Champlain Valley Racing Association

CHAMPLAIN VALLEY RACING ASSOCIATION, INC. is a registered business entity and is a General Corporation in accordance with local laws and regulations.

History
By 1960, there were primarily stock car shows at the Rutland fairgrounds; but, prior to that the fair hosted open wheel shows, as did most other fairs all over the United States. Fair crowds got to see the biggest stars of the era, like Ted Horn, Tommy Heinerschnitz, Joe Csiki, and many more.

By 1960, there were virtually no races at the Essex fairgrounds; but, in the '50's, the fair tried the usual open wheel shows, as well as some stock car programs - in view of the fact that there were around 12 stock car tracks [at one point or another] in the area. As if early stock car racing in Northern Vermont did not already have enough trouble with controversy and spectator injuries, the sport also had to contend with decades of injuries from visits to local fairgrounds by the powerful open wheel cars of the day. These horse tracks were not made for autos, and therefore, many drivers and fans were hurt over the years.

It was just this problem that the Champlain Exposition, the big fair in Northern Vermont, always had to contend with when trying to feature races. They had quite a few, as evidenced by stories everyone have heard from area people like racing legend Beaver Dragon, who became interested in racing partly because of the stars he saw at the fair. There had been Sunday Blue Laws controversies involving local stock car tracks like the Colchester Raceway of Ivanhoe Smith. So, when the local stock cars finally took the track at Essex in 1959 and a fatal accident occurred - that was pretty much the end of racing at the Exposition grounds.

In 1960, there was absolutely no stock car racing action in the Rutland County area. Races were being held all around: Thunder Road, Barre, Vermont was opening; the race track in Malletts Bay was still in operation; Lebanon Valley Speedway was running, just south of the Vermont state border, Fonda Speedway was the most famous track around, but it was 3+ hours away; and a few tracks like the Pine Bowl [NY], Claremont Speedway [NH], Airborne Park [NY], and Northeastern Speedway [VT] were also holding shows.

So, it wasn't that the race - starved Rutland racing fans didn't know what stock car racing was all about. They could travel to one of these other tracks, or they could fall back on the memories of former Rutland County tracks like Fairmont Speedway and Pico Raceway. When, in 1960, the Vermont State Fair in Rutland announced stock car races during its fair week in September, hundreds of us eagerly attended.

The show was promoted by Howard Commander, and the organization which ran Lebanon Valley. I can remember a few of the cars that raced there that day, and some of the notable drivers from that era who very likely were there. Race conditions were so poor that day that the drivers all agreed to take it easy and split the purse, but the crowd was none the wiser and had a wonderful time. For the record, Don Rounds, another competitor at the fairgrounds that day, strongly disagrees with Jelley that the results were pre-agreed upon. Although Uncle Art Stuarts' book (a bible of Valley facts) indicates the race was won by Joe Messina, the sparse images of that day I have been able to find are all centered around Bill Webb and his maroon 33 coupe. The photo below is the only actual photograph I have seen in 58 years, and the grainy shots are actually captured from old 8MM very poor movie footage.

For some reason, the Rutland fairgrounds decided to host a type of sports car racing in 1957 at the Vermont State Fair time in early Fall. The outfit seemed to be primarily from New Jersey. In the characteristically stiff language of the 1950's, the Rutland Herald announced " A variety of high-performance machinery will be in evidence here this afternoon when sports car racing is the chief attraction at the Rutland Fair."

John Nelson reports that the sanctioning group (which was not even mentioned in the newspaper articles) was called the Sports Car Owners and Drivers Association, or SCODA. Although the group raced at a number or venues including Lime Rock, it is almost certain that this was their first try at a dirt surface. John describes those cars as "hybrids and home-built specials that were not built for looks but for speed".



For some reason, the Rutland fairgrounds decided to host a type of sports car racing in 1957 at the Vermont State Fair time in early Fall. The outfit seemed to be primarily from New Jersey. In the characteristically stiff language of the 1950's, the Rutland Herald announced " A variety of high-performance machinery will be in evidence here this afternoon when sports car racing is the chief attraction at the Rutland Fair."

The pre- race publicity seemed to center on Charles "Elf" Bettman, of Tappan, New York. As it turned out, Bettman won the event, driving his "beautifully running but banged and dented Volkswagen. Jacobs' car was a hybrid, home-built car featuring parts from MG's, Corvette, Pegas, and Jaguar. Jake Jacobs apparently put on a crowd-pleasing show, judging from the newspaper write-up.

SCODA drivers mentioned in the paper included: Bettman, Tappan, NY; Jacobs, Teaneck, NJ, Bob Ellis, Springfield, NJ; Bill Boyd, Westport, CT.; Dan Brent, Millburn, NJ; Stan Becker, Roslyn, NY (SCODA President); Ernie Lager, Warnarnassa, NJ; Herb Fisher, Short Hills, NJ; and Paul Borodin. The show was considered successful, but not repeated another time.