| BEAR RIDGE SPEEDWAY |
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It is hard to find this track on satellite, but we
did it.
According to
area racing historian Cho Lee, Northeast Speedway, in Lower Waterford was one of
the last bastions of the flathead coupes. But, by 1966, the track was not
running the coupes any longer. What's more, Thunder Road - the other last
bastion - had gone NASCAR and had also eliminated the flatheads. This made for a
hiatus of almost three years, in which those who had the coupes were forced to
mothball them and hope for another day.
That other day came when legendary car owner George Barber,
of Bradford, Vermont, bought some remote land in his community and planned to
build a temporary race track so coupes could still have somewhere to race.
According to legend, when Barber and others were first on the land, trying to
determine how they would lay out the facility, a bear was seen slipping away
from its nearby hiding place and away from the men. Hence, the name Bear Ridge
Speedway.
Courtesy of Cho Lee
C.V. Elms, Sr, or Chuck [center], poses with Devils Bowl
promoter C.J. Richards
[left] and Bob Doyle
Barber recently told Lee he had only envisioned a
lifespan of two or three years for the little dirt fifth mile oval, but it took
on a life of its own and even rated an article in STOCK CAR RACING magazine. As
we all know, the track is still there today, having been enlarged and improved
gradually. Barber soon sold out to a group including C.V. Elms, Sr., and the Elm
family still runs it today.
Terraserver Satellite Photo
It is unclear to me whether this closer
shot from the 1990's shows the fifth
mile or the current size.
This set of photos is from the late 1970's and early 1980's. Any photos not listed as mine are from Evelyn Elms. I have recently learned that the first announcer at the track was Sam Hayward, whose family ran a local trucking firm called Hayward Transportation.
Bill Ladabouche Photo
With apologies to Cho Lee, this poor photo shows a poster
from the first show at Bear Ridge.
It was dated and collected by George Barber, given to Cho Lee, and finally
donated to
Butch Elms on the 40th anniversary of the track in July of 2007.
Courtesy of Cho Lee
First Bear Ridge starter Ted Wynot and other Bear Ridge Officials.
THE EARLY YEARS
 Courtesy Cho Lee Skip Elliott |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Smilin' Harold Derosia with Emilio Girelli |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Fred Kidder ex-Bud Messier 50 |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Rabbit Chaffee |
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 Courtesy Cho Lee Roger Rouleau |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Allen Whipple Claremont, NH |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Unknown Team |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Cecil Bosworth, Athol, MA The Geo. Ingalls 888 |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Bob Rushford, Bradford, VT with Bob Doyle |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Ed Jennings, with Merlin Bean |
 Courtesy Cho Lee Herb Gray, Thetford, VT |
THE 1970's AND 1980's
 Two unidentified Coupe Division cars at speed. The second is #96, Robert "Rabbit" Chaffee. |
 Chuck Beede [orange shirt] looks on as Frank Keene receives his trophy. |
 Bill Ladabouche Photo
Gassing up the Chuck Beede |
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Late model driver David Gomo |
Duncan McKay gets a |
Some last-minute work in the |
 Bill Ladabouche Photo
Preparations in the C.V. |
The C.V. Elms Gremlin |
Frank Keene's Gremlin |
