Author Topic: Where are They Now  (Read 269214 times)

ModRoCmaniac

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #135 on: July 21, 2010, 01:52:23 PM »
wow Thanks 68Stang Great story...thats sad about his trophies & race things..still involved in racing AWESOME...yepp that is 1 driver i'll never forget...lived a spell when i was a kid in the 60's down near Harrisburg Pa & them Outlaw Sprints was the thing back then ~ went to a few tracks back then wish i could remember more of it...oooh well minds the 1st thing to go...


68mustangfb

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #136 on: July 21, 2010, 07:19:28 PM »
"MODROC"
    Don't know if you remember "Jimmy Nace" he started out in 410 sprint cars and did ok BUT them he got hooked up with the guy who owned the #26 Camel Express 410 sprint car (had nothing to do with Camel cig's as it was a trucking Company that the owner owned/ran and it had a picture of a camel on the side of the wing (I still see there trucks on the highway when I am traveling down that way) !! He was one crazy S.O.B. he used to wear a old funny looking hat with hair down / to past his shoulders.  My son was pretty young back then but he always liked the picture of the camel on the wing. Jimmy used to pull the front end of that 410 off the ground (wheelie) and carry the front end a long ways a real show-men that also caught alot of the kids attention (along with the grown-ups) !! I took him to the pits to meet Jimmy after the races one night after Jimmy had won, He made my son feel like he was a pretty big shot , even let him set in the #26 that night !! Anyhow I hadn't been down to S.grove in a few years (as they nolonger ran the 410's weekly) BUT had heard / read that Jimmy was nolonger driving as he got cancer !! He still owned a sprint car and had a few different drivers wheeling it for him with some success. But for the most part I lost track of what and how Jimmy was doing.
    I went down in 2009 to watch the ROC dirt cars (first race of the year, MODS at that track are AWESOME). As luck would have it, it rained so had to go back. I was sitting in the 1st turn and this YOUNG (older then me but still young. LOL !!) feller came up and sat beside me. We got to shooting the racing breeze and I started asking him about some of the old sprint car drivers that I used to watch there, I asked him if he remembered this carzy S.O.B. named Jimmy Nace AND he got a big smile on his face as luck would have it HE was Jimmy Naces Dad !! Man we shot the bull about the way jimmy used to wheel a sprint car, (he had lots of stories) He told me Jimmy was doing ok but the cancer had knocked the HE!! out of him !! That he was infact there and if I remember right he said Jimmy and his wife ran the hat / tee shirt stand / or one of the stands. I got a quick glance of Jimmy as I was leaving that night and his dad was right, I would have NEVER known who he was if his Dad hadn't told me !! I didn't get a chance to talk to Jimmy then but had planned on getting him to sign a hat of his from the Camel Excpress days the next time I was down.  Well never made it back in 2009 and when I made it there this year for the ROC show (with the hat in tow) I learned that Jimmy had infact passed away (darn it) !! I waited to see if I might happen to see his Dad but never did. If you look at the S.grove web site they have or had a nice tribute to "Mr Camel Express" which I thought was pretty neat.... R.I.P. Jimmy you sure earned it for all the thrills / excitement you gave your fans !!   
« Last Edit: July 21, 2010, 07:23:14 PM by 68mustangfb »
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112SMW

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #137 on: July 22, 2010, 04:32:45 AM »
Sorry to tell you this but the man you are talking about is not Jim Nace,it is Barry Camp.


ModRoCmaniac

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #138 on: July 22, 2010, 07:53:05 AM »
when we lived down in Pa in the 60's we did go to S.Grove & i do recall a car that had a Camel on the wing(i was very young)& for the longest time i thought it was a horse & i recall being set straight lol ~ our neighbours a few houses down the road when living outside Enola Pa. had a Horse ranch & owned/raced 2 Sprint Outlaw cars...wish i could remember more about those days...but i was very involved in being a kid.....


68mustangfb

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #139 on: July 22, 2010, 08:43:04 AM »
Sorry to tell you this but the man you are talking about is not Jim Nace,it is Barry Camp.

"112SMW"
NO IT IS NOT !! I am WELL aware of Barry Camp and Ed Schafer's story, and used to watch them ALL race way back when as well, AND sure as HE!! KNOW / KNEW THE DIFFERENT IN ALL THOSE MEN !! But I am talking about Jimmy Nace.
Ed Schafer used to drive truck up our way and would stop at the race shop quite a lot ! He was going to attemp to drive a back up car that I used to help on in the LM's on the asphalt at SL just about the time he got real, real sick. Saw him at the Williamsport Hospital just after that as my Mother was dying with cancer as well and it wasn't long after I heard Ed had passed away also. 
WTF, I know I am getting older and can't remember alot of thing BUT, PLEASE Don't tell ME who I sat with, talk to, watched race WEEK AFTER WEEK and went to see in the pits,  THANKYOU VERY MUCH ANYWAY !! MR
« Last Edit: July 22, 2010, 09:06:12 AM by 68mustangfb »
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68mustangfb

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #140 on: July 23, 2010, 11:44:18 AM »
How about a guy named "Larry NYE" who used to run Mods at SL is he still around ?
& Dave Kotary ?
& Kirk Abbott ?
& the old welder at SL "Mr. Page"
I have seen the old Tech guy from SL up at SL2 this year "Jim ?" can't remember his last name !! (nice guy)
I remember alot of people B!tching and so on about Dale Canfield (SL promoter) way back when, Well I will say one thing HE kept SL alive for MANY years and ya got to give him credit for that ! (think I saw him at SL2 this year as well ?)
I heard the Electrican for SL (John Stelmack) ran into some health problems a few years ago and has since moved down South for health reasons ! (anyone know for sure ?)
man the good old dayssssssssssssss !!
 
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Jayman

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #141 on: July 23, 2010, 12:24:42 PM »
i forgot he did use a schoolbus/car hauler ... Just remembered a few of the LM drivers Dave Jackson   Glenn Lapollis <--- think name spelled wrong and Chuck Winslow <--- i do remember him driving a green w/black strip i do believe was the color #61 .. I know one night at shang coming down front straight this happen in front of me he was running in top 3 something broke or engine blowed sending him into a spin scattering everyone because of all the fluid he left... I do know these days he devotes his time helping his sons race at Blackrock...  Anyone else remember any LM drivers and don't worry i know what CRAZY GEORGE has been up to... I think he may have been the only one to hold it to the floor and dirt track it through the corners at shang..
           wouldnt want that tire bill after he raced   


Here's a few drivers not sure weather you consider them LM or SS drivers (back then they called them either one / BOTH)!  All depends who you talked to ! With what all that was done to the cars, One really couldn't consider them Street Stocks ? JMO;
RC Wilcox   #37
Tiger Smith  #26
Gordy Smith  #34
Wayne Lent #20
Bill Chandler  #12
Billy Zack  #17
Lyle Williams  #5
Brad Smales  #41
Ricky Zack  #71
Fred Quail  #40
Doug Depew  #22
Ron Mesmer  #75 spl ?
Barry Bowen  #47
Walt Romanik  # ?
Ed McGuire  #51
Eddy Dobler  #25
Chris Pozzi  #8
Mike Letho  #2
Dick Finnerty #3
John Preston  #72
Tommy Zack  #?
I know there are several more, getting old ?? LOL

 

Mike Lehto in the 2
Mike Sexton #14
Dick Stein #9 (and also #1) - copied Bill Elliot's #'s all the time
Jack Luce #66 or 63
Bob Curren #63
Lee Sherwood ran ss/lm in that era #95 (Lee's old Microd # was 15 but there was already a 15 in action in the ss class so he became 95)
Ron Messemer ran the 75
Diane Messemer ran the 74 (also later drove a sport mod #75 for her father Bruce Burdick)
Tom Zacharias drove a street stock #88 for a while
Tim Connelly also drove ss/lm around then and started as a blue #12 - went to 42 when he got into Modifieds because Larry Nye was the 12)
there was a Steve Cola and a Cola Shay.... can't remember which one, but at one time one of their cars died on the front stretch and the drive got out and ran to the s/f line and then slipped and fell on the line - then announcer John Lawrence took up a collection to get that driver a new body or paint job for his car and the guy never came back after that.
Ron Shephard in the white #2 (also his old Microd number)
Al Chapman was the 15
Frank Chapman ran a black 89
Chris Pozzi also drove a white #1 and the famous General Lee lookalike 01
Marty Messemer (son of Ron and Diane) also drove a ss for a short while - can't recall the #, might have been 4 or 74.
Gary Cleveland ran the 88 car
Jeff Cleveland (who now lives in Ohio) drove a 73 ss (also ran DIRT IMCA mods for years)
Glenn Lippolis ran the 85 and the 8 - now runs a Sport Mod at the new SL2
Dave Jackson also runs a Sport Mod at the new SL2
Bob and or Jeff Frisbee in the white #2 ss/lm
Paul Bernard in the 10
Eric Bodine in a 21
Duane Ellis in the 24 car
who can forget Jan Leaty in the black & grey 52 (changed his number to 25 in mods mostl probably due to Doug Hewitt or Mark Fleury already having a 52)
Stan Mieczkowski in a yellow 38 (or was it 39... he may have run both?)
Ed McGuire in the always fast 51's
Dan Koonmen in the 52
57 Vince Randisi


hmm... that's about the best I can do for now... If someone has already mentioned these in a post between the one I quoted and mine, I apologize - I'm too lazy to weed through them.

-J


Jayman

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #142 on: July 23, 2010, 12:44:03 PM »
How about a guy named "Larry NYE" who used to run Mods at SL is he still around ?
& Dave Kotary ?
& Kirk Abbott ?
& the old welder at SL "Mr. Page"
I have seen the old Tech guy from SL up at SL2 this year "Jim ?" can't remember his last name !! (nice guy)
I remember alot of people B!tching and so on about Dale Canfield (SL promoter) way back when, Well I will say one thing HE kept SL alive for MANY years and ya got to give him credit for that ! (think I saw him at SL2 this year as well ?)
I heard the Electrican for SL (John Stelmack) ran into some health problems a few years ago and has since moved down South for health reasons ! (anyone know for sure ?)
man the good old dayssssssssssssss !!

Dave Kotary ran a mod - I think it was #05 or #06... nice guy - very short if I recall though.

Welder Bob Page passed away a few years ago - Bob was a great guy - he used to own the old #87 couple modifieds from days long past.  His son Gary (a former microd racer) used to also do welding for him at the track, Gary was usually the guy collectin the money at the gate for welding insurance.

Former tech guy could wither be Jim Hickey or Jim Philpott, both were former tech guys - both guys kids ran microds there too.

Kirk Abbott took over Bill Zacharias's transmission shop in Endwell after Bill moved south - he still runs it today.

John Stelmack and a good part of his family moved to North Carolina - his wife Carol was a long time scorer during the years John was the electrician (and yes, all three of their kids raced microds there...)

Dale Campfield and wife Lee split up.  Dale can still be seen bouncing around the area, I have run into him several times... last I knew he was involved with some sort of church group.

While looking at another couple of posts, I noticed some additions to make to the list in my previous post:

'Daffy' Dick Woods in the ss #5
Billy Woods then taking over for dad before going to mods in a #51
Gary Hellmers (the Vestal cop from Apalachin) in the #28 ss (before switching to a sport mod #3 Jeff Kies car modeled after Dale Earnhart)
Kirk Abbott in the #2 (which I believe his first car was Gary;s old car.. or vice versa...)
Rob Laman jr in the 17 lm/ss and also his dad Bob sr in a #77 sport mod that Rob later took over.
Dave Evans in a sport mod #83 that first gave Patti Pruitt (then Hanbury) a ride in a sport mod.
Phil Haner in the 3 car


......ah, memories!


68mustangfb

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #143 on: July 23, 2010, 12:54:59 PM »
AND let's not forget to mention MR. JOE SNELL, I think he ran a blue / white chevelle #47 ? sponsered by Williams Oil Inc. (The Dromes major sponser now) which later on became Ed McGuires first LM/SS  !!
See JOE its your fault Ed has spent so much money on race cars through the years, you got him hooked..... JMO LOL 
Mods,  Pa. possie; 410 sprint
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ole bones

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #144 on: July 23, 2010, 06:06:10 PM »
Mike, good story on Jim Nace, yes he did in fact drive the Camel car. Could really put on a show.  Barry Camp was involved in a very bad crash one night, he hit the cross gate on the frontstretch, destroyed the car, But got in Dave Middlesworth's car and ran the feature, another true racer.  as for Ed's #47  that was the Ralph Beers car.  He bought Joe's car for his next machine. Ps,"remember the schoolbus ride to s-grove"  the fun day's of racing


ole bones

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #145 on: July 23, 2010, 06:09:33 PM »
Mike, forgot to mention the Camel express trl. parked in Wysox on the weekends

68mustangfb

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #146 on: July 23, 2010, 07:26:38 PM »
Mike, good story on Jim Nace, yes he did in fact drive the Camel car. Could really put on a show.  Barry Camp was involved in a very bad crash one night, he hit the cross gate on the frontstretch, destroyed the car, But got in Dave Middlesworth's car and ran the feature, another true racer.  as for Ed's #47  that was the Ralph Beers car.  He bought Joe's car for his next machine. Ps,"remember the schoolbus ride to s-grove"  the fun day's of racing

Thanks Ray for the info.  I knew if anyone remembered it you would.  Damn MEMORY ain't what it used to be (sure sucks) !! Didn't Barry C. drive a light blue #14 sprinter ? And Ed Schafer a #12 red APPLE HOUSE car ?
Wasn't on the bus ride to S. grove, that was a bit before me....
I remember the bus ride to the SL Banquet in Endicott !! LOL

Mike, forgot to mention the Camel express trl. parked in Wysox on the weekends
KOOL, I will have to mention it to Matt !! Thanks again 
Mods,  Pa. possie; 410 sprint
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BOZO6106

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #147 on: July 23, 2010, 08:23:40 PM »
WHAT ABOUT DENNIS DIAK IN THE 06 FROM FULTON {2 1/2  HOUR         DRIVE EVERY WEEK} RACED AT SHANGRI-LA WITH NO PIT CREW BUT THE HANERS TO HELP HIM OUT. TALK ABOUT DEDICATION

uticamike

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #148 on: July 23, 2010, 08:35:39 PM »
Larry Nye is well and lives in Preble. He makes his annual appearence in the pits for the 200. I work with Larry jr.
"do I look nervous?" (no) " There's your answer."

ole bones

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Re: Where are They Now
« Reply #149 on: July 23, 2010, 08:55:53 PM »
Yes on the 14, Beavertown Block car,   not sure of Mr. Shaffer's car  BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAd memory