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Photo ID # d07.29.07_074_POL_MID_0070_1
Car #: #74
Driver (s) : Joe Poliacik
Location: Middletown?
Date: mid 70's
Photographer: Paul Irving
Photo provided by: Paul Irving
Comments: I've heard people say that this particular coupe was one of their favorites and after looking at this great Paul Irving photo, I can see why!
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Date: Visitor's  Name:

Comment:

07/30/07 Barry Pursell One of my favroites in the sportsman div.and if my memory serves me right the body is a 1936 caddy.
07/30/07 Glen This body is a '36 Cadillac coupe. Joe and his crew disassembled the car for the body. I remember hearing how great this car looked. And just could not believe that a Cadillac body would make a great looking racecar. Wow was I wrong!

Thanks for the great memories, Glen
08/01/07 Barry Miller I remember this car, it was one of my favorite coupes. This is the car that he won The Sportsman Point Championship at Nazereth with in 1977. He was hooked up that year, he did not win many features but he was always up front. He was a smooth driver who was consistent and did not tear up the car much. The car looks like it has mufflers on it so they must have had that rule at Nazereth or Middletown because they are the two main tracks that he ran at. Keep those great old pictures coming, I love them.
08/01/07 Mike Stevens The car in this picture is a Modified. The coupe was also a sportsman regular at Flemington. I thought the muffler was on it because of East Windsor's rules.

Joe painted the car green (not a lucky racing color) due to having been severely injured in a previous car. A clutch or transmission exploded tearing him up with shrapnel. He took awhile to recover and painted the car green. As far as he was concerned it had to change his luck.

I always thought that this was one of the prettiest cars on the track. Joe was always a gentlemen racer and a class person. Judging by the chrome shocks and front suspension brackets, John Burnett had some influence in the upgrades on this car.
11/12/07 Joe Poliacik This picture was taken at Middletown, NY in 1977, the first year that I ran modified. This is the same car that won the sportsman championships in 1975 and 1976 at Nazareth, but with a big block and coil over suspension instead of trailer bars and leaf springs.

My serious injury occurred at Harmony Speedway in 1970. I was struck in the face by a piece of plate steel that flew off of another car in front of me in the feature event. I still have that piece of steel!

My car was already green at the time of my injury. My dad was fond of the color green, that is why our race cars were green. One of my crewmen, Ed Randolph came up with the nickname Green $tuff. The coupe body is a 1936 Cadillac which we found in Alpha, NJ.
11/12/07 3-Wide Thanks for the update Joe.  I hate to ask, but what ever happened to this beautiful coupe? 
c09.17.06_074_POL_Glen_Gardner.jpg (192286 bytes)
I'm glad you still have your Gremlin, but I'd love to see this coupe ride again too!
11/16/07 Guy Vogt Back when the 74 coupe ran at Middletown, I was crewing for a modified #7m of Bob Berry. I built a model of Joe's car and gave it to him there at the track in the pits. I would like to meet Joe again and find out if he still has the car that I made. My home E-mail address is glrcvogt2@verizon.com .
Thanks.  Guy Vogt
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

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