NEAR had a great night at Bethel Motor Speedway in White Lake, N.Y. It was Danbury Racearena night and none other than the Great Billy Greco (92 yrs.) was Grand Marshall. Billy wowed the crowd with a few racing stories and many autographs! A nice field of old and new NEAR cars was on hand. Paul Jacques and his gorgeous #8 coupe was the winner tonite. We welcomed two new drivers, Dennis David in his VERY historical #5 coupe and Larry O’Donnell in the #35. Thanks to all our members for coming and putting on a Great show! Good time had by all!!
NEAR, ACOT, and the 50 lap Ev Pierce Memorial modified show is on tap this Saturday at Bethel Speedway in White Lake, N.Y. Modified legend Billy Greco will be the Grand Marshall for Danbury RaceArena night! Come on down for a great night of nostalgia, racing history, and racing!!!
NEAR traveled to the Northeastern Speedway in Waterford, Vt. on Saturday, July 17, 2021. The program included a still show with Parade/hot laps later on. This was a NEAR points show, as well. A great group of cars, drivers, fans, and celebrities were on hand for the reunion. All of these great pictures were supplied by NEAR member Beverly McAllister.
On Friday, July 9,2021 the skies stopped raining long enough to sneak in the NEAR Modified and Sportsman races at Claremont, N.H. Promoter Mike Parks made the right call and we had a real close race within a race. Jamie Ferland in the #194 took the mod win with Bob Donahue #99 2nd, and Jim Allen in the #44 third. In the Sportsman, John Adams took the win in the #71 BGN, Dave Manning #27 2nd , and Greg Gilbert in the #71 third. It was a really hot and humid night topped off with a full weekly race card and fireworks!
Standing L-R Rich Goucher, Dick Berggren, Pete Zanardi, Nick Teto, Cynthia Tebbetts, John Spence, Mark Alden, Carl Oberg, Pete Vander Veer, Brad Cowen, Paul Masse, Ric Mariscal.
Front row L-R Pete Newsham, Dave Coutermarsh, Jim Blake,
Lloyd Hutchins, RA Silvia, Rollie Linblad
On May 11, the
members of the NEAR Hall of Fame Selection Committee met at the Ron Bouchard
Museum. The committee’s task was to narrow over 100 nominations submitted
by the members down to 16 finalists. Members
of the Committee come from all genres of racing in New England. Bios of the chosen
were printed and distributed to past
Hall of Fame inductees and members of the Selection Committee to narrow the
candidates down to eight names. That voting will result in the eight who will
be inducted into the class of 2021. Many thanks to Treasurer/Membership Chair
April May Preston for printing, assembling, and mailing out the HOF Packages.
It was a large task.
A tentative site
for the November induction ceremony has been identified. The Chairmen and NEAR
President will be touring that facility this month. Manleelys, where the event had been held for
several years is no longer available for our function due to the large building’s
sale. We hope to engage a destination location that will allow attendees to
book a room on Saturday(Hotel). That would enable folks to come from a
distance, relax a bit, enjoy some bench racing and shenanigans on Saturday
Night before the HOF on Sunday. Well rested, all could enjoy the banquet and
travel home after more safely. Considering our attendees, this facility will be
located in central Massachusetts.
The diverse Selection
Committee includes at least one member from every New England state. There was
no Class of 2020 because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Voting was
organized/moderated by Selection
Committee Chairmen Pete Newsham and Mark
Alden.
