NEAR Hall of Fame Names Class of 2009
Three drivers, two owner/builders and three from the promotional side make up the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Class of 2009. Drivers John Fitch, Bobby Dragon and Paul Richardson, promoters Bob Bahre, Jim McConnell and Tom Curley and car owner/ builders Rollie Lindblad and Art Barry will be inducted on Jan. 25, 2009 at LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor, CT. Tickets, $42 apiece, will go on sale in November on the New England Antique Racers website NEAR1.com.
Still to come are three selections form the Veterans Committee along with the Jack Ratta Memorial Media Award and the Danny Pardi Memorial Award winners. Currently the president of the American Canadian Tour and the co-owner/promoter at Vermont’s Thunder Road International Speedway, Curley, 65, has been RPM’s Northeast Promoter of the Year three times. A one-time competitor, he’s been on the promotional side since the late 1979s. Guiding the fortunes of NASCAR North, ACT and a number of individual tracks, his resume includes the ’04 RPM North American Promoter of the Year, 1992 Trackside Magazine Promoter of the Year and 2003 Lowe’s Motor Speedway Short Track Promoter of the Year.
The still active Dragon, 62, joins brother Harmon “Beaver,” on the Hall of Fame roster. The Vermonter has almost 140 victories in Late Models and Modifieds, including the 1972 Milk Bowl, two New England 300s at Catamount Stadium and Busch North wins at Watkins Glenn and Nazareth. In addition to four Catamount championships, the ’78 NASCAR North champ, he has two Thunder Road and one Devil’s Bowl crowns.
Few drivers surpass Richardson, 61, when it comes to versatility. Starting at Pines Speedway in a bomber in 1965, the Groveland, MA resident is fifth on the all-time New England Super Modified Racing Association win list. He scored back-to-back Star Classic wins in 1985-86. He won a Modified crown at Star in 1973 and posted Late Model wins at Catamount, Thunder Road (the Milk Bowl) and Hudson. Injured at Star in 1996, he endured months of therapy to win the series opener at Star in 1997 in one of New England’s great comeback stories.
Rollie Lindblad, 61, has touched a multitude of auto racing disciplines often with revolutionary results. Coming from drag racing, he turned to Midget racing with the Badger in the early 1970s. He did the same in Supermodifieds (winning an ISMA owner title with Denny Wheeler), in Modifieds (notably the #7 Ron-Bouchard-driven Vega) and in Pro Stocks, winning three titles in the latter class at Seekonk. He just may be New England’s most prolific builder of winning racecars.
Generally acknowledged as the man who brought “major league’ auto racing to New England, Bahre, a Northeastern Midget Association owner, “saved” Maine’s Oxford Plains Motor Speedway. He made the track and the Oxford 250 one of the top facilities and short track events in the nation. He changed the face of the sport with the mile-long New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Although it has hosted Sprint Cup racing since 1993, Bahre made sure “local series,” notably the Modifieds and Late Models, were part of the program.
Back-to-back NASCAR Whelen National Modified championships (2001-02 with driver Mike Stefanik) top the resume of Barry, 73. In 56 years of competition, the Glasgo, CT native, who started racing at nearby Waterford Speedbowl, has won on 26 tracks from Maine to the Carolinas. His major wins include two Thompson 300 wins, two Spring Sizzler wins, and two wins at Martinsville and two at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Barry’s SPAFCO brand is the top of chassis in Modified racing.
Fitch, 91, has incredible credentials including impressive performances on the grandest courses in the world (Italy’s Mille Miglia, Watkins Glen, Sebring, LeMans) over an 18-year span. A competitive sailor before becoming a driver, he drove for, among others, Mercedes-Benz and Connecticut’s Briggs Cunningham. A World War II hero, he was the Sports Car Club of America’s first champion and Lime Rock Park’s first general manager. He continues to be one of the world’s top crusaders for safety on both the track and highway.
Jim McConnell, 96, is regarded as the founder and grandfather of racing in the State of Maine. He was an innovator as builder, promoter, organizer and championship car owner. A life-long Mainer, he built Beech Ridge Speedway in 1948-49, setting in motion the excitement the state now enjoys. His Maine State Stock Car Association, started in 1949, lasted 35 years. McConnell had a direct hand in the establishment of many tracks including Oxford Plains, Unity, and Arundel. He played a leading hand in the establishment of Star Speedway.
Sources: Lou Modestino