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By Donna Kessler
Times Herald-Record
Posted: October 12, 2008 - 2:00 AM
There was no mechanical timing, no staging tree and not many rules.
Just a man with a flag who, with one wave, sent the likes of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits roaring down a concrete strip at what was once one of the most popular sports venues in Orange County.
In fact, the Montgomery Drag Strip, as it was called, was one of the most popular drag strips in the East. It was located on what is now Orange County Airport, and they used to race sports cars there as well, drawing 8,000 to 10,000 fans to regional races and as
many as 80,000 for international events.
But the main draw was drag racing.
Garlits, the Richard Petty of drag racing, burned a lot of rubber there, including screeching down the concrete quarter-mile in his famous Chrysler Hemi-powered Swamp Rat 4 in 8.36 seconds, or about 180 mph.
At the time, no one had ever witnessed anything faster.
Art Arfons, who held the land-speed record three times, also raced at Montgomery, clocking times of 10.4 seconds and speeds of 169.81 mph in his signature ride, the "Green Monster."
There were countless others who came from all over and made the strip a mecca for hot rodders from 1958 to 1960.
There were official racing programs and Pepsi Cola supplied all the drinks from the time the races began. They were held every Sunday, and some local folks even brought the family cars to race down the strip.
Just take off the hubcaps, grab a helmet and you were good to go. The thrill of burning out with the family station wagon, then flying down the track to set the best time and
taking home the trophy was what each participant lived for.
Trophies were awarded in Little Eliminator, Middle Eliminator and Top Eliminator classes. A Powder Puff Derby was created for the ladies who wanted a piece of the action.
"The place was packed," said Jim Sweikata, who lives in Montgomery and raced there.
Guidelines for racers and cars were in place, and each car was weighed. Sometimes they would find city manhole covers hidden inside the cars to add weight, but they were quickly removed. All safety measures were taken, including an ambulance on site and fire extinguishers at the ready. All drivers' licenses were checked.
Any kind of infraction, you weren't allowed to race.
New use for an old place
The strip had a very modest beginning. The military owned the airport property that had been pretty much abandoned. The field was given to Orange County in the late 1940s, but it really wasn't used. Stewart Air Force Base had used the field to train flyers during World War II and the Korean conflict.
Andrew Skibitsky, 91, of the Town of Montgomery was the Commander of the Osborn-Fitzsimmons American Legion Post No. 521 of Montgomery at the time, and in order to raise money for their charities and the local community, the legionnaires proposed the idea of holding sports-car races on the concrete runways at the airport.
Since Skibitsky handled the affairs of the legion, he went before Rep. Catherine St. George, who also lived in Tuxedo Park, and pitched the idea. It didn't take much time for her to give it an OK.
Once a year, the Governor's Cup, a race named after Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, was held.
The legion operated the NASCAR-sanctioned race under an agreement with the Air Force, which controlled the auxiliary airfield. The only military presence was the experimental radar station, leaving plenty of room for racing.
The legionnaires set up chicanes with hay bales to make twists and turns on the triangle-shaped runways to create a 1.85-mile race track. They built a refreshment stand and bathrooms. The grandstand was loaned to them by NASCAR and many local organizations and churches were allowed to come and set booths at the race to raise money for their causes.
"It brought so much to the town," said John Marron, 84, a legion post member from Montgomery. "Businesses and charitable organizations benefitted from the crowds that attended and the profits that we made. We even bought flowers for the churches in town with a portion of our profits. Everyone was happy."
The Montgomery legionnaires were the main organizers of the race, but legionnaires from all over the county came to help. It was one of the biggest events to ever hit the county.
A new direction
Around 1957, the NHRA banned the use of nitro-methane fuels at tracks holding NHRA-sanctioned events. The fuel was igniting, causing the engines in the front-engined dragsters to literally blow up right in front of the drivers. There were many fatalities.
Alcohol fuel that was substituted for the nitro fuel just didn't give the dragsters the same power and speed, so the racers began to look for another organization to race for where nitro fuel could be used. NASCAR accepted them with open arms.
Ed Otto, vice president of NASCAR, brought up the idea to NASCAR executives to build a drag strip somewhere in the Northeast. Otto thought Montgomery would be a great location since the legionnaires were currently running sports-car races there.
NASCAR took his suggestion and a section of the race track, a straightaway directly in front of the grandstand, became the drag strip. Many paid the $1.50 admission to watch nitro-fueled dragsters race, and they often got to meet the legendary drivers who piloted them.
Tom Lloyd of Bloomingburg was one of many who witnessed Garlits' record run at the strip. "I thought, 'They can't go much faster than that in a quarter-mile,'" Lloyd said. "Today they are turning over 300 mph in 4.09 seconds. It's just unbelievable."
Sweikata, who drag-raced at Montgomery, also witnessed Garlits' run.
"After seeing him race, I was hooked and went every weekend," said Sweikata, who at age 67, still loves drag racing and continues to race his front-engine dragster.
An El Camino car and the Pepsi Top Eliminator Trophy were awarded to the Top Eliminator at the Inaugural National NASCAR Drag Championship held on July 2-4 in 1960. It was quite the honor and quite a show.
All good things must end
As popular as it was, the drag strip didn't last long. In 1960, the District Attorney of Orange County, Thomas A Hadaway, started a petition that asked the Orange County Board of Supervisors to put an end to drag racing in Montgomery.
He thought the races were noisy, caused traffic and refuse problems and pulled patrolmen from their regular duties.
The congregation at the nearby Brick Reformed Church complained that the noise was disrupting church services.
Hadaway's petition was signed by about 90 people, according to a Middletown Record editorial from 1960. Marron and Skibitsky thought that most of the signatures were probably those of the congregation from the church, but there were a few legionnaires' signatures also. Women were sent around the crowd at the races and the legionnaires signed the paper without even reading it.
The legionnaires replied to each charge and said that the non-profit races allowed them to make large contributions to area individuals and charities and, most importantly, bolstered the village's economy.
In the editorial, the legionnaires stated, "We feel we are doing a great service to the community in combatting a problem that exists throughout the nation (juvenile delinquency). There has never been a disturbance in the three years that we have supervised races. We feel that it is a shame that less than 40 families should try to discourage all of the area-wide benefits that have resulted from the races for their personal views."
But they just couldn't convince the board members.
During the three years that the legion operated the races, about $100,000 was contributed to the community. Local residents were employed at the races. Materials and equipment were bought from local businessmen. The legion contributed $10,178 to various community organizations and it funded the Montgomery Village Park and the Maybrook Village Park received $300 for a war memorial. Youth organizations also benefitted from the proceeds. No one was left out.
Hadaway met with representatives from the Army Corp of Engineers to discuss the return of the property to the county. Such control meant that the airport could be used for commercial use. Under the present deed with the county, the airport can only be used for public services.
Marron, the legion post member, wrote letters to the Air Force to see if the legion could lease the property to continue the sports-car and drag racing. But the deal was done. The legionnaires offered to rent the property for $50,000 a year, but they were denied.
They even tried to move the races to Stewart Airport, but that also fell through. At the time of the closing, the legionnaires had a set of blueprints all drawn up depicting the new and improved drag strip that was never to be.
One last gasp
In 1961, they moved the drag racing to the Orange County Fair Speedway, where they raced right in front of the grandstand area.
But drag racing on clay didn't compare to racing on concrete. Burnouts were next to impossible, and the tire grip just wasn't there. So neither was the timing or speed.
The track was way too short, only an eighth of a mile, and the strip at OCFS just didn't offer the excitement or the necessary elements that the concrete strip did and it affected the thrill of racing.
The drivers began to fade away, and the crowds followed them, and with them went the popular drag-racing era in Orange County.
[email protected]
Editor's note: This report is the culmination of a year-long project, and the story of the drag strip could not have been told without the help of John Marron, Andrew Skibitsky, Jim Sweikata and Tom Lloyd.
Times Herald-Record
Posted: October 12, 2008 - 2:00 AM
There was no mechanical timing, no staging tree and not many rules.
Just a man with a flag who, with one wave, sent the likes of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits roaring down a concrete strip at what was once one of the most popular sports venues in Orange County.
In fact, the Montgomery Drag Strip, as it was called, was one of the most popular drag strips in the East. It was located on what is now Orange County Airport, and they used to race sports cars there as well, drawing 8,000 to 10,000 fans to regional races and as
many as 80,000 for international events.
But the main draw was drag racing.
Garlits, the Richard Petty of drag racing, burned a lot of rubber there, including screeching down the concrete quarter-mile in his famous Chrysler Hemi-powered Swamp Rat 4 in 8.36 seconds, or about 180 mph.
At the time, no one had ever witnessed anything faster.
Art Arfons, who held the land-speed record three times, also raced at Montgomery, clocking times of 10.4 seconds and speeds of 169.81 mph in his signature ride, the "Green Monster."
There were countless others who came from all over and made the strip a mecca for hot rodders from 1958 to 1960.
There were official racing programs and Pepsi Cola supplied all the drinks from the time the races began. They were held every Sunday, and some local folks even brought the family cars to race down the strip.
Just take off the hubcaps, grab a helmet and you were good to go. The thrill of burning out with the family station wagon, then flying down the track to set the best time and
taking home the trophy was what each participant lived for.
Trophies were awarded in Little Eliminator, Middle Eliminator and Top Eliminator classes. A Powder Puff Derby was created for the ladies who wanted a piece of the action.
"The place was packed," said Jim Sweikata, who lives in Montgomery and raced there.
Guidelines for racers and cars were in place, and each car was weighed. Sometimes they would find city manhole covers hidden inside the cars to add weight, but they were quickly removed. All safety measures were taken, including an ambulance on site and fire extinguishers at the ready. All drivers' licenses were checked.
Any kind of infraction, you weren't allowed to race.
New use for an old place
The strip had a very modest beginning. The military owned the airport property that had been pretty much abandoned. The field was given to Orange County in the late 1940s, but it really wasn't used. Stewart Air Force Base had used the field to train flyers during World War II and the Korean conflict.
Andrew Skibitsky, 91, of the Town of Montgomery was the Commander of the Osborn-Fitzsimmons American Legion Post No. 521 of Montgomery at the time, and in order to raise money for their charities and the local community, the legionnaires proposed the idea of holding sports-car races on the concrete runways at the airport.
Since Skibitsky handled the affairs of the legion, he went before Rep. Catherine St. George, who also lived in Tuxedo Park, and pitched the idea. It didn't take much time for her to give it an OK.
Once a year, the Governor's Cup, a race named after Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, was held.
The legion operated the NASCAR-sanctioned race under an agreement with the Air Force, which controlled the auxiliary airfield. The only military presence was the experimental radar station, leaving plenty of room for racing.
The legionnaires set up chicanes with hay bales to make twists and turns on the triangle-shaped runways to create a 1.85-mile race track. They built a refreshment stand and bathrooms. The grandstand was loaned to them by NASCAR and many local organizations and churches were allowed to come and set booths at the race to raise money for their causes.
"It brought so much to the town," said John Marron, 84, a legion post member from Montgomery. "Businesses and charitable organizations benefitted from the crowds that attended and the profits that we made. We even bought flowers for the churches in town with a portion of our profits. Everyone was happy."
The Montgomery legionnaires were the main organizers of the race, but legionnaires from all over the county came to help. It was one of the biggest events to ever hit the county.
A new direction
Around 1957, the NHRA banned the use of nitro-methane fuels at tracks holding NHRA-sanctioned events. The fuel was igniting, causing the engines in the front-engined dragsters to literally blow up right in front of the drivers. There were many fatalities.
Alcohol fuel that was substituted for the nitro fuel just didn't give the dragsters the same power and speed, so the racers began to look for another organization to race for where nitro fuel could be used. NASCAR accepted them with open arms.
Ed Otto, vice president of NASCAR, brought up the idea to NASCAR executives to build a drag strip somewhere in the Northeast. Otto thought Montgomery would be a great location since the legionnaires were currently running sports-car races there.
NASCAR took his suggestion and a section of the race track, a straightaway directly in front of the grandstand, became the drag strip. Many paid the $1.50 admission to watch nitro-fueled dragsters race, and they often got to meet the legendary drivers who piloted them.
Tom Lloyd of Bloomingburg was one of many who witnessed Garlits' record run at the strip. "I thought, 'They can't go much faster than that in a quarter-mile,'" Lloyd said. "Today they are turning over 300 mph in 4.09 seconds. It's just unbelievable."
Sweikata, who drag-raced at Montgomery, also witnessed Garlits' run.
"After seeing him race, I was hooked and went every weekend," said Sweikata, who at age 67, still loves drag racing and continues to race his front-engine dragster.
An El Camino car and the Pepsi Top Eliminator Trophy were awarded to the Top Eliminator at the Inaugural National NASCAR Drag Championship held on July 2-4 in 1960. It was quite the honor and quite a show.
All good things must end
As popular as it was, the drag strip didn't last long. In 1960, the District Attorney of Orange County, Thomas A Hadaway, started a petition that asked the Orange County Board of Supervisors to put an end to drag racing in Montgomery.
He thought the races were noisy, caused traffic and refuse problems and pulled patrolmen from their regular duties.
The congregation at the nearby Brick Reformed Church complained that the noise was disrupting church services.
Hadaway's petition was signed by about 90 people, according to a Middletown Record editorial from 1960. Marron and Skibitsky thought that most of the signatures were probably those of the congregation from the church, but there were a few legionnaires' signatures also. Women were sent around the crowd at the races and the legionnaires signed the paper without even reading it.
The legionnaires replied to each charge and said that the non-profit races allowed them to make large contributions to area individuals and charities and, most importantly, bolstered the village's economy.
In the editorial, the legionnaires stated, "We feel we are doing a great service to the community in combatting a problem that exists throughout the nation (juvenile delinquency). There has never been a disturbance in the three years that we have supervised races. We feel that it is a shame that less than 40 families should try to discourage all of the area-wide benefits that have resulted from the races for their personal views."
But they just couldn't convince the board members.
During the three years that the legion operated the races, about $100,000 was contributed to the community. Local residents were employed at the races. Materials and equipment were bought from local businessmen. The legion contributed $10,178 to various community organizations and it funded the Montgomery Village Park and the Maybrook Village Park received $300 for a war memorial. Youth organizations also benefitted from the proceeds. No one was left out.
Hadaway met with representatives from the Army Corp of Engineers to discuss the return of the property to the county. Such control meant that the airport could be used for commercial use. Under the present deed with the county, the airport can only be used for public services.
Marron, the legion post member, wrote letters to the Air Force to see if the legion could lease the property to continue the sports-car and drag racing. But the deal was done. The legionnaires offered to rent the property for $50,000 a year, but they were denied.
They even tried to move the races to Stewart Airport, but that also fell through. At the time of the closing, the legionnaires had a set of blueprints all drawn up depicting the new and improved drag strip that was never to be.
One last gasp
In 1961, they moved the drag racing to the Orange County Fair Speedway, where they raced right in front of the grandstand area.
But drag racing on clay didn't compare to racing on concrete. Burnouts were next to impossible, and the tire grip just wasn't there. So neither was the timing or speed.
The track was way too short, only an eighth of a mile, and the strip at OCFS just didn't offer the excitement or the necessary elements that the concrete strip did and it affected the thrill of racing.
The drivers began to fade away, and the crowds followed them, and with them went the popular drag-racing era in Orange County.
[email protected]
Editor's note: This report is the culmination of a year-long project, and the story of the drag strip could not have been told without the help of John Marron, Andrew Skibitsky, Jim Sweikata and Tom Lloyd.
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