Norwood, MA — Sunny weather with temps in the high 70’s contributed to the largest turnout ever at the 4th Annual Norwood Arena Reunion this past Sunday. Among the competitors of the track that turned out included; Sprint Car and Midget driver Jim McGuire who traveled up from Bridgewater, NJ to take in his first event. Modified drivers on hand were Leo Cleary, Bill Slater, George Summers, Jerry Capazzolli, George Summers and Deke Astle. Also Don McCullough, Lew Austin, Pete Desjardin, Fred Luchesi, Dick Jackson and Doug McCarthy, Jeff Horn, Jim Callahan, George Savary, Jim Callahan and Doug McCarthy. Among the officials who turned out were Carlton Merrill, Dan Brundage, Earl Grant, Jim Power and Mike Scravani, Jr.
Race cars from NEAR, STARS and ACOT combined with a classic car show had a very strong turnout with over 60 vehicles in attendance along with other displays. Coastal 181, the racing publishing house, offered some fantastic new books for sale. Also the NEAR Hall of Fame mobile unit was on hand. Each vehicle received a dash plaque for the occasion. Don Seith of Brookline got the Classic Car Trophy for his very impressive restored ‘36 Ford Coupe street machine while Dave Poskitt of E. Bridgewater was awarded the Best Looking Race Car a Modified Coupe.
Continue reading ‘4th Annual Norwood Arena Reunion Pulls a Big Crowd’
Norwood, MA — Some of Fred Luchesi’s peers felt that he retired from racing too early. The Pawtucket, RI racer had a very impressive resume. Consider that he was a NASCAR Champion back in 1948 the year that sanctioning body was formed for his string of wins at the Kingston Fairgrounds in RI. From that point on Luchesi won a number of features at such venues as Lonsdale Arena in RI, Westboro, Norwood Arena, Thompson in Conn., Dover, NH and Seekonk Speedway among several other tracks. As a matter of fact, a knowledgeable observer revealed that Luchesi won just about every feature at Lonsdale in 1955 right up through Hurricane Carol which inundated the venue that ultimately resulted in the demise of that oval. Fred’s ability to win on both dirt and paved ovals proved his versatility. He even took in the big dirt track at Langhorne Speedway in Penn. “I was in that very famous wreck that took out a bunch of cars. The film clip hit all of the newsreels in theaters and the TV news programs at that time,” he said. The Ocean State driver wasn’t just limited to racing in New England and the northeast, either. He managed to take major events in Ontario, Canada.
Towards the end of his career, Luchesi confined his efforts to a two car team which raced at Seekonk Speedway with Fred driving one while the late Bobby Sprague of Foxborough, MA drove theother. During that era it was common to see drivers and teams competing on dirt tracks and taking the same machine to paved tracks. The only changes required were grooved tires for dirt and slicks for paved tracks and some minor adjustments to suspension systems. Unlike today where a pavement car is much different than one especially built to race on dirt. Some observers feel that the 50’s, 60’s and into the early 70’s were the best of times for stockcar racing. Racing several nights a week all over New England and the northeast were the norm.
Continue reading ‘NEAR ‘08 Inductee Fred Luchesi Plans to be at Norwood Arena Reunion on June 1′
