Utica Rome Speedway

rich freitag · 02-22-2009, 12:03 PM

I raced there in the early 70's untill it closed. I ran my 69 AMX 390 ,4speed ,posi.,Back then I drove my car about 40 miles ,raced it and drove home hoping nothing broke. We all ran class,stock/super stock, gas ,modified production,etc. Many ,well wait.. all.. no lets just say we were are all FAMOUS ! Come on guys, give yourselves a pat on your back. It won't cost you anything, it's cheap. Lets see , cheap is $5 to get in and $1 to race. That is what it cost at Utica Rome. Lets take a walk in the pits,over here is BOB HERTLINE"s SS/HA Camaro,there was BILL RUSSELL"s Chevy wagon the MAGIC BUS, ROGER FORBE's SS Matchmaker Camaro, the Blue VENOM Camaro, CHARLENE WOOD's "Tons of Fun" Pontiac Wagon, RALPH CONTE & HERM SCHREMER 'S Mighty MOPARS and so many more. Moving on , the Modifieds... MOE HALE's "Hangman" 55 Chevy, RICHIE FORBE's "Kong" Camaro, CURT LaSHURE's Opel, GORDY HMIEL's Pinto, PETE DeSALVO's Mustang II, and BOB NEWBERRY's Vette. All these cars are making me hungry, which brings me to their famous hotdogs...First off they were Hoffman, 10" long in a 5" bun. Best dogs ever... Also, I'll never forget when DON GARTLITS and SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY did a match race there. There were also other now famous people who ran there. I still have my AMX, my trophies, many, many pictures from Utica-Rome, ESTA and Fulton, and best of all , my memories...

KEN BUGAJ · 02-23-2009, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich freitag

I raced there in the early 70's untill it closed. I ran my 69 AMX 390 ,4speed ,posi.,Back then I drove my car about 40 miles ,raced it and drove home hoping nothing broke. We all ran class,stock/super stock, gas ,modified production,etc. Many ,well wait.. all.. no lets just say we were are all FAMOUS ! Come on guys, give yourselves a pat on your back. It won't cost you anything, it's cheap. Lets see , cheap is $5 to get in and $1 to race. That is what it cost at Utica Rome. Lets take a walk in the pits,over here is BOB HERTLINE"s SS/HA Camaro,there was BILL RUSSELL"s Chevy wagon the MAGIC BUS, ROGER FORBE's SS Matchmaker Camaro, the Blue VENOM Camaro, CHARLENE WOOD's "Tons of Fun" Pontiac Wagon, RALPH CONTE & HERM SCHREMER 'S Mighty MOPARS and so many more. Moving on , the Modifieds... MOE HALE's "Hangman" 55 Chevy, RICHIE FORBE's "Kong" Camaro, CURT LaSHURE's Opel, GORDY HMIEL's Pinto, PETE DeSALVO's Mustang II, and BOB NEWBERRY's Vette. All these cars are making me hungry, which brings me to their famous hotdogs...First off they were Hoffman, 10" long in a 5" bun. Best dogs ever... Also, I'll never forget when DON GARTLITS and SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY did a match race there. There were also other now famous people who ran there. I still have my AMX, my trophies, many, many pictures from Utica-Rome, ESTA and Fulton, and best of all , my memories...

Super Hugger
Foxy Lady
Flash Back
Conklin/Conklin
Mr. Z
Pied Pipper
Joe Kinney
Bill Plage
Bob Humphrey
We had a blast there,
Double points/double money nights were packed,
New Jersey Boys came up
Peter's Cheater/ Pete Fedun
Wally Clark
Pete Z
Hart/Todd (prospector)
Baker/Evans
Stormalong
We would start at Utica Rome then head out to Esta for Sunday....

Ryck Campbell · 02-23-2009, 12:44 PM

Ah, those WERE the days, weren't they Kenny?

RC

KEN BUGAJ · 02-23-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryck Campbell

Ah, those WERE the days, weren't they Kenny?

RC

Hey Ryck, Yes they were !
Hope all is well with you.
If anyone has any picture's I sure would like to see them.
Like the night the Jet Car blew the popcorn stand over. lol

philip a harnden · 02-23-2009, 03:50 PM

I RACED THERE ONLY COUPLE TIMES, I REMEMBER THAT YOU COULD NOT DO STATIONARY BURN OUT YOU HAD TO KEEP MOVING. WAS THAT ESTA OR UTICA ROME????

HI, R.C. & KEN "b"

PHIL HARNDEN
SS/IA 1474

Ryck Campbell · 02-23-2009, 10:10 PM

Ken, you had to mention that popcorn stand. That brings back both good and bad memories. Remember, my ex was the starter back then. BTW, that's a bad memory; the ex that is, not the popcorn stand.

RC

Brien Radley · 02-24-2009, 09:44 AM

I still have pictures of Big Daddy and Shirley in the pits at Utica- Rome. What a place! I used to haul my 70 Cuda on a 1967 International flatbed truck over there on Saturdays and then to ESTA on Sundays. Wasn`t that long ago, was it?

Brien Radley

vinny madonia · 12-02-2010, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KEN BUGAJ

Super Hugger
Foxy Lady
Flash Back
Conklin/Conklin
Mr. Z
Pied Pipper
Joe Kinney
Bill Plage
Bob Humphrey
We had a blast there,
Double points/double money nights were packed,
New Jersey Boys came up
Peter's Cheater/ Pete Fedun
Wally Clark
Pete Z
Hart/Todd (prospector)
Baker/Evans
Stormalong
We would start at Utica Rome then head out to Esta for Sunday....

How about black belt the blue gtx. i have old pics of that car

Dave Casey · 12-02-2010, 04:02 PM

Raced there once, with my stocker , remember 2 things.

The burnout box was so close to the starting line that on my first run, I tried to stage with the back tires, until the starter motion me back.

Yes, we were pitted on the oval, I was on the outer edge and dropped a socket which rolled a long ways, in the dark to the infield.

It was an adventure, one that I am glad I attended. The only other stocker that was there that I am sure of was Dan Rockwell with his Pinto, I know there was a bunch more.

Bob Rice · 12-02-2010, 07:09 PM

Here's a link to some great pics from Utica Rome and ESTA.

http://dragracersreunion.ning.com/ph...=01dejevv02q61

02-22-2009, 12:03 PM	#1
rich freitag Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: cicero n.y. Posts: 29 Likes: 7 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Utica Rome Speedway I raced there in the early 70's untill it closed. I ran my 69 AMX 390 ,4speed ,posi.,Back then I drove my car about 40 miles ,raced it and drove home hoping nothing broke. We all ran class,stock/super stock, gas ,modified production,etc. Many ,well wait.. all.. no lets just say we were are all FAMOUS ! Come on guys, give yourselves a pat on your back. It won't cost you anything, it's cheap. Lets see , cheap is $5 to get in and $1 to race. That is what it cost at Utica Rome. Lets take a walk in the pits,over here is BOB HERTLINE"s SS/HA Camaro,there was BILL RUSSELL"s Chevy wagon the MAGIC BUS, ROGER FORBE's SS Matchmaker Camaro, the Blue VENOM Camaro, CHARLENE WOOD's "Tons of Fun" Pontiac Wagon, RALPH CONTE & HERM SCHREMER 'S Mighty MOPARS and so many more. Moving on , the Modifieds... MOE HALE's "Hangman" 55 Chevy, RICHIE FORBE's "Kong" Camaro, CURT LaSHURE's Opel, GORDY HMIEL's Pinto, PETE DeSALVO's Mustang II, and BOB NEWBERRY's Vette. All these cars are making me hungry, which brings me to their famous hotdogs...First off they were Hoffman, 10" long in a 5" bun. Best dogs ever... Also, I'll never forget when DON GARTLITS and SHIRLEY MULDOWNEY did a match race there. There were also other now famous people who ran there. I still have my AMX, my trophies, many, many pictures from Utica-Rome, ESTA and Fulton, and best of all , my memories... __________________ Rich Freitag 1440 SS Last edited by rich freitag; 02-22-2009 at 04:06 PM.

02-23-2009, 12:44 PM	#3
Ryck Campbell Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Rome, NY Posts: 56 Likes: 176 Liked 46 Times in 10 Posts	Re: Utica Rome Speedway Ah, those WERE the days, weren't they Kenny? RC __________________ Ryck Campbell NHRA Technical Specialist

02-23-2009, 03:50 PM	#5
philip a harnden Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: spencerport new york Posts: 71 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Utica Rome Speedway I RACED THERE ONLY COUPLE TIMES, I REMEMBER THAT YOU COULD NOT DO STATIONARY BURN OUT YOU HAD TO KEEP MOVING. WAS THAT ESTA OR UTICA ROME???? HI, R.C. & KEN "b" PHIL HARNDEN SS/IA 1474

02-23-2009, 10:10 PM	#6
Ryck Campbell Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Rome, NY Posts: 56 Likes: 176 Liked 46 Times in 10 Posts	Re: Utica Rome Speedway Ken, you had to mention that popcorn stand. That brings back both good and bad memories. Remember, my ex was the starter back then. BTW, that's a bad memory; the ex that is, not the popcorn stand. RC __________________ Ryck Campbell NHRA Technical Specialist

02-24-2009, 09:44 AM	#7
Brien Radley Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 57 Likes: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Utica Rome Speedway I still have pictures of Big Daddy and Shirley in the pits at Utica- Rome. What a place! I used to haul my 70 Cuda on a 1967 International flatbed truck over there on Saturdays and then to ESTA on Sundays. Wasn`t that long ago, was it? Brien Radley

12-02-2010, 04:02 PM	#9
Dave Casey VIP Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Hampden, MA Posts: 1,202 Likes: 233 Liked 797 Times in 165 Posts	Re: Utica Rome Speedway Raced there once, with my stocker , remember 2 things. The burnout box was so close to the starting line that on my first run, I tried to stage with the back tires, until the starter motion me back. Yes, we were pitted on the oval, I was on the outer edge and dropped a socket which rolled a long ways, in the dark to the infield. It was an adventure, one that I am glad I attended. The only other stocker that was there that I am sure of was Dan Rockwell with his Pinto, I know there was a bunch more. __________________ Dave Casey 1330 STK

12-02-2010, 07:09 PM	#10
Bob Rice Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: New Bern, NC Posts: 617 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Utica Rome Speedway Here's a link to some great pics from Utica Rome and ESTA. http://dragracersreunion.ning.com/ph...=01dejevv02q61

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