TWIN
STATE SPEEDWAY
Known to Most of Us as Claremont

When I used to go to the races at Fairmont Speedway in the early to mid 1960's, some of the most prominent performers at the Vermont track were New Hampshirites - primarily from the race track at Claremont. Today, the track is thoroughly modern, but - in those days - it resembled a circular path in a sand pit. Many of the local cars were holdovers from Claremont's old Claremont Jalopy Association - and they looked it.

Courtesy of Phil Chastenay II
I honestly believe that Claremont's bigger stars in
those days had come from the racing at the Cheshire Fairgrounds track in Keene,
NH. Also, the old West Brattleboro/Rhythm Inn circuit had contributed better
runners, as well. Some of the jalopies would go on to improvement; but that core
of stars from the earlier days remained in place into the next decade - at
tracks like Claremont and Devil's Bowl, to name two.
When Claremont began to upgrade its divisions and
headed towards more modern engines and chassis's, some of the hardline flathead
runners were saved by the creation of Bear Ridge, up the interstate, in
Bradford, Vt. Claremont went on to feature - at one time - Northern NASCAR Late
Model Sportsman shows, as well as state-of-the-art modifieds and pro stocks.
Courtesy of racersbored.com Site
Rocky Cusinelli strikes a typical pose for
the Claremont Jalopy Ass'n Era.
Many more such shots were shown in the Cavalcade of Racing.
Photo Source Unknown
Lloyd Severance [711] drives by a fire
involving Ernie Hastings of
Massachusetts and a Claremont local car.
Cavalcade of Auto Racing
Keene's Mike Cody was a track champion
at Claremont in
the earlier years - when it was dirt.
Cavalcade of Auto Racing
Stroker Smith [Keene, NH] and Sonny
Rabideau [Brattleboro, VT] were
the 1963 Champs at Claremont - plus being big stars at Fairmont.
CLAREMONT JALOPY ASSOCIATION ERA
![]() Courtesy of John Snarski Walt Brown, Jr. & Crew |
Cavalcade of Racing Butch Watson |
Cavalcade of Racing Roger Ranade [Same Car] |
|
Cavalcade of Racing Bill George |
Cavalcade of Racing Wayne Wheeler |
Cavalcade of Racing Roger Hodgman |
|
Cavalcade of Racing Frank Hall |
Cavalcade of Racing Dynamite Al Sanville CLICK HERE for more pix |
Cavalcade of Racing Roger Day |
|
Cavalcade of Racing Roger Lessard |
Cavalcade of Racing Walt Billington |
Cavalcade of Racing Frank Blake |
Dynamite Al's Car
Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois
The Don LeFrancois family - of Rutland,
VT. - took several early - 1950's racing photos.
This pair sure looks like Claremont.
Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois
I wonder if that 26 could be an early
Freddy Mills car.
POST - JALOPY ERA

Courtesy of Phil Chastenay
Ted Burr, one of the early officials at Claremont.

Courtesy of Phil Chastenay
One of Sonny Fleury's early
posters.
|
Courtesy of Ernie Bodreau What's left of the old Butch Watson 444 sits beside the gas fire. |
Courtesy of Ernie Bodreau Car 21 barrels into an unidentified car in the early days. |
![]() Courtesy of Ernie Bodreau Another early tangle with some of the unnamed cars of the Claremont Jalopy Owners and Drivers Association. |
Courtesy of Ernie Bodreau A well-appearing car 110 runs into our friend in #21. |
![]() Courtesy of John Snarski A 1971 photo of the crowd beginning to file in for another show. The track surface appears to still be dirt. |
![]() Courtesy of John Snarski A 1971 photo of the crowd watching warmups or practice. |
All the photos in this next table are, most likely Bodreau Collection items - courtesy of Phil Chastenay
![]() Frontstretch pileup from Claremont newspaper |
![]() Gary Philbrook, Claremont, NH [Thanks to Ernie and George for info] |
![]() Action shot from Claremont newspaper
|
CLICK HERE for photos from The Walt Brown Family

Twin State Site Photo
Claremont today, as Twin State Speedway.
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