CLARENCE "BUTCH" JELLEY
When C.J.
Richards was going to re-open the old Fairmont Motor Park Speedway as "Fairmont
Speedway, the Fastest Half Mile in Vermont', he placed some articles in the
local Rutland Herald, promising some stock car stars of some prominence who were
coming to make his opening day a success. Some of the promised stars never came;
but, one who was true to his word was a very youthful driver from Pownal,
Vermont named Butch Jelley.
Jelley had already been seen in the area, a year before, when
the Vermont State Fair in Rutland had featured a stock car program sanctioned by
Lebanon Valley Speedway, just south of the border in New York. Jelley had drawn
a little more than his share of attention - probably because his car sported a
letter "Y" on the side, rather than a number like everyone else had.
Butch once explained to me that this unusual identification
had double meaning - a. the highly-unusual exhaust system on the car came to the
back, forming a Y at one place; and b.) it also answered the rhetorical question
why he was racing: "Y not ?" Jelley was driving for his dear friend and father
figure, Ed Wynn, of North Adams, Massachusetts at that time.
Jelley made a splash at Richards' opening show, and appeared
at Fairmont several times more in the first few seasons. He then went on to
drive for several prominent car owners in a long and successful career: Martin
Riiska and Austin Dickerman, to name two. In 2005, at age 65, Butch participated
in yet another season - this time at Devil's Bowl. Recently, a bout with cancer
has kept the likeable Quick Stop owner on the sidelines.
 Bill Ladabouche Photo Butch, with Ed Wynn's Y, at Fairmont in 1961 |
 OuterChild Photo Butch, with his own Y, at the Valley around 1963 |
 Bill Ladabouche Photo Butch ran a few shows with Ed Wynn's M2, usually driven by Frank Hatch. Y, at Fairmont in 1961
|
 OuterChild Photo Butch, early in his tenure with the Martin Riiska X |
 OuterChild Photo Butch in one of the earlier X rides |
 Photo by A. Ainsworth This shot became familiar - especially in Victory Lane
|
 Photo Source Unknown When the Valley went to late model bodies, so did the X team |
 Photo Source Unknown A steadily-maturing Jelley with another of Riiska's top notch rides. |
 OuterChild Photo Butch spent some time with the #90 team  Devil's Bowl Photo |
 Turn Five Photo Jelley, at Lancaster in 1974 |
 Jerry King Photo Jelley spent a few features in Jerry King's 99
|
 Jerry King Photo Jelley receives a cake from the Jerry King Fan Club. That's Jerry on the right
|
 Photo Source Unknown In the Dickerman 357, probably at Devil's Bowl  John Grady Photo |
 Bill Ladabouche Photo Jelley enjoys a talk with Frank Hoard, Sr. and Ed Fabian at a car show in Rutland in 2006. |
 Arnie Ainsworth Photo |
 A. Ainsworth Photo A newer version of Riiska's X |
 A. Ainsworth Photo A newer version of Riiska's X |
 A. Ainsworth Photo Driving for Will Cagle |
Bob Frazier Photo - Ladabouche Collection
Day One - Fairmont Speedway -Memorial Day 1962. Still my
favorite photo.