Inaugural “Crab” Manchester Memorial Saturday at Seekonk
Astle, Vanasse Join Late Model Field for $1,000 to Win, 50-Lap Race
Seekonk #47 Late Model driver Bill Bernard of Holliston, MA will honor the memory of James “Crab” Manchester, one of his crew members, in Saturday’s Late Model feature at Seekonk Speedway. James Manchester of Westport, MA passed away on August 16th at age 74. A member of Bernard’s W.C. Racing Team, Manchester was a loyal supporter of racing at Seekonk and Thompson. He was a car owner in the old Formula Four division as well.
“We have to do something for Crab because he adopted us,” Bernard said. “He became an integral part of our crew. He was the first one there every Saturday. He was such a help and an inspiration to us that we felt obligated to see if there was something, we could do to help his family in their time of need.
What more fitting tribute (to someone) that was an integral part of both Seekonk and Thompson since the mid-50s and that man missed very few races throughout all those years. He was a racer, a car owner and probably the biggest fan of both tracks. And that certainly goes without saying – he just loved the sport and he loved people. And we loved him, just a great guy to be around.”
The inaugural Crab Manchester Memorial was created to benefit the Manchester family. The race came about after a discussion with track official David Alburn, who was receptive to the idea. W. A. Bernard, Inc. general contractors will be cosponsoring the event. “Our company is having a pretty decent year and we’re able to help with the purse structure, and some of the awards and stuff. We’ve been blessed and fortunate to be able to have the means right now to be able to do something for him.”
The Bernard team will donate its winnings to the Manchester family. “Crab was a man of meager means by no stretch of the imagination. He’d have to sell clams, oysters, (etc.) to be able to fund his racing habit, to be able to come to the track every week. “
Crazy Horse Racing of South Paris, Maine, who builds the chassis for Bernard’s team, will be presenting the hard charger award. “There’ll be a plaque in Crab’s honor and there’ll be a gift certificate as well to Crazy Horse Racing. The top-three finishers get trophies. As in the old days, the top-three podium finishers used to get trophies. Of course, that doesn’t happen very much anymore.”
Among the event’s supporters are Manchester’s widow Mickey, daughter Jessie and friend Mike Lawrence. “They’re excited to go to the track and cheer us all on,” Bernard said.
The race will pay “$1,000 to win, $650 for second, $450 for third then fourth through tenth are an extra $100 on top of what the track normally would pay out.” Late Model teams will not have to pay an entrance fee. “It would be a real fitting tribute to have a full field of Late Models. .. Hopefully we get some more support from some of our friends up north. We send the invitation to all Late Model competitors throughout the region (to) come down and have some fun with us.”
Bernard hopes for competitors from outside tracks like the Canaan Fair Speedway to make the trip to Seekonk. “We’ve got some friends from Canaan (that) we’ve run with in years past. I’m hoping to see guys like Scott MacMichael who just won the championship up there. .. I’m not sure if Ricky Bly, Matt Anderson, some of the other guys may come down.”
“I was told today (Monday) that Freddy Astle is even going to run the race. Bernard calls racing with the six-time track champion “a real treat.” “ That certainly says something, (it) speaks highly of Crab. People really cared about the guy. He was a fixture at the speedway. Hopefully, we’re thinking of trying to create some other type of revenue to get a plaque made (and placed) at the track in his memory.”
Bernard will also have a team car, the #47RI, entered in the event for Ryan Vanasse of Warwick, RI. “Ryan had been friends with Crab for many years. He couldn’t say yes fast enough. He just jumped at the opportunity.” Vanasse will also be donating his winnings.
Vanasse, a two-time Late Model champion, scored the most recent of his 35 wins in last year’s DAV 50-lapper. “We’re stoked,” Vanasse said. “Billy always has good equipment. So it gives us a chance to gauge where our equipment is, and obviously we’re going there to win the race.”
“Crab was a great guy, definitely a staple of the speedway. He was there for years and years and years. It’s nice to be part of that race for sure. I know he was there since day one when I started racing. He was always there to offer advice and feedback.”
“We’ll see how this one goes,” Vanasse said. “It sounds like Bill has done a good job getting a good car count for this race. Hopefully it’s pretty successful. And if it’s successful event, we can raise some money and it would be great to come back and have it come back every single year. To have some of these outsiders come back here at Seekonk for the DAV would just be icing on the cake.”
“It’s always good when you get the opportunity to go back to the Late Models,” Vanasse said. “We’ve both had a lot of fun in that division. I haven’t been able to run many races in the division over the last two to three years, but every time we do run, we are contending to win. We’re excited about that. It’s good to race against some of the guys we raced against a few years ago.”
“We’re so glad to be co-sponsoring this event with the speedway, Bernard concluded. “I would hope that next year we can do more and make this an even bigger event. I can’t thank Seekonk Speedway enough for their willingness to make this a great event in such short notice!”
Gerry DeGasparre, Jr., Dylan Estrella and Bobby Pelland, III already have extra-distance Late Model wins this season. Will one of them repeat their success in the Crab Manchester Memorial or will a new winner claim the checkered flag?
Seekonk Speedway is located at 1710 Fall River Ave, Seekonk, MA 02771. For more information, contact the track office at (508) 336-9959 or visit online at SeekonkSpeedway.com or on Facebook.
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com