SLATE SET FOR POPULAR “LOST SPEEDWAYS” PROGRAM IN NOVEMBER
Saratoga Springs, NY With Labor Day in the books and a hint of fall in the air, it’s time to set the slate of topics and presenters for the Saratoga Automobile Museum’s most popular event, Lost Speedways.
“We’ll welcome racers and fans on our traditional ‘Saturday after Thanksgiving’ date once again, which this year falls on November 28th,” said event organizer Ron Hedger. “And like always, we’ll have memorabilia on display along with a great slate of presentations as we look back at speedways and racers no longer with us.”
Mark Supley, Lost Speedway’s motorcycle expert, will discuss board track racing, a topic he addressed a few years ago but has since expanded. Vermont racing historian Bill Ladabouche will cover the old Otter Creek Speedway in Vergennes, where many New Yorkers raced back in the day, while Ken Parrotte will take the audience back to the early days of the Fulton Speedway, when Millard “Bub” Benway and his brother first opened it under the name Mil-Ray Speedway.
For sports car and road racing fans, Lime Rock Park announcer and racing historian Greg Rickes has researched the famed street race through Alexandria Bay and will share his findings. And for dirt track fans, racing columnist John Snyder, who made his Lost Speedways debut last fall, will return to talk about Victory Speedway, the original name of the track now known as the Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway.
“The final segment will be our now traditional interview session,” added Hedger. “Each year I invite one or two star drivers to talk about their careers and this year I’m hoping to have a pair from different backgrounds to answer both my questions and queries from the audience. As the event gets closer and possible conflicts are resolved, we’ll be able to announce their names.”
Another Lost Speedways tradition is that the event closely follows the opening of the museum’s winter exhibit, which will be “Real Steel: Stories of Automotive Archaeology from Kevin Biebel.” While Biebel’s collection runs from a 1907 Success that looks like a buckboard with an engine to modern vehicles, racers will likely be most interested in his Kent Fuller built dragster, complete with Ford flathead engine and Hilborn fuel injection, which remains just as it came off the drag strip decades ago.
And for those who have enjoyed viewing the #2x modified coupe driven by the legendary Eddie Flemke, the car’s owner, Long island collector Phil Elliston, has agreed to replace it with another historic treasure, the #888 wheeled by four-time national champion Rene Charland. The ‘triple 8’ will arrive in early October to allow time for items from SAM’s extensive collection of Charland memorabilia to be displayed with it at Lost Speedways.
Lost Speedways 2015 will commence with memorabilia sharing from 11:30 am on, followed by the presentations at 12:45 pm.
The Saratoga Automobile Museum is located on the Avenue of the Pines in the Saratoga Spa State Park, just off Exit 13N of I-87, the Adirondack Northway. More information on SAM is available online at www.saratogaautomuseum.org.