'Lost Speedways' set to go green

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - The Saratoga Automobile Museum's most popular program, Lost Speedways, will get the proverbial green flag at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26. That will mark the opening of the memorabilia displays, with formal presentations set to begin at 1 p.m.

"We've been doing this for many years and every year somebody brings some new 'old stuff' that knocks everyone's socks off," said event organizer Ron Hedger. "We set up tables and urge everyone to come early and put their memorabilia out to share with others and get the conversations and reruns of races from years ago started. Our museum volunteers will be on hand to provide security so that participants can wander from table to table and enjoy each other's treasures."

Hedger will open the presentations with a preview of next summer's huge NASCAR, followed by Mark Supley's recollections of playing motorcycle polo. Next up will be historian Ken Parrotte, discussing NASCAR's Short Track Division from the 1950s and '60s, with Parrotte to be joined by division champion and Southern 500 winner Jim Reed, who will share some observations and then take questions from the audience.

Jim King, long regarded as one of the area's premier announcers, will close out the program's first half with tales of the short-lived Cairo Speedway.

Following a brief intermission, North Country historian Bill Ladabouche will take the audience back to the glory days of Plattsburgh's Airborne Park Speedway, home to many Capital District racers over the years. The final speakers will be the tag team of modified and Indy car driver Denny Zimmerman, who will discuss the famed Eastern Bandits and being the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, and longtime car owner Skip Matczak, who will recall the opening campaign at Albany-Saratoga Speedway as well as his superb career as a supermodified owner.

Regular museum admission prices will prevail for the event, with members admitted free of charge, as always. The current Golub Gallery exhibit is "PORSCHE - 60 Years of Speed and Style in North America" with "NASCAR in New York" featured in the Racing in New York gallery.

More information, including directions to the museum, located just off Exit 13N of I-87 in the Saratoga Spa State Park, can be found online at www.saratogaautomuseum.org.

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