Thanks guys. Great pictures and great memories.
I'm not sure what the buildings are in the first Gater photo; I think they may have been poultry or storage barns just off turn 2. The barn in the 2nd photo is the cattle barn that sat quite a ways off turn 1. There was a road that ran outside turns 1 & 2 between the barns and the track and came onto the backstretch at the exit of turn 2. At one time it was the entrance to the pits in the center of the track. It wasn't uncommon to see a car go off the track in that area, catch the entrance road come back on the track and keep on racing.
The horse barn was about 1/3 of the way down and paralell to the back stretch. It had doors in both ends which allowed whoever it was to just go straight through without hitting anything solid.
As I remember, the Oblinski incident was the demise of the tower; the officials decided they didn't want to be in there any more. It was torn down and replaced by an observation cupola on top of the grandstand.
I knew Phil Clement, his father was AD, my gym teacher and coach at the local school. I used to travel with the Tc9 when it ran with the antique club. It's now owned by John Mason in Gilbertsville and, I believe, he still displays it but it's no longer safe to race....frame was getting bad when we sold it.
Again, thanks fot the memories and Merry Christmas to all.
Ed
Canadaquia also had a judges tower on the infield right on turn 4 as I was working in there I was hoping a car wouldn't make that far.Don't remember the year John Unaman can because he made many trips up the stairs to get his trophy for drag racing there
What caused the demise of Mid-State?
I'm not sure but I think it was a combination on the village residents and the promoter. Many village residents didn't like the dust and noise. It was before the cars had mufflers and the track was just dirt, no clay on it at all. The races brought a lot of exra traffic to town (and to the 2 local bars after the races) and a lot of the residents didn't feel it was a class of people they wanted around....even once a week.
The fair grounds was (still is) owned by the Grange so there must have been some kind of lease agreement and there was a rumor that the promoter took off with what money there was at the end of the season and no one could afford to keep the track operational.
It's really a good thing they colosed. The speeds had gone way beyond the track's ability to handle it safely; they were running over 100mph in the straightaways and it was mostly straightaways with very tight turns and not much banking. I'm quite sure that, if they'd run there another year or two someone would have ended up getting killed, either on the track or in the stands.
WHERE WAS THIS TRACK LOCATED?
Otsego County Fairgrounds Morris, NY
Midstate Speedway was known by many names throughout the 20+ years it ran stock cars. Most just called it "Morris". As Ed George said, I think the dust and noise Midstate generated ultimately did it in. From what I could gather the place was having a hard time making money toward the end. Different promoters came and went. At one time, Morris would draw a mix of competitors from Eastern NY and the Southern Tier. I’m sure it was a struggle for Lebanon Valley runners like Mert Hulbert, Tommy Corellis and Butch Jelly to get to Morris after work on a Friday night. You have to remember this was well before I-88 was constructed. By 1972, Midstate had competition for racers and fans from two other newly built tracks which were also running Friday nights– one in CNY and the other in the Southern Tier: Rolling Wheels, which was paying top purses, and Twin Valley, which was closer to home for the Southern Tier crowd. I have to believe both these tracks weakened the crowd and field of cars at Morris in its final season.
Below are the results of Morris’ last ever weekly show which was held on September 15, 1972:
Also, in 1972, Midstate Speedway hosted the first ever Schaefer 100 Qualifying event (today known as the Super DIRT Series). The winner, Dick Hansen, was awarded a guaranteed starting spot in the new year-end Schaefer 100 at Syracuse.
The results for Midstate’s Schaefer Qualifier are down below:
The Trinkaus 62 is definitely not Lee Millington. Lee was a tall/skinny guy. Don Wayman sounds like a good bet. As a kid growing up at Fonda, I used to love watching Lee drive my dad/uncles 47. I think Lee also drove a number 108. He later drove Frank's 62, but had a terrible crash at Syracuse.
At first I thought that pic of the 62 was at Fonda, but having spent alot of time in the stands at Fonda, they did not have full seating down to the fence. There were long stairways upto the big old style fairgrounds covered grandstand. Does anyone else recognize the track in the pic?
Brent, Haven't had time to get my "FONDA" book out but I did get the Fonda dvd for Christmas and just sat down to watch it. Fonda did have seats down below the covered grandstands early on.
Here is a few I just re-found. I think they are all from the Southern Tier 100 won by Sammy Beavers in November. All photos by Rich Rea.
Billy O leads Chuck Ciprich.
Next Don Beagell leads Billy O.
Gordy Isham spins and is barely missed by Bobby Keesler
Gary Beagell gets some airtime over Johnny McArdell
Chuck Ciprich battles with Goober Scheidel
I had to share this...I had seen it before, but hadn't snagged it, so when I saw it again I didn't blink....my new favorite racing picture of all time.....
Here are a few of the 24KC. First one in Victory Lane @ Penn Can. Check out the firesuit and fuel cell. Fred Smith photo