Here is an excerpt from FONDA - Coastal 181



Here is an excerpt from FONDA! a 50 year history of Fonda NY Speedway being published next spring by COASTAL181.

“1979 track champion Ray Dalmata openly admits that the river was his biggest fear at the Speedway. Even today he recalls, “I always worried about it and I always respected the second turn. Getting in the water upside down was not the way I had in mind going.” Undoubtedly contributing to Ray’s unease was the fact that the first car he drove had once been completely submerged and on its roof, with its driver Todd King very lucky to escape.

One night, powersliding off the second turn, Dalmata’s #643 lurched, as Harry Peek spiraled over the front end and appeared to be flipping into the watery depths. Dalmata freaked. He immediately spun his car sideways against the fence, unhooked his belts, and began climbing out in a rush to assist his friend and mentor Peek. Suddenly Ray heard the unwelcomed, throaty roar of an approaching big block. He knew instantly that he had reacted too quickly, as not everyone who was following had seen what had happened. He slid back into the cockpit, grabbed the roll bars, and held on for dear life. Along came an unsuspecting Jim Senzio, T-boning the #643 mightily and breaking Dalmata’s arm.

Ray chuckles these days about the rest of the story. “The next thing I knew, Harry was peeking in my window, asking ME if I was okay! I’ll never forget that!”

Like so many before him, Ray was carted off to St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam for a full arm cast, installed by a dutifully disapproving doctor. The cast was short-lived, however. Ray’s hack saw was at work three days later, amputating enough of the cast that he was able to race – if somewhat timidly – the next week. “We got seventh or eighth”, he claims. “It was amazing. No one touched me. They raced me clean for five or six weeks. Then, when I took the cast off completely, it was bang, bang again. I felt like going to the next drivers’ meeting wearing a new cast and saying ‘hey, lookie here!”.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download