Part III

Before I begin the third part of the history of Dorney Park during the 50s, I want to say that I hope I have the spelling of the names correct.  Many of the results came from the Allentown and Bethlehem newspapers.  Often the results were called in via telephone.  Due to this the person on the newspaper end would often spell the name by how it sounded.  The end result was a variety of spellings for names.

Getting back to Dorney Park, in 1954 the racing at the Park was sanctioned by NASCAR for the second year.  The early plan was to race on Wednesday and Saturday nights.  That plan was changed as crowds dropped off.  Management at the Park went with Saturday night racing and the attendance went back up.   The stock cars were still the headline class in 1954, with Red Crise promoting.

The first winner of the 1954 season was Jack Rudy.  In week two Charlie Cregar went to victory lane but one week later two drivers received winning honors.   Newt Reinert and Marty Acker were so close at the finish line that it was declared a tie and both were given credit for the win.

Week four it was a double card show staged at the Park featuring the Park stocks and the ARDC midgets.  Smokey Dengler won the stock car portion while the midget show was taken by Charlie Miller.  The following week was the start of the hot streak for driver Newt Reinert.  Over the next seven races he would win five features including a 100-lap championship and a 50-lap title race.  The only drivers to win a feature during Reinert's run were Charlie "Machine Gun" Kelly and Smokey Dengler.

As the second half of the season began Claude Bitting won his first of the year while Red Rhode would do the same the following weekend.  The next event would be another double card of stocks and ARDC midgets.  Smokey Dengler won the stock race in the double card show earlier in the year and he would do it again for this race.  The ARDC end of the event went to Fred Meeker.  The next two weeks would find Marty Acker and Don Ressler capturing wins.

In the last month of the season management staged some interesting shows. The first would be an ARDC three-quarter midget race.  The famed Dutch Schaeffer would claim that win.  The next weekend would be the annual, and popular, team races.  As in the past, two drivers to one car, 100-laps of racing with pit stops made in the infield.  The team of Newt Reinert and John Kumernitsky topped the field.  One weekend later the winner was Jack Rudy.  Next up was a Big Three show featuring the stocks, the novice class and the
ARDC midgets.  Shorty McAndrews won the midgets, Charley Moyer took the stocks and Harold Oswald won the novice class.  The season ended one week later with Jack Rudy claiming the final checkered of 1954.

The novice class staged some shows at Dorney Park during 1954.  Results for this class are much harder to find and I am sure I do not have all of them.  Stan Rohr, Roger Mayes, Charles Houze, Claude Sterner, Don Horning and John Toth won features in the results I could find.

1955 brought about the start of something different at Dorney Park.  NASCAR was gone and in fact no club was running the show.  Promoter Red Crise went with independent racing on Saturday nights.  Nearby Nazareth Speedway was also going with independent racing.  The Bell Auto Racing Club did stage some shows on Wednesday nights.  Charley Kelly won the first feature of 1955 while Warren Mutter was the winner in week two.  Earl Smith won the first Bell show on Wednesday night.  Jack Rudy was the feature winner in week three.

The next event was the double card of stocks and ARDC midgets.  Dutch Schaeffer took the checkered flag in the midgets and Art Stuaffer won the stock car portion.  Over the next several weeks only one Saturday night show was staged due to rain.  Jack Rudy won that lone race.  The Bell club had better success with Ed Leonard, Ed Spotts and Tom Behler claiming wins.

The following two weeks at the Dorneyville race track would be interesting.  The first weekend was one of the team races.  Once again, 100-laps, two drivers to one car and pit stops in the middle of the small
infield.  The team of Jack Rudy and Smokey Dengler would come out on top.  The next weekend found the midgets and stock cars back for another double card event but this time it was different.  No ARDC this time, instead it would be the famed AAA midgets running two features.  Vincent DuBeau was the winner of the stock car program.  Nick Fornoro won the AAA Offenhauser feature while Steve Yannigan captured the win in the Ford feature.

Jack Rudy was the driver to beat at the Park in 1955.  He would win the next show.  The following week it was Don Horning claiming his first of the year.  One week later the Dorney regulars were off for a week and late model racing was going on.  A 100-lap feature for the late models with Pappy Warmington coming out on top.  The late models would return later in the season.

Over the next three weeks Jack Rudy would win two features.  Sandwiched in between the Rudy victories was a win by Ken Marriott in a 50-lap championship.  That would be the last race for almost a month as rain forced three weeks of racing to be cancelled.  When they finally had a nice evening Marty Acker charged home for the win.

Another team race was on the schedule at Dorney Park.  This time the laps were increased to 200.  The duo of Frank Snyder and Jake Jacobus won the grinding race.  One week later the late models were back at the Park for another 100-lap show.  Tony Occhino topped Bob Beck and Lennie Page on that night.

Three more shows closed out the 1955 season at Dorney Park.  Marty Acker won while the following week it was Red Rhode in victory lane.  The last race of the year would be won by Dick Keen, a driver that would be tough to beat in the second half of the 1950s at the Park.

In the last portion of the 1955 racing year the Non Ford class would be added to shows at Dorney Park.  Jack Mann and Red Rhode would win two Non Ford features with single victories going to Bimpy Marx and Ray Frantz.

In the next part of Dorney Park history the Lehigh Valley Stock Car Auto Racing Association run the shows starting in 1956.  1957 finds a new form of racing invading Dorney Park.  The quarter-midget craze comes to Dorney Park and is a big part of the racing in 1957.

Be sure to check out Steve Bubb's weekly column in Area Auto Racing News

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