Others inducted in the ceremony at La Renaissance were 1950s legend Moe Moneybags Gherzi, 1960s Riverside star Jerry The Springfield Rifle Humiston, Eastern Mass. 1948 - RIVERSIDE PARK SPEEDWAY To capitalize on the nations new found attraction to Auto Racing following the 2nd World War, Riverside Amusement Park owner Richard J Caroll demolished a dance hall in 1948. In its place laid out a flat 1/5-mile oval track, pit area and grandstand alongside the Connecticut River. Enter your email address to subscribe to this album and receive free notifications of new posts by email. While the Daytona 500 took place in Florida Sunday, racing fans in western Massachusetts remembered when racing took place on a much shorter track in Agawam at the Riverside Park Speedway. We had sponsorship for every race. "I would like to Thank You so much for making Carly's 17th birthday party GREAT!!!! Matts father, Mark Wiernasz was a track announcer there, in addition to working for decades as our assignment manager here at 22News. This one is Riverside Park, Agawam, Ma. He resided in West Springfield and Agawam all his life. Riverside Park Speedway was a 1/4-mile oval paved race track, located at the present site of Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, one mile north of the Massachusetts - Connecticut state line. Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, Jocko Maggiacomo has a new engine in his car! I cant think of any race track where the drivers exhibited themselves as well as they did at Riverside.. Do you remember Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam? - WWLP Meet. The track's final reconfiguration and repaving to15 degree banking would be added in the mid 1980s. Riverside Park Speedway was one of the most successful short tracks in America between 1992 and 1996. . Paved Oval located in Agawam, MA: Track Status: Razed (Opened: 1948 --- Closed: 1999) TOURING SERIES & MAJOR EVENTS ; Date Sanction He was currently employed at Boardwalk Auto Sales in South Windsor, CT. Riverside Park Speedway memories abound at New England Auto - masslive The speedway was closed, and razed, after Polverari copped the final modified feature in 1999. The company changed its own name to Six Flags, Inc., and rebranded the park Six Flags: New England for the opening of the 2000 season. I had my own groove, right on the bottom. I was just a kid and my favorite was Art Rousseau out of Keene, N.H.. Five-time track champion Bob Polverari won the final race, after which participants started digging up pieces of the track asphalt for souvenirs. Under the sanction of the UNITED Stock Car Racing Club, Gene Bergin, Ed Patnode, Danny Galullo, Billy Greco and others emerged as contenders, Krebs and Greco piled up victories. And for decades, Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Mass., was exactly that. By admin January 26, 2013 Riverside Park Speedway Charlie Jones, 1941 - 2013 Charles Ernest Jones, 71, lifelong Agawam resident, passed away Wednesday January 23rd at the VA Boston Healthcare in West Roxbury, MA. Private group 6,043 Members. "Riverside Park was like Daytona to me," Reggie Ruggiero recalled. He was born in West Spring-field, son of the late John and Mafalda Mich-novetz and graduated from West Springfield High School Class of 1962. NOTE: ANY RACE DATES POSTED ON THIS PROFILE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON WEATHER, TRACK CONDITIONS, AND MANY OTHER THINGS. Riverside Rides Again will feature fascinating displays dedicated to the proud history of Riverside, complete with race cars from every era, photos, videos, memorabilia and many of the people who raced there. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Riverside Park Speedway memories abound at . 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Ruggiero had four separate stints driving Fiores No. Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, MA - RacingIn.com NOTE: ANY RACE DATES POSTED ON THIS PROFILE ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON WEATHER, TRACK CONDITIONS, AND MANY OTHER THINGS. The picnic grove was repurposed as an amusement park and opened its first roller coaster in 1912. Our qualifying has been just terrible, Moore admitted. Many stars of racing exelled at Riverside Park in the 1980s, including the 2000 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Champion and Busch North Series star Jerry Marquis, 7 time NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Champion, 4 time NASCAR Busch North Series Champion and 1999 Craftsman Truck Series rookie "Mighty" Mike Stefanik and Featherlite Modified Tour and NASCAR Busch Series star "Magic Shoes" Mike McLaughlin. In addition to that, the purses were increased. Riverside Park Speedway | Agawam Massachusetts. For $1.25 admission, you got to watch battles pitting Moe Moneybags Gherzi against Charland, driving a decidedly non-villainous coupe adorned with pink polka dots. One unforgettable element of racing at Riverside was the annual 500-lap races for cars competing as two-car teams. The Serv-U Auto Supply Pro Stocks were also a feature division in the NASCAR's Winston Shortrack Series in 1999. BRINKMANN RECORDS BEST BMARA FINISH OF SEASON, KyleBrinkmanRacing, a racer from Elkhorn, WI. Our qualifying has been just terrible, Moore admitted. In a joint announcement, track owner Dennis Fleury and series president Jack Bateman, the principals responsible for the inaugural event, advise the 1st annual Ricky Miller Memorial 100, presented by New England Outdoor Furnaces, will be held on Sunday afternoon Sept.28th as part of the Twin State Speedway Fall Challenge, a two day event. Fiore shared stories of how his team would often struggle to get back home after races they had won, since most payouts were made by check and no banks were open late at night. This scenario was played out Saturday evening at Riverside Park Speedway, where Kelly Moore put on a superb display of racing enroute to a 2nd place finish. The track closed at the end of the 1999 season. much I appreciate everything you and your staff did for our group. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). The New England Antique Racers will host a 15-year reunion of the anniversary of the closing of the old Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam, Massachusetts. In 1983, he was offered a ride in what is now the NASCAR Nationwide Series. ", 2023 K1Speed Inc. All rights reserved. "Wow!!! After a rowdy drivers' strike, it became clear that UNITED could no longer hold its own at Riverside Park, and that organization cleared the path for another popular organization to take charge of the track. The facility was incredible, the staff was engaging, and our entire group had a blast! All rights reserved (About Us). Another exciting development in 1997 was the acquisition of the park by Oklahoma-based Premier Parks, Inc., parent company of Six Flags, the world's largest regional theme park company. West Virginia International Speedway. Gary J. Michnovetz, 65, died suddenly on Tuesday. YOUR PARTY AND CELEBRATE Riverside Park Speedway memories abound at . Galons excited monologue kept fans filling Riverside Parks 7,200 bleacher seats, creating a cast of white hats and villains that variously included Bill Greco, Dick Dixon and Danny Gallulo. Twitter Link The Carroll family added a speedway, brought in musical acts and added many new rides in the decades that followed. and the Exposition Fairgrounds in West Springfield, Mass. Due to this variability, ALWAYS check with the tracks DIRECTLY via their individual websites to confirm actual racing before you travel! Home page [www.triadtechnologies.com] Riverside Park Speedway | Stock Car Racing Wiki | Fandom Of those six, two will never be more closely linked to one another than the driver-owner combination of Reggie Ruggiero and Mario Fiore. 77 Peros Dr., Agawam, Mass. Route 322 Detour Update. Jocko Jr., followed a different path, racing sportscars with the SCCA. Our staff cant stop talking about how much fun we had, and they keep asking when we are going to do it again!! SPEED SPORTs Alan Cavanna catches you up on that and more in this weeks edition of Sealed Under Pressure Spotlight presented by Cometic Gasket. To be chosen with one of my famous car owners, Mario, was unbelievable, said Ruggiero, who was elected in his first year on the ballot. With a track championship for the late Richie Evans, named in 1998 as one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers of all time. Park owner Edward J. Carroll demolished the dance hall that had burned down that year and in its place rose a 1/5 mile nearly flat paved oval track. by ScottKo in Profile Tips For Users, SRW Winternationals Weekend now a Qualifying race for ALL Classes! I was given two years to run the race track, produce a positive bottom line and show growth.. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Henry J. Perkins transformed the picnic grove into an amusement park more than 100 years ago with the addition of mechanical rides like The Giant Dip, an early roller coaster. Click on the race number to see the results of that race. He later was a crew member with Bill Pelley and Reggie Ruggerio before moving on to 44 racing with Jerry Marquis and Mari Fiore and was part of their National Modified Championship of 2000. KGM Video has been the leader in Racing Video Productions since 1981 and has a vast library of videos from 1980's, 1990's to the Present, plus Vintage Videos dating to the 1950's.KGM Video has produced videos of racing action at the Riverside Park Speedway, Stafford Motor Speedway, Thompson Speedway and others. Imagine, instead, a speedway that shared its real estate with an amusement park, giving it a constant stream of potential fans, plus a picturesque location between towering rides and a lazily flowing river. . RIVERSIDE PARK SPEEDWAY - speedwayandroadracehistory Riverside Park Speedway - David Allio | Racing Photography Archives Other tracks in the area - Century Stadium in Springfield, Mass. My last year, 1996, the paid attendance in the grandstand was 143,000 people. Adults and Juniors 48 and Up, Junior Birthday Parties by ScottKo in Profile Tips For Users, Interest in Grassroots Racing Grows 40% in 2014 With Great Opportunities Ahead in 2015 Sun, 01/30/2022 . Looking for something special to get your mom for Mothers Day? Stock Car Racing Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. open to all that raced at riverside park speedway no matter what car-truck demo-enduro-figure 8 & 4 cylinder-strickly-late model-modified ya drove! When intermission came, you hit your favorite rides, safe in the knowledge that Galon would call you back in plenty of time. Created with Sketch. He was part of a championship crew with Barry Kuhnel, Bill Pelley and Bob Polverari in the 80s and 90s. Riverside Park Speedway in Agawam drew in racing fans from throughout the Northeast for about 50 years. of my heart, thank you! I came from a little track, Plainville Stadium in Connecticut, a quarter mile, Ruggiero remembered. A local entrepreneur named Ed Carroll began a family dynasty at Riverside Park by buying it in 1939. Riverside Park in Agawam was a gathering spot for fun as far back as the late 19th century when it was known as Riverside Grove (and Gallup's Grove before that). 01001 (413) 786-3876. Kanawha Valley Dragway. The theory was that an entertainer doesnt pay to walk on stage, he explained. WITH FRIENDS! It was a cant-miss business proposition, until amusement rides became more profitable than packed pits and stands. After the Wall Street crash drove Riverside Park into foreclosure, one of New Englands first drive-in theaters opened on the property in 1937. West Virginia Motor Speedway. I wouldnt be surprised if you see us renting your facility in the future. Ruggiero told a story that some knew, but others didnt, about a decision that might have changed the face of NASCAR history. Veteran NASCAR driver and current spotter Tim Fedewa joined this weeks episode of Fast Car 2 NASCAR with Mike Wallace to talk more about his current role. Reigning AFT Singles champion Kody Kopp is trying to hit a grand slam this season. The first full season of stock car racing was 1949. International sports car racing starPhil Walters, who raced modifieds and midgets under the name "Ted Tappett", won the season championship. This spring, Le Creuset has introduced an exciting new shade thats already selling fast: shallot, a soft lavender with pink and slight gray undertones.