CONCORD, N.C. — I love a good mystery. When my grandfather, Roger LeBlanc, passed away earlier this year, he left behind a mountain of items on his Troy, Pa., property, many of which no one in the family knew he owned.
As I mentioned in my column last month, Grandpa Roger was a bit of a hoarder. Actually, he was more than just a bit of a hoarder based on the number of items that were found on his property after his death.
However, for me, one item stood out above the rest and there are more questions than answers surrounding it.
Being unable to travel to Pennsylvania to see his property, my first glimpse at all of the items left behind came when the auction company hired to sell his assets began listing items for sale.
As I was perusing the many items — ranging from saw blades to unopened comforters to damaged cars — I came across an auction listing for an item that was a total surprise. Found sitting on his property and made available for purchase through the auction was a dirt modified chassis from the 1980s with a few body panels still attached.
Where on Earth did this thing come from?
Grandpa Roger raced, but to the best of my knowledge he never drove or owned a dirt modified. He last raced in the pure stock division at a couple of tracks near his home, so the presence of a dirt modified on his property was a mystery.
The car still had a body panel attached with a number on it — a yellow No. 19. The car also appeared to carry sponsorship from Charley’s Radiators. There were no other identifying marks visible in the photo.
Out of curiosity, I shared the photo on Twitter to see if anyone recognized the car. As luck would have it, Twitter is full of curious racing sleuths and it didn’t take long before a lead developed.
Someone was able to track down a photo of what was obviously the same car. The photo, taken by John Gallant Sr., appeared to show the car in the pits at Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y., in 1984.
Two drivers were listed, Jim Benedetto and Denny Soltis. If the name Denny Soltis rings a bell, it’s because he made headlines in 2017 for winning the big-block modified finale at Lebanon Valley at age 74.
I put out some feelers to see if anyone had a phone number for Soltis, thinking maybe he could fill in some of the gaps in the car’s history of the car. Sure enough, thanks to the help of PRN’s Lenny Batycki, I tracked down a phone number for Soltis.
Soltis was a big help in educating me about the history of the car. According to Soltis, the chassis was built by Kenny Brightbill and Don Kreitz. Soltis originally campaigned the car as a red-and-white No. 0 for a few years during the early 1980s before selling it.
At that point the car was repainted, becoming a gray No. 19 with yellow numbers, which is exactly how it was when discovered on my grandfather’s property. Soltis drove the car a few times during the 1984 season before it was eventually sold to another competitor, Rod Fifield.
“Over the winter we took the running gear out of it and we bought a Troyer car,” Soltis recalled. “I do believe that car got sold to a fellow named Rod Fifield somewhere around the Springfield, Mass., area. From there I don’t know what he did with it or where it went to.”
However, after further research and speaking with the children of Fifield, it turns out Soltis’ memory was mistaken and Fifield never owned the car. So that turned out to be a dead end.
By the time you are reading this, the remnants of the car will, hopefully, have found a new owner. The online estate auction ends Nov. 10.
We may never know how or why my grandfather acquired the car, but perhaps there is someone out there who has a bit more knowledge about the car and its history.
I’d love to learn more about it. Please email me at [email protected].