The View From Section 3...
I'm sure just about everybody reading
this right now has their own set of memories of what
Flemington Speedway was to them... Some spent
nights in the covered grandstand... some in turn 4...
some will remember their nights in the pits, or maybe
even their nights behind the wheel!
Most of my memories were formed right here... sitting in
Section 3, in the first turn at Flemington Speedway,
probably no more than 30 - 40' from this sign which hung
on the the top railing of the walkway.
From 1971 to the early 80's, I sat in Section 3, usually
in the 2nd or 3rd row from the top with seats that had
been saved by George and Sophie Curtis, from Staten
Island, who always got there super early... They liked
the park like setting that could always be found on a
Saturday afternoon prior to the races at Flemington. They
would always save us two seats... One for my dad, and
one for me.
From this view, we could see the cars coming out of turn
4, and down the front toward us... We could see
them flash by on their way into turn 1.... And we'd
watch then drive away, with always a few flirting with
the outside boards on their way to turn 2.... Most would
make it.... Some would not. In between events, we
could look across the track and see the overflowing
pits, with the cars and stars that would be performing
on track in qualifying heats, consi's and
features. There was always something to look at...
A crew frantically working on their broken race car...
coaxing with hammers and pry bars... and maybe even help from
the welder all in an attempt to get them back out in time for the
consolation.
The other really special thing about these photos is that they were taken in
1972. At the start of the season, I was 11 years
old, and I'd be 12 before the points wrapped up in late
August. While drivers like Stan Ploski, Billy O,
Sammy Beavers and others grabbed most of the attention
in the headlining modified division, I also closely
followed drivers like Hager, Hartman and Madsen in the
Sportsman class.... '72 was also the first year
for the new "Rookie Division", and before the year was
over, I'd learn to watch two other drivers pretty
closely... One named Kenny Brenn Jr., and the other, in
kind of a rough looking dark blue coupe with the back kind'a hiked
up named "Michalchuk."
Thanks to photographer Glenn Grafton and photo provider
Dave Pratt, I can look at these 24 pictures, and I'm
sitting right there in my old seat once again.... right there in
Section 3 in the first turn at Flemington Speedway...
one row from the top, in the seats that George and
Sophie saved for me and my dad.
Click on each picture to see the full size photo, along with the "Vault Vitals" and Visitor's Comments" on each.
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Wide's Picture Vault - All Rights Reserved. Born on date November 13, 2002
10/28/20