One of the most important early racing venues was the old fairgrounds track outside Keene, New Hampshire. The Monadnock Stock Car Racing Association was a fairly organized club for that era. The venue sometimes operated independently; but, in other instances, it belonged to the Triangle Racing Association, which also sanctioned Brattleboro Speedway, Rhythm Inn Speedway, and Claremont Speedway at various times. The Cheshire Fairgrounds track had more to do with the beginning of tracks in Claremont and at Winchester [Monadnock Speedway] than any other single local factor.

Norman McIver Portrait Courtesy of Cho Lee

Roy "Pappy" Forsyth was arguably the most important single figure in the history of the track. He not only excelled at racing
there, but he was president of the Mondanock Stock Car Racing Association at the height of the track's fortunes.

Courtesy of Cho Lee Roy Forsyth awards George Schnyer at one of the MSCRA banquets after the Safford Park season.

Keene Sentinel Photo by Jack Teehan Roy Forsyth awards future NASCAR star George Janoski at one of the MSCRA banquets after the Safford Park season.

Keene Sentinel Photo by Jack Teehan Driver Art Rousseau and future NASCAR National Modified Champion Ernie Gahan receive post race awards during the Safford Park season.

Keene Sentinel Photo by Jack Teehan Driver Art Rousseau and future four time NASCAR National Sportsman Champion Rene Charland receive post race awards during the Safford Park season.

 
Courtesy of Cho Lee
A field lines up in front of the stands: Ray Harris in Chet Cashman's 37; 5 Kenny Briggs; 4, John Bell; and Walt Bourassa [black car].

Courtesy of Cho Lee
Good shot at the announcer's stand. Art Rousseau with the Bob Oliver 621 and George Schnyer in the yellow Henry Merrow 33 that Art Cody would make famous later.
 Joe Ryan is ahead of Schnyer. Could be Dizzy Dalzell next to Rousseau and the 33 might have been owned by Walt Ruffles at that time.

 
Courtesy of Dan Ody
Henry Courtemanche [964] leads the field with his Willys coupe. 640 is Ray Sanborn; two behind Sanborn may be Charlie Zipp.

From Racers Bored Website
This shot from sister track, Brattleboro Speedwaay shows car that most likely also ran at Safford Park.
I can indentify the 7 of Sonny Rabideau, Roy Forsyth's 80 [beside DN3], and Dave Todd [in last].

Possibly Courtesy of Lew Boyd
Another Brattleboro shot shows Buddy Bardwell [far left], the DN3, and Joe Ryan's X. The 123 is visible in
one of the Cheshire photos, but I don't know who it is.

Possibly Courtesy of Lew Boyd
A third Brattleboro shot shows Buddy Bardwell [far left], Art Rousseau's 621, and
Ray Harris's Chet Cashman - owned 37. Morris Wissell is in the 71.

Courtesy of Cho Lee
That same 123 appears at far right in this lineup. I am told one of the cars is Mike Cody. The 43 cutdown of Whitey Brainerd is seen in the infield.

Source Unknown
It was thought by one webite that this is an early Safford Park shot,. I have my doubt.

Found on Flckr.com
About as early race action as you're going to find.

From the Anna Tulonen Collection
As with most fairs, Cheshire would bring in open wheel racing. According to his daughter, future modified star
Reino Tulonen of Fitchburg, Massachusetts is in this field. Not much for spectator safety here.

Ladabouche Collection
Ted Brown drives by on the track and cars go by on Route 10 as the driver of the 777 scrambles out, apparently unharmed.

Courtesy of George Hill
The Stroker Smith 311 [likely before Sonny Rabideau drove it] leads a field that includes the great Buddy
Krebs [shown 3rd] in the Suffield 5 sedan.

Keene Sentinel Photo - Probably Jack Teehan
This grainy old newpaper photo shows MSCRA president Forsyth blowing by one of his
constituents in the person of big George Schnyer [909] in turn four.

MORE RACING ACTION - CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILS

Courtesy of Walt Ryan Joe Ryan leads Sonny Rabideau as one car swerves clsoe to spectators on the inside rail.	Courtesy of Walt Ryan Joe Ryan leads in an early photo of horrible quality. Check out the wonderful, safe wood rail fencing.	Keene Sentinel Photo by Jack Teehan Lionel Arel checks out the damage to his Cazchini brothers' DN3 car known as the Beast.	Keene Sentinel Photo by Jack Teehan Buddy Bardwell, at speed with Mt. Monadnock furnishing the backdrop.	Ryan Family Photo via Walt Ryan 1957:  Buddy Bardwell, at speed with his familiar Hudson. Earlier Cheshire shots may have been with his Fords.	Ryan Family Photo via Cho Lee 1957: Buddy Bardwell, at speed with his familiar Hudson. He is outside of George Schnyer's 909 and ahead of Ernie Johnson's 4.
Ryan Family Photo via Cho Lee 1957: Car 100 leads the way.	Ryan Family Photo via Cho Lee 1957: Buddy Bardwell, in the center with the bullhorns. Ray Schnyer [29] takes the outside groove.	Ryan Family Photo via Cho Lee 1957:  Lionel Arel leads the way in the Cazchini DN3 "Beast". Stroker SMith - owned 111 and Sonny Rabidou in the family 7 are also seen.|	Ryan Family Photo via Cho Lee 1957:  Lionel Arel leads a car whose number I can't make out.	Walt Perkins Photo Courtesy of Walt Perkins 1957:  Roy Forsyth spins as a Stroker Smith 111 gets by.	Courtesy of Cho Lee 1954: George Shnyer, then the drover of Henry Merrow's 33 tools along at Brattleboro beside Ray Dalzell.
Courtesy of Lew Boyd Freddy Crockett's 11 goes by the stands in the lead.	Walt Perkins Photo Courtesy of Neal Davis 1957:  Big mixup in turn 4. I can see Larry Davis' 404, the Chet Cashman 37, and maybe Dave Todd.	HAMB Site Photo Likely Snape Family 1955: After vacating the DN3, Lionel Arel kept his Northhampton connections and began driving Fred Snape's 26.	Walt Perkins Photo Courtesy of Walt Perkins 1957: A win for Pappy.	Walt Perkins Photo Courtesy of Walt Perkins 1951:  A pertinent but very blurry shot of a race somewhere with the same cars as Cheshire would have. I see Joe Ryan's X, Forsyth [2nd from last], and Maurice Condon [3rd row inside].	Walt Perkins Photo Courtesy of Neal Davis Art Rousseau heads out of the infield.
Courtesy of Don Manahan A race finishes with George Monsen as winner, followed by Charlie Zipp and Ernie Gahan.	Courtesy of Don Rounds Jr. Don Rounds [101RI] and Jim Koehler [0 CT] Koehler get locked up as Ed Cormie looks for room.	Courtesy of Don Rounds Jr. Rounds and Koehler remain locked as Cormie goes by and car 100 is coming onto the scene.	Courtesy of Snape Family via Chrystal Snape Cars perform at Brattleboro. These are teams that very likely included Cheshire in their weekly schedule.	Courtesy of Snape Family via Chrystal Snape Cars perform at Brattleboro. They're from the right era for Cheshire.

  
Walt Perkins Photo
Future NASCAR National Modified Champion enjoys a wins at Safford Park in 1957.

Ladabouche Collection
Victory Lane fills up at Safford Park in the 1950's.

Courtesy of Ken Robertson Tom Forcier's car, in 1959 - near the end of the track's life.	Courtesy of Ken Robertson Sonny Rabideau's 7, just before Sonny moved on to the DN3 and later to Stroker Smith's 311.	Courtesy of Davis Family Buster Dyer and Wally Hadlock at Claremont. They raced at a time where they'd likely have run at Cheshire .	Courtesy of Davis Family An early version of the Chet Cashman 37, which could have run at Cheshire.	Courtesy of Snape Family via Dave Dykes Cecil Bosworth drove for Fred Snape in the early years. Ergo, the combo probably ran Cheshire.	Courtesy of Snape Family via Chrystal Snape Sonny Rabideau [ drove for the Cazchini DN3 team out of Northhampton, MA after Lionel Arel.
Courtesy of Snape Family via Chrystal Snape Ed Cormie also drove the Fred Snape 26 in this time period.	Courtesy of Snape Family via Chrystal Snape I have seen this car in some picture of action at Cheshire.	Courtesy of Davis Family via Neal Davis Roy "Pappy" Forsyth.	Courtesy of Brad Charland Rene Charland, with one of the Leo Matte cars he could have run at Cheshire.	Courtesy of The Davis Family via Neal Davis Roger Dutton's 657.	Courtesy of CJ Richards Local hero Buddy Bardwell.
Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Cecil Bosworth would go from his own 2, to cars for owners like Stroker Smith and Chet Cashman.	Courtesy of James Howard Dave Todd, brother - in - law of Ted Brown, used a graphic scheme similar to Ted's.	Courtesy of Don Rounds, Jr. Don Rounds came out of Rhode Island and ran att the track in the '50's.	Courtesy of the Davis Family via Neal Davis Ted Brown and his signature 92 was a huge star in NH racing for years.	Courtesy of dt Collection Dick Stone was a 1954 competitor at Brattleboro. So, he likely tried Cheshire at least some.	Courtesy of dt Collection West Brattleboro's Flash Gordon was a 1954 competitor at Brattleboro. So, he likely tried Cheshire at least some also.
Courtesy of Racers Bored Site Dick Stone was a competitor at Rhytm Inn. So, he likely tried Cheshire at least some.	Courtesy of Walt Ryan Joe Ryan.	Courtesy of dt Collection #51 Kison was a 1954 competitor at Brattleboro. Not sure if it is the same 51 team as the Snape photo shows.	Courtesy of P. Chastenay West Bridgewater, VT's fur trapper Lloyd Severance was a regular at tracks in that area at that time.	Courtesy of P. Chastenay Mike Cody.	Ladabouche photo NH's Ray Harris drove his U2's and cars for Chet Cashman. Actually, this one is a former Cashman 37.
Ladabouche Collection Sometimes. Charland drove this car during this time.	Courtesy of Racers Bored Big Ed Patnode took over this Leo Matte ride after Charland left.	Courtesy of Walt Renner Tom Cook, shown here at Rhythmn Inn, was likely a Cheshire runner, as well.	Daily Eagle Photo Larry Eaton.	From HAMB Site Keene's Leo Howland and one of his earlier cars.	Courtesy of Walt Perkins Lionel Arel [all white with cigar] and the DN3 car The Beast.
Claremont Daily Eagle Photo Gene Pysz, Goshen, NH	Courtesy of Checkered Review Reggie Brown	Courtesy of Dave Dykes Whitey Brainerd with his cutdown.	Courtesy of Chip Cormie Ray Brown of Springfield. MA - often confused with New York's Ray "Zero" Brown.	Courtesy of Ernie Bodreau Car Owner Stroker Smith [1st in line] and owner/driver Henry Courtemanche prepare to tow to Cheshire.	Source Unknown Sonny Rabideau with his brother's 7 - said to be his 1st ride.
Courtesy of P. Chastenay If Shorty Collins ran Brattleboro and Claremont - he probably did Cheshire too.	Courtesy of Kevin Brown Connecticut's Hoppy Jensen raced all over in this era. He likely landed at Cheshire a few times.	Courtesy of Bob Bonin Connecticut's HoppThe Bill Lenny 99, said to be a car Art Rousseau drove at Keene.

Ladabouche Collection This series of four shots was labeled as "98 Wreck" at Cheshire but I think it is just an old stock car.	Ladabouche Collection This series of four shots was labeled as "98 Wreck" at Cheshire but I think it is just an old stock car.	Ladabouche Collection This series of four shots was labeled as "98 Wreck" at Cheshire but I think it is just an old stock car.	Ladabouche Collection This series of four shots was labeled as "98 Wreck" at Cheshire but I think it is just an old stock car.	Courtesy of Cho Lee A crowd around Victory Lane at Cheshire.	Ladabouche Collection A driver or mechanic makes his way up into the stands.
Ladabouche Photo The backstretch today at Cheshire with Rte 1o in the background.	Ladabouche Photo Coming out of turn 2 at Cheshire today	Ladabouche Photo The frontstretch today at Cheshire with the newer stands set back from their original positions.	Ladabouche Photo The frontstretch today at Cheshire heading into the first turn.	Ladabouche Photo Looking back down the front straightaway.	Terraserver Photo Aerial view today of Safford Park Speedways at the Cheshire Couty fairgrounds near Keene, NH.
Courtesy of James Howard via Cho Lee Safford Park Pit Steward Ben Creamer awards Hattie Todd, who would also marry driver Ted Brown in this time period.	Source Unknown The Bob Oliver team with their 621 cutdown. This is said to be at Cheshire. Art Rousseau, driver, is at left.	Courtesy of Ken Robertson The Frank Smith team works on their 311 cutdown on the frontstretch. This is before Sonny Rabideau drove it.	Courtesy of James Howard via Cho Lee A young Ken Squier, sometimes the announcer at Safford Park, awards a man a plaque.	Courtesy of James Howard via Cho Lee A very young rRene Charland, sporting an award and a T Shirt that must indicate what ar he was driving there at the time.	Courtesy of James Howard via Cho Lee Someone in a wheelchair is being awarded a trophy on th platform off the announcer's tower at Cheshire.

 
Jeff Adams Collection
The Flying Finn, Reino Tulonen of Fitchburg, MA plies the Billington Hisso Big Car at Safford Park in the 1940's.

Brattleboro Reformer 1954 Serious injury to Big Ed Patnode- Part 1.

Brattleboro Reformer 1954 Serious injury to Big Ed Patnode- Part 2.

Brattleboro Reformer 1954 Serious injury to Big Ed Patnode. Fans help- Part 1.

Brattleboro Reformer 1954 Serious injury to Big Ed Patnode. Fans help- Part 2.

Keene Evening Sentinel A piece about the cars racing there, with emphasis on Buddy Bardwell. 1955.

Keene Evening Sentinel A piece about the cars racing there, with emphasis on Buddy Bardwell. 1955.

Keene Evening Sentinel May 9, 1955 Season opener.	Keene Evening Sentinel May 9, 1955 Season opener results list.	Keene Evening Sentinel May 31, 1955 Memorial Day program won by George Janoski and Art Cody.	Keene Evening Sentinel September 26, 1955 Rene Charland and George Schnyer win . Sometimes it looked like Charland would never lose.	Keene Evening Sentinel November, 1955 A seemingly small turnout for the season banquet.	Keene Evening Sentinel May 20, 1956 Season opener.
Keene Evening Sentinel 1956 largest crowd of season. Part 1.	Keene Evening Sentinel 1956 largest crowd of season. Part 2.	Keene Evening Sentinel 1956 largest crowd of season. Part 1.	Keene Evening Sentinel August, 1956 Charland and Roy Forsyth winners.	Keene Evening Sentinel 1956 They suffered through a rainy September that year.	Keene Evening Sentinel 1956 - 4 wins !.
Keene Evening Sentinel Looks like someone called this race that name before Thunder Road did. This is 1955.		Rutland Daily\Herald 1960 - Rabideau injured.	Brattleboro Reformer September, 1960. Mike Cody winner.

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