Charlie Jarzombek began racing in Long Island in the late 1960s, where he dominated at tracks like Islip, Freeport, Riverhead, and West Hampton. According to his brother and longtime racing partner Rick, the team began competing in New England because, “We wanted to compete against the very best, and the very best modified competition at the time was in New England and upstate New York”. The team took New England by storm, winning features the first time out at both Stafford and Seekonk Speedways.
During the course of Charlie’s career, he won 187 feature events at 16 different racetracks from Massachusetts to Florida. Career highlights include winning the 1986 Icebreaker at Thompson, and the 1985 Stafford Speedway Modified Championship. Charlie has driven modifieds at Waterford-New London and Plainville, as well as southern tracks including Wall Stadium, Martinsville, Trenton, and New Smyrna.
While Charlie’s family was prominent in his racing career, there was one day in 1975 when family was unable to attend Charlie’s race. Charlie’s uncle was a Jarzombek, and wanted to see Charlie race. Charlie’s aunt, however, was a Yaztremski, and had a nephew, Carl, who was playing in the World Series for the Boston Red Sox on the same day. The family went back and forth. Do we go see Charlie race, or Carl play ball? Yaz settled the argument with a phone call. “Charlie’s gonna be in that race every year, but how often am I going to get to play in a World Series?”
Charlie Jarzombek passed away following an accident at Martinsville in April of 1987, at the height of his career. Today, we honor Charlie, as we welcome him into the NEAR Hall of Fame. |
Rick Jarzombek accepts induction from Racing Journalist Bones Boucier.
Howie Hodge Photo
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