NEAR Hall of Fame Adds Harty, Blackadar, Arnold
Pioneer car builder Marty Harty, the late race official Archie Blackadar and the late Chuck Arnold, a driver with much open-cockpit success, have been added to the New England Auto Racing’s Hall of Fame’s Class of 2010 by the organization’s Veterans Committee.
The trio will join eight previously selected nominees at the 14th annual Induction Banquet on Sunday, Jan. 31 at LaRenaissance Banquet Hall in East Windsor, CT. Ticket forms will be on the NEAR website (www.near1.com) in the near future.
The three veterans will be inducted along with the previously selected drivers Geoff Bodine, the late Mike Murphy, George Savary and Pete Fiandaca, car owner/builders Billy Simons, Bob Garbarino and Vic Miller and contributor extraordinaire Frank Ferrara.
A Stamford, CT product, Arnold started in Modifieds in the late 1940s but soon moved to Midgets and Sprints. The 1953 NASCAR Midget champion, he went to score wins in NEMA, ARDC and USAC Midgets and USC Sprint Cars into the 1960s. He competed in the 1959 Indianapolis 500. He died in 1997.
New Hampshire’s Harty, a World War II veteran, started building racecars in 1949. Success was almost immediate and it continued for over two decades at tracks like Hudson, West Peabody, Fitchburg, Brookline and Catamount with drivers like Leo Richard, Jimmy Travers, Freddie Borden and Ernie Gahan.
Another World War II veteran, Blackadar began as a starter notably at a number of Vermont tracks, starting cars on the track. He was also involved in track ownership but is best known as a NASCAR Chief Steward throughout New England and New York State for 30 years. He passed away in 1993.
Sources: Dave Dykes/NEAR PR