Mud Buggie Racing

[mcdude]

From Alton's MAIN STREET p. 24 - January 2005 - Volume XXI Number 1. Excerpts from the diary of Harry Bickford - January 1940

"Sun. 14: Cloudy and snowy. Went to Alton Bay in the PM to see the tractor races. George broke his transmission so he is unable to participate in the races. Nelson had hard luck with his tractor. He got water on his wires but he got one dollar for his gasoline. Tracy Laney won seven dollars."

"Sun. 28: Fair and cold. The boys and I bagged up about 50 bags of dry shavings this morning down to the mill. Went to the tractor races in the Bay. After the races we went to Wolfeboro on the ice. Had a nice ride on the ice. Had two ice cream cones in Wolfeboro. The boys, Nelson and George W. went to the pictures at Farmington this evening."


("Remember When" - A Bicentennial Project of the Wolfeboro Chamber of Commerce)





(From the February 1954 edition of FORD TIMES magazine.)

Just another idea for Winter Recreation.

[Just Sold]

McD I loved the races in the late 50's and early 60's at Alton Bay. We made the trip up to check them out a few times each winter. They even drove the cars to Alton Bay...no trailers on the main roads!

[Alton Bay]

McDude,
I notice with interest that you have a great knowledge of Alton. Is it just a hobby??
I find your information very interesting!
Thanks for sharing!

[mcdude]

PHILIPLAURIAT/STAFF of the MEREDITH NEWS (February 3, 2005 Edition)

Racing on Ice
The 21st Annual Latchkey Cup Ice Race was held on Berry Pond in Moultonboro Saturday to raise money for cancer research at Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth. The event was sponsored by the Lakes Region Ice Racing Club, with help from ice racing clubs in Jaffrey and Milton. Pictured above is the modified class feature race, as the cars come around the turn.
(PS: Alton Bay - A little of both!)

[mcdude]

Note the bandstand to the left in the lower photo.
This interview can be found in a booklet called "Winnipiseogee Heritage" - Published by "History of Alton Class" - Alton High School - Class of '76. The article below is written by Robert Boudrow. The person being interviewed is not identified.

"Mudbuggy racing started in Alton Bay about 1938 and they have been run on and off until 1972. Around 1960 to 1968, the race track was a quarter mile oval, with snow banks for barriers. When there was not enough snow, we would chop the ice and put old tires half-buried to line the corners and straight-away.

The cars had to be "stock"; this means that if you had a Chevy chassis, you could not put a Ford or Plymouth engine in it. You could use racing cams or pistons or any other racing equipment. The only modifying you could to was to remove the right rear wheel emergency brake cable. This would allow you to havefour wheel brakes with the foot pedal. When you pulled the emergency brake, the left rear wheel would lock and cause your car to slide into corners, which would help to get around turns faster.

The cars had to be ten years older than the year you were racing. The number of cars in the race would depend on how many cars showed up to race and the type of race. In a qualifying race there might be five or six cars, but a feature race might have fifteen or twenty or more. You could only have one person in the car during the race. The feature race was twenty-five laps; the qualifying race was ten laps. The position you came in, on a heat race determined what position you would have in the feature race.

The speed was about 35 to 40 m.p.h. on the straight-away. I am only guessing, because none of us had speedometers. The rules were to break your opponent. If someone got stuck or if someone was stalled on the track during a race, the yellow flag was waved by the flagman. This meant to slow down and hold your position. When the track was clear and safe, the green flag was waved and you could go as fast as you could and try to beat everybody to the finish line, where you would get the checkered flag.

We also had a powder puff race. They were called this because women were driving instead of men. They had the same rules.

The races were sponsored by the Alton Association. The only prizes were a small trophy for a heat race and a big trophy for a feature race. They stopeed the races about 1972 due to a lack of interest and the drivers going elsewhere."
LINK to Concord Monitor article Photo from Concord Monitor (Dan Gawlowski)

[Mee-n-Mac]

As a kid I recall seeing some ice racing though I wouldn't have been in Alton Bay. Didn't they used to run in Meredith as well ?? I wonder what the distinction between mudbuggies and jalopies (see "Motordrome on Ice" below) was ? Why a "mudbuggy" and not an "icebuggy" ?

Just wondering ... perhaps Alton could re-create the old mudbuggy races with RC cars some forthcoming Winterfest ... betcha the kids would get into it


ps - Geeesh, I've got nothing but questions this time ....