9 Time Racearena Champion KO’d by Lightning
Woodbury, CT — “Chick” Stockwell, 9 time Danbury Racearena champion and 6 time most popular driver suffered a devastating loss on the evening of Tuesday, June 12th. With a single bolt of lightning all of his trophies, pictures and memorabilia were destroyed in the resulting fire.. Left behind were piles of blackened ashes, the sum of everything he owned.
Sitting in his living room watching TV around 10:30 PM he heard a pop and the power went out. Under normal circumstances he would have just retired to his bedroom and gone to sleep. Noticing power still on in surrounding homes he went to investigate. Walking into the garage area of his barn he saw a glow coming from inside. Realizing there was a fire, he drove down to a neighbor’s house to try and get help. When no one answered the door, he drove to his son Tom’s house just down the road. After notifying 911, they returned to the barn. “We opened the door to try and save the stockcar and the Camaro. The smoke was so thick all we could do was stand and watch.”said Tom. “I stood there in tears until 4:30 in the morning.” “He lost everything.”
The stockcar Tom referred too was the first that Chick had built and driven in the early 50’s. “I towed that car all over the country” said Chick. With the help of his family and friends the car was recently restored and it had been to several shows in the past few years. It was sitting as a burned out hulk outside where the barn once stood when I visited him this afternoon. The car cannot be restored again, there is really nothing left to restore. “We’ll keep it somewhere on the farm” Tom said.
During his career at the Danbury Racearena, Chick won 207 races. He is number one on the all time win list. Voted “Most Popular Driver” 6 consecutive times from 1976-1981 when the Racearena closed. After all of the wins and all of his accomplishments on the track, “that is what I am most proud of ” he said.
“I remember him always having time for the fans.” I’ve heard that from more than one person. He was never to busy to sign an autograph. “I enjoyed letting the kids sit in my car after the races. George Bouley’s father let me do that when I was just a kid, I never forgot that feeling.”
The only thing still standing is a small part of the apartment he lived in. Everything else is gone. Just a cement slab where the barn once stood is left. I spent many Friday nights talking with him about the “old days”up at the barn. I was lucky enough to become friends with Chick over the past ten years. Drawing on his knowledge and parts supply to help with several restorations of Danbury cars I had done myself. I’ve never met a nicer guy. I was always a fan. I feel even better that he is a friend. Quiet and unassuming, he still cannot believe that the fans still remember him. Believe me, they do.
This years SNYRA reunion will also be dedicated to Chick. The reunion will be held on July27th from 11AM-5PM at the O’Neill Center in Danbury, CT.
Sources: Kevin Brown