Back in the day (1960) my friends and I wanted to go racing. We were encouraged by Jim Martel (see Martel racing career at end of this section), who already had several racing years under his belt, and Ernest McKay who built the famous 707 for Bentley Warren. Money and skill were short, but we had to start someplace. We acquired a 1951 Ford and decided to enter in the Spectator Race at West Peabody Speedway. The way this worked was that at the end of the night fans could get their cars from the parking lot and line up for a race. Of course, over time fans would bring cars especially to race in this event. That is exactly what we did. The cars were registered so no trailer was needed. There were no safety requirements other than a seat belt and a helmet. It was a slam bam event and the crowd loved it. We have no "on track" video but click here to see the only existing video of this car as we prepared to go racing one Saturday night in 1960.
In addition, there is some video of the track itself. The 8mm video had no sound (hope you like the soundtrack) and it had no facility for night filming. Therefore what you see is some early warmup laps and a few pit shots prior to sunset. It does include some of the premier drivers of the day who are listed in the credits. Nevertheless, our car was in the parking lot posing as a spectator car and waiting for the last race to end. Click here for a look at the track and many of the premier drivers of the day. ( 02-22-2016 Youtube has an audio copyright issue so temporarily there is no soundtrack with this video.)
In addition, there is some video of the track itself. The 8mm video had no sound (hope you like the soundtrack) and it had no facility for night filming. Therefore what you see is some early warmup laps and a few pit shots prior to sunset. It does include some of the premier drivers of the day who are listed in the credits. Nevertheless, our car was in the parking lot posing as a spectator car and waiting for the last race to end. Click here for a look at the track and many of the premier drivers of the day. ( 02-22-2016 Youtube has an audio copyright issue so temporarily there is no soundtrack with this video.)
Later, with a little experience under our belts, we redid this car into an official race car with the intent to run it Saturday nights at the Pines Speedway in Groveland, Mass and Sunday afternoons at Hudson Speedway in Hudson, NH.
This is the car shown in the photos below
Although, I have no photos or videos of Pines Speedway, thanks to former racer Steve Newman, you can get the feel of the track and the many competitors of that era by clicking on thepinesspeedway.com. Also, see "Images of the Pines Speedway Reunion" below for photos of many restored race cars of the era.
Finally, I have a few minutes of video from the Hudson (NH) Speedway. Although we once had some nice video of the #7 at Hudson, they disappeared never to be seen again. Be that as it may, you can click here to see video of a week we were not racing. It does let you see the track and cars we raced against back in the day.
Update February 25, 2015 - Thanks to Ed Gallagher, we just discovered a brief video clip of the Red #7 at Hudson Speedway. (Disclaimer - this video was an existing You Tube video that is mistakenly entitled "Hudson Speedway Vermont - 1963".) Please click HUDSON SPEEDWAY to view this YouTube video.
This is the car shown in the photos below
Although, I have no photos or videos of Pines Speedway, thanks to former racer Steve Newman, you can get the feel of the track and the many competitors of that era by clicking on thepinesspeedway.com. Also, see "Images of the Pines Speedway Reunion" below for photos of many restored race cars of the era.
Finally, I have a few minutes of video from the Hudson (NH) Speedway. Although we once had some nice video of the #7 at Hudson, they disappeared never to be seen again. Be that as it may, you can click here to see video of a week we were not racing. It does let you see the track and cars we raced against back in the day.
Update February 25, 2015 - Thanks to Ed Gallagher, we just discovered a brief video clip of the Red #7 at Hudson Speedway. (Disclaimer - this video was an existing You Tube video that is mistakenly entitled "Hudson Speedway Vermont - 1963".) Please click HUDSON SPEEDWAY to view this YouTube video.
THE HELMET
As mentioned in the article above regarding our West Peabody Spectator car, you needed very little safety equipment. The only thing they required was a seat belt and of course a HELMET. In those days, for us anyway, everything you had to buy was an issue. Luckily, in the beginning I was able to borrow Jim Martel’s. Since he encouraged me to this, it was the least he could do ha ha.
One quick story about using Jim’s helmet. It wasn’t a problem because we were always the last event, so Jim was through racing by then. On one particular night, Tommy Scahill and I thought it might be good if we changed the oil as we waited in the dark out in the gravel parking lot. So we drained the oil right into the dirt. After it had all drained out, I realized the drain plug had to be re-installed. Long story short, my head got into the oil soaked gravel under the car. Yuk…. I did everything I could to wipe it out but my hair was pretty gooey. When it was time to race, I squeezed Jim’s helmet on (it was about a size too small) and ran our race. In spite of all my cleaning, Jim still noticed the inside of his helmet seemed pretty oiled up. I knew then I needed to get my own helmet.
It escaped me where I actually came across the helmet. Nevertheless, I ended up using it for the rest of my racing at Pines and Hudson. It was a white open face Bell and this one was about a size too big. I would guess I paid something like $25 for it. To make up for the extra space in the helmet, I would wear a wool winter beanie. This worked out fine but it was a little warm on some of those dusty hot summer nights.
When I had to go in the service in the spring of 1964 (I actually received a draft notice), I sold the helmet to Art Rousseau’s dad. Art was a few years younger than me and, with the help of Ronnie Marcorelle, was starting to run the Class B #616 at Pines and Hudson Speedways (as a footnote, at that point in time, our Class B #7, Art’s Class B #616 and Bentley Warren and Ernest McKay’s Class B #707 were all located only a few blocks from each other in Ipswich). Art’s dad was a veteran racer from way back and decided to join in on the fun again and do a little racing himself. Of course he needed a helmet, and I was happy to fill that heed for him probably for about $10. That was 50 years ago last spring.
This past summer I happened to run into Art in Ipswich. Art went on to race a variety of cars and won numerous Championships before retiring. In fact, in 2013 he was inducted into the Pines Speedway Hall of Fame at the Annual Reunion in Groveland. See photos of Art and his cars in the Pines Speedway photo section below.
As my wife will say, “Land the plane Don” ha ha. So anyway, as I was talking to Art, he reminded me that he had my old helmet from “back in the day” in his shop. His father had passed away and he had it displayed as a racing memory of his dad. OMG..what a surprise. As you might expect, not long after, Jim Martel and I were at Art’s shop to view this relic. Of course it was a white open face Bell that just about everyone wore. How could I be sure it was mine? Art's dad had his nick name painted on the front so it did look a little different. Anyway, Art got it down from the shelf and pointed out some faint printing on the deteriorated styrofoam inside. In greenish blue ink you can make out: (see the photo)
Don Bayley
11 Spring St
Ipswich, MA
It was quite a moment viewing that HELMET from so many years ago as the memories of some really fun times quickly flashed by.
My thanks to Art Rousseau for preserving this piece of racing history for him and for me.
One quick story about using Jim’s helmet. It wasn’t a problem because we were always the last event, so Jim was through racing by then. On one particular night, Tommy Scahill and I thought it might be good if we changed the oil as we waited in the dark out in the gravel parking lot. So we drained the oil right into the dirt. After it had all drained out, I realized the drain plug had to be re-installed. Long story short, my head got into the oil soaked gravel under the car. Yuk…. I did everything I could to wipe it out but my hair was pretty gooey. When it was time to race, I squeezed Jim’s helmet on (it was about a size too small) and ran our race. In spite of all my cleaning, Jim still noticed the inside of his helmet seemed pretty oiled up. I knew then I needed to get my own helmet.
It escaped me where I actually came across the helmet. Nevertheless, I ended up using it for the rest of my racing at Pines and Hudson. It was a white open face Bell and this one was about a size too big. I would guess I paid something like $25 for it. To make up for the extra space in the helmet, I would wear a wool winter beanie. This worked out fine but it was a little warm on some of those dusty hot summer nights.
When I had to go in the service in the spring of 1964 (I actually received a draft notice), I sold the helmet to Art Rousseau’s dad. Art was a few years younger than me and, with the help of Ronnie Marcorelle, was starting to run the Class B #616 at Pines and Hudson Speedways (as a footnote, at that point in time, our Class B #7, Art’s Class B #616 and Bentley Warren and Ernest McKay’s Class B #707 were all located only a few blocks from each other in Ipswich). Art’s dad was a veteran racer from way back and decided to join in on the fun again and do a little racing himself. Of course he needed a helmet, and I was happy to fill that heed for him probably for about $10. That was 50 years ago last spring.
This past summer I happened to run into Art in Ipswich. Art went on to race a variety of cars and won numerous Championships before retiring. In fact, in 2013 he was inducted into the Pines Speedway Hall of Fame at the Annual Reunion in Groveland. See photos of Art and his cars in the Pines Speedway photo section below.
As my wife will say, “Land the plane Don” ha ha. So anyway, as I was talking to Art, he reminded me that he had my old helmet from “back in the day” in his shop. His father had passed away and he had it displayed as a racing memory of his dad. OMG..what a surprise. As you might expect, not long after, Jim Martel and I were at Art’s shop to view this relic. Of course it was a white open face Bell that just about everyone wore. How could I be sure it was mine? Art's dad had his nick name painted on the front so it did look a little different. Anyway, Art got it down from the shelf and pointed out some faint printing on the deteriorated styrofoam inside. In greenish blue ink you can make out: (see the photo)
Don Bayley
11 Spring St
Ipswich, MA
It was quite a moment viewing that HELMET from so many years ago as the memories of some really fun times quickly flashed by.
My thanks to Art Rousseau for preserving this piece of racing history for him and for me.
The Gloves
So I am finally cleaning my attic and what do I find? The "racing" gloves I wore during the 1960- 1963 racing seasons at West Peabody, Pines, and Hudson Speedways. The gloves are nothing special, but it is kinda of amazing they are still around. So with the helmet and gloves, you can see all the personal safety equipment I wore. Beyond that, it was just the jeans and T-shirt I wore to the track like everyone else.
Below are the only photos I have of the Pines and Hudson Class B car run 1961 - 1963.
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Finally, the memories remain alive due to things like the Pines Speedway Reunion held each year adjacent to the former track site in Groveland MA.
Jim Martel - A Racing Life - 1956 - Present
In the beginning of this "Back in the Day" section, I mentioned Jim Martel and how he encouraged me to get into racing. Although, my early racing was brief and current racing is limited, Jim had a long career punctuated with numerous Championships. Recently he was inducted into the New England Auto Racing (NEAR) Hall of Fame in South Windsor CT. In response to that, I did a slide show of his racing career and beyond. This included a few of my photos but mostly photos Jim had accumulated over the years. Please page down to view "Jim Martel - A Racing Life".