It’s Bethel Motor Speedway’s 50th Anniversary!

 
Voting is open online HERE. Votes will be registered until 11:59 pm on Friday, July 23rd! Facebook is completely FREE to sign up, so tell your friends to join the Bethel facebook page and vote in the contest! You can only vote ONCE per facebook account. ***** Contest Submissions ***** When it comes to a fond memory, I guess mine is a collection of many. My son has been racing at this track for the last several years and I don't think I have missed a race. We have had some wins and many losses. However, a memorable thing that will always stick with me is that "racecar drivers are good people". They bang and bump around the track,even huff and puff a little, but they also help each other out. The support system is unique. They will loan each other a wrench or a racecar, whatever it takes to keep going. This is amazing to me. Hats off to the drivers past and present. Good luck to all...and Thanks For The Memories! Submitted by P. Lindstadt ***** The one memory that I have to say stands out the most other than my father-in-law Raymond Curry Sr. driving in his son’s car around that track smoking that cigar with a big smile across his face happy as heck is the night that Clarence Palmer went into a heated rage and tore the track up doing 360s and 180s and dirt just flying and they had all the workers and then some trying to get him and his car under control, even after he was stopped and out of the car he still made sure everyone knew where he stood and didn't back down from no one or nothing. He did get his point across that night! It may not be the fondest of memories for the owners and employees but I bet if you ask anyone whos been a loyal fan of the speedway they will never ever forget that night! That's the one memory of the track that I shall never forget. Submitted by Pam Curry ***** It was July 22nd, 1979. I had already won my heat in the Street Stock division and was looking forward to the feature. I was the points leader by virtue of top five finishes since the start of the season and I knew I would be starting in the back but with the help of a couple of cautions, I was up front and facing one of the old guard, Rich LaPolt Sr. He had a Mopar like me and I knew my job was gonna be hard! With two laps to go, we got next to each other, me on the inside him on the outside. We ran into the first turn on the last lap, we got together and we both started to get real close to spinning out, but somehow we got it right and at the last second I looked over at Rich and he waved me on and that gave me my very first win, with him right on my tail under the checkered flag!!! I did go on to win my first championship and it would be an honor to tell the racers that day to start their engines in his memory for the fiftieth anniversary and for me after 35 years of competing at the track........... More info: I've done everything at that track from putting the wood on the grandstands, painting, cutting grass, hanging lights and yes, flagging the powder puff and Big Wheel races and I would love to start a race - that will make the place be more than it’s ever been!! Submitted by Gary O’Donnell, current 4 Cylinder Senior driver and member of the Steel Horse Racing Team ***** One of my favorite memories of the track didn't even happen at the track. It was probably the second year we were running at then, Kauneonga Speedway, and I had a video camera set up in my living room on a tripod. I looked out and Gary J and Amber, then 8 and 6 had pulled a stool up to the camera and were moving it back and forth, but not looking into the camera--they were looking at a tv in the corner that wasn't even on. When I asked what they were doing, they said, "We are being Sheri." (She would look at a monitor on her bench, not into the camera when taping the races). Gary J used to help Joe carry Sheri's equipment into the booth and help Sheri set it up. Over the next couple of years we became good friends and on occasion I would tape Joe's Street stock race for them because with her being the videographer, I knew she couldn't tape him exclusively. She apparently liked my videos because when she was no longer able to do the video taping at the track, in 2002, she asked me to take over, and the rest is history.......Thanks Sher Submitted by Tonya VanOrden, current Bethel Motor Speedway videographer (Shanty Hill Productions) ***** My favorite memory of Bethel would have to be the second day of Bethel Motor Madness weekend in 2008. The 2008 race had been postponed a week because of rain, and it was a very cold November day. It was my first-ever trip to Bethel. Both Lenny Sammons and I were there for Area Auto Racing News. It was really the type of day where anyone who wasn't a diehard race fan would have just stayed home and been warm, but I had been itching to get to the track and my schedule didn't make the long trip possible any other time. I met wonderful people, from the track announcer to the photographer, and some drivers as well. I can't put the experience into words easily (or briefly), but it was enough to make me want to come back to Bethel. I traveled 3-1/2 hours each way to do PR for the speedway in 2009 based on that experience, coming into a track where I essentially knew no one after having spent the last 17 years at another track. Looking back as I head into my second season as the PR writer for Bethel, I am in awe of the friendships that I have made and the second family that has been very helpful to me, my husband, and even my son. I am proud to call Bethel my "home" track, and I wouldn't trade it for anywhere else! Submitted by Tracy Chirico, Bethel Motor Speedway PR writer (Not eligible for contest) ***** As we head into the 50th anniversary season at Bethel, we are collecting memories to be included in a “Nostalgia Scrapbook” here on the web site. The 50th Anniversary Contest Your chance to turn your favorite old memory into a brand new memory in 2010! To enter, simply send in your favorite memory of Bethel Motor Speedway. All entries will be included on the web site. Feel free to submit anything - a memorable win, a memorable loss, ANYTHING that is your favorite memory...from ANY time in the last 50 years. Since we will be posting all of the entries, please limit them to 200 words or less. As the season kicks off, we will select several of these to be included in an online voting process, and web site visitors will be able to vote for one of the finalists. The person who submits the entry that receives the most votes will receive two free grandstand passes good for any event at Bethel Motor Speedway, and that person will give the command to “Start your engines!” at SportsmanStock 2010 to be held August 7th. A Bethel 50th anniversary t-shirt has also been donated for the contest winner. You can turn YOUR favorite “old” memory at Bethel into a brand new memory! Email your favorite Bethel memory to tracy.chirico@bethelmotorspeedway.com (put “Bethel Memories” in the subject line), and help us start building our online scrapbook of memories! We are also accepting old photographs to be included in an online photo album. There is no limit to the number of pictures you can send in, as we want to highlight as much of the history of the track as possible. Email photos to tracy.chirico@bethelmotorspeedway.com. http://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/index.php?pid=1279593194mailto:tracy.chirico@bethelmotorspeedway.commailto:tracy.chirico@bethelmotorspeedway.comshapeimage_3_link_0shapeimage_3_link_1shapeimage_3_link_2

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