Steve Danish
A Man Who Influenced Vermont Racing as Much as Any Driver Ever Did
Russ Bergh Photo -
The racing world lost Steve Danish on August 12, 2003. For anyone who really knows about the roots of Northeast stock car racing, this should become one of the most important dates in racing history.
Steve Danish was from the small eastern New York hamlet of Cropseyville, near Grandma Moses' town of Eagle Bridge and somewhat near Troy. Steve did not begin his racing career until 1949, when he was already 30. That was quite late in life, when compared to most race drivers.
Courtesy of Danish Family The family kept good records of their participation in racing. This is one of Steve's very early outings - to Airport Speedway in Poughkeepsie, NY. |
Courtesy of Danish Family Note even the pit pass from Poughkeepsie is carefully dated. That is how Steve did things.
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Courtesy of Danish Family Steve, family, and friends after the races - either at Rutland, VT's Pico Raceway, or at Fairmont Park Motor Speedway in Fair Haven, VT. I can't identify the car in the background. It isn't Steve's, as it is clearly a Ford.
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Being very near to the states of Massachusetts and Vermont, Danish was able to compete at such places as Bennington, Vermont's State Line Speedway, Rutland, Vermont's Pico Raceway, Granville, New York's Mettowee Speedway, and probably Fair Haven, Vermont's Fairmont Speedway, as well. It is during this time that he would have first exerted influence on the way racing was done in Vermont. That, in turn, would filter down to those who began at Catamount some sixteen years later.
Danish was to become synonymous with the the Fonda Speedway, at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Fonda, New York. In the racing history book Fonda !, by Andy Fusco, Lew Boyd, and Jim Rigney, the second chapter is called "1953 and the Formative Years : The Steve Danish Era". Again, some of the first competitors and officials who started Catamount used to attend races at Fonda during its glory years in the very late 1950's and early 1960's. They would have beheld Steve Danish at his peak.
Every picture of Danish in victory lane looks pretty much the same. He kept the same appearance, in dress and car, for his entire career. Russ Bergh Photo |
The Danish crew poses for a photo around 1960 at Fonda or Stateline. Photographer Unknown
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Steve Danish poses for a photo around 1960 at Fonda. You can see what his cars all looked like. In those days the Fonda pits were in the infield. Photograph from the Otto Graham Web Site. Photo by Russ Bergh, and courtesy of Gene Strenkowski
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Photograph from the Saratoga Auto Museum This display case at the museum shows the famous Danish khaki jacket that was part of the crew's uniforms.
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Photograph from the Saratoga Auto Museum This is one of the hundreds of trophies won by Steve Danish - shown next to a Fairmont Speedway promo poster. Ironically, Fairmont may be the site of his final victory.
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Photograph from the Saratoga Auto Museum Danish was one of the most efficient team owners in the history of racing. While some guys didn't know where all their spark plugs were, Danish knew where every penny went. Here is one of his expense ledgers.
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Steve Danish clearly was the first professional stock car driver in the Northeast, at least in as far as the way he went about his sport. Danish, himself, pointed out in the Fonda ! book : " I tried to set a standard in appearance and in everything else I did. Not only was I the first guy with a sponsor and the first guy with a uniform, but I was the first guy to haul my race car on a trailer."
I never saw Danish when he was not uniformed in clean khaki work shirts and pants, nor when his car wasn't an immaculate cream tan #61, with exactly the same lettering and color scheme. His sponsor was Bumstead Chevrolet, of Troy, and he kept his crew dressed exactly the same as himself. Danish could beat the fields of Fonda V-8's with a Chevy six -and he did so frequently.
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| Some of the crew Danish
had, at Fonda. Son John is second from left. The sportsman of Jack DuBrul
can barely be seen through the windows of Steve's car with the "Speed
& Race Engineering" ad.
Russ Bergh
Photo |
The Danish crew fusses
around the car, out on the track. He was the first driver to try
tear-offs. You can see the Saran wrap he has taped to the windshield, as
well as a hand-operated wiper. Also, he was one of the first to introduce
center seating - after he had once broken ribs in a crash. Son John checks
in with Dad.
Russ Bergh
Photo |
Steve Danish poses
for a photo around 1950 , at Stateline Speedway. The track wasn't very safe. It had few or no barriers.
Photograph from the
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Courtesy of the Danish Family An apparently very early shot of the Danish car leaving Langhorne Speedway. The hauler is earlier than anything I had seen before. The hospital sign says "Bucks County", which is a dead giveaway to the location. |
Courtesy of the Danish Family Not too many people know of Steve's trip to the Daytona Beach course in the 1950's. He had Frank Trinkaus, among others, along for the trip. |
Courtesy of the Danish Family Starting a feature possibly at Victoria Speedway in Duanesburg, NY. Steve is behind the Trinkaus car and Paul Marshall in the Warren Daniels 7-11, out of Alpaus, NY. Link Petit, Sr. trails Danish. 54 could be Willie Chest, but it pretty far for Chest to travel for a race. |
Even though he retired in the mid 1960's, Danish still ranks ninth in Fonda feature wins. Ironically, one of the last wins he recorded anywhere, was back in Vermont - at Fairmont Speedway. I was there. Danish was always one of my heroes, from when I first saw him somewhere in 1950 or 1951. In 1984, it was my lifelong thrill to finally meet Steve, courtesy of my friends - his daughter and son - in - law [Stephanie and Phil Miller]. I not only talked with Steve, but I went up with him in his private airplane. It didn't get any better than that. Lastly, I have struck up an email correspondence with Steve's son, John, the gangly kid in many of Steve's photos. John now operates the Danish garage, Pleasant Valley Garage in Cropseyville and he seems to know many people in the racing world.
Courtesy of Danish Family One of the more interesting photos of Steve. He had subbed in the Frank Trinkhaus car the night Miss America was visiting the track. Guess who won ?
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Courtesy of Danish Family John Danish stands on a pole near turn four at Fonda to see the action.
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Courtesy of Danish Family A typical Fonda heat starts with Steve sideways into turn one chasing Utica's Jim Luke in the Floyd Wilcox #32. Pete Corey ins further back in the Tony Villano #37. |
Courtesy of Danish Family An early shot with some of his admirers at Fairmont Park Motor Speedway in the early 1950's. The tower in the background is noteworthy, but I don't know much about it. |
Rutland Herald Photo - One of the last victories [if not THE LAST] was at Fairmont Speedway. Here Steve poses with legendary CVRA promoter C.J. Richards.
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Courtesy of Danish Family A very rare shot of Danish racing on pavement at Empire Speedway in Menands, NY.
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John Danish has recently shared some interesting information about Steve sometimes providing rides for Hully Bunn, another legend in his own right. Bunn drove all over the Northeast, usually with his familiar #X Fords. However, according to John, Bunn took to buying cars from Danish at the end of Steve's seasons, re-painting them, and taking them to the big race at the end of the year [I think it may have been Langhorne, but I wouldn't swear to that]. The picture below looks a lot like a Danish car under that new paint scheme.
Northeast Vintage Racers Site Photo
Photo by
McDowell An early shot of Rhode Islander Don Rounds at Stateline Speedway. Danish is seen getting lined up for a race in the background. |
Courtesy of Danish Family Chief Mechanic John Danish - early 1950's
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Courtesy of Danish Family Very early shot of a Danish car ready to leave the Pleasant Valley Garage. Freddy Sheppard won a race for Steve with this car, too - at the Bennetts Field track, in New York.
Courtesy of Danish Family
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 Courtesy of Danish Family The 61 sits, ready to go, |
 Photo by McDowell Danish chases Stu Piper in
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 Courtesy of Danish Family The 61 is trailered and
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 Courtesy of Danish Family Another win at Stateline
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 Courtesy of Danish Family The 61 sits on the pole at
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Courtesy of Danish Family The start of a feature at Fonda. |
Catamount was always run with a strong effort to be professional, to put on a good show, and to further the image of stock car racing. Some of this attitude, they got from Mr. Danish. Thanks for the memories, Steve.
