RUSS TRUELOVE

Ladabouche Photo
Russ Truelove describes a slide during his talk at the Lost Race Tracks conference, at the
Saratoga Auto Museum, in November of 2009. Many of the younger attendees had no idea who
this small - framed, frail - looking man was or that he had driven in open wheel and NASCAR
Grand National cars.

When Russ Truelove attended the 2009 session of the Lost Race Tracks conferences at the Saratoga Auto Museum, he was a small, bent - over man with some severe arthritis issues. Only the older members of the conference recognized his name, and almost no one would know him simply on sight. But, Russ is one of the most important racing pioneers of the Northeast. Starting out in open wheel cars in the late 1930's and 1940's, he soon moved over to stock cars, from which he eventually participated in some of the earlier, pre- superspeedway, Daytona races. The arthritis that affects him today came from a bad spill he took in the GN races, with his red and black #226 Mercury.

Truelove Collection Photo Russ Truelove, as a very young man, in a 3/4 sprinter.	Truelove Collection Russ became a big name in stock cars right away.	McDowell Photo, Truelove Collection Somewhere in New York.	Truelove Collection Photo Russ with another stock car of that era.
Truelove Collection Photo 1956	Truelove Collection Photo In the trademark 226 Mercury. It had been driven down South to race.	Truelove Collection Photo The bad wreck, caught in mid- action.	Truelove Collection Photo More of the wreck on the beach section of the Old Daytona course.