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Photo ID # I03.23.12_300_HAR_ALC_0058S_1
Car #: #300
Driver (s) : Otto Harwi
Location: Alcyon
Date: June 13, 1958
Photographer: Bob Sweeten Photo
Photo provided by: Russ Dodge
Comments: Senior Moment From Russ Dodge:

Tangents!

I want to thank those of you who have taken time to read the Senior Moments posted periodically on this site.  In writing them, I've always tried to follow some advice from an English class years ago which said," Your story should be like a woman's dress!  Long enough to cover the subject but short enough to leave it interesting".  Because of that, each of the 100 Senior Moments already recorded usually could be written with a completely different accompanying story.

After selecting this photo the realization came that it offered too many stories to tell.  So for fun I'm going to list all the tangents that readily come to mind.  Each of which could be developed into a complete moment.

a.  The first 300 car appeared in 1956, but won 6 features at Vineland Speedway in 1955 as the Brown 44 driven by Ken Marriott.

b.  Case farm tractor dealer Joe Pustizzi was the principal new owner and painted the car Case colors of cream and orange.   300 was a model number of a Case tractor

c. Bridgeton driver Jimmy Marks was to be the driver for the new team but Jackie McLaughlin soon became the most successful driver of the car.

d. The 300 was the backbone of McLaughlin's 1956 & '57 Flemington Championships.

e.  Bob Pickell's admiration and friendship with Jackie, initiated his use of the number 300 on his own cars.

f.  Ken Marriott was the second most successful driver of the 300, I  recall while it was driven also by Freddie Fehr.

g.  It's usually a safe assumption to make that when Otto ended up driving a South Jersey car, if only temporarily, Sonny Dornberger had his wrenches on it sometime.  Otto was one of "Sonny's Drivers" and Sonny did his best to secure them rides.

h.  The owner of the 300 at the time of this photo was Millard Paulus, who lived next to Palatine Lake in Salem County.

i. Palatine Lake was a summer swimming-picnic grove, great for "Sunday School" groups, etc.  Something like a buck admission or maybe $.50 back then!

j.  (A real tangent) my cousin worked there as a lifeguard when he was a teenager and I always was glad it was a shallow pine water lake, since he couldn't swim!

k.  Buddy Wagner managed the family facility  and was a good friend of Al Tasnady.  (Tangent beyond belief  from their adventures!)

l.  After Alcyon closed the 300 sat under a tree for a couple years in Millard Paulus' yard.   This made periodic drive-by's mandatory with the fantasy of buying it and going racing!

m. One day Ray Parks stopped in and caught Millard at home and asked if he wanted to sell the car.  Millard told him, "you see the number on the car?  That what I'll take",  so Ray bought it. I believe the rear had to be repaired and I don't think the a motor came with the deal.

n.  Ray ran sportsman at Vineland Speedway with the car until I believe  it crashed out. 

o.  I was away at school "work'n on my learn'n"about that time but I recall a former Busty Luzzo #98 (Budd Olsen) car sitting in Ray's yard and don't know if he ever ran that humpback sedan as a 300 or not!

Thank you Joe for bring back some vault photos.   Who knows what "NEW OLD"  stories we may hear!  Thanks for listening.

Senior Moment By Russ Dodge    

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Comment:

03.29.12 Jim Milsted It's always a pleasure Russ reading your stories that we just missed by a few years. Sure wish we could adjust our birthdate to see in person what we missed. We were 10 yrs. old when this picture was taken.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

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