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Senior Moment From Russ Dodge:
4 Hall of
Famers - 3 Wide!
This fine
William Curley photo has several stories to tell. First we have 4 Hall of
Fame drivers in "wheel-to-wheel" action. Jim Delaney is on the inside in the
4 car, Ralph Smith, in the Neal Williams 44, is in the middle and Steve
Elias, in the second Williams car on the outside. In back of them is the
"Wild Man" Elton Hildreth, wishing he could be up there making it 4 wide!
Vineland Speedway, which opened in April of 1955, was a 1/2 mile dirt track
for 3 seasons. For the 1958 season on, it was an asphalt surface. Elton
Hildreth took the opener on the new asphalt and would continue to become the
all time winner at the speedway. However, the second week of racing on
asphalt was the beginning of an interesting story.
Neal William's owner of the legendary 44's, lost his regular driver Al
Tasnady, for the 1958 season. Ralph Smith, who had won 1957 NASCAR modified
titles at Alcyon Speedway in Pitman, N.J., and Vineland Speedway, was given
the replacement assignment.
Steve Elias, looking for a ride at Vineland at the same time, approached
Neal and asked if he could drive "Old Rags", a tired sedan sitting lifeless
in the field, all cut and beat up after a stellar career with Tas and Ken
Marriott, at the wheel. Neal gave Steve the O.K. but basically said he would
be on his own with the car.
Steve towed the battered sedan out of the field and started to get it "racable"
again. Photos show Steve used old license plates as connectors to hold the
running boards on. Having the car ready for the opener, it would have been a
"real Cinderella" story if he had won, but Steve did the next best thing,
coming back to win the features in week two and three!
Ralph Smith, in the "premier" car also won a couple features at Vineland
later on but concentrated mainly on the dirt at Alcyon and Middletown.
The final blow of playing "second fiddle" on a two car team came at the end
of the season when the October race at Langhorne was held. They were preping
the 44's at the Williams garage and Steve went to pick up racing tires for
them to use. When he returned to the shop, Neal had removed the gas tank out
of Steve's sedan and placed it in Ralph's coupe for the big race. Steve's
tank had a greater fuel capacity than Ralph's. Needless that say, Steve quit
the car!
Look at the width of the tires on the cars. It's hard to believe Steve could
run on the outside, but the photo is the proof. Ralph Smith in the middle is
also a interesting, in that Ralph disliked sedans. His preference was a
coupe and that is what he had for the remainder of the season.
Jim Delaney in the brown and tan 4 would soon be replace with Jim's own whit
e sedan number 4. I remember this car well as the announce pointed out the
driver seat placement in the car. It was one of the first, if not the first,
center steer cars at Vineland. The engine set back also stands out in my
moment.
The 16-J of Elton Hildreth, is the first 16-J Elton owned. It was previously
owned by John Reginak of Millville, N.J.and had been painted cream yellow
with red trim.
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