this duo was at the top of their game at Plainville. Today, Dave, Don, and Gary Bienkowski are working hard on putting-on this year’s 2^nd Annual Plainville Stadium Reunion. One can only-imagine how many checkers were captured by Alkas and Moon during the track’s heyday! (Phil Hoyt Photo).              

And here we have a nice victory lane shot of Pud Noble at Plainville as sent to us by his nephew, Rob Dauphinais of Simsbury, CT. Pud was one of the top drivers at Plainville for many seasons, claiming several checkers during his career. Note that this image was captured before Nomex fire suits were the norm in our sport, and full-face helmets were still a part of the future. Safety has indeed, come a long-way in auto racing! Congratulating Pud is Starter Ted Abbott who would tragically loose his life when a car hit the starters stand at the Danbury Racearena. (Phil Hoyt Photo, Dauphinais Collection).  

Next is a shot of the immortal Melvin “Red” Foote. Seen here at Connecticut’s “New London-Waterford” Speedbowl of the 1950’s behind the controls of his familiar #J2, his long career was a colorful and well-traveled affair. A member of the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame, here’s an excerpt from his NEAR biography; Melvin “Red” Foote ran his first race in 1948, at Kingston, RI. Carl Morrow and Ralph LeGendre co-owned Foote’s first car, a silver #1 coach. It wasn’t long before the “racing bug” bit Foote, and he was competing at Norwood on Thursdays and Saturdays, and Lonsdale on Sundays, with regular visits to Westboro when time allowed. He won championships at the Waterford Speedbowl in 1953, and again in 1958. He also took down a championship in Plainville in the 50’s, competing in the United Stock Car Racing Club. The 60’s found Foote racing with NASCAR, winning races from New England to the Carolinas to Daytona. It was during this period that he became one of the “Eastern Bandits”, along with fellow “bandits” Ed Flemke and Rene Charland. Red took down a championship in North Carolina in 1965. (Shany Photo, Mal Phillips Collection).

Captured here at Connecticut’s “New London-Waterford” Speedbowl of the 1950s behind the controls of what we believe to be a Non-Ford entry, is Ed Priest. A winner in the popular early support class, Ed later switched to the Bomber division where he also scored a number of triumphs, the last coming during the 1960 campaign. (Shany Photo, Mal Phillips Collection).        

It’s the summer of 1956, and that’s New England Auto Racing Hall of Famer “Wild Bill” Slater (left), celebrating another win at the Speedbowl with car owner Baldy Simons (middle). By years-end, the duo would claim the championship. Slater remains one of the most-accomplished racers to have ever hailed from New England, with numerous titles to his credit as-well as major victories at the Langhorne PA. Race of Champions (once the crown jewel of the Modifieds), and multi-time wins in the Trenton 400. If anyone happens to know the identity of the gentleman on the right in this shot, please let us know! (Shany Photo, Mal Phillips Collection).                

Seen here at the Speedbowl behind the controls of the potent Simons Bros. #9 “Excavator Special” in the 1950’s is the late, great Charlie Webster. Note that the car looks to be powered by a Chrysler Hemi. Webster was one of the absolute-best at Waterford, claiming multiple championships in both the Modified and Non Ford divisions. Billy Simons, who along with his brother Fred owned this coupe, was inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2010. (Shany Photo, Mal Phillips Collection).                  

That's it for this week. Email me at: foreveryounginct@gmail.com