Outdoor stories don’t always have to pertain towards hunting and fishing.
A great spectator sport now and back when I was a young boy was stock car racing. I can remember very well in the mid 1960s the elite stock car divers at Beech Ridge Speedway in Scarborough. There were many that were very good; I don’t remember all of their names, but some I recall vividly.
Perhaps some of you remember names like Ralph Cusack, Phil and Bon Libby, Boon Babb, Don Brown, Homer Drew, Harry Wentworth, Bon Tanguay, Dave Darveau and Jeff Stevens.
Let’s not forget the “Wild Barber” from Steep Falls, Ralph Brackett, and the best for last, the great Dick Wolstenhume of Windham.
All of these great racecar drivers didn’t have the luxury of massive pit crews and sponsorships. Money was tight and they built their own cars and motors, did their own pit work and most of the cost came out of their own pocket. They did it because they were just plain good at it, and they truly loved their sport.
One hot summer night in a tight race someone got into the side of Harry Wentworth, a big collision ensued and some how Wentworth and his stock car came to dangle some 20 feet in the air at the top of the light pole.
Now that was something to see, a stock car and its driver at the top of a telephone pole! That’s a testimony to the speed and power of the hot rods that these men put together to race every weekend.
In another race, on the very last lap, Wolstenhume had fought his way through the pack and was fender to fender with another driver. They were trading paint, and probably obscenities. I clearly remember Wolstenhume’s massive biceps bulging and his jackhammer-like forearms fighting the steering wheel.
In the end, it was Wolstenhume who claimed the checkered flag that night. Upon collecting his flag, he took his victory lap, then parked his hot rod 00 car on the finish line. Then he climbed on to the roof of his car and howled at the full moon above. That was cool! I loved it and that made him my favorite of all time.
Thanks 00, and all of you other great drivers, you were something else. If you should happen to run into Wolstenhume somewhere, shake his hand, he’s still got one heck of an arm.
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