Racing back then was indeed fun........and in classes like this one, it was cheap. Cars could be had for hauling them off. We raced mostly at the newly built dirt track in Ellsworth. That dirt was so loose in the corners that you could have planted carrots in it. But everybody had to face the same conditions. They would grade it before the features and water it but the ruts came back instantly.
We raced for 3 seasons. The car pictured above was destroyed that first year, frame bent beyond recovery. We replaced it with another 56, which was already equipped with the cage and stuff and raced that for two more years. We never invested much money in it, didn't need to. The car pictured here was our last version. Sheet metal was not a big issue as you can see here. That is a way too young looking me on the left, in the red hat, my trademark then. Hard to believe we were all that young a ways back.
56chevy3 by
Nathan Pitts, on Flickr
We tried it at Speedway 95, which is in Bangor, 30 miles away. That was an easy haul but a paved track. Safety hubs were required on the right front along with a very large and wide tire. The most competitive cars were running 3/4 ton rear axles with lower gears. Lord knows what was in the engines but we could see that already it was going to take more money than we had to be competitive there so we retired. Having a wife and young child puts a dent in your limited racing budget in any case.
I wish there could be our kind or racing again, where it was sort of a family thing, each car had it's loyal supporters who rooted loud and often. According to Ralph Nason, who owned Unity Raceway here in Maine for many years, there are way too many other things for people to do today and they don't flock to the racetracks like they did 40 yrs ago. Sad state of affairs but most race tracks that existed im Maine, in the 1970's are gone forever. Same story all over I suspect.
MB
