TVR: Leroy, do you remember when and where you saw your first race?
Leroy: Saw my first one down at Bowling Green. That would have been in '53 I guess. When my brother was driving down there, before I got into it. I got into it that following year. 

TVR: And your brother was?
Leroy: Kenneth Rosenzweig. He drove the #93. 

TVR: At what point did you know you wanted to get involved and how did you accomplish that?
Leroy: When I was 4 or 5 years old! And umm, when I finally get a chance was umm... I had a spare car. I had wrecked one and while I was fixing that up, I bought an old junker, which is that old '36 Dodge. And, I didn't need that no more, so I'm gonna race it. I heard about this Novice race they had at Bowling Green, so I thought that's where I'm gonna start.

TVR: How many types of racing did you compete in?
Leroy: The novice, Bowling Green... and then went to strictly stock at Lincoln, Susquehanna... same car ('55 & '56). Then I dropped out of it after that. That was about two years I guess, in the '50's. Then I dropped out of racing for 10 years. In the '60's I got the fever again. Got involved with some guys and built up a '56 Chevy and went late-model racing up at Susquehanna & Lincoln ('65 & '66).

We were gonna stretch out. We were gonna run Hagerstown, Williams Grove and Selinsgrove. Well, me and my wife had a blowup about racing and I had to quit and it never came about. So I dropped out of racing again. 

In the '70's, I had an old car I was gonna junk, and that would've been my '59 Plymouth. I wanted to do one more thing with it. So Lincoln, they had a Destruction Derby, but it cost $50 to enter the car, so that was a little too much for me. I heard of the Figure 8 racing up at Trailways. It only cost you about $3 to $5 to enter your car. That's how I got into Figure 8 Racing up there.

At that time, they only paid 4 people, so if you didn't come in 4th, you didn't get no money. So, you were allowed to run in the Street Stocks with the same car, and they give you $10 tow money, so I ran both classes to get $10 tow money. That paid me my gas, so that's how we ran Figure 8. That was the end of my career (1976). 

I was 2nd in the points for the 1st half if the last year. I missed two double points races. One, the fellow who was towing my car couldn't make it because he had to do something else. And the other one, we went clay bird shooting, and we didn't go. So, I missed 2 double points races and that dropped me back to 6th. So, I could've been a little higher if we could've hit those 2 races. Got a big trophy at the end of the year... for 6th place, which I thought was great!

TVR: Before you started racing, who were your favorite drivers?
Leroy: Freddy Jones. That's the guy I got the number from. I was in the lower class, but I was allowed to use any number, so Freddy Jones was my number... 68. There was a lot of other drivers, but he was the one that I thought... I liked his driving style. He was a nice clean driver. Well in fact, I bought my helmet from him. Yeah, my old helmet... bought right from Freddy Jones in his body and paint shop place.

TVR: Who were your biggest influences early in your career?
Leroy: My brother and Freddy Jones.

TVR: Who were some of the guys you raced against?
Leroy: Many... many. A lot of famous drivers. Slim Devilbliss... I really liked him. Gene Saine was a champion up at Lincoln. I ran with him. Charlie Weirman... Bobby Erhart... Ray Fanning... umm Bobby Goodling...    there were so many.

TVR: Who did you feel was your closest competitor?
Leroy: Well, I had a good friend, Paul Kauffman, when we ran up at Lincoln. We ran Late-Models then. He ran the #99, the red primer Ford. We use to park side by side in the pits. We were good friends. One night, I had the first heat I guess, or something like that, and I went out... I found the line and I told him where it was. I told him, "Just stay there," and he won the next heat race. I think that might have been his first win, but I'm not sure.

TVR: Who do you think were the most talented drivers during your career?
Leroy: In other fields?
TVR: Any.
Leroy: Oh... There was a lot them. Bobby Abel was one of the hotshots up at Lincoln. Boy, there was many and I liked a lot of them. 

TVR: Who were some of the more talented car builders/mechanics of your during those days?
Leroy: Them guys from Maryland seemed to be ahead of everybody. Gene Saine... the #19, Ray Fanning. They seemed to be always ahead of everybody else. They did different things to their cars. And, after I got out of late-model racing, I found out they were jacking the weight around all the different sides of the car... spring jacks and... well, we didn't do any of that stuff. What we had, we ran. That was it.

TVR: Who do you think were the most underrated drivers your ran against?
Leroy: Well, "Handlebars" Ruth was one. He drove that Studabaker... always could beat him. But he got in this #100 Chevy, one time... '55 Chevy. He got in that and he was winning races with that. I thought it was phenomenal that he could win a race, because I could beat him in that Studabaker.

TVR: What tracks did you compete at:    
Leroy: Well, that was Bowling Green, Lincoln, Susquehanna, and then later on, Trailways. I never got a chance to run Williams Grove, Hagerstown and up at Selinsgrove like I wanted to, because I seemed to do better on the flatter tracks than the banked tracks for some dumb reason. It don't make any sense, but on the flatter track, I did better. It's the way our car was built.

TVR: Which track do you think was your best or favorite track?
Leroy: Lincoln, I guess.

TVR: Which track was your worst or least favorite?
Leroy: (He laughs) I liked 'em all. Can't really say there was any bad ones. Nah... can't say that.

TVR: What was the most memorable or proudest moment of your career?
Leroy: I almost won a feature in a Figure 8 one night. I shoulda won it, but uh... they had a rule if you got outside the tires, in the middle, when you go through the X, they down you a lap. Well, I was coming through the X and there was two guys in front of me that wrecked... and I couldn't see the tires and didn't know which side to go around 'em... and I passed them on the wrong side. They downed me a lap. I got an 8th out of that and I shoulda won that one. I guess that would've been my ... (laughs).

TVR: Well, that could also just answer the next question too, which is what was the most disappointing or hardest moment of your career?
Leroy: Disappointing? Probably was that Figure 8 racing up at Trailways. I was doing good there too. I was running pretty close up front. I'm not sure if I was in 4th then, or up there a little higher. But, we went around one of the turns, or the X or something, and my elbow hit my seatbelt buckle and my seatbelt came open. At the same time, a guy dropped a gas tank out of his car and we went to yellow, so you're slowed down. I tried to hook my seatbelt up and I couldn't get it hooked up. While I was slowed down, the guy that was in back of me, passed me and they let it ride. On the restart, they left him in front of me and I could never pass him again. Hanging on to the roll cage and steering with one hand, that's how I finished the race. I ran about half of the race with one hand... and no seatbelt. That was bad! (laughs) If I woulda hit something, I could've got hurt.

TVR: What was the funniest moment of your career?
Leroy: Umm... Maybe up at Lincoln one time, we were at a daytime race and this guy's down the middle of the straightaway, was standing on his nose, spinning around in a circle. I drove right along side of him and then he fell over just as I went past him. I think that was the funniest, I guess.

TVR: Of all your competitors and associates (drivers,mechanics, etc), who were your closest friends?
Leroy: I guess Paul Kauffman, cause like I said, we always parked side by side. We just were good friends. I did most the work myself, so I didn't really have a lot of help on the car much. I was a "loner" I guess. (laughs)

TVR: If you could pick a list of the greatest drivers ever (including yourself) from any point in history, from any venue in racing, and could magically bring them through a time machine to compete together in a race, who would they be and why? 
Leroy: Gene Goodling would be one. All the good ones. I'd liked to have raced with Paul Miller, but I never got in his class. I would have liked to have raced with my brother. We always were at different tracks. The only time I seen my brother run was a couple times up at Williams Grove, and down at Bowling Green. He was running Reading and other tracks that I wasn't at the time. So, he was more or less in different directions from me. Well, Mark Martin is my favorite Winston Cup guy, but I like 'em all. Richard Petty... all of 'em. All your famous drivers. I would race with anybody! (laughs) 

I would like to run with a lot of guys around... now, since me and Mike Wilhelm ran the #28 at Latimore Valley together, I would like to run with him in a race. I would like to share the car with him again, but he passed away.

TVR: What changes do you think could, or should be made in racing today that would improve the sport most?
Leroy: Well, they're always improving the cars. I'd just run whatever rules that they had. Up at Trailways, it seemed they were always changing the rules. I always felt the rules were changed because of the outsiders. Most the drivers were from that area and if they weren't winning, it seemed they would change the rules to favor them. Just be consistent with the rules for everybody.

TVR: What advice would you give to a young man or woman who was thinking about starting a career in racing?
Leroy: I'd say start at the bottom and work your way up. Some don't feel that way, they'd rather start at the top and work down. They want to be the winner right off the bat. There's very few can do that. 

TVR: When future generations find your name in the history books of racing, what is it about you and your racing career that you would most like to be remembered for?
Leroy: Well... ahem... I think I'm already known for loosing the most wheels. (laughs) I ran more on 3 wheels, I think, than I did on 4... and the car handled just as good on 3 wheels as it did on 4! Busted up a lot of equipment with wheels... cars out in the parking lot... hit a kid up at Lincoln in the grandstand with a wheel (see Leroy's Scrapbook). I was gonna quit that time, but him and his Dad, and his other brother said, "No, we like to see you run." So, I kept going. (long pause) Yeah... it's fun. I did it for fun. That's why I did it. I'd do it today if somebody'd give me a car. Well, Paul Miller lets me run his car now up a Latimore Valley, which... man! I thought I died and went to heaven when he left me do that! (laughs real hard)

I think Leroy will be remembered for much more than just loosing a few wheels... okay, a lot of wheels, but he is truly a part of what has made the history of motor racing such a rich one. Be sure to check out Leroy's Scrapbook for more on Leroy Rosenzweig.
DZ
Editor - TVR

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