FAIRMONT SPEEDWAY

The site was first used as Fairmont Park, a nice little horse track and fair grounds. These are three views found by Mrs.
Dorothy St. John, whose husband I believe was an official at Fairmont for a while.

Art Morgan [43], Steve Danish [white car] and two others compete on
the Pico Raceway. They were all from the Fairmont Raceway era.

Fairmont Speedway gets its name from the fact it was situated at the old Fair Haven Fairgrounds, just on the New York border, on Route 4 in Fair Haven, Vermont. The track history is actually in two phases. Phase I is in the late 1940's early '50's period. Atone point it was apparently named Fairmont Park Motor Speedway. However, period article from the Rutland Herald indicate that a vast majority of the 1950's years, it was called Fairmont Raceway. Drivers at the time usually came from New York, as the rival Pico Raceway in Rutland was taking most of the local competitors.

C.J. RIchards insisted it went by Fairmont Raceway, at one point. He is probably closer to right than I, being a Fair Haven resident and all. It would later re-open under the ownership of the Young family and promotership of a young Charles J. Richards - but not until the early 1960's. The many ads and articles in local papers always used the "Raceway" name, so I stand corrected. I had also previously believed that the Hugh Young promotion essentially only went from 1950 through 1952. We now know there were a few shows in 1949, and the track was still operating full through at least 1953.

The young promotion had its ups and downs, but they had the satisfaction of outlasting the upstart Pico Raceway by a season or more. Young had to survive the much - publicized Marty Vinci death of 1951. THe facts now seem to point that Vinci was in or on his truck on the grounds of the track when an errant wheel struck and ulitmately killed him. Fairmont Raceway also had a few legal wrangles with Pico and was involved with the controversy when Pico ousted Manchester's Dave Brooks for an alledgedly illegal car [and Fairmont wlcomed him in].

The facility staged some harness racing ithe late '50's, before Richards took it over in 1962.

Courtesy of John Nelson
1951 Rutland Herald article about the competition with Pico

In between the two Fairmont eras is one instance where the Vermont State Fair in Rutland, Vermont had stock cars from Lebanon Valley perform. This was no easy feat considering how dangerous the old Vermont State Fair horse track was. After several serious injuries during various stock car shows, the fair no longer allowed cars to race there. But that visit by the LV cars that year did more to lay promotional groundwork for CJ Richards than anything else could have. CLICK HERE to see a page on that show.

Phase II is the better - known time at Fairmont - the promotorship of Charles "C. J." Richards [and the ownership of Hugh Young of nearby Young's Farm Equipment]. This is the time that the Fairmont Auto Racing Association [FARA] was conceived. When Richards had had enough grief from the town of Fair Haven over, dust, noise, and traffic, he moved the operation north, up Route 22A, to West Haven on some land owned by the family. Here he started the present-day and well-known Devil's Bowl Speedway.

Gene Tatro, Manchester Depot, VT Gene started out in the 1950's driving tracks like Fairmont, Pico, and even Stateline. This may have been like his cars of that era. Courtesy of Bud Brooks	Courtesy of C.J. Richards Wally LaBelle, Glens Falls, NY	Steve Danish Cropseyville, NY More than likely, New York's legend visited the early Fairmont track, as it was so close to Danish's home base.	Courtesy of C.J. Richards Spence Parkhurst, 36 Saratoga Springs, NY Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Spence leads a Fairmont heat lineup, with Geo. Pritchard second.	ourtesy of Hoffer Family via Ron Hoffer Eddie Porter, Argyle, NY
Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Hank Schmidt, Gansevoort, NY	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois George Pritchard of Castleton ran regularly at Fairmont. This sure looks like him. The car is the rear seems to be associated with the well-known RU21 team out of NY.	Courtesy of Dan Ody Kenny Shoemaker, Whitehall, NY Shown here with his first car owner, Cliff LaRose, the future hall of famer began at tracks like Fairmont with LaRose's car # FIRE 1.	Danish Family Collection This is the full size of this photo. It supposedly shows Steve at Fairmont Raceway after a race. I don't know much about that tower in the background. Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois	Courtesy of Hoffer Family via Ron Hoffer Bob Hoffer, Argyle, NY
Courtesy of Ed Fabian Tony Provencher, Proctor, VT This was taken at Pico before the car was painted white and red. Provencher was much more successful at Fair Haven than Pico.	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Vic Love, Fair Haven, VT This is associated with the George Rogers team.	Jerry King Collection Jerry King, Rutland, VT King was a regular at Pico, but most probably ran at Fairmont a few times.	Jerry KingCollection George Connors, Danby, Vermont 6 and 7/8	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois George Rogers, Castleton, VT
Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Charlie Morse, N. Adams, MA Occasionally the car would be driven by Cliff Giroux.	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Unknown Car - likely Fairmont, PIco or both.	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Clarence Rock, Burlington, VT Part of Ivanhoe Smith's Enterprise that also owned Colchester Raceway. Willard Rock was co-owner	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois P.38, Nelson Moore Granville, NY Likely, owned by the Loomis Family. The car was also driven by a Ward Latterell in those days.	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Ray Sanborn, Andover, NH
Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois This car 15 is almost certainly that of Castleton's Thayer [called Bud in Fairmont articles and George in Pico articles].	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Unknown Car. Possibly West Brattleboro Spdwy regular Shorty Rollins.	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Dave Brooks, Manchester, VT	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois The old Fairmont with a heat on the track. 36, Spence Parkhurst; 37, George Pritchard; George Gowie has the hood up; and George Rogers appears to be lined up third.	Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois Don LeFrancois, Jerry King's righthand man. [Facing camera]
Via Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's Leon Goddard, Connecticut Shown here at Pico in 1951.	Troy NY Times Record Ted Langlous, Putnam, CT Shown here at Stateline in 1952.	Via Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's Harold Kyer, Schgaticoke Hill, NY Shown here in 1951 at Stateline.	Bob McDowell Photo via Phil Miller Leo Nadeau, Schuylerville, NY Shown here at Stateline in 1951.	Via Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's Vic Smith, Gansevoort, NY Car 5&10 shown at far left here.

When Fairmont was still in its early days, local boys from Stockbridge, VT decided they were going there and try their luck racing. I would have to assume this was 1950 because, had it been 1951, the Pico Raceway would have opened in Rutland - much less of a tow for them. In October the track decided to have a match race with the two brothers. Doug had this external roll cage monster, while Earl had built a more standard coupe. Earl won by a nose. You were more apt to see cars like Doug's racing in northern Vermont and New Hampshire.

These are mostly quite poor, but they are rare glimpses into an era of the track that few of us today really remember. [I was 6, myself]

As if to preview his promotion and to re-acquaint Rutland County folks with stock cars, C.J. Richards helped get the Lebanon Valley cars up to visit the fair in 1960.
Johnny Flach [above] was one of those drivers. Click here to go to a page that covers racing at a number of Vermont fair venues.

[above] C.J. Richards, the new promoter of Fairmont, had inked a deal with prominent Lebanon Valley star Johnny Flach, of East Westerlo, NY. to appear at his opening. Flach never showed up, for whatever reason, but the inaugural race was a success anyway. [below] Richards poses proudly with the sign for his new speedway outside of Fair Haven, Vermont.

Courtesy of Norm Vadnais - From Quenneville Tribute Program
The lineup for the first of CVRA's features at Fairmont. I can only make out Joe Spellburg [#7, 4th row]
and Dick Gerard [inside, row #2]. It was actually 1962.

Courtesy of Mike Bruno - Likely Bob Frazier Photo
The lineup from the turn one perspective. Look how woefully inadequate those first bleachers were.

Historian Marty Kelly, Jr. has made available several Rutand Herald News Cippings from the Inaugural season at Fairmont. Click on the links below to look at pages I have made. up. Each shows a number of clippings and -where possible - photos of cars or people mentioned in those articles.

BELOW IS A RARE COPY OF A 1963 FAIRMONT PROGRAM
Another copy of the same program, later in the season, had an updated roster in a separated page, stapled on inside. Sorry, the scanner could not pick up the true green color very well. I have another, 1964 edition, but it is so cut up it isn't worth scanning.

C.J. Richards [2nd from right] with a few of his early officials. Starter Danny Rumpf is at far left. Tom St. John looks like James Dean.

[Left] Joe Spellburg's #7 sedan with Dick Gerard's 737. Behind is the 33 1/3 of Len Baker or maybe Red Smith. [Right] Future Vermont State Champion George Rogers.

[Left] The Checkmate - either John Quenneville or Phil Russell, behind #19, which might have been someone named Tom Bennett,
from the old Ashland Park Speedway in Warrensburg, NY. [Right] John Ballantine's 61 beside an unidentified car.

Buddy Bardwell of Keene, NH - with his more-familiar bullhorns car [
not the one with which he won the first feature of that year at Fairmont].

Ladabouche Photo Previously unheralded Bill Threw, of West Glens Falls, NY, won the second feature race of the CJ Richards era . Courtesy of Norm Vadnais From Dan Ody's 8MM Oldd Speedways DVD's Ladabouche Photo	\ Cecil Bosworth of Athol, MA and car owner George Ingalls [right], of Hillsboro,NH, were an almost unbeatable team for the first few years of Fairmont. Ladabouche Photo Davis Family Photo	Ladabouche Collection Local favorite Charlie LaDuc of Orwell, VT moved up from the hobby division to the sportsman cars by 1964. The car was purchased from former Otter Creek driver Dick Hawkins of Ferrisburg, VT.	Rutland Herald Photo Fairmont's first starter, Danny Rumpf of Saratoga, NY starts a field of Fairmont cars at the Vermont State Fair in 1964. On the pole is the About 5 of Art Rivers, an early regular at Fairmont. Also visible are Ray Richards [RR] and Vic Love. #30 was a driver named Griffin. The day did not go well for Rivers, seen below flipping over a small retaining wall as John Quenneville goes by. Photo fromWes Moody
Ladabouche Photo Veteran competitor Gene Tetraeult of Manchester Depot, Vt. started the year driving for Kenny Martin and then brought back his own cars. Rutland Herald Photo via Davis Family n From Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's	Rutland Herald Photo George Rogers, of Castleton, VT, was an eventual Vermont State Champion. Another veteran, he had run against Tatro in the old Fairmont era. Bob Frazier Photo	Dan Goewey Photo Lebanon Valley star George Goewey came to Fairmont occasionally, without much success. Ladabouche Photo	Ladabouche Photo Leo Howland, of Keene, NH, ran consistently in the early years. Curt Dragon's 1st 31
Ladabouche Photo Ted Brown of Keene, NH, won a number of features at Fairmont and Otter Creek. He also had a horrendous crash at Fairmont in 1963.	Ladabouche Photos Eventual superstar Vince Quenneville of Whiting, VT.	Ladabouche Photo "Little Joe" D'Avignon, Cornwall, VT. Courtesy of Davis Family Bob Frazier Photo Ladabouche Collection 1963 version	Ladabouche Photo Mike Cody, of Keene, NH, ran at a number of Vermont tracks, including Fairmont. His brother, Art, was better known at Fairmont while Mike was familiar to Thunder Road fans. Ladabouche Photo Wilfred Gereard's 737. Mike apparently drove this car with some success around 1963.
Ladabouche Photo Roger Gauthier, Fort Edward, NY Norm Scarborough's 107	Ladabouche Photos George Proctor, Crescent, NY Ladabouche Photo	Ladabouche and Visconti Photos Art Visconti, Granville, NY	Ladabouche Photo Don Leffler, E.Greenbush, NY
Ladabouche Photo Don Davis, Clarendon, VT	Ladabouche Photo Bob Ridgeway, Schenectady, NY	Ladabouche Photo Red Smith, Athol, NY Part of the Warrensburg Gang	Bob Frazier Photo New Yorker, Ralph "Rufus" Chittenden, Lebanon, NY - a veteran from Lebanon Valley, the Pine Bowl, and other Albany region tracks, ran very well at Fairmont.
Courtesy of Pascal Cote Website Guy Chartrand made a dramatic guest visit to Fairmont and blew the rear end on lap 98 of a 100 lapper. Steve Danish won one of the last races of his career, as a result.	Otto Graham Website-Russ Bergh Photo Peppy Peppecelli, Schenectady, NY was a surprise visitor from Fonda - and ended up dented ! Photo Courtesy of Ed Fabian	Ladabouche Photo Roger Bolton The Art Wilson 8 Ball out of Chestertown, NY	Photo Courtesy of James Howard Pete Corey made one visit to Fairmont and blew away the field. Photo Courtesy of Ed Fabian
Ladabouche Photo Skip Wilcox, Whitehall, NY and Trenton, NJ One of the Julius Mestyan Cars	Courtesy of Paul Zampieri Buddy Bardwell, Keene, NH Courtesy of the Davis Family The familiar Hudson - powered bullhorns car	Ladabouche Photo Chet Doaner, Rutland, VT Courtesy of Marty Kelly, Jr. The same car when bought by Bob Taylor of Mendon, VT.	Kent "Dizzy" Davis, Rutland, VT [With his former Ken Delong coupe]
Ladabouche Photo The Loomis Brothers, from Granville, NY. This car may have also run at the old Mettawee Speedway.	Ladabouche Photo Bob Hoffer, Argyle, NY	Photo probably by McDowell Joe Messina, from the Albany, NY area. Shown here at the Pine Bowl, in Snyders Corners, NY. Messina raced this Hudson and another numbered 3 1/7 at Fairmont. Courtesy of Ed Fabian	Ladabouche Photo Mac McDonald, North Adams, MA
Ladabouche Photo This car was variously driven by NY veteran Orlando Pappas;and Foster Wendell, Greenfield Ctr., NY; Wendell owned it.	A 1963 Fairmont Program, provided by the first name on the roster - Art Visconti	Ladabouche Photo Frazier Photo Two versions of the Famous 6 Pak of Ed Baker, Warrensburg, NY	Courtesy ofArnie Ainsworth Later version of the Butch Jelley Y- out of Pownal, VT. The Riiska's ad on the hood shows the transition he would soon make to Riiska's X team. Click Here for Butch's own page.
Courtesy of 3 Wide Site Color Photo Courtesy of Saratoga Automobile Museum Connecticut superstar George Janowski made a few appearances at Fairmont.	Ladabouche Photo Rosie Rosendahl, New Hampshire	Ladabouche Photo Elmer Erickson, Proctor, VT Ladabouche Photo Likely, a former Rosendahl car.	Ladabouche Photo Roger Dutton, Keene, NH Bob Frazier Photo via C.J. Richards Roger Dutton, winning a heat. Check out the crowd size.
Cho Lee T-Road Collection Bucky Dragon [#6] Ripton, VT The Norm Cyr 6 Ladabouche Photos	Ladabouche Photo Leo Howland, Keene, NH His own car	Val Blicarcz Photo Jim Koehler, Coventry, CT Bob Novak Photo Ladabouche Photo Jim's famous mechanic, Orchid, is at the front of the car. Ladabouche Photo [He's the Shadow]	From Conde/Parry Site Bob Frazier Photo Some drivers and race teams from the Mid-State Speedway at Morris, NY fairgrounds would race at Fairmont. One such driver was Ralph Chittenden and a team was the #43 car of Donny Wayman. Ladabouche Photo
Wayne Carter Photo Bud Wilder, Hancock, NH This former Roger Dutton 657 likely was junked. The other 657 lives on, in Florida.	Ladabouche Photo Butch Jelley, Pownal, VT Ladabouche Photo Butch occasionally raced this old Ed Winn M2 after Frank Hatch had retired.	Photo Courtesy of The Davis Family Donnie "The Golden Jet" Miller Windsor, VT Ladabouche Photo Woody Woodbury Photo	Courtesy of Davis Family Lefty Casey, Manchester, VT Ladabouche Photo
Ladabouche Photo Tom Bennett, Warrensburgh, NY Photo Courtesy of LA West	Courtesy of Neal Davis Sonny Rabideau, Brattleboro, VT This shot shows flagger Danny Rumpf. Note the people clinging to the roof of the sign-in shack, in the background. Ladabouche Collection	Courtesy of Woody Woodbury Walt Brown, Jr, Keene, NH Courtesy of Brown Family Ladabouche Photo	Ladabouche Photo Ed Foley, Leicester, VT Courtesy of Neal Davis Courtesy of Norm Vadnais
Photo Courtesy of James Howard Lou Searing, Oak Hill, NY Part of the Fred Searing Ridge Runner Racing Team along with Johnny Flach, Mert Hulbert, and Stan Wetmore. Photo Courtesy of Rick Parry Lou Searing[left[ and Stan Wetmore[right] were Johnny Flach's crew at this stage of their lives.	Ladabouche Photo Bruce Carman, Shaftsbury, VT Bruce built those well-performing #23's for Mert Hulbert [ One is shown below] Photo from Arnie Ainsworth	Ladabouche Photo Vic Love, Fair Haven, VT	Ladabouche Photo Al Rodd, Shushan, NY From Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's From Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's Chasing Leo Howland and another car at Fairmont in 1962.
Ladabouche Photo Jerry King, Rutland, VT Courtesy of Jerry King	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Phil Russell, Salisbury; VT or John Quenneville, Whiting, VT Courtesy of LA West Ladabouche Photo	Ladabouche Photo Dick Pennock, Warrensburg, NY Later version of the car that appeared on opening day and was wrecked at the first night race C.J. held at Fairmont.	Ladabouche Photo Bob Boyd, Salem, NY Probably meant to be a team car to Al Rodd.
Courtesy of Otto Graham Site Jerry Townley took the feature of one of C.J. Richards' shows at the Vermont State Fairgrounds. This was in the Thomas Chewins #108 out of Catskill, NY, before Jerry took over the Floyd Wilcox #32 at Fonda. Russ Bergh Photo	Cavalcade of Racing Photo Ralph Palmer, Pittsford, VT Bill Ladabouche Photo	Bob Frazier Photo via Chris Companion Ray RIchards, West Haven, VT	Courtesy of Chris Companion George Rogers, Castleton, VT George gets flag from starter and Chet Hames protege Danny Rumpf
Courtesy of Chris Companion Ladabouche Photo Another car of Chet Doaner	Courtesy of Chris Companion Vince Quenneville, Sr. at speed	Ladabouche Photo Russ Blake, Pittsfield, MA Russ tells me that we see Jumbo Williamson [right] loading up after a rainout. The other man is Bo Green, one of the very first black race drivers. Ladabouche Photo	Ladabouche Photo Jim Langenback, Pittsfield, MA A friend of Russ Blake. Russ tells me Jim got badly burned in this car. The owner was Bert Morrissey, & built by Joe Messina. I mistakenly id'd Jim as Ed Zackenback.
Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Kenny Martin, Fair Haven, VT The 1st Julius Mestyan car. Mestyan's team would eventually build at least six cars in three years. Ladabouche Photo Kenny Martin's Second Car *The 4th Mestyan Car*	Ladabouche Photo John Luleck, Poultney, VT *The 3rd Mestyan Car* Courtesy of Mike Richards John Luleck [rt] with mechanic Don Ballantine. *Former Mestyan Car*	Ladabouche Photo Driver Unknown *The 5th Mestyan Car*	Ladabouche Photo Skip WIlcox, Whitehall, NY Likely, the 2nd Mestyan Car
Ladabouche Photo Probably Scott Nichols, Argyle, NY The number and Car associated with the Hoffer family.	Ladabouche Photo Carl Moore, North Adams, MA	Ladabouche Photo Glens Falls car owner Allie Swears brought his durable sportsman coupe to Fairmont for a season - end race, with either Nelson Moore or Dutch Reed as driver....	Ladabouche Photo This was the result. I'm not sure they used the car again.
Ladabouche Photo John Ryan brought this Lebanon Valley late model - bodied sportsman to Fairmont in 1964. The rough track broke something in the suspension.	Ladabouche Photos Ray Sutliffe, South Glens Falls, NY	Ladabouche Photo Jim Spaulding, Fair Haven, VT	Ladabouche Photo Bill Hodges, Avon, CT It may have been Jim Koehler using a racing pseudonym
Courtesy of Bob Novak Fairmont driver Roger Gauthier brought his Fonda and Victoria ride, the snazzy Charles Habreck 53, to the track for one show.	Ladabouche Photo Irish Ed Kelly, Granville, NY	Art Visconti [left] and Irish Ed Kelly were Granville neighbors who exchanged a Fairmont stock car. And yet - it was Art who looked Irish and Ed who looked Italian. Go figure.	Ladabouche Photo Stan Wetmore, Oak Hills, NY Using the Searing car and number made famous by Johnny Flach.
	Courtesy of Woody Woodbury Bob Taylor, Chittenden, VT

Ladabouche Photo
Sonny Rabideau, seen here after his 1962 vermont State Championship win, was frequently dominant during this period at Fairmont.

Courtesy of Paul Zampieri, via Ken Paulsen
This photo, erroneously thought to be Malletts Bay, is a recently - discovered shot of Danny Rumpf starting a heat at Fairmont. I can recognize the 22 and 1/2 on the outside pole.
In the next row is a later version of the About 5, and Art Visconti is furthest to the right.

Courtesy of Ed Fabian
Another photo that is best shown at full size, so I made it into a thumbnail, as well. I have found out that this is apparently Loren "Dutch" Reed, with a #14.
This may be the same 14 that Earl Maille got hurt in at Warrensburgh. If so, the thing is kind of a jinx.

This 1964 CVRA Calendar cover shows highlights from one of the best years Richards enjoyed at Fairmont. Besides some of the best local cars, he had regular visits from Fonda, Claremont, and Lebanon Valley teams.

Cavalcade of Auto Racing Photo
Chuck Richards and two of his CVRA officials, posing in 1962 - the first
year of Fairmont Speedway.

Chet Doaner's unusual Al Romano - built coupe leads a dusty feature. The legendary Hudson of Buddy Bardwell [13] gives chase. Bardwell still drives this car at vintage meets. See below.

Bob Frazier Photo Courtesy of C.J. Richards
Danny collects the flag from Roger Dutton of Keene, NH.

Three notable entries here: The Unbeatable Lennie Wood, Tim Baker, and Charlie Laduc.
The Gene Hoard 55A was one of the divisions earlier prominent cars - well before Wood,
Baker, or Laduc had emerged.

James Blackmer,
Brandon, VT

Jim is often recognized as the very first Hobby Class competitor.

Hank Schmidt,
Gansevoort, NY

One of the first quality-built hobby class cars.

Dexter Dorr,
Manchester, Vt,.

Future prominent car builder - he built the first high - tech late model in the hobby division.

Neal Davis Photo [right]

Graham Trudo,
Orwell, VT

Graham Trudo built the most elaborately - engineered car of the era. It was almost a modified. According to local lore, an old farmer suggested setting the motor back "just like a tractor" - for more stability.

Cavalcade of Auto Racing.

The Unbeatable Lennie Wood

West Pawlet, VT

The Maguire F30 Chevy

Cavalcade Photo and Bob Frazier Photo

Charlie Towsley,
Dorset, VT

Chuck Ely,
Pownal, VT

An in-law of legendary Butch Jelley, Ely found the most notoriety as a racing photographer.

Courtesy of Arnie Ainsworth

Rutland Herald Photo
Barry Purdy,
North Bennington, VT

Purdy drove at Fairmont before this shot at Devil's Bowl

Cavalcade Photo

Photographer Unknown

Tommie Correllis
Mechanicsville, NY

He made rare appearances at Fairmont. This shot is at Malta.

Fairmont_Hobby_Class_Turn_One.JPG (195560 bytes)

Cavalcade Photo

Hobby class cars pile up in Turn One. Don Accavello [1], Bob Ames [P59], Rene Rochon [38], Charlie Towsley [white Ford], and Rusty Duell [Studebaker]. Spinning car unknown driver from Warrensburg, NY

Jerry King Collection

Bob Frazier Photo

Ralph Soulia,
Rutland, VT

Neal Davis Photo

Cavalcade Photo

Phil LaDuc
Brandon, VT

ACT Archives

Future legend Beaver Dragon came down from Milton, VT to dislodge the Unbeatable Lennie Wood from victory lane. The hard-driving Dragon finished second in the very time he ever SAW the Fairmont track- with this car.

Cavalcade of Racing Photo

Ray Richards,
West Haven, VT

One of the hobby division's first real stars. With tires bought at the local Factory Outlet and with
ether bought at the local drug store, he could fly.

Courtesy of Chris Companion

Charlie LaDuc,
Orwell, VT

LaDuc Family Photo

LaDuc Family Photo

Harry Duffany, Jr.,
Shoreham, VT

Ladabouche Photo

Tim Baker
Dorset, VT

First Car

LaDuc FamilyPhoto

Tim, in a heat lineup,
in front of
Charlie LaDuc

Frazier Photo
Ladabouche Collection

Vern Hall
Bomoseen, VT

Blackmer Brothers Car

LaDuc Family Photo

Ronnie Woods
Ludlow, VT

LaDuc Family Photo

Woods drove the
big white sedan in the
front of the lineup.

From Dan Ody's 8MM Old Speedways DVD's

An unknown white sedan whose full number may not be visible. Driver also UNK.

Warrensburgh Hist. Soc. Photo

Sim Hall
Warrensburgh, NY

Ladabouche Photo

Louie Senecal,
Proctor, VT.

This horrid double exposure shows one of the more unusual cars to ever run in the class -
a six cylinder Plymouth. [Also, the first
car I ever lettered].

Bob Frazier Photo
vias Cavalcade of Auto Racing

Rusty Duell,
Warrensburgh, NY.

Warrensburgh cars tended to be numbered with the driver's initials and a number.

Bob Frazier Photo

Courtesy of Woody Woodbury

Bob Taylor,
Chittenden, VT

Ever since the days of the old Mettawee Speedway in Granville, New York, the Loomis family, known for heir trucking firm, has been active in stock car racing. Someone in the family clearly served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War Two, because most of their race cars bore the numbers of particular WWII fighter planes: P61 and P38.

The Loomises showed up during the first year C.J. Richards had re-opened the old Fairmont Park Motor Speedway as Fairmont Speedway. Since that early participation, their car

Long before very many people were scrubbing labels off cans and agonizing over recycling everything, Vermont race drivers were recycling their race cars. It seems that not everyone either had the resources, the time, or the equipment to build cars from scratch; so, a race car that appeared to be well-made might change hands a number of times. This 1940 Ford - originally from New York - is one of the best examples of this I have ever seen.

When C.J. first re-opened Fairmont, the Hoffer family from Argyle, NY came to the track with a fairly noteworthy-looking '40 Ford, numbered X9, under the banner of the Argyle Racing Team. The following is text from a column I wrote for Otto Graham about this car:

In the Golden Age of stock car racing, some cars barely lasted two weeks before being relegated to the junk pile behind the ol’ gas station - and some just went on and on. One such miracle of longevity was a 1939 or 1940 Ford built out of Argyle, New York by a guy named Bob Hoffer. Hoffer’s outfit went by the moniker of The Argyle Racing Team [not surprisingly] and they showed up at C.J. Richards’ newly-re-opened Fairmont Speedway in 1962 with this snazzy red and white coupe numbered X9. Hoffer 's rig was a little unique, due to the two lengthy exhaust pipes that protruded out the sides of the car, resting up on the top of the rear fenders. Most everyone else’s “headers” were located on the sides, just above ground level. The Argyle racing Team had chosen an effective color scheme and they had some color coordination with uniform and hauler as well. A rare sight in 1962.

I don’t know if this was their first experience or whether they had been racing somewhere over in New York previously - at White’s Beach, the Pine Bowl, Fonda, Richfield Springs, or some other of the myriad of little tracks dotting the landscape in those days. I know this - they didn’t seem to be neophytes. The X9 picture shown with the article shows Bob himself, backing the car into his area in the infield at the Vermont State Fairgrounds in Rutland, Vermont, in the Fall of 1962. The car was belching a goodly amount of oil smoke at the time. The X9 never really had that much success, but they looked good.

The following year, a modestly notorious driver from Whiting, Vermont named Vincent Quenneville showed up at Fairmont with that Ford, now painted an amateurish red with the numerals 00 replacing Hoffer’s X9. The car looked a lot less impressive, but it drove a whole more impressively with the future Hall of famer behind the wheel. Vince was, most likely, already receiving help from the the crusty genius of the local Addison County local racers - Norm Scarborough by that time. While not qualifying for charm school very often, the huge Scarborough could make most any car fly. Quenneville ran the Ford for the 1963 season, and although I have no access to the points of those years, I’ll bet he finished right up there.

Quenneville would then go on to hook up with possibly his most successful car owner, and he sold his Ford to the same guy he had s old his 1962 car to - Art Visconti of Granville, New York. Visconti proceeded to paint the car in the same distinctive butterscotch and white color scheme and number the car his familiar 001 - probably because Quenneville had sold him a 00 the year before - and it was easier not to change the numbers that much. Visconti was never a man to have too much success at Fairmont, although this car probably brought him better finishes than any other he had.

Visconti had bigger and better ideas for 1964 - and Quenneville no longer owned his own cars, so Art built his own. The Ford next [and lastly] showed up at the track with another Granville man, Ed Kelly. Kelly had returned the scheme to some thing more resembling Hoffer’s, and had numbered the thing as XK. I believe Ed may have finally wrecked the car - I don’t really remember; but, that ended the run of Fairmont Speedway’s most long- lived stock car.

Mike Visconti , Art's son, tells me of seeing what appeared to be the old 1940 Ford with the exhaust pipes built off the rear fenders back on the Hoffer Farm in Argyle. If he was correct, it was sitting with a number of other old stock cars in a sort of sand pit on the farm.

By 1965, C. J. Richards was already looking for somewhere else to race. His Fairmont location at the old Fair Haven fairgrounds was running thin on good clay, and the town was giving him major grief about noise and traffic [while enjoying the tax and business revenues the track afforded them]. He had gone to almost exclusive night racing and was running Saturdays, by now.

Courtesy of Ed Fabian
A 1966 feature field parades in turns one and two. M3, Bob Leach; 8NH Ted Brown; 311 Sonny Rabideau in a flathead car; Ted Brown - 31:
Charlie Laduc 54; Vince Quenneville 3; white #60 the former Taggart/Dumas 0; 467 Carl Moore; Charlie McMahan J2; and Roger Gauthier
or Russ Shaw - 24.

Vince Quenneville leads Howard Stevens [333], Cecil Bosworth [far right] and George
Rogers out of turn two at Fairmont in 1965.

In this atmosphere of uncertainty came one of the best season he ever enjoyed in his earlier years. The fields of sportsman coupes that attended the races that year were fairly large and of a very high quality - given the fact he was up against Fonda, Claremont, and Lebanon Valley. He drew cars from the areas of all those tracks, as well as more good local drivers.

1965 Fairmont pit lineup before darkness closed in: from left [Art Johnson, Keene, NH; Vince Quenneville, Whiting, VT; and Harry "Boo" Duffany, Shoreham, VT. [Vince's old car]	Charlie McMahan, Rutland, VT The potent former Norm Scarborough Moonlight Gambler 107.	Mert "Socks" Hulbert, Oak Hill, NY	Rejean Field. a veteran Quebec driver made the haul every week, along with Frank Hodge.
Ladabouche Photo Bill Ferguson, Peacedale, Rhode Island	Ladabouche Photo Howard Stevens, Claremont, NH Popular Howard Stevens, from NH led the points through much of the season until car owner Leo Vaillancourt unexpectedly sold the car.	Ladabouche Photo Roger Gauthier, Fort Edward, NY He occasionally ran the Charles Habreck NASCAR coupe at Fairmont.	Ladabouche Photo Frank Hodge, Montreal, QU.
Dutch Reed, Glens Falls, NY Dutch started the year with Clayton Ryan's #11 Shelby Cobra Ford car, but ended the year with this unknown car owner. That's Dutch by the car. Cavalcade Photo HAMB Site Photo The best shot I have of the car.	A page from the Cavalcade of Auto Racing book - around the year 1965. Ted Brown is with the famous 8NH Rabideau with the 302, the car sold out from under Howard Stevens Gauthier is with the Norm Scarborough #24 Mustang - maybe Scarborough's best car ever.	Ladabouche Photo Russ Shaw, Bomoseen, VT A Norm Scarborough Car [Sedan above; later coupe [below] which was far more successful, leading the way to Scarborough's legendary Mustang. Cavalcade Photo [left]	Gauthier Family Photo - Roger Gauthier, Fort Edward, NY The A.G. Ryan Hay & Straw #28 Rutland Herald Photo Winning Vt. State Championship
Cavalcade Photo Johnny Richmond Peacedale, RI	Cavalcade Photo Bobby Leach Stafford Springs, CT	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Charlie Draper Wilmington, NY Charlie's little #1 alternated with the Curt Dragon #31 playing the role of the rabbit in almost every feature in 1966. The car was built by Shirley Wallace of Jay, NY.	Cavalcade Photo Dexter Dorr, Manchester, VT Vogel Family Photo Newly - built, arriving at Fairmont in 1965
Ladabouche Photo Bob Harrison The old Len Baker Me2	Ladabouche Photo Chet Hunt, driving as""Jim Mitchell" The Hammond & Strong 56CT	Courtesy of Bob Kilburn George Rogers, Castleton, VT He ran a 6 cylinder motor in 1965 and an overhead V8 in 1966.	Courtesy of Bob Kilburn Russ Shaw, Bomoseen, VT Russ Shaw with a just - constructed Norm Scarborough Mustang.
Val Blicarcz Photo Chet Doaner, Rutland, VT The Al Romano-built #5 Al tunes up the car.	Photo Courtesy of Neal Davis Ted Brown in Curt Dragon's #31 [Usually driven by Art Johnson]	Val Blicarcz Photo Vince Quenneville, Whiting, VT 1965 Version bought from Chuck Grime and Bob Vivari in Connecticut Cavalcade Photo The Gael Dundon #3 - one of the first truly state-of-the-art Sportsman class cars at Fairmont	Mike Watts Sr. Photo Vince Quenneville winning at Saranac Lake Speedway with the lowered car. 1966 Version was lowered, as the former pavement car was a struggle for Vince in '65 Val Blicarcz Photo As Gael loaded a pounded- up version of the car a year later, he must have been thinking about what had happened to his once - beautiful car.
Cavalcade Photo Cecil Bosworth, Athol, MA The sharp-looking Taggart/Dumas #0, out of Castleton, VT. The picture was of Beany....for Cecil. This was the legend's last ride until he and George Ingalls went up to Bear Ridge in 1968 with a 888. Rutland Herald Photo	Ladabouche Photo Jim Spaulding, Fair Haven, VT Jim [left] looks on as car owner Ray Richards and others work on the newly - installed overhead V-8. Ray had driven it as a flathead the previous year.	Ladabouche Photo Jim Koehler, Coventry, CT The crew unloads a sharp - looking new sportsman coupein 1966. It was demolished at Fonda later that year.	Cavalcade Photo Ted Brown, Keene, NH Roger Canfield's 8NH Falcon. Ted Vogel Photo
	Ladabouche Photo Jerry Pennock, Warrensburgh, NY Bill Fowler's 27Jr - a regular entry at Fonda Speedway.

Bob Frazier Photo Courtesy of C.J. Richards

This 1965 heat start shows Danny Rumpf signaling Gene Tetrault, Art
Visconti [001], Louie Searing [27] and Vince Quenneville.

Courtesy of James Howard
This grainy newspaper shot shows a sportsman feature field hitting turn one at Fairmont in 1965. George Rogers leads;
Chet Doaner, 2nd; Cecil Bosworth ande Vince Quenneville; and Jim Koehler far right. Can't make out the rest.

The following shots from his own Devil's Bowl programs show some of the competitors who showed up for the extra money. Some of these races took place at Otter Creek Speedway. I am not sure how they ended up in C.J.'s collection, unless he was already promoting the track by then. Others were clearly at Fairmont.

From a Devil's Bowl Program, Courtesy of Ed Fabian

From left - Jean-Guy Chartrand, Ron Narducci, Ken Shoemaker, and Pete Corey line up in front of the starter's stand at Fairmont.

Ken Shoemaker's car sits in the foreground at Otter Creek as Jack DuBrul [tall man in the center] talks with other drivers, The 14VT in the background is the Tucker car, and the white car at far right is either Harley Chamberlain or Howie Miller.

Will Cagle stands by his 24, behind Frankie Schneider and Buzzie Reutimann.|
This had to be a Fairmont show as Otter Creek had no night races.

Fairmont, as it looked on the Terraserver satellite in the 1990's. Route 4 is above and the old entrance via a street in Fair Haven is seen to the right.
Whatever that white object is off Turn Four in the middle of the front stretch is now gone. Only part of the Turn Four wall remains.

Ladabouche Photo
ABOVE: View of Turn One from the South, from inside track grounds- during Fall.

BELOW: Same view from North, outside track grounds in Winter.

Courtesy of Mike Visconti

Art Visconti and Little Joe D'Avignon in Turn One.

Ladabouche Photo
ABOVE: Coming out of Turn Four

BELOW: Cars come out of turn four during the 1965 season. [From left: Lou Searing #27, George Rogers, #UP2, and Howard Stevens, #333] Rogers is keeping an eye on Stevens' progress up beside him.

Cavalcade Photo

Russ Farr Photo

Ladabouche Photo
ABOVE: Coming out of Turn Four - showing the remains of the retaining wall. This is the only infrastructure left visible on the grounds that I could find.

BELOW: This shot shows that wall in 1964. The old Model A Ford entering the track area behind Dex Dorr has gone through an opening in the wall. That opening was right where the wall above ends.

Frazier Photo
Ladabouche Collection

Russ Farr Photo
ABOVE: Looking
across the infield
from the area
where the stands
sat.

BELOW: This frame from an old 8 MM
film shows a
similar angle.

From Dan Ody's 8MM DVD

Russ Farr Photo
ABOVE: Looking
into turn one from
the front stretch.

BELOW: This frame from an old 8 MM
film shows the spot
from another angle.

From Dan Ody's 8MM DVD

Russ Farr Photo
ABOVE: Into turn
one, which was
where most of the
accidents occurred
according to Ray Richards.

BELOW: This frame from an old 8 MM
film shows a
similar area from a in the infield.

From Dan Ody's 8MM DVD

Courtesy of Saratoga Auto Museum

CJ and his Fairmont sign.

Courtesy of James Howard

Another of CJ's Fairmont signs is seen thru window of Searing's car.

Russ Farr Photo

ABOVE - Out of
turn 2 and down
the backstretch.

BELOW - A frame
from an old 8MM
film shows a
similar spot
from the infield
perspective.

From Dan Ody's 8MM DVD

Russ Farr Photo

ABOVE - Down the
backstretch into 4.

Russ Farr Photo

ABOVE - Enter into
turn three.

Russ Farr Photo

ABOVE - Into turn
4 from 3, with the
wall coming up.

Russ Farr Photo

ABOVE - A
confusing angle.
The end of the
wall and the
old Academy Street
entrance road.

Courtesy of Dorothy St. John via Russ Farr Apparently looking down to turn one.	Courtesy of Dorothy St. John via Russ Farr An entry in front of the covered stands. Too bad they weren't still there for the stock car shows.	Courtesy of Dorothy St. John via Russ Farr A shot of a 1920's fair, held on the same location.
Ladabouche Photo The building seen behind the Loomis Bros. 111 of Nelson Moore is the only surviving building from the old fair ground. 1964	Ladabouche Photo More of the building - either a stables or a paddock. George Proctor's 52 and MacMcDonald's 50 seen. 1962	Ladabouche Photo From a distance [best view] it looks like a stables. This was a payoff line in 1963. 1963

From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Charlie Morse, at speed on the old Fairmont Park Motor Spdwy.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Charlie Morse in Victory Lane around 1950.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Charlie Morse in the Ed Winn 467 on a victory lap.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Morse gets checkers from the unidentified flagman.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Al Parry, Saratoga Sprgs, NY
From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Wooster Eames, Car 59	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Henry Bouchard's J5 hauled out of the woods off one of Fairmont's turns.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks A tow truck man prepares to hook up the J5.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks Turns 1 and 2. Cars include 6, Jack Barney; 36, Spence Parkhurst; and 7, Bill Bouplon.	From A Dan Ody 8MM DVD On Vermont Vintage Tracks A scene pf cars in the infield pits, Turn 1, and that old dairy just outside track property. Sorry these are so blurry - they're hard to capture off old movies.

Courtesy of Barb LaDuc Charlie LaDuc's 1963 Fairmont membership card.	Courtesy of Barb LaDuc Charlie LaDuc's 1965 Fairmont safety inspection receipt
Courtesy of Barb LaDuc Charlie LaDuc's 1966 Fairmont membership card.	Courtesy of Barb LaDuc One of Barb LaDuc's first Fairmont ticket stubs - Probably for 1963. Notice it's not CVRA.

Butch Jelley, of Pownal, VT, won a heat race on the opening day at Fairmont.	Art Cody, of Keene, NH, was one of the favorites to win the feature race of the CJ Richards era. Here, he has received the checkers from starter Danny Rumpf, a protege of Chet Hames.	Earl Spellburg, of Glens Fall, NY, a competitor from Whites Beach Speedway, was the very first car onto the track for practice that day.	Buddy Bardwell, of Keene, NH, won the first feature race of the CJ Richards era - on opening day.
Lenny Baker, Athol, NY Part of the Warrensburg Gang	Ed Baker, Warrensburg, NY Part of the Warrensburg Gang	Bill Stevens, West Sand Lake, NY His ever - devoted daughter Connie on pit duty with the oil.	Dick Gerard, Claremont, NH
Dick Pennock, Warrensburg, NY Part of the Warrensburg Gang	George Pritchard, Castleton, VT	Walt Brown, Jr., Claremont, NH He won the first heat race of opening day.	Sonny Rabideau, Brattleboro, VT
Rutland Herald Photo Art Rivers, Glens Falls, NY	Herbie Swan, Panton, VT	Bob Hoffer, Argyle, NY	Courtesy of Wes Moody The "Car 54" of Ken Delong, winning a heat at the fairgrounds.

Pete Corey, along with some other NY sportsman teams, made the trip to Fairmont very late in 1964. Corey is seen here with the checkers.	Can anyone explain why Dick snapped some races in which the hobby clas seems to be racing with the coupes ? Although very late in 1964, there was no shortage of cars.	Dick captured a group of fans in the fading autumn afternooon sun, after the races.	Art Cody racing Cecil Bosworth and Nelson Moore in the Loomis 111. This was a different - looking coupe for Cody and the last time Bosworth would drive the 888 at Fairmont.	Bosworth would reunite with George Ingalls [888] in 1968 when Bear Ridge Speedway opened for the flatheads.	Charlie Towslee won the hobby race. I think the Unbeatable Lennie Wood broke down.
One of the best shots of the day. Rudy Charbonneau - inside pole; UNK car outside; Jerry King's 5 Aces; Dutch Reed in Tony Villano's 37; Corey, and John Ryan, a Valley late model.	Corey is seen here on the backstretch.	A pretty good field of cars is forming on the backstretch. Charbonneau, John Ryan, Searing and Wetmore, Jerry King, Dutch Reed, Corey, and Butch Jelley.	Thhis shot from within the crowd did not focus too well.	Dutch Reed is seen here on the backstretch. Villano's regular driver had been Jeep Herbert. Tony had come to Fairmont two years ago, also with a substitute driver.	Nice shot of the Villano 37 and the fall foliage..
An apparent feature on the backstretch. Stevens, Tetreault, Casey, Ralph Palmer, Rocky Cusinelli. The rest I can't make out.	An apparent large heat on the backstretch. UNK7, Stevens, UNK, Charbonneau, Stan Wetmore, Carl Moore - 4F, and Jerry King.	Action out of Turn two. One of the Searing cars, Charbonneau, and Dutch Reed can be identified.	Action out of Turn two. Too far to be identified.	The way the spectator area looked in 1964.	Action out of Turn Four. Only that car 7, Charbonneau, and Dutch Reed can be identified.
Marty Warner of Granville, NY leads this field.	This might be the same heat race as at left. Most are too far to be identified.	Hobby car action. Harry Duffany, Jr, a mysterious 11A Chevy, Rene Rochon, and Towslee.	A Hobby race ready for green: that 11A, Duffany, and Towslee can be identifed. Rochon is li	An apparent Hobby feature. Laduc, Towslee, Dexter Dorr, Wood, and that 11A can be identified.	I totally don't understand this. Hobby driver Don Accavello leads a field of what looks like mostly coupes. But I don see another hobby in there.
Across the infield.	Apparently Jerry King, seeing as Ralph Palmer had his 444 there that day.	A blurry one of Joe D'Avignon at speed with his last car.	The suspension on John Ryan's Valley car gave up on the rough track.	Another loaded heat: Lou Searing, Jelley, King, Wetmore, Gauthier and Reed .	Same heat - Reed hasn't caught the pack yet.
Across the infield to tunr 4 where people would watch sitting on their cars.	Louie Searing entering turn 3.	A I beleive to be Marty Warner's X of Granville, NY .	Warner leads this field before pulling away from them. I recognize Rocky Cusinelli's 51, but most of the small flot top coupes are hard to distinguish.	Another confusing mixed field. Don Accavello and a coupe lead. A rare photo of Herbie Swan's 23 is next. Also Towslee, that mystery 11A, and another hobby - 96.	Johnny Spafford's push vehicle picks up that mysterious 11A in turn 3. Don'rt ya just love the wrecked cars off the track, waiting to be crashed into ?
A white wrecker picking up a stricken car on the front stretch.	Pete Corey [yellow coat] listens in on the pit meeting. The boys are dressed like it's not too hot out there.	Some different cars seen here: Quenneville [3], Bob Ridgeway [outside], Art LaBelle [37], George Pritchard [outside], an UNK 99, and Marty Warner.	Familiar winner Sonny Rabideau displays heat checkers.	Familiar winner Sonny Rabideau displays heat checkers.	George Rogers, at speed in a blur.
1964 Vermont State Champion Rudy Charbonneau, of Whiting.	A relatively clear shot: Stevens, Tetreault, Casey, Palmer, Cusinelli, D'Avignon, and maybe Bosworth. .	The wrecker is removing blue hobby car while Howard Stevens breezes by in the 333.	Charlie Towslee leads another hobby car in the backstretch.	This shows a good full pit area as the dairy looms in the background off turn 1.	Familiar winner Lennie Wood displays checkers. Not an unusual sight in 1964
Two unknown cars pace the field with Rocky Cusinelli, the X( or Scott Nichols or a Hoffer, and then Stevens' 333.	Too blurry to ID, as were two other shots I decided not to bother with.	Getting up to speed out of turn 2.	Good shot of backstretch.	Across from turns 3 and 4 to 1 and 2.	Another shot of the spectator area and announcer's stand.

Ladabouche Photo The first Loomis entry, at the Rutland fairgrounds, in 1962. A 1938 Chevy, this car looked much like the car they drove ten years beforehand.	Ladabouche Photo The next Loomis entry, P38, tells us by now that someone in that family had flown fighters in WWII.	Ladabouche Photo The same car, a short time later, with the familiar P61 number and paint scheme.	LaDuc Family Photo The Loomis brothers and Nelson Moore with one version of the car.
	Ladabouche Photo The same car, the following year, having been cut down. Driver at the time, Kenny Loomis.	Ladabouche Photo The last version of the Loomis car was the red 111, driven very competitively by Nelson Moore.