the free-for-all. I’ve seen upwards ofthirty—five cars in a free—for—all and have witnessed some of the top drivers start at the rear of the pack and manoeuver their way to the top to collect the checkered flag, a feat that took more than luck or horse power to accomplish.

Tricks of the Trade

With the first year behind us and long winter nights ahead, new cars were built by a good many people from the frame up. The old blue car and blue smoke was soon forgotten; racing became more specialized where new engines were installed. One chap in particular went to Moncton and had his done over by experts. Cars were painted up better than some on the local highway.

In the summer of 1966, the Freetown Stock Car Association was officially formed and rules and regulations were drawn up and all drivers racing at the Freetown track were to abide by them.

Dunk River Enterprises was formed to run the business end of the track. Small bleachers and more lights were installed. Fill was hauled in to give the track a more oval shape. Dunk River Enterprises made sure that an ambulance driver attended the races for a fee of $5.00 per night. If a trip had to be made to Summerside, they charged an additional $5.00. Trips to Summerside Were minimum, which shows how well the track was managed. On standby was Charlie Stewart’s tow truck and government security. Competitive drivers from Charlottetown and Montague were making race night in Freetown very entertaining. There came names like Crowbar Fraser, Allan McRae, Ducky Woolridge, Austin McQuaid; Borden’s Hock Leard, Allan Vincent, Bertie Webster; Summerside’s Layton Johnston and Gordon Phillips. These were only a few that stood out among those who had the gas pedal down below the floor boards. We had our share of good drivers in Freetown: Elwood Paynter, Bob Jardine, Milton Drummond, Lowell Reeves, Charlie Stewart and Melvin Collicut. All these names were crowd pleasers to the fullest. It was like a sudden death hockey game; one mistake and you lost. The excitement of cars coming abreast on the last lap or of someone going into the pond, a spinout on the lower turn or maybe a flip in centre field; all this and more added to the excitement of Freetown Stock Car racing.

Behind the Scenes

Entertainment in the pits or elsewhere around the track helped add to the evening out. This could include fist fights that lasted up to an hour, to partners having a dispute, to race drivers having it out because of some dirty tactics in the race before. I remember one chap who had a huge truck with bunk chains the size of your fist swinging loosely about the rear. Was he fuming because of getting the black flag in the race before! He loaded his stock car and headed home and anything that got in the way was going too. He hit two half ton trucks on the way out of the pit area and took half the gate posts with him.

One racing fan had watched enough races. With a few spirits inside and a desire to be a stock car driver in a 1955 Desoto he wanted on the track right then and there. He up with the foot, broke in the windshield, rolled the side windows down and as far as he was concerned the car was ready for the track. Out he came to get further directions from the Flagman. With races held up and some argument involved Mr. Flagman finally convinced him to take a spin around the track and pull back into the pit area. All agreed that Mr. Desoto was to go ahead while the races were held up. A pace lap was to follow. When Mr. Desoto got to the pit area he slowed up on the outside, let the pace cars go by then ducked in behind the pack. With the cars roaring and the green flag waving, Mr. Desoto had the hammer down and coming up on the rear, 1 must say she looked to be going well. But it was not to be. The black flag was soon to be put on him and he was directed to the pits.

Even at stock car races one has to answer to Mother Nature’s call. A lady entered an outhouse in the back field and when she was nicely nested inside, some young boys decided to turn the unit over 180 degrees. The poor lady attempted a rescue call by peering out the hole and yelling for help. Rescue was rather slow because those who did hear found it amusing but eventually someone did help her to safety.

Saturday night we would gather in the pits for another nights racing. Twenty minutes before the races started we could hear from a far off distance, perhaps the other side of Rose Valley, that Bob Beers was on his way. A few minutes later we would hear Bob Jardine driving his stock car down the road from Freetown village. These daring young men by chance and by God helped make racing what it was; even after getting a fine of $13.50 for having “no wipers, no brakes, no lights, no horn, no windshield, bald tires and marked over the ticket - INSUFFICIENT EQUIPMENT”.

Holiday Crowd

On Dominion Day, 1966, the local paper indicated where there were crowds up to 6000 people. This didn’t include the ones in the pit area or who were parked on the dam on the other side ofthe track to watch

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