The Start of Stock Cars

and the

LAST OF THE "BIG CAR" RACES

Middletown Times Herald May 1948

The Rhinebeck track was the same size and composition (paved) as the little track in the infield at "Victory Speedway." The Dover track was dirt. They ran the midgets on Thursday nights. Dover Speedway closed in 1955 after the grandstands collapsed.

Middletown Times Herald September 8, 1948

Text of the article:
Not content with a successful season of midget auto races, Victory Speedway president and promoter Russ Carpenter has slated a seven-event program of stock car races for Saturday afternoon on the fairground's half mile dirt track.

The occasion will mark the first time this type of action sport has been presented in the Hudson Valley area.

Thirty-five modified stock coupes and sedans groomed for racing will be driven by top ranking chauffeurs in this new sport brought to this vicinity by Mr. Carpenter and co-promoters Bob Laurie and Barney Ferriero of Dover (N.J.) Speedway stock car fame.

Time trials will begin at 1:00 o'clock, followed by three five mile heats, a consolation event of ten laps, a three car five-lap special match race, and a 25-lap feature race.

A brother duo of stock car pilots, Chick and Rocky DiNatale, and Pete Harris, all hailing from Trenton, N.J. and one, two and three in the Dover point standing championship, will head the aggregation.  Fourth  spot holder, Paul Barbiche of Flemington, N.J. also will be on hand.

A trio of midget car drivers, Lou Volk, Newark, Paul (Wimpy) Erwin, Bloomfield, N.J. and Johnny DuBois, of Patterson, all well known Victory Speedway small fans, also will drive the souped up mounts.

The Hope (N.J.) Racing Team, Bob Read, Jim Delany, and Bob McClain also has filed entries for the fracas.  Other contestants are Pep Sparone, Sam Malach, Fred Dickson, Billy Larison, Johnny Cabral, Bob Courtright, Bud Hoffman, Frank Schneider, Eddie Ader, Charlie Nalen, Angelo Lombardi, Len Brown, S.B. Hutchinson, Al Peters, Chuck White and Dutch Swane. 

Speedway officials have been confronted with requests from local aspirants for entry in the Saturday afternoon program.  Mr. Carpenter announced today that any area residents interested in entering should report to Lou Volk or Bob Laurie at the fairground oval.

However, all vehicles are limited to not earlier than 1935 models, and must be minus bumpers, headlight lense and other outside glass with the exception of windshields.  All mounts are required to have safety belts, and must be inspected by the stock car officials before participation.

Authors Notes:
Stock car racing was seen as a "novelty" in the early days. Many considered it a rolling demolition derby, and with good reason. There were numerous accidents, flips, and spins. The drivers were not considered to be in the same class as midget racers. If a car was damaged, it could be repaired using junkyard parts. If it was destroyed, another could be built on the cheap. For a time, the only people who took the sport seriously were the drivers!

That would soon change.

Middletown Times Herald April 6, 1949
Stock Car Races To Be Held at Fair Grounds

Stock Car Racing was in its infancy. It was still run on a "trial basis," and was still considered a novelty.
Stocks would run at Victory Speedway several times throughout 1949, but there was no regular schedule.
Midgets continued as the Premiere Division, and their opener was set for May 15, a Sunday afternoon.

Middletown Times Herald April 18, 1949

Chick DiNatale Wins Stock Car Feature At Fair Grounds

Midget Racers lined up on the 1/2-mile track at "Victory Speedway," circa late 40’s - early 50’s

Middletown Times Herald May 12, 1949

This race was postponed due to only a handful of drivers showing up.

Middletown Times Herald May 26, 1949

Middletown Times Herald May 31, 1949

The season got off to a good start for stocks and midgets, and the Big Cars
 would make one of their last appearances on the "Harry Clay Oval" in 1949.

Middletown Times Herald August 1, 1949
(need new article Russ Dodd Places Second)

Stock car racing was still "Rock ‘em Sock ‘em." Drivers were still tearing down fences and knocking down light poles. Repair parts were still found in junkyards. The crowds were huge. Dodd was a graduate of the ARDC Driving School that was held at the fairgrounds in 1947. His education was beginning to pay dividends…Later in 1949, the "Big Cars" would take to the track once again.

Middletown Times Herald August 17, 1949


The stage was being set for what would be the one of the last Triple-A auto races ever held at the Fairgrounds. Since 1919, the Orange County Fair ended with a dirt track spectacular. Today, the Orange County Fair exists separately from the race track. Fair goers are encouraged to watch a race, but little is done in the way of real PROMOTION on the part of fair principals. Maybe someday, this will change..

Middletown Times Herald August 19, 1949

There would be one more "Big Car" race at the Fairgrounds in 1950. Then, the annual race would fade into oblivion.

In the years to come, the midget phenomenon would fade as well, and stock cars would take center stage.

Middletown Times Herald August 29, 1949

The DiNatale Brothers
Rocky is on the right, and Chick is on the left.

Middletown Times Herald October 17, 1949

Middletown Times Herald October 24, 1949

There was no "Track Champion" named for 1949. Stock car racing, at that point, was just a bunch of guys mixing it up on the little 1/5-mile paved oval. In 1950, Eno Van Dam would take the reins as promoter at Victory Speedway. The slam-bang mayhem would continue, and the crowds would get bigger and bigger.

So, the first full season of stock car racing at Victory Speedway came to an end. It was an unqualified success, and would be repeated in 1950 on an almost weekly basis. "Big Cars" put the Harry Clay Oval on the map starting in 1919. Midgets kept fans on the edges of their seats. Now, it was Stock Car Racing that would establish the historic track in Middletown, New York as the PREMIERE auto racing venue in the northeast.

Do You Remember 1949:

45 rpm records made their debut.  If you're unfamiliar with these, ask an older person about them.  They made Rock & Roll possible. Web exclusive: History of the 45 RPM Record

The first Polaroid camera sold for $89.95.  In today's dollars, it would have cost $814.84.  It should be noted that a gallon of gasoline that sold for twenty-two cents would cost $1.99 today, figuring for inflation only. Web exclusive: History of the Polaroid Camera Web exclusive: "What’s a Dollar Worth?"

The USSR successfully detonated its first atomic bomb, ending the U.S. nuclear monopoly. Web exclusive: History of the Soviet Nuclear Program

Pennsylvania enacted a state law requiring the reading of 10 Bible verses each day in schools followed by joint recitation of the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Robert Henry Abplanap co-founded Precision Valve Corp. based on his new plastic aerosol valve.  He is the father of the spray can. Web exclusive: History of the Spray Can

GM held its first Motorama car show. Web exclusive: History of the GM Motorama

The Volkswagen Beetle went on sale in the US. Web exclusive: History of the Volkswagen Beetle in the U.S.

TV set sales hit 60,000 per week. The number of TV stations totaled 69. Web exclusive: Television History in the U.S.

 There were several stock car shows at Victory Speedway in 1949.  It should be noted that the first-ever stock car race was held on the ½-mile clay oval, but most of the rest of the races were run on the 1/5-mile paved oval in the infield. On August 7, 1949, a capacity crowd visited the fairgrounds to watch their favorites run on the "little track."

From the Middletown Times Herald:

Nearly 6,000 See Barbichi Take Main Stock Car Race

Nearly 6,000 fans jammed into the Orange County Fair Grounds here Saturday night to witness a thrill-packed stock car racing program at Victory Speedway, with Paul Barbichi copping the feature race driving a strange car.

Unable to enter his number 77 because of motor troubles, Barbichi was offered the controls of Bob Hall's coupe, which he accepted and drove to victory through a large field.

It was necessary to start the main attraction three times since accidents occurred on the first lap in both of the first starts.  Chick DiNatale of Trenton, N.J. and Russ Dodd of Middletown collided in the first start and George Mills of Middletown and Dodd stopped the race on the second start.

The fencing around the fifth-mile asphalt oval, dotted with scars from previous mishaps, had a rest for a change, although the throng got its thrills in spin outs, crack ups, and ramming.

Car Overturns

The most spectacular accident of the program occurred in the second heat race, when Ken Slocum of Newburgh tipped over on the track on the second lap.  Coming off the south turn, Slocum began to spin and another car hit him, sending the car over on its side.  He wasn't injured.

Dodd, the driver known as the Flying Milkman, who turned in a masterful performance last week, had tough luck throughout the program and spun out in the feature race.

Dodd, one of the sport's most entertaining drivers, did manage to take a share of the monies.  He grabbed second spot in the second semi-final and fourth in one of the qualifying heats.

Three other Middletown drivers – Joe and George Romer and Mills – and Ed Smith of Washingtonville also took part in the racing.  The Romer brothers and Dodd held a match race with Joe Romer copping first and Dodd second.  A bit of sportsmanship was displayed in the event on the backstretch of the fourth lap.  Dodd hit the outside guardrail directly in front of George Romer, but a bad accident was avoided as Romer slowed down to allow Dodd to gain control of his auto.

Consolation Exciting

Of the races, the consolation proved extremely exciting.  Trailing directly behind Otto Harwi of Easton, Pa., for the entire race, young Joe Herbert of Montague, N.J., edged out the leader by a couple of feet on the home stretch.

Each of the Middletown drivers turned in top-rate showings except Mills.  George Romer survived the accident-filled feature race to take third place behind Angelo Lombardi of Trenton.  He also took third in the second semi-final and second behind Chick DiNatale in the third qualifying event.

Mills managed a fifth in the third heat race and had trouble in the second semi-final and the main event.  He spun out of the feature on the seventh lap and out of the semi-final on the sixth lap.

Tomorrow night at Victory Speedway, the second midget auto racing card of the season will be held, with the country's best drivers competing.  Stocks will race on Thursday instead of Saturday due to the fair.

In 1949, the first and fourth turn bleachers hadn't been built.  Packing 6,000 race fans into the covered and half-covered grandstands must have been quite a feat.  Could it be that people were thinner in those days?

Next year, the internet turns 40.  The internet you and I know is much younger, but the basic technology for the World Wide Web was created in 1969 as a means of communication between military and government agencies during an emergency. 

It seems that technology is racing at us faster than we can absorb it.  In the last five or so years, online video has exploded.  One of the most entertaining websites these days is YouTube.  With a few key strokes and mouse clicks, you can travel back in time to the days long before big screen high definition television.  Some of the best TV is in black & white.  If you're my age, you might have fond memories of television's "Golden Era."  Thanks to cutting edge technology, you can enjoy Jack Benny, Abbott & Costello, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, and anyone else who made your sides hurt from laughing. 

I don't know about you, but I don't watch much television these days.  I enjoy certain motorsports events in high-definition surround sound, but not much else.  I find that I'm spending more and more time watching low-definition black & white TV online, and enjoying it more.

Visit YouTube.com.  Do a search for Carol Burnett.  Watch.  You'll see what I mean.

Next week:  No firm plans, but I'll do my best to dig up something of interest.