Potter, Dragon, & Lindblad To Serve On 2015 New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Selection Committee April 7, 2015 |
(SOMERVILLE, MA) Bob Potter, Bobby Dragon, and Roland “Rollie” Lindblad will serve as HOF Representatives on the 2015 New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
Yearly, three Hall of Fame members are chosen for the Selection Committee. The trio replaces the departing Billy Harman, Dan Merservey, and Joey Kourafas.
HOF Selection Committee Chairman Bruce Cohen is pleased to have Potter, Dragon, and Lindblad aboard. “I think we’ve made great choices in adding these Hall of Famers to the Selection Committee for 2015. They represent a cross-reference of historical knowledge from different areas of the region. We’re pleased & thankful that they’ll be a part of things this year,” he stated recently.
Inducted into the HOF in 2007, mention the number 51 in Southern New England and the immediate response is Bob Potter. Starting at Connecticut’s New London-Waterford Speedbowl in 1962, the Taftville, CT, native began winning in 1966 and before it was over captured an impressive 11 championships and an estimated 140 features at Stafford, Thompson and Waterford. A model of consistency and regarded for his ability to make a car handle, he ran a streak of 37 straight top-six finishes at Stafford in 1994-95. During his decades-long career Potter successfully competed at virtually all New England Modified venues as-well as at big events held at “away” tracks such as Martinsville, Virginia and Trenton, New Jersey.
2009 Inductee Bobby Dragon began racing in the late-1960s wheeling Modifieds, Flying Tigers, and Late Models competing at over 70 different tracks during his career. A Milton, VT, product, his home tracks were Vermont’s Catamount Stadium and Thunder Road. Other speedways included Maine’s Oxford Plains, Dover, Delaware, and Bristol, Tennessee. Also on the resume are runs at Nazareth, PA, Watkins Glen, NY, and Irwindale, CA. In 1983, he was the recipient of the prestigious Don McTavish Award. Championships include four at Catamount Stadium, two at Thunder Road, and one at Devil’s Bowl all in Vermont. Dragon was the NASCAR North Champion in 1978.
A member of the HOF Class of 2009, Roland “Rollie” Lindblad-built race cars won championships up & down the East Coast. From Pro Stocks, Midgets, Modifieds, & Supers, he set the bar when it came to race car fabrication. His ‘Badger’ revolutionized Midget racing in the 1970s. The car dominated NEMA for a decade, and was banned by most other Midget organizations in the country because of the speed the car generated. His Badgers won championships with Butch Walsh (1973), Johnny Mann (1974), Dave Humphrey (1978), and multiple championships with Drew Fonoro. Ron Bouchard drove a Lindblad car to the 1978 Seekonk championship, and Denny Wheeler won the ISMA Supermodified title in 1983. His Pro Stocks won a trio of Seekonk Speedway championships, 2 with Leo Cleary (1986 and 1994), then again with Fred Astle, Jr. in 2000.
A non-profit endeavor, since 1998 NEAR has inducted 196 individuals into the New England Auto Racers Hall Of Fame, which is administered by the New England Antique Racers. Some notable inductees include Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard, Bugs Stevens, Rene Charland, Pete Hamilton, Fred DeSarro, Ed Flemke, Sr. and Billy Greco among others.
By Dave Dykes