Maryland Cars Were "Sweet"!

While organizing my Maryland racing materials recently I came across this 1958 Labor Day photo from Alcyon Speedway, which was located in Pitman, New Jersey. It shows the Putty Hill Race Team leaving the infield pits with the 88, which was driven by Ed Lindsay to the 50 lap feature win.

I want to focus on the pick-up and race car but, I can't help but let my mind get distracted a little as I look at the old concession stand which separated the infield and the pits. I wonder how many of the 25 cent "dirty water" hot dogs I had eaten that afternoon I spent in "glory"! Yes, that is the cab of Elton Hildreth's pick-up you see parked in the pits. In retrospect, the facility was "shabby" but the racing was fantastic, drawing the "Who's Who" of stock car racing on a regular basis.

Now back to my original thought, the Maryland cars that came up to race, were usually a "tad" ahead of the "Jersey" guys. I don't even want to get into how cool the pick-up was! Full hub caps, exhaust stacks whitewalls, fog lights, stop! that's enough!

The basics that were true of most of the Maryland cars, and this is just my own observations omitting the exceptions. The fenders were neatly trimmed and often the edges "rolled" around the wheel opening. The fender cuts were not excessive. Hoods and often engine side panels were still used. The paint jobs were quality and racing damage repaired as soon as possible. The 88 painted red and white sported flames which were a favorite to me. Look on page 8 in the 50's section of the 3wide vault for a color picture of this car.

Photo 2 shows PeeWee Poblett's #46, 1937 Ford coupe. PeeWee would get the "best of show" award on a weekly bases if such an award was given. His equipment had the "boy I would like to have that to drive on the road" look. This 1957 version was white and dark metallic blue with gold leaf numbers. PeeWee ran strong and finished usually in the top 5 but was never able to get a win at Alcyon. Note on PeeWee's coupe the strap on top of the roof. Many of the Maryland cars had that strap which appears to bolt into the main roll bar. I believe it was structurally used to hold the body in place. and also the roll bar in place if the car flipped. Remember the doors could still be opened on many of these cars and were bolted or chained shut while racing.

More important than looks, the Maryland cars were "strong" I can't still hear PeeWee on-and-off the throttle as he worked his way thru the Alcyon dog-leg. His 3 carbureted Ford had a "throaty" sound that stood out over the others!

It's interesting how times change our perspectives. Here in the present day I'm reminiscing about the quality of the cars from Maryland and yet on that Labor Day afternoon in 1958, I wasn't a real happy camper! That darn Ed Lindsay had just won the feature in that flaming 88 and my hero Al Tasnady driving a "far from beautiful" Jordan deuce hadn't won.

Senior Moment By: Russ Dodge

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