THE DN3 TEAM FROM NORTHAMPTON

This is from a small write - up done for Walt Perkins by Crystal Snape about the photograph below:

Danny and Norman Cashini owned this car, from Northampton, MA. Danny is in the blue jacket wiping his hands with a rag, while a can of oil is going into the engine. The Cashini Bros. ran a Mobile Gas Station, hence the Mobile Oil cans. Lionel does have the cigar. Sonny Rabideau, the driver of the DN3, is standing to the right, with the white drivers uniform. Above his last name is the cartoon Bugs Bunny. Sonny had Bugs, Buddy Bardwell had the Horns. The rest of the guys are the crew. Under the hood is a 392 Hemi w/ 4 carburetors. The car is most likely a 34 Ford, notice the suicide doors. This is the same car that was in the Brattleboro Newspaper (8-11-11) taking notice of the passing of Sonny Rabideau.

Keene Sentinel Photo by Jack Teator Lionel Arel, in a less glorious moment, having lost the rear axle at Keene, NH	Courtesy of Cho Lee The DN3 shredding up the Cheshire fairgrounds track through turn two. Can't tell if it is Arel or Rabideau- both were big men in white outfits.	Photo Source Unknown Rabideau with the crew, at Safford Park, I would still like to know who the guy on the far left is. The Cashinis are Danny, third from left and Norman, far right.	Photo Courtesy of Crystal Snape The DN3, second version at Brattleboro Speedway - probably with Lionel Arel. [In front of Joe Ryan's X].

Photo Courtesy of Crystal Snape A new version of the DN3, second version is christened by Fred Snape. Also present are Fred Cummings, Johnny LeCoe, and Red Helms.	Photo Courtesy of Crystal Snape A closeup of the infamous DN3 motor.	Ladabouche Collection A shot of a Victory Lane at the Cheshire Fairgrounds, Keene, NH. The DN3 is in the foreground, but iti unclear if it is the winning car.	Photo Courtesy of Cho Lee The lowslung DN3, with Lionel Arel at the helm< slinks it sway through a turn at Keene, NH.

The team seemed to operate primarily in the region of Brattleboro Speedway, Safford Park, Rhythm Inn, and the like. As far as I can determine, they had this Ford body with the aforementioned suicide doors and then a later version that Rabideau drove. However, I can't prove they both didn't drive the same car. it had a wondrous motor, for those days - that is certain. There seems to also be a connection with the prominent Northampton racing figure, Fred Snape.

Photo Courtesy of Lew Boyd
A different version of the DN3 sits in a lineup at Brattleboro Speedway, West Brattleboro, VT.