Walt Perkins Photo
Some of Sonny's competition in the late 50's. The 111 is likely the Woodpecker Special of Ernie Gahan; the 80 is Roy
"Pappy" Forsyth; the 20 is Art Rousseau; and the 9 is probably Dave Todd. Rabideau could be in the 111.
Written by Terry Mark
Moran "Sonny" Rabideau. one of eight children (three boys and five girls).
was born to Henry and Lena Rabideau of Brattleboro, Vermont on May 16.1929. He
attended local schools and after leaving high school, joined his father as a
weaver in the Berkshire Fine Spinning Company, a local cotton mill.
In 1949 he was drafted into the army but at the end of the year released only
to be recalled and shipped to Austria where he served until being discharged at
the end of 1951. He once again returned to the mill to work with his father.
By this time his older brother, Homer had caught the racing bug while
attending races at nearby West Brattleboro and Hinsdale, NH dirt tracks. Homer
soon convinced Sonny to become partners in a race car with Sonny driving.
While running at Hinsdale NH Airport Speedway, a crude ,
dusty 1/4 mile oval, Sonny became friends with a rival driver, Cecil Bosworth
from Athol, Massachusetts. Soon the Rabideau team and the #7 coupe were racing
against Cecil at the West Brattleboro Speedway, another track had been added to
their schedule.
As Sonny's wife Beverly recalls, she began to see less and less of him as his
career in racing began to take off. Late nights out in the little one car garage
in the yard and an eventual four to five nights a week racing became the usual.
In recollection, a humorous comment by Beverly made to Sonny, not to be printed,
brought a chuckle to me and a bit of extra color to Sonny's face.
In 1954 the Monadnock Stock Car Racing Association (MSCRA) was established
and the old 1/2 mile circuit at the Swanzey, NH fairgrounds was converted to a
1/3 mile clay oval. The challenge of new grounds began to tempt Sonny and Homer
and soon they were whetting their skills at the new facility with the likes of
Ernie Gahan, George Janoski, Ted Brown, Cecil Bosworth, Rene Charland, Lionel
Arel, Buddy Bardwell, Art Rousseau, George and Ray Schnyer, the Cody Boys, Don
Lawler. The list of "hot shoes" goes on and on, all testing their skills at the
new track.
Walt Perkins Photo
Some of
Sonny's competition in the late 50's. The 111 is likely the Woodpecker Special
of Ernie Gahan; the 80 is Roy
"Pappy" Forsyth; the 20 is Art Rousseau; and the 9 is probably Dave Todd.
Rabideau could be in the 111.
As Sonny recalls, the first #7 was a 1936 Ford coupe, "a
pile of junk". They quickly decided a better car was needed and a 1934 Ford
coupe was bought from Jack Gurnsey, a Keene NH race car owner. The car was
stripped, body channeled over the frame and a roll cage fabricated by a friend .
Parts were stripped from the old car and used to final assemble the new #7 and
the boys were back in business. With Sonny's driving ability and his home-built
flatheads, the team was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with.
By 1958, Sonny and Homer had replaced the now obsolete flathead in the #7
with the more potent Chevy V8 and 1959 was to be the beginning of his rise to
"Yankee Kingdom" stardom. Now nicknamed Brattleboro, Vermont's "Flying
Frenchman", he captured five main events during the abbreviated 1959 Cheshire
Fairgrounds racing season running against other noted names such as Gene Bergin,
Ralph Cusack, "Pappy" Forsyth, Don Rounds and Roland Lapierre.
August 1,1959 was a special day in Sonny's life when he and his long time
sweetheart, Beverly were married and in future years were gifted with two
children, a daughter Wendy, and a son John. Later still, five grandchildren
would grace the Rabideau family.
During these years, Sonny could be seen piloting other owners’ cars including
the #111 "Woodpecker Special", a perforated 1934 Ford Sedan owned and built by
Howard "Bud" Burt from Rindge, NH. The car was literally drilled full of holes
for lightness with an independent suspension rear end, unheard of for the times.
At today’s standards, the car was a death trap, but Bud would have Sonny qualify
the car early in the evening so when the regular driver, Ernie Gahan arrived
from Dover, NH the car was ready to run the features,
Another strange car Sonny drove at this time was the
DN3 " Beast " of the Ciaschini Bros. Many tried to drive the monster with
little success due to its brutal power and awkward handling. The car was, as the
nickname implied, a beast. The driver sat directly over the rear axle which was
connected to its power plant by a 13 inch drive shaft. The engine was a highly
modified Chrysler hemi with 2 four-barrel carburetors, which enabled it to pass
everything on the straightaways but hated to turn corners. Sonny still managed
to manhandle the creature to several victories.
Other cars proved successful with Rabideau at the wheel, including the #172
owned by Ed Fostrom, the #588 of Walt James, The blue and gold #7 of Art Ryder,
and the many #333s of Leo Vaillancourt DBA Rutland Tree Service during the late
1960’s and 70’s at Devils Bowl in West Haven, VT.
About 1954, while buying parts for his race car at Angell's Automotive in
Brattleboro, Sonny became acquainted with Henry Angell, owner of the business
and eventually was offered a position in the engine rebuilding portion of the
business. There his local fame began to grow as a reputable engine builder as
well as a racer. His employment and friendship continued with Henry for thirty
years with Sonny finally retiring in 1992.
Cavalcade of Auto Racing Photo
Sonny Rabideau, with car owner
Frank "Stroker" Smith. This is the car that most people associate Sonny with.
A new chapter in Sonny Rabideau's career began to unfold in the early 1960s.
After selling his own car, he was approached by Frank " Stroker " Smith, a most
respected race car owner and builder from Claremont, NH, and asked to drive his
#311 car. The first of a number of 311s to rise to fame under the skillful hands
of the Stroker Smith, Sonny Rabideau " Dynamite Duo ".
During the years 1961 to 1970, Rabideau and Smith captured five New England
Dirt Track Championships [1961, 64, 65, 66 and 1970] held at Claremont Speedway,
NH. These wins plus Sonny's 1954 High Points Championship at the Speedway
accounted for six championships won by Rabideau. Two Vermont State Dirt Track
Championships won by Sonny and Stroker in 1962 , held at Rutland Vermont State
Fairgrounds Raceway and 1963 held at Fairmont Speedway, Fair Haven, VT, were
added to their success.
Sonny Rabideau's career as an owner and driver spanned from the mid 1950s to
about 1975 when he hung up his helmet. Often racing four to five times a week on
tracks that included Hinsdale, NH; West Brattleboro Speedway; Cheshire
Fairgrounds; Swanzey, NH; Rhythm Inn Speedway, Millers Falls, MA; Fairmont
Speedway, Fair HavenVT; Devils Bowl Speedway in West Haven, VT; Stafford Springs
Speedway, CT; Lebanon Valley Speedway; New Lebanon, NY: Mallets Bay Raceway,
Colchester, VT; Vermont State Fairgrounds Race Track, Rutland, VT; and
Claremont, NH Speedway, was not unusual - with Claremont yielding him his most
success.
With 71 documented feature wins, the highest number of main events taken down
during Claremont Speedway's " Dirt Years " 1950-1972, earned Sonny that distinct
record, Never to be broken, with the track being enlarged and paved in late
1972.
From Terry Marks via George Hill Website [NH Short Track
Heroes]
Sonny, with the car he seems to have spent a ton of time with, at speed at Claremont. This is toward career's end.
In later years, the evening of July 16, 1983, Sonny Rabideau was honored with
induction into the prestigious " Claremont Speedway Hall of Fame".
As with all old racers, colorful remembrances surface in conversation. One of
these pertained to Sonny's one and only trip to Mallets Bay Race Track, while
driving a car from East Hampton. MA owned by Art Ryder. As he relates, " I guess
I did too well in the qualifying heat because a guy got into me in the feature
and flipped me, totaling the car. I made a promise to everyone that evening, if
I ever got to race with him again, I would remember that night." Sometime later,
Sonny and Stroker were running at Lebanon Valley and who should show up to run
but his "old friend". Sonny chuckles as he reminisces,
" You know he left his car in the parking lot that night when he heard I
was there.”
Another light moment would be Beverly's first visit to watch Sonny race.
Never having attended a race, she arrived at the Rhythm Inn's dust bowl fully
decked out, right down to the high heels. As she described her experience with
Sonny smiling in the background, " It was a total disaster!!"
Sonny, still looking young at 73, works part time delivering parts for a
local auto parts supplier in town. He occasionally accompanies his friend, Terry
Mark, who owns and has restored the old cut down 1934 Ford #311, which the
Stroker Smith / Sonny Rabideau team won six of its seven dirt track
championships with, to vintage racing shows and exhibitions. The same car was
driven to 42 documented, Vermont and New Hampshire combined feature wins during
the years 1961 - 1967 by Sonny, One might say " two old friends united."
Sonny Rabideau, Brattleboro's " Flyin Frenchman", remembered as a fierce
competitor, but "always a gentleman".
Ladabouche Photo
Sonny with the restored 311 at
Swanzey Old Home Days
+ I would like to
thank the following people for the article and photos used above +
Harold Stone
Randy Haubrich
Cavalcade of Auto Racing
Kristen Fifield King
Arnold Stetson
Bill Ladabouche