VOLUNTEERS
Close friends Steve Locke and Sandy MacPherson had been volunteers doing a variety of chores when landscaping was completed. With grass that required constant watering and flowering plants and shrubs in the ground, suddenly there was a lot more outdoor work to do than there had been. As is the case with so many of the things volunteers do at the museum, neither Steve nor Sandy was appointed as the museum’s gardeners. They simply volunteered for the job and they are good at it.
Sandy is the one with the green thumb. Her grandmother was Sandy’s inspiration for all things agricultural.
Steve’s the mechanical one. With only two outdoor faucets, there’s a lot of routing of hoses and sprinklers to get the grounds watered and Steve’s the guy who does it.
Steve clearly enjoys his work at the museum and encourages others to volunteer as he does. “There’s plenty of jobs to go around,” he says. “Moving cars, dusting cars, watering, airing tires….”
You’d enjoy working alongside Steve, Sandy and the museum’s other volunteers. To become a museum volunteer call the museum’s curator Ray Boissoneau at 603-566-5770 or email NEMSmuseum@gmail.com. |
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LEGENDS
On November 4, beginning at noon, the North East Motor Sports Museum will honor two of New England’s finest racers, Bugs Stevens and George Summers. The Legends Day event at the Museum will include an entertaining roundtable with the honoree superstars that includes audience participation. There will be free food and a cash beer and wine bar. Ceiling banners featuring both drivers will be unveiled at the event as well as a surprise ceiling banner featuring a third honoree. Tickets for Legends Day are $25 each with net proceeds going to benefit the museum. Order your tickets by October 27 from North East Motor Sports Museum, 922 NH Rt., 106 N., Loudon, NH 03307.
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ANNUAL MEETING
The Annual Meeting of the membership of the Racing History Preservation Group, parent of the North East Motor Sports Museum, will be held at the museum on November 4 at 4 pm. All paid members are welcome to attend. The meeting is an opportunity for members to have a powerful influence over the way the museum will be run in the weeks and months ahead. |
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| ABOVE LEFT: Bobby Allison, NASCAR Champion Driver, Member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame came to the museum in July.ABOVE RIGHT: Ray Caldwell ran Autodynamics in Marblehead, MA, when it was the largest manufacturer of race cars in the US. Focused primarily on Formula Vee and Formula Fords, the company also participated in Trans Am and Can Am with driver and firm partner Sam Posey. Caldwell came to the museum in late August and immediately sat in the Can Am car he built for Posey which is on the floor. |
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| Ronnie Ryczek was a crew member on the 888 coupe. He came to the museum to donate his team jacket not knowing the car was on display. The surprise of finding it provoked many pleasant memories of days gone by. |
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Bobby Gahan, son of Ernie, and his wife Carol visited the car Bobby’s father drove to NASCAR’s 1966 National Modified Championship.
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YOUR NAME AT THE MUSEUM
You can sponsor a library bookcase for $300 or the entire library for $100,000. Get your name on a bronze plaque attached permanently to a library chair for $250. Put your name on a section of the trophy display for $1,000 or buy a brick for the lobby wall for $300. Express your interest in supporting the museum at NEMSmuseum@gmail.com or call us at 603-783-0183. |
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BOISSONEAU HILLCLIMB
Some guys just won’t act their age. When the Mount Washington Hillclimb took the green flag this year, museum curator Ray Boissoneau, age 78, was one of the participants driving this powerful rear engine race car. Ray frequently enters vintage events and unusual racing competitions. The race up that mountain certainly qualifies as one of the latter. |
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BOOK GIFT
Florida’s Dave Holway sent five boxes containing 39-high-end racing books to the museum. Included were rare photo books of vintage F-1 racing. Another box brought old racing magazines, posters and literature. Mr. Holway’s gift enriches the museum’s library and we are grateful. |
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BARN FIND IN THE WOODS
This is the way many beautifully restored race cars are initially found. The car sits in the woods behind a house in a small town north of Boston. Included in the find are the midget’s radiator, two V8-60 engines which have been garaged, the rear end complete with wheels and slicks, and other parts. Not found is the car’s history. We don’t know who built or drove it or even if it was ever finished and raced. One of the engines comes with headers (that were once chromed but the plating has largely fallen away) and an aluminum Edmunds intake. That engine will be restored and displayed at the North East Motor Sports Museum. |
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VERY OLD
HELMET/TROPHY
Frank Sivret gave Pete vonSneidern his helmet and 1948 New England Big Car Champion’s trophy before he died. The two are among vonSneidern’s most treasured possessions. But in early August, Pete donated both to the museum where they are now displayed together. |
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LIBRARY TABLE
& CHAIRS
Frank Manafort picked up the cost of a new solid-oak library table and six matching chairs. They are not only nice to look at and the chairs comfortable to sit on, they are the only new furniture in the museum with the exception of steel folding chairs purchased for less than $10 each at WalMart. |
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MARTEL
Jim Martel has restored more New England race cars than anyone in the past 30 years. His latest project is to put Bentley Warren’s #44 sedan together again. Bentley was very successful with the car, winning several races before it was sold to become a dirt track car. Don Diffendorf won Syracuse with the car which made it the image on the poster for the first Spring Sizzler in 1972.
Martel found the remains of the car in New York and brought them home where he has spent several months turning it into a faithful reproduction of the original. The car runs. |
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LINING UP
Race week at NHMS has brought huge crowds to the museum. Credentials are now distributed at the museum and NASCAR’s credential trailer is parked beside the museum. |
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GLAZIER
Dick Ainsworth is a glazier, an expert with glass. So when Ricky Craven arrived at the museum with his glass Darlington win trophy in pieces, Ainsworth put it all back together again. He has also contributed glass to the museum’s shelving and display cases as well as cut and ground glass for our shelves. His company in Ipswich, MA is Northern Glass. Ricky’s trophy is on display in the library along with his driving uniform and photos from his career. |
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| KIDSWe love hosting kids at the museum. This group from Vermont was especially delighted to try on the rear-engine supermodified. This is how race car drivers begin their careers. |
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TULONEN
All these people are connected to the late Reino Tulonen whose blue midget is on display. Since opening, there have been multiple family gatherings at the museum but this one was the biggest. |
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| TY RODSThe museum has hosted several car clubs, most recently one of the oldest, Ty Rods. |
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CLASSIFIEDS
Wanted:
The museum is looking for a set of Firestone dirt track tires such as were run on sprint cars and supermodifieds Beech Ridge in the 1970s. The right rear is called a “Big Jaloney” and the other three positions had a similar tread pattern but were more narrow across the tread. 978-471-9161.
The museum is missing the following issues of Trackside. Please let us know if you have them and are willing to donate them to the museum: 2000-January, June to August; 2003-combined Jan/Feb, July and September. Call 603-783-0183 or email NEMSmuseum@gmail.com if you can help. |
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MUSEUM OF THE MONTH
The Miles Collier Auto Museum in Naples, FL, is one of American auto racing’s most important museums. If you have just one race car museum to visit (besides ours), this is the one. Its collection is without rival. The museum is so popular that you must buy your ticket in advance to see it. No tickets are sold at the door. Requiring advance ticketing ensures that there will never be so many people on the floor that you wouldn’t be able to see everything.
The Collier’s library of racing photos, books and magazines is the most extensive in the world. It is protected by a fire-control system that uses no water but evacuates oxygen from the library which instantly would extinguish any fire.
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| Many of the cars Sterling Moss drove in his career are here including this one. This monstrous Mercedes is worth millions. |
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| The last American to win a Formula 1 race driving a car he built himself was Dan Gurney. That car is on display at the Collier |
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| The entire Briggs Cunningham collection was purchased by the Collier and is on display. |
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| This car won Italy’s Targa Floria. The race was ten laps on a 44-mile course over public highways and was profoundly dangerous. |
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NEW DIRECTORS
The museum’s Board of Directors has grown. Bob Bianchi, who has been one of our most dedicated and expert volunteers, has become our Vice President. Bianchi is a serious race fan with season tickets to Thunder Road. He’s a retired firefighter who maintains his Masonic Lodge building in Nashua in addition to playing a major role at the museum. He has strong electrical, carpentry and people skills. Bob is fond of slot car racing and owns a company that markets slot car parts all over the world.
Dave Swenson came to us through the New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s Speedway Children’s Charities. There, Dave pours time, energy and a keen business sense into raising money to help children in need. He owns a local Snap-on franchise and lives in Loudon. Dave raced SCCA for 15 years and hill climbs for 20. |
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On Thursday, October 19, two very accomplished race car drivers are coming to the track.
