Charlie Elliott’s racing career began in 1938, where he raced a home built “mud buggy” in the middle of a field in Farmington, NH. He competed on and off until 1941, when he left to serve his country in World War II.
When the war was ended, Charlie returned to racing, driving a 60 horsepower midget for the next four to five years. It was during this time that the Dover Speedway in New Hampshire tried running the midgets. When the division didn’t catch on, Dover officials decided to close the track. Charlie leased the track from it’s owner, and set about fixing up the speedway.
Elliott was in charge in the 1950s when a rise in the cost of living combined with an increase in the cost of racing coupled to shut down many tracks. Charlie realized something had to be done so he established a bomber division where a guy could get started in racing with junk yard cars. By promoting at this scale, Charlie was able to ride out this period that put some tracks out of business.
From that beginning as a race promoter, Charlie went on to own the Hudson Speedway, and also Lee, which he later sold to Red MacDonald. Elliott built the Star Speedway from scratch, and then, many years later, sold it to Bob Webber. It was at the Star Speedway, in 1966, that Charlie began promoting a new division, the Super Modifieds. Working with Ken Smith of the New England Super Modified Racing Association, Star Speedway and NESMRA flourished. |
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