For fans of East Coast racing history, the second weekend of July has been the best time to come to the hills of central Pennsylvania, as the combined York Nostalgia show and accompanying York US30 Nostalgia Nationals takes place, honoring the heritage of the stars and cars from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The pair of shows has been a dedicated celebration of speed for 12 years now. Indeed, this year featured a TV crew from France as well as local news organizations, with nonstop activity from the opening on Friday through the last pass down the 1,320 on Sunday evening.
The show portion is held at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing in York Springs, located on the Latimer Valley Fairgrounds 20 miles north of Gettysburg. Promoted by longtime NHRA Division Director Darwin Doll; his wife, Pat; and a crew of volunteers, York Nostalgia was created to honor the racing heritage of the now-defunct track/airport near the city of York. York US30 Dragway operated from 1959-1979 and was the location of several major races. With a large number of automotive enthusiasts based in the surrounding states, the show moved to the museum location two years ago and is again growing.
Among the special activities are the Legion of Honor ceremonies on Friday, where gasser pilot Gene Altizer, longtime NHRA racer Al Brown, and photographer (and Deluxe contributor) Bob McClurg were among the 2017 inductees. This was also titled Dave Strickler Day, with a special afternoon discussion among his noted associates and family. George Curetan’s newly completed Tokyo Rose sedan delivery was there, as was George and other racers.
Saturday saw a large turnout for the annual car show, which Doll calls “Cruising Into Summer.” More than 100 cars came from around the region to participate. Meanwhile, there were other cars invited to display all around the museum grounds, a swap meet, ongoing seminar programs, gatherings for group photos, and more. The Best of Show award this year went to a gorgeous ’59 Chevrolet Apache pickup owned by Carl Lynes, whose appearance summed up the event quite well. The grand finale was a Cackling Thunder fire-up session before people packed up for the next day.
By then, action was already under way 90 miles north, where Bob and Donna Marie McCardle hosted racers, fans, and even campers at the Beaver Springs Dragway. The wide, grassy aprons; quaint tower; and personal hospitality make this perhaps the ultimate nostalgia racing facility. Though they run a selection of eliminators on Saturday, the big day is Sunday, the annual York US30 Nostalgia Nationals. This year had eight classes of racing plus a select group of exhibition cars. No body style later than 1972 is allowed to run, no whining permitted, and leave your delay box at home. It is old school all the way, including a qualifying session that is flag-started. The track had its own Legends of Drag Racing program, then more than 200 cars made the first round call, including more than three dozen Nostalgia Super Stockers and several grouped exhibition racers like the Ohio Gassers and Pure Vintage Drags.
What always makes the weekend special is the people: friends seen year after year, racers who tow in from far away just to enjoy the scene, and a solidarity with the past. Why is this a great event? Think back on the heroes of racing, the colorful cars they ran, and the less-stressful era they existed in. The clock turns back for one weekend each year for those memories and new ones, and you can look forward to more of them.
First Time: The era of Junior Stock roared to life as Junior Stock racers George Curetan and Wayne Jesel raced each other for the first time in history. Neither could recall a time they had met in eliminations back in the day, and they always ran cars in different classes. Curetan had not lost his touch and was off the line first in the faster car to take it. Jesel later raced the Daddy Warbucks Falcon and won with a 7-second handicap.Junior Stock Heroes: The men joked before the impromptu race at Beaver Springs on Sunday morning. Curetan (left) won the 1967 NHRA World Championship at Tulsa, and his tribute Tokyo Rose sedan delivery came in courtesy Mike and Connie Szczepanski of Winona, Minnesota. Jesel’s tribute was completed about three years ago, but this was his first time driving it on the track in a race environment. These kinds of reunions have helped establish the weekend’s legacy for fans.Best of Show: Carl Lynes’ beautifully restored ’59 Chevy Apache pickup was the victor in the Saturday Cruising Into Summer car show, as the wonderfully refinished truck won Best of Show honors. While some might want to make it a little bigger and badder, it would be a perfect evening driver to the ice cream store just as it is.Dave’s Day: Here is the Larry Brinkley-owned ’62 409 Impala with Ammon R. Smith and Jenkins Competition lettering. Its driver, the late Dave Strickler, was honored with a Dave Strickler Day this year, which included friends recounting his career with much of his family present. A number of them talked about the FX days at York, when Strickler was willing to spot cars a half-track length and still row through the gears to beat them.Big John Tribute: Rocky Pirrone’s Big John Mazmanian race-ready Willys tribute was placed in the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing drag racing hall for display. The EMMR uses the wall behind it for sponsorship bricks, which had been widely supported by fans of all types of motorsports. There were many other notable cars on display both here and down in the show field area.Flamed Ford: Dan Mentzell Jr.’s Tudor wasn’t the fastest car in its class, but Dan enjoyed a great weekend of racing it. The track runs quarter-mile for most classes during this event, and several quicker cars had to play catch-up with him during qualifying and racing. They had nothing on him for style points, however. The ’30 Model A has a 350ci Chevy engine and TH350 transmission with 3.25 gears in a 9-inch Ford rearend.Winning Bucket: Meanwhile, the 2017 winner in Comp was this hot little yellow T-bucket called the Hilltown Shaker and raced by Josh Nevells, who is a regular at the event. He ran consistent times with his small-block Chevrolet combo, with just enough wheel-lift to make it interesting.Surprise: You never know what will turn up on Sunday, which included exhibition cars and eight race classes. This Cheetah was a surprise, as the originals are rare and pricey, and few people even remember them today. Modified Production is a simple breakdown: A/MP for pre-’66 cars, B/MP for ’66-’72, and run your dial-in. A faster Comp class, two NETO groups, the East Coast gassers, Nostalgia Super Stock, and Junior Stock round it out.Honored: Among the inductees to the Legion of Honor in 2017 was the late Al Brown, who attended and raced at the NHRA Nationals for more than 40 years. His son Tom, now a chaplain for Racers for Christ, gave a moving eulogy on the family of racers. The Legion adds new members each year, and those accolades are held in perpetual honor at the EMMR facility.Chevy Deuce: One of the nicest period-style rods was the ’32 Chevy coupe of Podunk, Pennsylvania’s Tony Barone. Featuring a great small-block engine with the correct vintage parts and a circa-’60 scalloped paint job, the car took the top place in the Special Interest category on Saturday during the cruise-in.Ramp Up: No award was given for the largest displayed vehicle in the show on Saturday, but Earl Metzler’s ’54 1-1/2-ton truck with its primered ’41 Willy coupe on the back ramp would have been a shoe-in. The Cruising Into Summer event featured a lot of variety this year, with an even divide between rods and muscle.In Training: Longtime racer Mickey Hale and his football-type Austin run on the Ohio Gasser match-race circuit. Showing there is still a place for younger people in racing, his crew here included a back-up girl in training. These cars put on an amazing show with long burnouts and sometimes-violent wheelstands, while keeping the distance to 1/8-mile to maintain parts longevity.Willys Wheelie: Once again, Mike Etchberger and his Willys gasser were stars of the wheelstanding effort, though this one would end up maxing out the suspension travel and making for a short day during round one. However, every camera in the place was focused on him each time the black primered coupe came into the water box. Go big or go home; this one goes big…Legends: Comp racer Larry Lombardo (left), best known for driving for Bill Jenkins later in Pro Stock, recalled that his first-ever paying match race was for $20 offered by Bob McCardle the year the track opened. He took the opportunity during BSD’s Legends of Drag Racing ceremony to give the money back to Bob in appreciation, and to the cheers of the crowd.Still Active: For a track that closed almost 30 years ago, memories and commitment remain strong. These are the former York US30 employees gathered for a photo. As can be seen from their yellow shirts, several remain active helping with the annual reunion. Darwin and Pat Doll are on the left.Big Tent: Without the large buildings (and overhead) from the York Fairgrounds, this large tent was erected for the invited cars. It holds approximately 20 vehicles. Other cars were displayed in pavilions nearby, with a select few in the museum itself on an adjacent ridgeline.Fired Up: For a grand finale as the show closed late Saturday afternoon, several nitro cars were fired up. A crowd gathered as Bob Bilbow warmed up the Lynwood Engineering dragster, complete with weed-burner headers and a lopey, period-type camshaft. The York events tend to gather East Coast cars, and Lynwood built cars for a number of big names in those early years of the sport “back east.”Treasure: We do not have a clue what this poster from the late Teens/early Twenties might be worth. Barney Oldfield and his legendary Golden Submarine circle track car traveled by rail to locations nationwide for match races on fairgrounds dirt tracks like the one now restored at Latimer Valley. The EMMR museum is filled with treasures like this, and well worth a careful walk through to see it all.Ohio George: George Montgomery made the trek up to the dragstrip on Sunday and was seated on the starting line for a quick interview. Noteworthy for his many accomplishments, the Dayton, Ohio, racer has had a well-rounded career, with drag racing titles and later management of the entire engine business for the former Indy Lights open wheel series.Flatheads on Fuel: The Pure Vintage Racing group runs a self-contained bracket that consists of vintage, all-steel Ford-bodied or -powered cars. Running period-original speed equipment and older high-wheel Indy car tires, these cars harken back to the very earliest days of the hobby. Make the best of your paint skills, buy the pieces you need to look good and go faster, and bring it. An eighth-mile course keeps it safe, even for those flatheads on fuel. The cars run drags, salt, beach front, and more. Seven were on hand this year.Flag Man: A tradition of the event is the flag starting of round two of Nostalgia Super Stock, handled by “Spry George” Nye, the former flag starter at York before the advent of the Christmas tree, and later its best-known announcer. Today he conducts guided bus tours at the Hershey facility near Harrisburg. On Sunday, he was playing “tuck in tight” as a combined 800-plus horsepower passed on either side.All-409 Final: When the smoke had cleared, for the first time in the 12-year history of the race, a pair of 409 Chevys had hammered all the Fords and Mopars into oblivion before the final. Bob Conway won the race in his New Jersey-based 1963 model with runs in the 11-second zone, besting a field of almost four dozen cars that made the round one NSS call. McCardle also ran special 409, FE Ford and Hemi-only programs on Saturday for racers who wanted two days of action, as well several other classes that ran again on Sunday.See You Next Year: Waving them off in the tradition of the region’s sprint car heritage, the mascot of the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing beckons fans to come and see the show during summer weekends. Located off of Route 15 approximately 20 miles north of Gettysburg, the museum is scheduled to play host to York Nostalgia again in 2018. For more info, log on to yorknostalgia.com for the York Reunion and beaversprings.com for the BSD Nostalgia Nationals.
