1973, in Northeastern stock car racing, is a season marked with challenging race schedules among two groups: the All Star Stock Car Racing League [modifieds] and the Northern NASCAR circuit [late model sportsman]. Ironically, it was also the year best remembered for the Arab Oil Embargo and the subsequent energy crisis that dramatically raised gasoline prices and - for a time - made Americans wait in long lines for rationed amounts of gasoline.

         The aforementioned challenging race schedules could not have come at a worse time. Between the gasoline problems and some untimely deaths of important figures in the organization, 1973 effectively killed the heretofore highly successful All Star League. Strangely, it did little to deter the Northern NASCAR program, which did pare down a bit but went on to more of the same. It is the latter series, we are focusing upon on this page.


Courtesy of Mark Signor

         1973 would see Northern NASCAR, then in its second season, try a punishing five track a week schedule: Wednesday nights, Sanair International Speedway, St. Pie, QU; Thursday nights, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, VT; Friday nights, Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, NY; Saturday nights, Catamount Stadium, Milton, VT; and Sunday Nights, Devil's Bowl Speedway, West Haven, VT. To make things worse, sometimes Thunder Road would run Sunday afternoons and then the Bowl would run Sunday nights [on the same day].

        The result was ungodly wear and tear on cars, drivers, teams, and budgets. Sanair would drop out after a fashion, but the rest of the schedule went on.... and the cars looked like it soon into the season, as photos below will attest.

EARLY IN THE SEASON

 


Ladabouche Photo
The John Rosati team came prepared with two Ford Fairlanes for the
demanding schedule.


Richards FamilyPhoto
Ray Richards [ctr] bought a
Cabana - built Chevelle for
driver, Bob Ellis [lft], who
would win 1973 Rookie of
the Year honors.
 
Ladabouche Photo
Already a hot commodity from the previous year, Bob Dragon
picked up a major sponsor and
just kept on winning.
 
Courtesy of Rich Palmer
Beaver Dragon finally got
a competitive Chevelle built
and won the first two races of the long season.
 
Robert Brown Photo
Veteran Ronnie Marvin, who had run a grueling schedule in 1965 to  finish 8th in the national standings, arrives
with an obviously new car.
 
Robert Brown Photo
Ron Barcomb, [seen here at T Road next to the Rosati hauler]
Still had the beautiful Torino but wisely kept this Fairlane 500 as
a backup.

 
Robert Brown Photo
A young Steve Poulin had made a big commitment by buying
this Allison Chevelle from the departing Richie Panch team.
 
Ladabouche Photo
Tom Tiller was another driver
who decided he needed two
cars to keep up with the
five track grind.
 
Ladabouche Photo
Tom Tiller's Dart was on ahnd for the first race of the year.
 
Bob Frazier Photo
Dave Dion was back with essentially the same Torino he had introduced in 1972. It wasn't any slower.
 
Courtesy of Andy Boright
Poulin leads Quenneville and
Bob Dragon at T Road early in the season.
 
Courtesy of Joe Baril
Barcomb and Dion in the
battle of the Torinos.
 
Source Unknown
Popular teenage driver Robbie
Crouch was now in his
second season here.
 
Source Unknown
Jean - Paul Cabana had this
unusual Monte Carlo as one of his cars that year.
Courtesy of Barb Laduc
Devil's Bowl regular Charlie Laduc ran what he could of the schedule but mostly did Catamount and D Bowl..


Ladabouche Photo
Moe Dubois scrapped his heavier '67 Dodge from 1972 in favor of this one. He also went from Pepsi to CH Goss.

Source: Jim Watson
Former Catamount champ
Andre Manny still had his gorgeous Gaston Ethier car.

Ladabouche Photo
NH runner Stub Fadden started
1973 with this entry. he may have had another car before the year was out.


Ladabouche Photo
Former Malta and Riverside, Park standout George Rettew came up from Chicopee, MA with this Ford without much success.

Bob Frazier Photo
Ron Barcomb's uncle Ernie
waits for tires at Devil's Bowl.
EB was a driver inthe 1950's.
 
Ladabouche Photo
Bob Brunell's Chevelle took on
several graphic looks during the
long season. This might be the original.
 
Source Unknown
Bob Karvonen ran this Chevelle
for a couple of seasons before
returning to modifieds.
 
Ladabouche Photo
Ron Bettis had bought a Cabana car for his return in 1972; then the team built this beauty in '73.
 
Source Unknown
Brad Kennedy.
 
Courtesy of Chris Companion
Everyone was taken with the Monte Carlo,l but this was the go-to car for Cabana,
         


DOZENS AND DOZENS OF RACES LATER ......


Courtesy of Andy Boright
One of Tiller's nice cars ended
uyp like this....





Courtesy of Andy Boright


Source: Andy Boright
Bob Dragon's only car went through a lot during a
successful season.


Bob Mackey Photo
Courtesy of Andy Boright



Dragon Family Photo Coll.
Beaver Dragon started
1973 with this entry..and ended with it.


Dragon Family Photo Coll.

Ladabouche Photo
Former Malta and Riverside, Park standout George Rettew came up from Chicopee, MA with this Ford without much success. Below, later in '73.

Robert Brown Photo


Ladabouche Photo
John Merrick works on Bobby Giroux's beautiful Chevelle in 1972, when it was new.

Robert Brown Photo
Bobby Giroux's beautiful
Chevelle showing signs of the
rough schedule in '73.





 
Bettis Collection
Ron Bettis's group built a stunner in 1973... but ...
 
Courtesy of CHris Companion
it wasn't roll proof.....

Courtesy of Chris Companion
and it ended up as battle - scarred as everybody elses' ca

Robert Brown Photo
Robbie Crouch's
car looking
much the same wear as most of them.
 

Richards FamilyPhoto
Bob Ellis' 76VT of
Ray Richards before...


Richards FamilyPhoto

...and after.

Courtesy of Andy Boright
Clem Despault scrapped his
familiar '55 Chevy for Mopar.


Courtesy of Chris Companion
The car seldom made it out of
primer for very long


MORE SHOTS OF A HECTIC SEASON


Burlington Free Press Photo
Courtesy of Wayne Bettis

Beaver and Bob Dragon stand
at the Church Street car show in 1973 with Beaver's newly -
built Chevelle.







Burlington Free Press Photo
Courtesy of Wayne Bettis

Beaver clobbers Tom Tiller in the first race of the year but
he went on to win the first
two races of the season.


Source: Alan Ward
Bob Karvonen and Dave Dion, on the covers of a Catamount
and DBowl program.

Ladabouche Collection


Shawn Byrne Coll.
Vince Quenneville and Charlie
Laduc, on the DBowl program.


Bob Mackey Photo
Via Dave Brown
Beaver Dragon's one car got bruised but never failed to answer the bell.

Ladabouche Photo
Former Malta and Riverside, Park standout George Rettew came up from Chicopee, MA with this Ford without much success. Below, later in '73.






Photographer Unknown
John Peoples' 61 and Andre Manny's 27A on the track at Devil's Bowl.


Business Insider.com
Fortunately the energy crisis
was only beginning to rear its ugly head as the 1973 season
was winding down.






Business Insider.com



Via Joe Baril
B
ob Dragon holds off Dion at
Thunder Road.

Via Joe Baril
Kourafas wins at Catamount. This will look better if downloaded and blown up larger.

Via Joe Baril
Disappointment for the Hector
LeClair team: from left - Carl Cain, George Goldring, Hector,
and Marcel LeClair [hat].


Via Joe Baril
Kourafas leads at Catamount.
This will look better if downloaded and blown up larger.

Via Joe Baril
Bob Dragon wins career #82 at Thunder Road. This will look better if downloaded and blown up larger.


Via Dave Brown
Beaver Dragon receiving award
for his excellence at Airborne. He loved that old, flat half - mile track.


Via Andy Boright
Action at Catamount. Someone in the Cabana backup car leads
Poulin, Eliis, and Fadden.

Via Joe Baril
Beaver Dragon chases Kourafas at Thunder Road. This will look better if downloaded and blown up larger.

Dragon Family Collection
Beaver Dragon poses proudly with his new Chevelle proior to the season opener. This was his first decent car at Catamount since 1969.
 
Via Andy Boright
Bob Dragon wins career #82 at Thunder Road. This will read better if downloaded and blown up larger.

Via Stephane Beattie
Bob Dragon wins yet another.
 
Via Chris Goodbout
Tom TIller began the year with
this nifty Dart, but I can't recall how long he kept it.
 
Via Chris Companion
This over-exposed shot shows
Ron Bettis racing Tom TIller.
 
Ladabouche Photo
Ron Barcomb's Torino sports a slightly different graphic package as he is pitted next to Beaver Dragon.
 
Courtesy of Chris Companion
Beaver enjoys the spoils of his winning the second race of the season [and 2nd in a row] at Devil's Bowl. Not Jane's favorite photo.

 
Ladabouche Photo
Beaver's car had to undergo
changes in the graphics before
season's end due to so many
body repairs.

Ladabouche Photo
Drivers came from far and wide.John Ditges hauled from Long Island every week.

Courtesy of Ladabouche Collection
Many local heroes with small budgets would race one or two
of the five tracks. Bill Braham
ran Airborne and Catamount.

Courtesy of Ladabouche Collection
Many local heroes with small budgets would race one or two
of the five tracks. Bernie Griffith ran Airborne and Catamount.

Courtesy of Ladabouche Collection
Dave Dion, with the Torino
he first shoewed up with in 1972.

THE TRACKS

 


Courtesy of Wayne Bettis
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
The Sanair Flat Track
Built in the early 1970's by Jacques Guertain, and named for his patented system of ventilating poultry barns, the
track did not stay in the circuit
for the entire 1973 season.



Courtesy of L.A. West
THURSDAY NIGHTS
Thunder Road
Built in 1960 by Ken Squier and the Cooley brothers, the 1/4 mile paved oval  also ran a few Sunday afternoon shows in the1973 season.
 
Bob Mackey Photo via John Rock
FRIDAY NIGHTS
Airborne Park Speedway
Built in 1954 by , Maurice Broderick, Burt Blake, and Lyman Burnell the flat paved half mile was crumbling by 1973 season, but it hung in there the whole time. This modified shot was the best view I had.
 
Courtesy of Andy Boright
SATURDAY NIGHTS
Catamount Stadium
Built in 1965 by
by a consortium led by Ken Squier, the trtack was the central point of the Northern NASCAR organization. This shot,
while most typical of that era,
is mini stocks,,and likely not 1973.
 
Courtesy of Dick Britain, Photographer
SUNDAY NIGHTS
Devil's Bowl
Built in 1967 by C.J. RIchards,
the Bowl suffered through the entire 1973 season at the tail end of ahard week's racing on the circuit.

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