THE EVOLUTION OF A CAR NUMBER T

In last years of the 195o's a flamboyant Hudson Falls , NY man named Henry Caputo decided to get into the racing game as a car owner. A salvage yard operator by trade, Caputo soon made a mark as an owner who not only was willing to put money where his mouth was, but he had expectations for his drivers' performances just as demanding as the pressure he put on himself as owner. With some support from brother, Chuck, Henry went about developing a team of NASCAR style sportsman cars with very a characteristic and unique graphic package. In an age when most cars were flat towed or maybe open trailered, Caputo cars were borne on flatbed trucks, painted up with a matching graphic scheme.

Joe Cryan Photo Vogel Family Photo via Otto Graham

       Caputo is said to have begun with two cars - the chronological order of which I cannot establish: a 1936 Plymouth coupe, and what appeared to be a very early '50's, three window Plymouth business coupe. The Caputo family, at that time, was big into Mopar power. One person who knows New York racing history well seems to think the latter car was done first, using the idea that NASCAR would allow a more potent motor in the heavier late model bodies. It didn't last long. I have never heard or read of where the car went; but, the Richard Welch 77 team had a car that was eerily siimilar. The other more standard stock car coupe preceded the most famous and most successful Caputo entry - a 1936 Chevy coupe built by the legendary Bob Mott

                  Andy Fusco Collection                 Joe Cryan Photo via Dave Dykes

         Both Plymouths usually both bore the number 11. The cars had a graphic scheme of red and white patterned in a way no other cars had. The cars had such quality chauffeurs as Jeep Herbert, Rotterdam; Earl Maille, Glens Falls; Tom Kotary, Rome; and George Baumgardner, Saratoga Springs. These cars [and maybe the newer coupe] ran anywhere from 1955 on, into the earliest 1960's. At one point, another coupe briefly appeared, numered as 41, for Irv Taylor. The Taylor photo suggests this was another sortie into Daytona for Caputo. According to lore, the older Plymouth coupe was wrecked at Otter Creek Speedway by Baumgardner in 1961. I think the older coupe was finally sold to a young Jim Hoyt and was just put out to pasture when he and Wes Moody found it was too far gone to use.

                  Russ Bergh Photo via Dave Dykes             Getty Images

        The Mott - built coupe started out with Rome, NY's Tom Kotary. The coupe was a marvelous accomplishment, immediatetly taken over by Westmere, NY hot shoe Kenny Shoemaker around 1959. The car was a winner with both drivers. The roof on the 111 became something to behold - bearing two "flaps" for Lebanon Valley, a radio antenna mount, a red brake light mount, and a white light [all Caputo inspirations]. The car outlasted Shoemaker and Caputo, eventually being sold first to Chris Drellos and later, to Frank Trinkhaus. Shoemaker was an irrestible force with the car through both Caputo and Drellos. Caputo did have a second '36 Chevy coupe, said to be constructed by Shoemaker and Irv Taylor. There is also one puzzling photo of Irv, in a Caputo car numbered 41. I supposed it could be that car. Paul Marshall drove for Drellos, at least at Otter Creek.

           Russ Bergh Photo        Ladabouche Photo

         Caputo would find himself having to sell out somewhere around 1961. He sold the team and the Whitbeck car to Chris Drellos, of Smith's Basin, NY, who I think made his money in septic systems. Drellos would continue to run the original 111 while building a second Chevy coupe [which may have also been a product of Shoemaker and Irv Taylor]. It is said they were given a $2500 budget to build it. It gets a little foggy here, but - in the space of a year or so, the team built a three window coupe 111A for Jeep Herbert. It turned out to be an inconsistent, disappointing car. Also, a coupe numbered 11 and run by Corey appeared for the 1963 season while Shoemaker retained the original 111. Later, the aforementioned Shoemaker/Taylor product made its appearance as well. Drellos would keep the color scheme while changing the numeral style subtely [sharpening and leaning them] and by adding sharp edged "NY" on the sides. The newer 111 was the one that caught on fire in 1963 during the long distance race at Fonda after setting the fast qualiying lap time.

           Russ Bergh Photo                    R. Bergh Photo via NESCOT

          Like Caputo's, the Drellos era [particualry 1964] was a tour de force. The team virtually owned Stafford Springs, while running very well at Fonda. Also, reacting to Shoemaker's love affair with the bumpy, dusty pasture track, Otter Creek Speedway in Vermont, they ran there frequently, picking up easy NASCAR points. Perhaps occasionally, the team made it to Victoria [although I think Victoria conflicted with Stafford's schedule]. Caputo took a car to Daytona; Drellos never did, to my knowledge. Somewhere along the line, perhaps in note that the 111 was aging, the team had another similar 111 built, as well. During the two owners' tenures, a crack mechanic named Ed "Shortstroke" Wright maintained the motors; I don't know when he came on the scene.

                F. Simek Photo - obviously                      R. Bergh Photo - Herbert Family

          Like Caputo, Drellos would have no choice but to sell out after the enormously succesful 1964 season. The original 111, still viable although wearing thin, went to
Frank Trinkhaus; the Corey car was sold to northern New Yorker Cliff Barcomb, who put Buck Holliday at the wheel; and the newest car went to Dover, NH's Ernie Gahan. The 11 / 111 trademark pretty much disappeared. Barcomb did use the number 11, keeping the whole graphic scheme for a while as the body slowly got beaten to hell. He would, in fact, keep the number as his own into at least the 1980's. Trinkhaus immediately changed the whole scheme to his familiar blue and yellow 62. Gahan used the car as 111 briefly before changing it to 50. I always called that car the "Erine car" because the signpainter must have been eating a Milky Way when he did Ernie's name.

               R. Bergh Photo - Conde & Parry Site                         John Grady Photo

           Gahan, in fact, won a memorable Fonda feature with the car and may have been using it when he won the NASCAR National Modified title in 1966. Trinkhaus put Irv Taylor in the old Drellos car, but I don't think it did much [pretty worn out by then]. Holliday had success with the former 11, but I don't think he did at Fonda. Today, those red and white Caputo / Drellos cars are fondly recalled and much discussed.

                R. Bergh Photo                         John Grady Photo