My memories are from Sunset and Barrie Speedways starting in 1968. I always got shipped off to Grandmas during the summer and my Uncle got the lucky duty of looking after me. He raced there from 68 to 74. I got to meet a lot of characters in the pits in those days. Memories are starting to get fuzzy but when I think back I can still smell the rubber and burning exhaust and see those breaks glowing. I never did get into driving but I have always been and shall always remain a fan.

And you guys thought I hated talking about the old days, didn't ya?  😀

My very first childhood memories are actually from Nilestown, and like you, no particular drivers really stood out, other than my relatives. Even then, I really don't remember seeing them race...I just remember being there. Nilestown was a quarter mile with the grandstands on a hill just like Delaware. The pits were off the backstretch and there was a figure 8 x on the infield. Nilestown was breathing its dying breaths when I came along and I think by that point they'd stopped doing figure 8 races. I don't remember seeing any.

For some funny reason, the only car that stands out from that place for me is what was probably a late 50s chev, dark green number 88. I found out 30 years after the fact that it was Ken Chaplin, he of the Old Time Rock and Roll wagon, who can still be found up at the top of the hill at Delaware whenever there's something involving classic cars or charity fundraising.

Most racing folks in the area know this, but in case you don't, the Nilestown track is still there. From London, just go out on Hamilton Road till you pass thru the town of Nilestown. Just outside of town on the left hand side you'll see the Polish Club (or Polish-Canadian Soccer club...its something like that.) If the gate is open, just drive in and have a look. The track's in good shape and there's a professional soccer pitch on what used to be the infield.

The Delaware of my childhood of course was a lot different than it is now, but it was my Field of Dreams and I remember it pretty well the way it was. I’m quite certain that when I’m old and senile, the Delaware of the early to mid 70s is the one I’ll remember.

You drove into the speedway grounds (I always imagine Johnny Cash playing on the 8 track deck as we’re driving in) and the first thing was the big sign down by the road that you drove in under. It said Delaware International Speedway in that lettering style that those of us who were around Delaware in the 70s will remember. (I recently found a photo of it on Gary Elliott’s website. Go to his site, then CVM history 1979, and about halfway down the page) You drove up the hill just like now, found your spot, and as soon as you opened the car door it was the sound of pure unmuffled horsepower that resounded over the countryside. Forget trying to talk to the guy beside you.

Nowaday you can’t really peek in because of this big wooden wall/billboard that stretches halfway down to the road, but back then it was just a long stretch of link fence. Me and my brother, one of us lugging the big green sleeping bag we used for a bench pad, would always run up to the fence to have a look while Mom and Dad got the tickets.

From that vantage point at the fence you could see the guys rounding turn 2 and screaming down the backstretch. I can remember getting excited to see guys like Ken McLlroy, Pearn in his orange camaro, The gremlins, Al Patrick and Barry Shaxon/Bob Truax in the purple one, Carl Porter in the white Firebird number one, and Dennis the Menace Robertson in the blue number 5.  (I think every stock car driver in the history of the world named Dennis has been dubbed with this nickname.) There was also my favorite who’s name was Wacky Webster, number 16. Later I learned that Wacky was the sponsor, and Taze Palmer was his actual name, but me and my brother still called him Wacky Webster.

There was no ticket window then, and I’m pretty sure it was just a guy with a strip of tickets and a cash apron, pay him your money, then take a step past him and give it to the guy at the gate. (That building with the ticket windows, the walkthrough tunnel, and also houses all the concession stands had yet to be built.) I also distinctly remember that on the fence next to the gate was a sign, hand painted and lettered, that announced the season’s special events…mostly the Export A races…those were the nights when the big dogs came to Delaware, like Howie Scannell, Jack Monaghan, Norm Lelliott, Jerry Makara etc.

So now we're through the gate. I was born in 69 so for me its always been a half mile. The layout of the racing surface is the same today, but that’s about it. The walls were double guardrails instead of concrete and there were only 4 or 5 billboards and they were all in turn 1-2. There was nothing down the backstretch except for the corn that grew pretty much right up to the guardrail and if your car ever left the speedway via the backstretch, one of the things you’d end up doing is picking all the corn leaves out of your equipment (unlike at Nilestown where there was NO fence and if you went off the end of the track at all, you ended up picking all the tobacco leaves out of your equipment.)  The only scoreboard was a 2 digit lap counter with most of the bulbs burnt out and that was on one of the turn 2 billboards.

Back then the area where pit road is now was just a strip of grass and dirt which was utilized on occasion for tractor pulls and such.. As much as I realize the need for a pit road, I always thought it was a lot more disastrous to have that wall on the inside of the frontstretch. At least the old way you could spin right off the track, although Bill Galbraith might feel that isn’t such a good thing….he might be the only guy in Delaware history to roll his car multiple times end over end and he did it going down that strip in the 70s. Stretching from the flagstand, across the fronstretch and to a pole on the infield, was a string of what looked like Christmas tree lights that showed either green, red or yellow depending on track condition. Bill apparently took that string of lights with him.

To get from the pits to the track, you just went out the chute onto the fronstretch, unlike now where you go out the very same chute to the pit lane. So when a race was lining up, there were lined up 2 by 2 all the way through the middle of the pits, and as fans we didn’t see who was in the next race until they actually burst onto the fronstretch.

One thing I do remember is that everything in the pits (all dirt back then with a wee little pit tower and one weigh scale lane) was so much more visible than it is now. That’s mostly because no one, not even the big guns, had enclosed trailers to block the view from the grandstands. If there ever was a pitside piss-off, it was in front of everyone! (Im not a “rose colored glasses” old timer fan, but all those big trailers really did change the way you could see everything, and not for the better…I still think the big ones should be relegated to the outside.)

But you know for me, as a kid it was never about rooting or booing anyone in particular. It was all magical. My Dad who’d just quit, knew most of the guys as a whole…so we always just sort of  rooted for everyone. I know Dad in particular seemed to admire George Wall, and I don’t believe he liked Pearn much, though he’d never come out and say it…but I recall seeing that “I just bit an apple and found half a worm.” look on his face whenever Pearn won. They raced together at some point and I believe they may have had words. But Dad never much had a bad word to say about anyone…not in front of the kids anyway. I believe I inherited that to a degree, which drives my GF nuts when we’re talking NASCAR racing. (The guys she doesn’t like are idiots, and my standard response is that you don’t usually get a Sprint Cup ride by being an idiot. She hates that..)

Mom had no such ideal…she hated Don Biederman. Thought he was a lout and wasn’t afraid to say so. She’s still not…so all you guys out there that are racers, don’t ever spin anyone on purpose or you have to suffer my Mom rooting against you if she’s there…and if your dad or grandpa ever bumped my dad, then you’re probably already on her s* list, so you might want to change your name 😉 )

The first guy I really rooted for (above everyone else) was Earl Ross. I think it was because I met him away from the speedway at the Ilderton Fair. He had his Coca Cola car in the parade and later he was giving out postcards and signing autographs. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else as far as PR at the time. He’d been to the big show, knew the deal, and was genuinely a nice man to his fans. He had a fan for life after I met him. He was just nice, looked me in the eye, gave me some respect even though I was probably only 8. (note to drivers…when you’re doing the autograph thing on pit road…lose the damn shades. Remember that unless you’re in the Sprint Cup, you’re still trying to win the fans over to you, and you won’t do it if you don’t look them in the eye. It’s far more important than looking slick. So there. You learned it from Earl, even if he didn’t actually say it.)

Geez, how long has this thing gotten?

Took a sick day today for the flu, (oink oink) and it looks like I had more time on my hands than I thought. Thanks Dougy for helping me thru the day. I’ll post more later if any other thoughts come.

Just incidentally, anyone reading this thread will find more reminiscences in the stickied threads "Introduce yourself" and "Historical Thread"

Russ Urlin pushing his way through the field only to find a swarm of fist waiting for him at his trailer... ( actually flat bed behind a pick up)

What racing needs more than anything id is a good old fashion rivalry.. look at the folks whocome out see what is going to happen next??

We also may need a different reporter from the local rag, may maudsley can send in some stories, or the track can buy some space for him to fuel the fire.

Seems back in the day respect was expected and if you got out of line it was handles with the fist, not running to the track to complain..

What was or is better racing??