SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A pair of past Lebanon Valley Speedway champions, Dickie Larkin and John Flach, will be the featured guests at the Saratoga Auto Museum’s upcoming Lost Speedways program.
Both were extremely popular with fans during their careers and make a great combo to look back at Lebanon Valley history.
“My driver interview segment of Lost Speedways is always the highlight of the day,” offered event organizer Ron Hedger. “We also give the audience a chance to ask questions once I’ve interviewed the drivers and they’ve looked at an array of photos on the big screen and relived various aspects of their careers. Fans have great memories and often bring out events the rest of us have forgotten about.”
Set for Saturday, Nov. 30, the look back at speedways that no longer exist and racing heroes who excited the fans back in the day will also feature Motorcycle Madness by longtime favorite Mark Supley and a presentation by newcomer Paul Malecki, who has done exhaustive research on the history of the long-defunct Altamont Fairgrounds Speedway, site of big car races featuring regional drivers, AAA events and even NASCAR’s top division over the years.
Other highlights of the Saturday after Thanksgiving program will include the traditional display of memorabilia and vintage photos that participants bring to share and a quick big screen look at vintage photos from western New York showing the rustic cars daring men raced long ago.
Additionally, a short home movie of Fonda time trials back in the 1960’s and a Billy Rafter win on the Syracuse mile will be run at noon before the formal presentations start.
The Saratoga Automobile Museum will open at 10 a.m., memorabilia will be on display from 11 a.m. through the day and the formal presentations will kick off at 12:30 p.m. Lunch items from Saratoga’s Mama Mia restaurant will be available as well.
As always, regular admission rates will prevail, with museum members admitted free of charge. The Saratoga Automobile Museum is located on the Avenue of the Pines in the Saratoga Spa State Park, just north of Exit 13 of the Adirondack Northway/I-87.