Ace
Racing has lost award winning photographer Ace Lane Jr., and we have all lost a good friend.
Following in the very large footsteps of his father Ace Lane Sr., Ace Lane Jr. began filming the action in the late 60's/early 70's at local speedways with a hand held movie camera, sitting up on a ladder, strategically placed in the infield at Flemington and other area speedways, while his father (Ace Sr.) captured the on track action and the "personalities" of the era in photographs. With the unexpected passing of Ace Lane Sr. in 1973, Ace Jr. then shifted his efforts on photography.
Ace Lane at East Windsor Speedway - Bruce Barmore photo.Who could have known back then that Ace was beginning a journey for all of us? A journey that would go on for the next 6 decades... A journey of creating a visual record of those who raced.... of the cars they drove.... and with it, the pulse of what we all feel when we remember what short track racing will always mean to us.
We have that because of Ace.
Ace was a genius when it came to film photographer and later digital photography (both classroom trained with a BS degree from Montclair College, as well as unmatched real world experience.) I don't throw that kind of praise around very often, but from discussions I have had with Ace about shooting film in different conditions, working with various software imaging programs, and from talking to many other racing photographers, I have learned that there was no end to the knowledge that Ace had when it came to photography. Many of today's photographers will tell you that they learned more than a few things when they were first starting out from Ace.
...An absolute master of photography.
Ace in Flemington Victory Lane with Stan Ploski, who was substitute driving for Ace's good friend Mike Grbac.As impressive, and as deserving he is of that praise, you can't stop there.... Ace was one of our sports biggest personalities. Everybody knew Ace, and Ace knew everybody.... But it was more than that.... Ace was friends with 100's... (maybe even 1000's?) of people in and around our sport. If you ever tried walking through the pits with Ace... or through a Motorsports Show.... or a Mall Show, you couldn't walk 5' without someone stopping Ace to say hello... to catch up... and most often, sharing a few laughs along the way. Ace had an amazing memory when it came to drivers, car owners, crew members... EVERYBODY... The only way to explain how much he knew/and how effortlessly he remembered everyone, was to understand that Ace was this sport - through and through... 100%.
Ace Lane at 1974 Matheny fund racer, with driver Sammy Beavers and columnist Ken Kuhlman.
What some may not know is that it was through Ace's photography that he, and driver Sammy Beavers first came up with the idea back in the early 70's, of helping the kids at the Matheny School. It all began when Ace had shot some photos of Sammy. and Sammy made a deal with him that if he sold them, that somehow the $'s would have to support the Matheny effort... The two agreed.... Not long after that, Ace's good friend driver Mike Grbac and other great personalities of the sport became involved.... and started a tradition that has brought smiles to so many.
I don't think Ace ever missed a Matheny event... That too was Ace.
Ace - Wall Stadium - 2007Racing has lost that huge personality.... Many of us have lost a very good friend.... But the sport, and specifically the history and our memories of the sport, can never be separated from Ace Lane Jr.
I offer my condolences to son Tommy, and to the many, many friends of Ace Lane Jr.There will be a Memorial Gathering for Ace on Saturday May 24th at the McCriskin – Gustafson Home For Funerals in South Plainfield NJ: Information below:
Memorial Gathering
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Saturday, May 24, 2025
McCriskin – Gustafson Home For Funerals
2425 Plainfield Avenue
South Plainfield, New Jersey
Above image from racing photographer Harry Meeks Jr: "Here's an image I took of Ace one night when we were kidding around at New Egypt. Ace was a huge influence on me, a great friend and mentor. I will miss him dearly."
Additional information below:
https://mccriskinfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/22225/John-Lane/obituary.html#tribute-start
Racing Photographer Rich Young Passes
Racing photographer Rich Young (seated) at the Phillipsburg Mall event (2018).We are sad to learn of the passing of racing photographer Rich Young.
A quiet man, Rich was from the Washington NJ area, and served his country proudly in the Navy. He was a long time race fan, and considered Tony Siscone to be his favorite driver.
While you may never have had the chance to have met Rich, I'm sure those reading this are familiar with Rich's work from behind the camera as he generously allowed many of his images to be displayed here in The Vault in what we call the "Forever Young" section. It's there that Rich's images can be found of many of our favorite cars from the late 60's and beyond... from Flemington, Harmony, Langhorne,, Middletown, Nazareth, Trenton, Oswego, and Wall.
The "Forever Young" section really came about from a chance meeting thanks to Rich's long time friend Joe "Sparky" Cryan. It was about 10 years ago that Joe introduced me to Rich at a Phillipsburg Mall "Dirt Track Heroes" event, and explained that Rich had all of his original photographs from the 60's - 80's from the area speedways. After learning more, I did my best to explain to both, how much I thought those who visited our site would appreciate seeing Rich's work, and Rich agreed that it was time for others to enjoy the images too.
We all agreed to meet one morning in Flemington (Rich, Joe Cryan, Kevin Eyres, and myself) to discuss the idea further, including how to get all of the images scanned, and what type of layout on how the images should be presented in The Vault. It was from that meeting that a plan was put in place for Joe to take on the job of scanning each photo, followed by emailing the newly created "digital images" to us here in The Vault, along with track, driver and date information. From there, we'd organize the images by track, and post them as received. It was because of that initial meeting, the effort of Joe Cryan, and the willingness of Rich Young to have his original images enjoyed by all reading this, that the Forever Young section was created.
I am very sad to hear of the passing of our friend Rich Young, and will always be grateful for the images provided, but will feel some level of comfort in knowing, as friend Joe Cryan offered, "Rich really enjoyed that Joe was able to put his photos on the site."
We'll always remember our friend Rich Young, and we hope you will remember him as well, each time you stop by to revisit Rich's images, as I know he would enjoy.
