PICO RACEWAY

Courtesy of Dan Kearney
This is the only known poster from Pico Raceway. Dan Kearney generously allowed us to photograph it.

Supposedly a shot of Pico Raceway action with unrecognizable cars, this shot donated by publisher Lew Boyd shows a very dusty track, with the bleacher area set above it. Concessions would have been behind the bleachers, as would the parking. Note that some cars parked on a hill above the track. To the right, out of sight of this shot would be the Rutland Railroad tracks that bordered the property. The judges' stand in the apparently-muddy infield is a very small and simple structure. A small child at the time, I can remember wondering what happened to those tires that had been sunk to border the racing surface. A recent microfilm of a sports page from the Rutland Herald has verified that this is - in fact - the Pico track [first year before the cement wall].

This is the microfilmed Rutland Herald photo, found by John Nelson and taken by perhaps the Herlad's most famous photographer, Aldo Merusi. Note the sand bank and the wooden stairs. This is apparently the first race of the first program at Pico. Below is a clearer shot, added on October 11, 2007.

Same scene, view further back. We need help with who these cars are. The outside pole is a #79, with dice on the sides; the #99 is not Carroll Davis, according to his son; and I can't make out the second row car.

Pico Raceway was built to the south of Rutland in 1951 by a partnership of Pasquale "Patsy" Romano, father of the Romano brothers, who owned a successful local trucking outfit, local farmer Abe Newman, and Rutland County Sheriff, Gino Franzoni. One of the Romano brothers, Al, also was a successful driver at the track. The track ran around 1951 to 1952, having to share the somewhat limited number of competitors in the area with the old Fairmont Park Motor Speedway of Hugh Young, over in nearby Fair Haven, Vermont.

After that, it appears that unpaid bills forced the closing of the track. This is unfortunate because of its high quality infrastructure and seating. Other groups signed up to run races in 1953 and 1954; but, they never got them off the ground. One pair even aligned with the Tri State sanctioning body before failing [for whatever reason] to get one show off the ground.

Another field from opening day takes off in front of the stands which, in year one, did not have the protection of the cement wall yet. The middle car apparently won the heat.

I was not very old when Pico existed, but I can remember Al Romano's 303 car, nicknamed the Bumblebee because of the distinctive noise the exhaust pipes made. "Three oh three, the Bumble Bee !", the track announcer, Red Wildey, would dutifully intone every time he mentioned his boss's car.

I also now that the track featured such prominent drivers as Steve Danish, from Cropseyville, NY.; Jeep Herbert, from Schenectady, NY.; Dave Brooks, from Manchester, VT.; Gene Tatro, of Manchester Depot, VT.; New Yorker Spence Parkhurst; George Janoski, Stafford Springs, CT.; and Jollie Ollie Palmer, of Westmere, NY.

The track also had its less - prominent locals such as Fair Haven's Vic Love, Proctor, Vermont's "Steady Tony" Provencher, Pittsford, Vermont's Henry LaVictoire-"The Crazy Frenchman", Cavendish's Carroll "Crash" Davis, Jerry King, and many more. Keene, New Hampshire's legendary Buddy Bardwell assures me he ran at Pico.

This Rutland Herald article on opening day at Pico lists a few drivers and other details; but, the most interesting data is about how many children were apparently admitted. From what I can tell most were unsupervised and caused problems - because the next Herald had the ad below:

I can remember a later year when they opened the track, they once had such a bout with mud that not only did a car get stuck in the infield, but so did at least one wrecker hitched to that car. Multi-decade racing veteran Clarence "Butch" Jelley speaks of the sandbanks that the Romanos put along the track, supposedly to catch errant cars before they strayed too far off the track. He wasn't too crazy about them. I wonder now, with the recently - acquired photo at the top of the page, if he wasn't recalling that sand bank one would have to scale to get to the bleachers.
Pico was always making a big deal out of its seating capacity, as can be seen by the following three Rutland Herald ads in which the capacity continues to climb. Some of this might be explained when - after the big cement wall went up - the bleachers were improved.

I vaguely recall the fans' parking lot behind the grandstands and a few concession buildings of one sort or another behind the grandstands, as well. I remember a couple of those cheap little plastic stock cars bought for me as souvenirs - sure wish I had them now. I didn't care about driving, but I wanted to be a flagger like Chet Hames.

Pico's Guardian Angel, Ed Fabian, stands in the middle of the Turn Three banking, trying to get a feel for the track he helped to grade in 1952.

Art Morgan [43], Steve Danish [white car], and two others fly past the same
spot at where Ed is standing - except it was 1952.

Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society
Photo by Aldo Merusi
This blurry shot [my fault] is of construction at the track. One of the Fabian dump trucks is coming onto the track from the right of the grandstands. I hope to have a better quality shot of this later.

I believe the track closed by 1954. But now I have been receiving information that it might have continued on under the name Green Mountain Speedway until 1955. My family went up to the track and drove around its neglected, wash-boarded surface about a year later, but it never opened again. Eventually, GE built a huge plant on the property and I can find no trace of the track any more. Being a defense contractor and all, they are not too crazy about having people snoop around the periphery of their grounds. Actually, the plant itself is probably larger than the track was...so there are few traces left to find. After walking the periphery of the GE property with Ed Fabian, the Guardian Angel of Pico Raceway, we found what we think is the back stretch and part of turn three.

This view, down the old backstretch, shows the beginning of the Turn Three banking. Note the trees. They are very similar to the trees behind Al Romano in his 1952 action shot above.

This full view of the old backstretch, shows the beginning of the Turn Three banking and the banking that even the stretch had..

Sadly, the Romano family recently disposed of all their records and papers on the track before I could contact them. There is very little left of the history of Pico now. If the above picture is to be believed as being Pico, it is the only picture I have. It would appear that the track was down in a sort of depression, with the stands above on a sandy bank.

Special thanks to Ed Fabian for some of the information in this informal history.

This is a Terraserver Satellite photo of the General Electric plant whose grounds have obliterated all traces of Pico Raceway. The track would have sat approximately from that white rectangle on the roof to road moving at a slight angle the left center towards the middle bottom of the photo. The bleachers nearly backed up to the road that curves around the property at the top of the photo.

Rutland's Al Romano, shown here tuning a race car at Fairmont in 1964, was not only the owner of Pico, but also a prominent driver there. He drove the car #303, nicknamed "The Bumblebee" due to its distinctive header noise.

Pico fans were fortunate to have one of the popular and colorful flaggers in all of racing - Chet Hames, of Saratoga Springs, New York [shown here at Fonda].

These photos [above] of Al Romano, shown here are the only ones I can currently guarantee are from Pico Raceway.

Anderson, Bill
Audreak, Joe
Baker, Ed
Bardwell, Buddy
Barney, Jack
Brooks, Dave
Brown, Ted
Bosworth, Cecil
Bunn, Hully
Charland, Rene
Cody, Art
Connors, George
Corey, Pete
Danish, Al
Danish, Steve
Davis, Carroll
Davis, Wally
DeGraff, John
Goddard, Leon
Goodwin, Peanie
Herbert, Howard [Jeep]
Janoski, George
King, Jerry
Kyer, Harold
Langlois, Ted
LaVictorie, Henry
Loomis brothers
Love, Vic

Morgan, Art
Morris, Leon
Morse, Charlie
Palmer, [Jollie] Ollie
Parkhurst, Spence
Peterson, Jackie
Pettit, Link
Pomainville, Ray
Pritchard, George
Provencher, Tony
Rabideau, Moran [Sonny]
Roberts, Walt
Rogers, George
Romano, Al
Ronda, Richard
Rounds, Don
Rousseau, Art
Shoemaker, Ken
Shover, Charlie
Tetrault, Gene
Wilcox, Skip

A piece of discarded metal ? Ed and I prefer to think this is something like a piece off Steve Danish's car. It sits in the woods on the former Pico site.

Courtesy of Jerry King This is the best shot of Pico I have - a race getting lined up. I think we see [from left] 5 Aces Jerry King, Rutland; unknown #6; 6 7/8 George Connors, Danby; 13, possibly Buddy Bardwell, Keene, NH; unknown; and 43, Art Morgan.	Courtesy of Jerry King The Pico. heat race rolls off into turn one. You get a good look at Turn One and the grandstands.
Courtesy of Jerry King Another race getting lined up. Jerry King is in the back, next to whom I believe is Carroll "Crash" Davis of Cavendish, VT. I don't know the other cars yet.	Courtesy of Jerry King An infield pit area confab with some of the regulars: [left] Keith Napp, mechanic for the #43; Art Morgan, with the belt, driver of the 43; Don LaFrancis, partner of Jerry King with the 5 Aces; King; and an unknown man.
Courtesy of Jerry King The muddiness of the track [when it wasn't dusty] is evident as Jerry King works on his windshield with partner, Don LaFrancis [hat] looking on.	Courtesy of Jerry King The grandstands are easily visible as Jerry King leads a field of cars out of Turn Four. The track in this photo at far right is still somewhat visible on the site today. One can see the railroad tracks, on which many people stood to avoid paying admission.
Courtesy of Jerry King The turns three and four are seen well here as a good-sized field slides through. The people on the tracks are clearly recognizable as are a few of the cars. Third from right is 43, Art Morgan; fourth from right, is 61, Steve Danish [or maybe 61, Jr. Al Danish; and possibly second from right is the 9 of Walt Roberts. The car leading appears to be the #6 also seen in the first photo and also seen in a Stateline Speedway photo racing Jeep Herbert.	Courtesy of Jerry King Jerry King earns a muddy victory at Pico. Note the famous wall in the background. After the race Jerry enjoyed a beer in the pits among his fans.
Courtesy of Jerry King Jerry King's car is looked over by spectators dressed in varying degrees of formality.	Courtesy of Jerry King The crowd rises in anticipation of Jerry King's 5 Aces leading the field down the frontstretch.
Courtesy of Jerry King Jerry King, at speed, in Turn Three. To compare this location, I am also showing Al Roman in a similar shot, in a similar spot on the track. Courtesy of Ed Fabian	Courtesy of Jerry King Jerry King, at the Tydol station of his partner and friend, Don LaFrancis. The station was located across from the fairgrounds and the Fairmont Restaurant, on the corner Park Street and South Main Street.
Courtesy of Jerry King Jerry King and some of his family greet fans after a race at Pico Raceway.	Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi A small field of cars goes by the filled grandstands at Pico. We need help with cars and drivers. The 80 may be eventual feature winner Roy "Pappy" Forsythe.
Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi Chet Hames flags off a heat on opening day. We need help with cars and drivers.	Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi #79, with dice on the dice on the sides, negotiates the front stretch. We need help with cars and drivers.
Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi A heat flies by on opening day. We need help with cars and drivers.	Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi Car X-10 wrecks off turn three. Note all the people watching from the railroad tracks. John DeGraff is the driver at left and the unknown driver of the X-10 is in front of the car.
Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi This early Pico race winner is clearly from Utica, NY. It could be Johnny Velletto, or Junior Bianco.	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais It is now believed this is another shot of action in Pico's third turn. 43 is Art Morgan; the white car is almost certainly Steve Danish; and we see that #47 in other photos on this page.

Photographer unknown Jollie Ollie Palmer Westmere, NY This car absolutely ran at Pico. It's one of the few I can remember distinctly.	Bill Ladabouche Photo Gene Tetrault, Manchester Depot, VT	Otto Graham Website Photo Howard "Jeep" Herbert, Rotterdam, NY
Rick Parry Photo The Danish Chevrolet loaded up at the Pleasant Valley Garage in Cropseyville. Given the era, it could have been headed for Pico. Courtesy of John Danish This is probably the first Danish Chevy. It was sometimes driven by Freddy Sheppard.	Photo Courtesy of John Danish Steve Danish relaxes after a race - either at Pico or at Fairmont Park. John Danish wasn't quite sure which. That is probably Mrs. Danish at right. Courtesy of John Danish Steve in the 61 Jr., sometimes driven by brother, Al Danish.	Bill Ladabouche Photo George Rogers, Castleton, VT Rogers was a regular at the rival Fairmont track, but he did run at Pico occasionally.
Buddy Bardwell Collection Photo Buddy Bardwell, Keene, NH	Ken Paulsen Site Photo Art Cody, Keene, NH	Photo Courtesy of Yves LaDouceur Dick Nephew, Mooers Forks, NY
New England Vintage Mod Site Photos More likely than not, the great Hully Bunn ran at Pico at least once or twice.	Otto Graham Website Photo Pete Corey, Crescent, NY Bob Mott's #3 Herbert Family Photo Another possible Corey ride at Pico	Photo Courtesy of Riting Collection Spence Parkhurst [#36] Saratoga Springs, NY McDowell Photo Courtesy of C.J. Richards
Vintage Modifieds.com Photo Don Rounds Apponaug, Rhode Island He ran in this area during the 1950's. This shot is at Stateline, in Bennington.	Courtesy of Neal Davis Ted Brown, Keene, NH	McDowell Photo Rene Charland, Holyoke, MA
Bill Ladabouche Collection Bob Frazier Photographer Although he had to have been very young, Pownal, Vermont's Butch Jelley asserts that he ran at Pico and that he remembers heavy sand banks placed around the track to "catch" errant cars.	King Family Collection Jerry King, Rutland, VT King's 5 Aces was a regular at Pico. CLICK HERE for a page on Jerry	Bill Ladabouche Photo Vic Love, Fair Haven, VT Love drove primarily at the hometown Fairmont track, but he made the occasional appearance in Rutland.
Bill Ladabouche Photo George Pritchard, Castleton, VT	Bill Ladabouche Photo Skip Wilcox, Whitehall, NY	Keene Sentinel Photo Cecil Bosworth, Athol, Mass.
Bill Ladabouche Photo The Loomis Brothers, Granville, NY	Three Wide Photo George Janoski, Stafford Springs, CT A later car than Pico	Fonda Promo Photo Walt Roberts, Albany, NY
Les King Photo Link Pettit New York	Courtesy of Jerry King Art Morgan Address Unknown Courtesy of Norm Vadnais	Courtesy of Norm Vadnais Henry LaVictorie, Pittsford, VT The Four Crazy Frenchmen were LaVictorie, Eli Vadnais, Homer Vadnais, and Ray Pomainville Courtesy of Norm Vadnais The second car - a five window coupe. That's David and Norm Vadnais on the trunk.
Photographer Unknown Dave Brooks, Manchester, VT	King Photo Courtesy of Provencher Family Steady Tony Provencher, Proctor, VT Courtesy of Mark LeFrancois	McDowell Photo Courtesy of C.J. Richards Charlie Morse, North Adams, MA
King Collection John DeGraff, Address Unknown	Courtesy of Rutland Historical Society Photo by Aldo Merusi John DeGraff, checking on another driver who's wrecked.	Herbert Family Collection Jack Barney, Bennington, VT King Collection