Never before has a national publication featured a collection of photos of the Northeast’s favorite stock car racing’s division – the modifieds. The author brings together photos and text of the region’s best-loved drivers and their cars, as well as the “also-rans,” during the ‘60s and ‘70s when modifieds were built in backyards by local mechanics utilizing junkyard parts, no two cars looked alike, and there were so many tracks to race at. See them now as they were!

Human beings have always been driven to compete. Foot racing became horse racing became automobile racing, and we continue to redefine the word “fast.” Whether you prefer the tales of American bootleggers customizing Prohibition-era automobiles to outrun the law or the natural progression of cars replacing horses on the streets and on the racetrack, automobile racing flourished as a sport for many years in the United States before stock car racing truly came into its own in the 1950s. The economy rebounded after the end of World War II. The GIs brought home skills and knowledge about advances in technology, and civilians had learned how to get the most out of old machines during the war. Scrap steel was no longer reserved exclusively for the War Effort, and the junkyards were filling up with worn out cars as people started to invest in new ones to replace them. A very competitive stock car could be purchased at the junk yard for $25 or so. By adding another $75, a clever builder could make it race ready. Teams of weekend warriors could compete head to head against well-funded, highly trained teams and have a real shot at winning. It was a perfect combination: knowledgeable mechanics and fearless drivers in cars that the public recognized from their daily life. The grandstands filled and new tracks turned up all across the countryside to satisfy the public's interest in watching these race cars compete. Associations formed to standardize the tracks, which were often farm fields that had been lovingly sculpted and paved by the farmers themselves to give the drivers and their crews a place to showcase their talent. These men and women entertained, awed, and inspired a generation of "motor heads" and race fans. This book is a tribute to the drivers and other figures from Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania who shaped stock car racing in the 1950s.

Stock car racing in the 1960s featured intense behind the scenes battles between the factories, rules makers, track owners, promoters, and racing teams. Everyone was trying to keep up with the rapid year-to-year changes that brought more cubic inches, more horsepower, smoother shapes, and faster cars. The fans were the beneficiary as they were treated to incredible competition and incredible race cars. The '60s were a sensational era of stock car racing that will never be seen again. Factory engineers produced wild and powerful stock cars that raced in shootouts from Southern dirt and small ovals to bigger and bigger super-speedways. The racer's edge sought by each factory led one small team after another to pack up and pull out. This was the era of back-door racer support from General Motors, Ford's "Total Performance" agenda to win everything, and Chrysler's fantastic Hemi-powered stockers. Special racing engines and exotic prototypes with advanced concepts that never saw the light of day all added up to fantastic drama and incredible racing, all told in these pages.

SPENCER SPEEDWAY LEGENDS 1957-1977 by Len Kasper SPENCER SPEEDWAY LEGENDS 1957-1977 was written using notes and journals kept by the author, and it tells an in-depth chronology of a racetrack in a suburb of Rochester, New York, over a twenty-year period. The storyline follows the drivers, owners, promoters, officials, and race crews that made this incredible history possible. It includes a multitude of behind-the-scenes information and personal stories with rare photographs from the author and from the racing families themselves. For those who lived through the period, it is a nostalgic trip back in time. For others, it will be a compelling journey through time where local tracks were evolving from jalopy tracks to professional racing circuits, and their drivers rose to national prominence.

This book covers the cars, the drivers, and the evolution of the street classes. In the late 1950s, thousands of street legal hot rods participated in organized drag races across the country -- As the racers got more serious, these cars were street legal in appearance only. in reality they were full-on race cars, with blown Hemi engines, racing slicks, and raised front suspensions. Racers soon discovered that small, lightweight cars were the fastest, and the classic Gasser was born .

Starting out as a dirt fairground track for horses, the Stafford Motor Speedway rose to become one of the most prominent forces in New England Stock Car Racing. Cars began racing at Stafford in 1940 and NASCAR has sanctioned the facility since 1959. Clarence Benton sold the speedway to Malcom Barlow who paved the track in early 1967. Barlow went broke in mid-1970 and leased the track to Jack Arute who, along with his brother Chuck, bought the speedway in 1971.