Dave Heaslip | |
---|---|
Born | David Heaslip 1944 Gananoque, Ontario, Canada |
Modified racing career | |
Debut season | 1960 Kingston Speedway |
Car number | 84 |
Championships | 10 |
Wins | 300+ |
David "Dave" Heaslip is a retired Canadian dirt modified racing driver. Credited with more than 300 career wins he competed for 50 years against the toughest competition on either side of the St. Lawrence River. [1]
Dave Heaslip got his start in motorsports in 1954 when as a 9-year old he accompanied his father Ken Heaslip to the Edgewood Speedway in Alexandria Bay, New York. The elder Heaslip fielded a car numbered "GO" for his hometown, Gananoque, Ontario. By age 15 Dave was piloting an old Pontiac coupe with the family number at the Kingston Speedway ON. He won his first feature event soon afterwards, and added the Watertown Speedway on the U.S. side of the border as a regular stop. [1]
Heaslip competed successfully at the race venues of southeastern Canada and northern New York, including Brockville Speedway ON, Capital City Speedway ON, Lebanon Valley Speedway NY, Outlaw Speedway NY. [2] [3] Heaslip won three track championships at each Autodrome Edelweiss QC, Cornwall Motor Speedway ON, and Frogtown International Speedway NY, and one at Can-Am Speedway NY. [4] [5] [6] In 2003, he competed in a BriSCA F-1 for the BriSCA World Finals at Coventry Speedway, England. [1]
Heaslip was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 2007. [1] [7]
Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name.
Timothy 'Tim' Fuller is an American Dirt Modified and Late Model racing driver. Fuller has 260 feature events wins from 45 tracks in 14 states, two Canadian provinces and Australia.
Donnie Wetmore is a retired American Dirt Modified racing driver, credited with over 200 career wins. He is the all-time feature win leader at Fulton Speedway with 68.
Ovide Doiron is a retired Canadian Dirt Modified racing driver and engine builder. Credited with more than 300 wins he captured 25 track championships. Doiron became known as the "Flying Frenchman" after an incident at the Fort Covington Speedway, which occasioned Doiron's car getting airborne and backward, tearing down the flag stand as he took the checkered flag for the feature event win.
Raymond "Ray" Brown was a pioneering driver of Dirt Modified stock cars and later a standout open-cockpit Midget racer. From 1951 to 1959 Brown recorded 43 victories at the Orange County Fair Speedway and claimed three track championships.
Donald "Don" June was a pioneering driver of dirt modified stock cars. He dominated the inaugural season at Edgewood Speedway in 1951, winning 11 feature events at the Alexandria Bay, New York oval and claiming the Adirondack Stock Car Club championship.
Gary Reddick was a driver of modified stock cars. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he captured 7 track titles and nearly 200 feature wins in the northeastern United States and the southeastern Canada.
Douglas "Doug" Carlyle was a Canadian dirt modified racing driver. He competed successfully at race venues on either side of the St. Lawrence River, including Brockville Speedway ON, Fonda Speedway NY, Grandview Speedway PA, and Rolling Wheels Raceway NY.
Robert "Bob" Zeigler was a driver and promoter of modified stock car racing. Equally adept at driving on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he was recognized for his driving talent and respected for building a speedway during what many believe to be the golden age of stock car racing.
Marcel LaFrance was a Canadian dirt modified racing driver. His racing career spanned two countries and 38 years, winning 268 feature events and claiming five track titles.
Clifford "Cliff" Kotary was an American dirt modified racing driver who accounted for over 300 feature victories. He won an unprecedented six straight New York State Fair Labor Day Championships.
Guy "Shorty" Robinson is a retired driver of modified stock cars. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he was victorious at venues on either side of the St. Lawrence River, despite being limited primarily to weekend racing by his full-time job.
Gary Tomkins is an American dirt modified racing driver. Tomkins has 146 feature event wins in the U.S., Canada and Australia.
Glenn Reiners was a pioneering American dirt modified racing driver. In 1958 he won 13 of the 20 feature races held at Dundee Speedway NY.
Charles "Chuck" Akulis is a retired American Dirt Modified racing driver. Akulis had a 9-year winning streak at the Five Mile Point Speedway in Kirkwood, NY (1977–1985), and captured 14 track championships at the venue during his career.
Howard "Howie " Westervelt was a pioneering American Dirt Modified racing driver. He was known for turning on a rooftop mounted blue light any time he took the lead in a race.
E. David "Dave" Kneisel was an American dirt modified race car driver. He was also a noted builder of race cars, founding Kneisel's Speed and Sport shop in Clarks Summit PA, which continued to field cars for multiple drivers after Kneisel's death.
Sterling "Buck" Holliday was a pioneering American Modified racing driver from Waddington, New York. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he competed successfully at race venues on either side of the St. Lawrence River.
Ken "Kenny" Meahl is a retired American Modified racing driver. He was the driver for teen car owner Jerry Cook for several years before the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver came of age.
Donald "Ivan" Little was a Canadian dirt modified racing driver from St. Catherines, Ontario. He competed in the Niagara Falls regions of both the United States and Canada.