Getting To The Track

[Mod Squad]

I started a thread a couple of weeks ago about “Your First Mod Race.” All the responses were great but it brought up another fun question. We all know as drivers, crew members, fans and media personnel, that travelling to the track takes up a lot of time, money and sanity. As the saying goes "Getting there is half the fun.”

What’s your favorite track to travel to? Or what’s your least favorite? Most fun road trip, craziest method to get to the track. You get the idea.

I remember growing up on the East Bay in RI that Seekonk was by far the easiest trip. Less than 10 minutes door to door.

I also remember a lot of time with my Dad spent in the front seat of a 1970 Chevy Pickup, 3 on the tree with no AC blasting down the back roads of CT to try to find an “easy” way in to Thompson or Stafford. How many roads lead in to Thompson from RI, 20, 30?

Then there was a trip to the Pocono ROC race in the 81 or 82 that was, at the time, the longest single day trip in my life. Up at 0-dark-30 to drive from RI to Pocono, watch the full day of racing then drive back. This is obviously before the days of smart phones, AC, DVD, GPS and all that fun stuff. Talk about boring road time.

Definitely my most memorable travel event was a combo race at Oxford in 1983. Mods and Busch North. My dad was working with Eddie St Angelo. I was 13 at the time and in order for me to work on the car in the pits I had to get smuggled in to the track. Sandy MacKinnon (working with Joey Kourafas) was friends with Eddie. His trailer had a good sized stand up cargo box forward of the race car. They emptied it out and put a lawn chair in it. We stopped outside the track I jumped from the truck in to the cargo box and got in to the track. We waited 15 minutes I jumped out grabbed an air caddy and went to work. Good times.

So how about it? I bet the guys from Riverhead have a ton of stories about the Ferry.

[Goldy]

Great spin off topic Mod Squad... I'll be thinking about this one. Looking forward to the replies..

[RGeeProductions]

Oh, yeah! Ferry stories!
On my cell now but later when back on my laptop I may have some barely remembered stories!!! 6am bloody Mary's... oh boy... how we even made it to Thompson or Stafford is amazing to think about now!!!!

[JMB]

Strangest trip was when I was trying to attend a few of the DIRT midweek shows 8 or 9 years ago. The second of the 3 nights in a row was at Canandaigua Speedway. A quick late afternoon thunderstorm included a massive downpour. This closed the NYS Thruway in the area for a while and totally flooded out some local roads heading to the track. The races ended up running, but there was like now way for me to get there without half killing myself. Ended up sitting around a Utica Best Western watching tv in my room all night. So footage on the news of some cars stranded in the water. There was also a trip to Thunder Road I took in the early days of internet maps and directions. The directions took me up what seemed to be a small mountain's steep narrow dirt road. I got about halfway up before just putting the car in reverse and backing down the hill. Technically it was the shortest route, but if I had stayed on the main road I would have gotten to the track about 15 minutes earlier.

[Axel]

This is a good one.

Back in the olden days it was about 10 minutes from my house in Raritan Township to Flemington Speedway. Then I moved to Califon NJ about 45 minutes from Flemington. My dad and I always went to the Country Deli in High Bridge NJ on the way to the track to get sandwiches (no pork roll) to bring in. I remember some great local road trips to Orange County, Nazareth, Williams Grove and once to the asphalt track at new Egypt. All 1974-77 timeframe. Good times.

A few longer distance trips too. Martinsville in 1977 or 78. Long trip down route 81. Beautiful but boring. Just me and my dad.

As for these days, getting to the track just as fun, if not more fun than the races themselves. Going to Connecticut or Long island with ModTourMan and Bruce and sometimes the kids is non-stop music, laughing, Seinfeld references and other odd humor. Our latest trick is for each person to bring CD’s of some good music the others have probably not heard before, play the CD’s on the way there and find out about new music.

Oh yeah, the races and meeting our friends at the track aren’t too bad either!

[JWfor8x]

My most interesting ride to a track was going to Martinsville for a combined race with the WMT and the WSMT. I think it was in 2007, maybe 2008. My wife and I flew up to Charlotte, NC to visit a friend. We rented a car and drove up to Franklin, NC. Then we took the Blue Ridge Parkway to Virginia and came down to Martinsville for the race. After the race, we made our way back to Charlotte and then flew back to NY. That was a good trip and a great race.
I also liked going to Jennerstown. Pennsylvania is beautiful. Route 6 is a fantastic drive.
My least favorite is from my home to Riverhead. It's a boring ride on the Southern State Parkway to the Sunken Meadow Parkway out on the LIE. The ride's boring, but the races there make it worthwhile.

[limodmaniac]

My favorite track to travel to - I should say Riverhead, since it's only 5 traffic lights away.. but I always enjoy my driver up route 32 to Stafford.

Least favorite trip - anything south.. just too long...not overjoyed at the ride to SL2 with the extra climb up the hill at the end.

Most fun road trip.. Riverside on Wednesday, then a car ride to the Seekonk Grand Prix on Thursday and back to Monadnock on Friday night. Those were the days..

Craziest method to get to the track... taking the ferry to get to a race at Mahoning or Mountain, simply to avoid NYC and take the ferry across.

Biggest disaster travelling to a race. Car broke down on way to NS Shootout. Never made it!

[uticamike]

For me it was 1975 riding from Canton, NY to Stafford for the Spring Sizzler in the BACK of a Vega Wagon. 3 of us and my 6' 1" frame wedged in the with

the gear. 310 miles of pure "fun". Cold as hell too. We met up with some friends and put the Vega back to back against a Mustang hatchback to form a

quazi tent and we lived in there for 2 days. Plenty of liquid "pain" killer was had by all. Today I like the ride to any track I've never seen or those that I

like. To this day I can't view a Vega Wagon without smiling a bit.

[ModTourMan]

Great idea Mod Squad!

Back in the mid '80's me and my race chasing group of friends - usually 5 to 8 of us on most occasions - had some amazing trips to so many race tracks. The only trip I found rough was the long haul from NJ to Martinsville, VA. Actually, our trip down was a bit longer because we always stayed over the border in NC. The last few hours of those trips was always a bit tiring.

The BEST trips back during that mid '80's time period were the countless trips to see the Mod Tour at Stafford and Thompson. Back then, me and my buddies all raced Street Stocks at Wall Stadium in NJ. There was rarely a Saturday night when at least one of us wasn't racing (the rest of us were in the pits helping out). We would load up the car(s) after the feature (always the last event of the night), have a few beers pit side and head home well after midnight. After unloading, we would all get 2 or 3 hours sleep before meeting up at 5 am to head up to CT. We would load my buddies conversion van with food and drink for the trip. The van loading process was hard work so it was not uncommon to hear the sound of beer cans opening BEFORE the trip even began! I am proud to say that we always had "designated drivers" for every trip but I would be lying if said that we didn't break the "no open alcoholic container" laws during the trips up. What great times we had laughing and talking about the previous nights racing. The conversation would always turn to the upcoming Mod race...lots of chatter about Evans, Spencer, Reggie, Fuller (etc.) and all the other great drivers from that era. By the time we got to the track we were all exhausted from laughing so hard...well, maybe the beer helped too. GREAT memories.

Flash forward to present day, and I'm glad to say I have a new group of racing buddies. As Alex mentioned in his earlier post, we all keep each other entertained and we have already logged an impressive number of "road trips" together. I may not get to as many races these days but I'm glad I found some new friends to help write some new race trip stories!

[Goldy]

The 25 minute ride to Stafford is always nice, always has been – there’s something about that final leg for me; racing through the sharp esses right before the back gate entrance, window net down – hearing the rumble of the mods though the short distance - roar down the backstretch – it’s almost like your mouth watering for that first bite of Thanksgiving dinner. The anticipation builds at a torrid pace from that moment on until you turn left into the track where your senses are rewarded with sights of cars, action in the pits, a louder roar of (preferably) Tour Modifieds practicing on the track; the barely audible sounds of track announcers are drowned out by pit loudspeaker directives, the whiff of the track rounds out your arrival..

A truly sublime, transcendent moment…

… this of course could sum up your final 2 minutes to track anywhere usa – but for me that Stafford trip is trumped slightly by the 1 hour jaunt to Thompson. Mind you it’s always an hour for me no matter how I slice it. I could be behind a Sunday driver for a 20 minutes stretch or have clear sailing and be making seemingly record time – I pull in there, it’s an hour, every time. If only I had a Troyer and a Hutter.. sigh…

These days, a hour here an hour there – hell, a day at the track is a luxury and I treat it as such. I take it all in. The hour to Thompson always provides me solace, I have time to contemplate – and if I don’t feel like thinking so much (which is often) – music is enjoyed thoroughly at proper volumes. Rt. 44 is a beautiful drive, lots to look at and a few key stops to consider – most notably, Pete’s Drive In (now closed) – they made all the good stuff – a double cheeseburger with peppers and onions was my last meal there; the death of yet another roadside mainstay hits below the belt. There of course are/were other options for pre or post race grub; the little ice cream shack, Kathy John’s (also now closed), Pizza 101, 4 G’s – even the Burger King at the entrance of 395 has provided well needed nutrition, mostly after a full day at the track.

Trips to Thompson for me started back in ’78; it may have been a forgone conclusion that Bodine would win, but we went anyway to root on the MSG #10 and pull for others like Ronnie and Kenny Bouchard, John Rosati, Pete Fiandaca, Ray McTeauge , Dave Monaco – my brother would often take us through some “shortcut” which may have been provided by cousin Laurie – I recall a sharp right over some rickety bridge or something - twists and turns that always made it fun as he shifted through the gearbox like our heroes we were en route to see.. and there was a cornfield in there somewhere with tales of a race hauler carving a path though.. memories like this with ’70’s rock as backdrop are really part of my fabric.

Getting there is half the fun, this is true, but the ride home doesn’t hold nearly as much joy. Once separated from the exiting traffic and back on Rt. 44, the ride home from Thompson can be a lonely and quiet haul – when it’s just you (or with your race day companions) there is time for reflection, playing out in your mind how the race went, the moves made, the winner and non-winners of the day – how my pick 5 fared and why I didn’t go with my instincts.. and of course, how the next race will pan out..

Post Script:
While attending a college visit for my daughter a few weeks ago, I decided we’d take the country road back to Interstate 91. I love taking in new sights and we were near the base of the White Mountains, just cursing along. At some point my senses were alerted – it might have been a backyard garage or a flag waving somewhere, but it sure felt like race country. My full attention was heightened when I saw a race hauler sitting idle in the sun. A few miles further and wouldn’t you know it – pow – Canaan Fair Speedway right in front of me. Well I had to pull over, it was all quiet there sure enough – but just stumbling upon a racetrack like that was just enough to make my day and fuel my Icebreaker fire.

Great topic - Happy Thanksgiving!!!

:cheers:

[RGeeProductions]

I enjoy any trip I take going to a modified show. To me it's part of the show!
Now, ferry trips from LI.

Starting back mid 70's and into the late 80's, we always did the same races year after year.
Icebreaker, Spring Sizzler, all Islip and Riverhead shows, Garden State Classic, Fall Final, World Series, Orange County - Eastern States and Turkey Derby. There were possible more added in but these were the definites.

Any of the Connecticut shows started with the earliest ferry leaving Orient Point on Saturday and back on the very last boat Sunday outta New London. There was 3 to 5 of us every trip and we ALWAYS packed enough food, booze and beer to satisfy 12 people! (very, very rarely was there anything left by the time we got off the ferry onto Long Island after the weekend!!!) We would have beers cracked as soon as we left Riverhead, then Bloody Mary's and egg sandwiches on the boat, and continue all the way up to Stafford or Thompson. Once at the track, we watched nothing but time trials and the actual race. We were way to busy eating, drinking and bs'ing with everyone in the parking lot. In fact back then Thompson used to have younger kids parking cars and we would give them beer so we could park right at the front gate!!! Still remember one kid getting reamed out from some older guy on why he was drunk!!! LOL Seems most of the time I was the designated driver as I knew when to drink and when to chill. A few of the races I slept through the middle so I could be ok for the trip back to the ferry, then once on the boat, start all over again. Damn, those were great times. Lucky we were NEVER pulled over as we all would probably still not have licenses!!!

My favorite trip was a 1986 Stafford Spring Sizzler weekend race. It was the first and I believe only year a Busch Dash was run on Saturday and then the Sizzler on Sunday. I remember that it was just me and my cousin Tommy. Now I had been to Riverside before a few times but he never was. I told him I got great plans for the weekend but never told him what we were doing Saturday night. Well after Jarzombek easily won the Busch Dash at Stafford, we headed off, with my cousin not knowing where I was going, to Agawam. I drove into the parking lot and his eyes bulged out of his head. He was like, are you kidding???? We went down about 3 blocks and found a run down motel on the left and I walked in to some asian guy behind the counter. He wanted $35 for the night and my cousin was like no way. Now $35 wasn't bad I thought but I started haggling the guy and said I would go somewhere else and we got the room for $30. What a dump!!! But hey, we were drinking, going to the races, come back here, clean up and sleep and back off, so it worked. What an awesome night at Riverside... I always loved that place. Even though I grew up at Riverhead, Riverside had something about it. Flemke, Ruggerio, Stefanik, Kopec, Gregor, Traynor, Marquis, Polverlari... the list goes on.... Anyways, hit the motel, slept, up in the morning, I got coffee, my cousin started with the bloody mary's and off to Stafford. CJ once again was dominating till his motor went poof. Brian Ross ended up winning but what I remember most was Greg Sacks, all black 44. He ran over the back corner of Jamie Tomaino and got a flat. He had to pit under green, came out and passed the whole field including Tomaino, Cookman, Ross, Jarzombek to get his lap back! The car was sooooo quick but just used his tires up.
Quick flashback to that race click here (http://www.staffordspeedway.com/Pages/News/Sizzler-1986.htm)
NOTE: Check out the payoff for this race 25 years ago.

Anyways, the ferry trips were fun to say the least..... from what I remember...

[ModTourMan]

I just remembered one particular dissapointing but memorable trip. It was in the '80's and we all decided to fly down to Martinsville. We had a blast turning the Piedmont Airlines flight into a short party but the entire weekend wound up being rained out. Bored out of our minds we decided to visit the speedway before the flight home just to see if anything was going on. As we walked around the speedway grounds, none other than Clay Earles himself took pity on us and let us into the grandstand area so we could get a glimpse of the infield pits and track. It wound up being a small highlight of an otherwise very dissapointing weekend.

[Mark 9957]

For me it was 1975 riding from Canton, NY to Stafford for the Spring Sizzler in the BACK of a Vega Wagon. 3 of us and my 6' 1" frame wedged in the with

the gear. 310 miles of pure "fun". Cold as hell too. We met up with some friends and put the Vega back to back against a Mustang hatchback to form a

quazi tent and we lived in there for 2 days. Plenty of liquid "pain" killer was had by all. Today I like the ride to any track I've never seen or those that I

like. To this day I can't view a Vega Wagon without smiling a bit.

Mike, I was reading thru this thread enjoying the stories and all of a sudden I said wait a minute this sounds familar. 36 years later and things are a little foggy but I remember that trip. You and I went to school together at Canton ATC and my buddy Jim from home(Riverhead) had the Vega. I remember putting the beer in a creek in the woods at Stafford to cool it off. I also remember the owner of the Mustang, who was my best man when I got married got cold and started the car in the middle of the night for heat and all of us under the tent were almost aphixiatied. Like all trips to the races lots of fun and great stories. I've moved down to Georgia now and don't get to see and work on the mods as much as I like. I think you found me at Thompson a few years ago. I hope to cross paths with you again and share more stories.

Mark

[rpd]

How about Labor day weekend. Stafford friday night, drive to oswego bud 2oo for Sat show.Sunday drive back home to Stafford. Monday,Stafford 200

[uticamike]

Mike, I was reading thru this thread enjoying the stories and all of a sudden I said wait a minute this sounds familar. 36 years later and things are a little foggy but I remember that trip. You and I went to school together at Canton ATC and my buddy Jim from home(Riverhead) had the Vega. I remember putting the beer in a creek in the woods at Stafford to cool it off. I also remember the owner of the Mustang, who was my best man when I got married got cold and started the car in the middle of the night for heat and all of us under the tent were almost aphixiatied. Like all trips to the races lots of fun and great stories. I've moved down to Georgia now and don't get to see and work on the mods as much as I like. I think you found me at Thompson a few years ago. I hope to cross paths with you again and share more stories.

Mark

Holy small world Batman!!!!! Took, how the hell are you? Long time no hear. Yes, we spoke at Thompson, you were crewing with TC if I remember right.

Jeez that Stafford trip I'll never forget. How is Ruthy? Remember you and I coming back up the hill from breakfast with him under the blanket, cold as hell, with his cigarette sticking out that little hole? I called his name, the end of the cig glowed and then the empty bottle of blackberry brandy rolled out from under the blanket. LOL, I don't think Jim saw much of the racing that weekend. I also remember your other friends from the Island that had
a van. The Orange Blossom Special (chevy?) right? He and his girl friend were working the shocks pretty good if I remember right. Damn that was a great weekend. Just my luck I was just in Georgia a couple of weeks ago ( Atlanta then to Grayson to pick up a clean Southern truck) then drove to the N/S Shootout at Caraway. Yup, I still love Modified racing but I don't party quite as hard as I used to. Ditto here, hope to meet up with you again and
reminisce. Take care Mark.

[mwf44]

Thurs. nite leave Agawam, MA & drive Concord, NH; Friday morning & afternoon, practice & qualify small block/Raceworks at NHIS (1st time Mods ever at NHIS); leave Loudon, NH & drive to Winchester, NH; Friday nite race Big Block/RE at Monadnock (2nd), leave Winchester NH & drive to Syracuse NY; sleep; Sat. morning, afternoon & evening race Big Block/RE at Oswego in Bud 200 (late race wreck); Leave Oswego NY & drive to Tilton NH sleep; Sunday morning & afternoon race small block/Raceworks at NHIS(6th) Phew, tired just thinking about that weekend !! Woulda been awesome to win the $20,000 at Oswego with the McBetts 700hp Big Block but got took out late in the race flying back up through the field after Mario figured out what the car needed for a RF compound. Had a quarter-second on the whole field. Woulda-coulda !!