Dog River Speedway

Northfield, Vermont

LARRY GRANGER PHOTO SECTION

1959 Championship  
Granger_Northfield_Champ_1961_Trophy.jpg (148409 bytes)

With Libero Buzzi    
 

The Championship Car   Larry_Granger_Northfield_1961_93.jpg (143097 bytes)

All Photos Courtesy of Mike Gilbert

 OTHER NORTHFIELD DRIVERS


Dale Gilbert Arrives       Dale_Gilbert_Northfield_Trailered.jpg (159770 bytes)


Ed LaFrenniere's 8 Ball   Lafreniere_8ball_Northfield_1961.jpg (155197 bytes)


Ray Stygles after races   Ray_Stygles_Northfield_69.jpg (144740 bytes)


Stygles with different ride:
 Hay Service Station #68. Ray_Stygles_Northfield_Hay68.jpg (136797 bytes)

All Photos in this section Courtesy of Mike Gilbert

DOG RIVER PERSONALITIES


Larry Granger

Granger_Cropped.JPG (8449 bytes)


John Gammell

Gammell_Gets_Award.jpg (272660 bytes)

Russ Ingerson

Russ_Ingerson_Cropped.JPG (13233 bytes)

Chester T. Woods

Chet_Woods_Cropped.JPG (14144 bytes)


Libero Buzzi

Libero_Buzzi_Cropped.JPG (9747 bytes)

 

      Not a lot was known about this racetrack when I started this website. It does not have a particularly long or distinguished history, like its neighbor and more prominent brother, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, in Barre.

    Apparently, Dog River was named for a body of water located nearby. It largely depended on fielding cars that frequented Thunder Road. Like Northeast Speedway in Waterford, Dog River's history is totally intertwined with the Barre oval.

    I have been depending on information from folks like my good friend and old college mate Mike Gilbert, a business teacher in Barre who once lived in Northfield. Mike's locating information about Dog River goes like this: "If you ever go to Northfield, you go south on Route 12A for about two miles or so. The first bridge to go over the river [brook] on the left goes to the trailer park. The track used to be up, beyond the trailer park."

   Fellow historian Cris DaBica has also mentioned Dog River: "Yet another track at the end of a road in the middle of nowhere, Dog River between the late 1940’s and early 1960’s and is listed as being a dirt 1/2 track. It is located just south of Northfield, VT on what was supposedly the site of the Northeast Fairgrounds. So far no mentions of either Dog River or the fairgrounds have been found anywhere so a visit to Northfield’s library or historical society is probably in order. The land is currently marked as private property/no trespassing, and looks like someone is using it to store construction equipment…didn’t get out to investigate too deeply but a return visit may happen soon."

 

VICTORY LANE IN 1961

Flagger and future Chief Pit Steward, Archie Blackadar, of Danville, Vt. stands in the white uniform with hands on hips. Car owner Ed Pelletier is at Archie's right, looking at the camera.

Courtesy of Neal Davis

Barre's Norm Chaloux was probably a regular at Northfield. Here the car is shown trailering into Thunder Road in 2004.

Rutland Herald Photo

Buddy Bardwell, of Keene, NH [shown here at Fairmont] tried Northfield a few times, as he did T-Road.

Return to The Pre-History Page

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Northfield_Terraserver.jpg (57633 bytes)
Dog River Speedway,  Terraserver photo.

Dog_River_Current_2.jpg (39329 bytes)
 This is a view of the Dog River property now.
Cris DaBica Photo

Granger_Northfield_Champ_1961_Trophy.jpg (148409 bytes)
Larry Granger [center] receives the 1961 Dog River championship trophy among crew and well-wishers.
Photo Courtesy of  Mike Gilbert