HIMES MUSEUM OF MOTOR RACING NOSTALGIA: Keeping The Memory Of Long Island Racing Alive

The Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia's front yard.

The Chicago Times-Herald sponsored the first official auto race in the United States. Held on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1895, the contest was organized to promote the newspaper as well as advance automobile production in America. Six autos entered the 54-mile race that looped from Chicago, IL, to Evanston and back. Frank and Charles Duryea’s gas-powered wagon took first place, completing the course with a corrected time of seven hours and fifty-three minutes.
 

Ticket booth from Freeport Stadium.

News of the race had a positive impact in the United States. The country proved that it was able to organize a race that was on par with those being held in Europe. The success also encouraged American auto manufacturers to become competitive and step up the production of automobiles. (The following year the Duryeas built thirteen cars by hand, becoming the largest gas-powered automobile factory in the United States.) And for the future car owner and spectator this was the beginning of a love affair with the automobile and its new sport.

Long Island didn’t experience its first official race until April 14, 1900. Sponsored by the Automobile Club of America, the 50-mile loop ran on Merrick Road from Springfield to Babylon and then back. Of the nine entries A. L. Riker placed first with his low-built electric vehicle powered by sixty cell batteries. He completed the course in two hours, three minutes, and thirty seconds. This was a great improvement from Frank Duryea’s elapsed time of seven hours and fifty-three minutes for the 54-mile course he raced in 1895.

Marty Himes and his 1937 Dodge.

Over the following century the United States experienced the construction of hundreds of tracks that were built exclusively for auto racing. On Long Island alone, over 40 tracks were operated across the area, which included venues for Formula Ones, Sprint cars, midget racers, stock cars, and drag racers. But by the end of the century the majority of tracks closed due to rising operation expenses and the temptation to make a profit by selling properties to real estate developers. Today Riverhead Raceway is Long Island’s sole-surviving venue.

Reggie Himes and the influential

soap box derby car.

Marty Himes started collecting memorabilia related to Long Island’s once dynamic racing scene in 1975. As a former racecar driver who drove regularly at Freeport Speedway, Riverhead Raceway, and Islip Speedway, Marty realized that as the tracks were being bulldozed historic racing artifacts were being destroyed without an effort to save them. Armed with a crowbar and acetylene torch, he rescued objects and signage from inevitable destruction. Supplemented by donations of vintage racecars, photographs, and other items, his collection quickly grew to become The Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia, located in Bay Shore, NY.

Jim Hendrickson's and 

Marty Himes' racing uniforms

I recently drove out to the museum to examine its archive. As I pulled up the first thing I noticed was the huge road sign that once directed race fans to Freeport Speedway now mounted on the museum’s front fence. . . . I immediately felt that this was going to be a one-of-a-kind experience. Entering the front yard I was greeted by a mannequin peering out from one of Freeport’s original ticket booths. After introducing myself to Marty he took me on a 2-hour tour of his priceless objects, which include posters, race programs, trophies, toy cars, over two hundred helmets, just as many uniforms, and over five hundred thousand photographs. Early racing memorabilia includes a road marker and concrete posts from the Long Island Motor Parkway, a grouping of Vanderbilt Cup souvenirs from the opening day of Roosevelt Raceway, and a gold covered brick from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His collection of vehicles includes six classic stock cars, three midget racers, five 3/4 midgets, six 1/4 midgets, an early sprint car, a Crosley automobile converted to a midget racer tow truck, two soapbox derby cars, a 1970 Honda motorcycle, and three bicycles (including a 1923 Ranger which was at the takeoff of Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 Spirit of St. Louis flight from New York to Paris).

Stock cars in the yard.

As we entered the first trailer Marty pointed out the original soapbox derby car that introduced him and his brother Reggie to racing, back in 1952, at the local Police Boys Club events held at the Freeport Stadium. By the age of 16 Marty was racing the family’s 1937 Hudson on Freeport’s track, which was just a block away from his home. By 1962 he would become Freeport’s Track Champion in the novice division. In 1966 he moved on to Islip Speedway and then Riverhead Raceway, racing in the modified division. He returned to Islip and won the midget race on the track’s closing day, September 9, 1984.

Ted Horn's original

cloth racing helmet.

The museum includes memorabilia of all of the above and more, and with each item Marty has a narrative that fits it into racing history. As an example, Marty picked up a framed poster from New Hampshire International Speedway’s Annual DeMoulas Vintage Celebration race. The event included Indy cars, Champ cars, sprinters, midgets, and stock cars. Marty recalled that he drove a sprint racer that was owned by his friend A. J. Foyt in one of the events.

Marty then directed my attention to a photo that showed him racing at Lime Rock Raceway Park, CT, in the 1989 Formula Libre race. The event was a reenactment of the 1959 race that pitted American Open Wheel cars against European sports cars, with a wide variety of types, ages and makes of cars entered in the competition. Marty was chosen to fill in for Indy driver Tony Bettenhausen, former national champion, as he had passed away several years earlier. Among the other drivers were two-time Indy winner Roger Ward, Grand Prix star Stirling Moss, famed Corvette driver Dick Thompson and noted women’s sports car racer Denise McCluggage. It was Marty’s first time on a road course with curves. Driving a 1946 Offenhauser powered Kurtis Kraft #25 midget Marty finished 1st in the midget division and 3rd overall, far ahead of the seasoned legends.

An original poster 

from Islip Speedway.

Mention a racer’s name from the past – Gentlemen Jim Hendrickson, Steady Eddie Brunnhoelzl, Fred “The Flying Dutchman” Harbach – and most likely Marty has a story to tell about that driver. He can tell you how Johnny Coy was responsible for bringing stock car racing to Freeport. Or how Bill Schindler continued to win races after loosing his left leg at a Champ car race in Mineola, NY.

This is all just a small example of what is on display at The Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia. Marty admits that the collection is outgrowing the current location and hopes that one day a benefactor might find a larger home for the museum. He has a genuine passion for his collection, something he enjoys sharing with visitors. The museum is open daily, but be sure to contact Marty ahead of your visit so he can plan to give you a personal tour. Remember . . . it’s been over 115 years since the Merrick Road race was held in 1900 . . . and that makes up for a lot of racing memorabilia to look at!

 
The Himes Museum of Motor Racing Nostalgia
http://www.thehimesmuseum.com
(631) 666-4912
15 O’Neil Avenue
Bay Shore, NY 11706 


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Photo I took at Freeport Speedway 

during the summer of 1968.

While growing up on Long Island Freeport Speedway became my raceway of choice, as it was located the closest to my home. Short-track racing was a big pastime in the region and it drew people from all over to Freeport’s Tuesday, Friday and Saturday race nights. I can still hear the roar of the engines and smell the burning rubber emitted from the squealing tires of the competing stock cars. The demolition derbies were a bonus! But that’s all a memory now – after the 1983 season Freeport Speedway closed its venue.

Freeport Speedway, opened as Freeport Stadium in 1933, was constructed as a WPA project in 1930. The multipurpose stadium originally included a baseball field, a boxing ring, a rifle range, a football field, and a fifth-mile cinder short-track used for motorcycles in 1933. Midget racing was added to the cinder track in 1935 and continued through 1939. In 1939 the track was paved and ran through 1941, pausing for World War II. After the war the speedway switched over to stock car racing and eventually added demolition derbies. The track’s length was modified to 1/4 mile in 1975.

Sources:

“An Evening With Marty Himes,”
Vanderbiltcup video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC-14_u50ug
viewed October 23, 2016

“First Automobile Fifty-Mile Race Ever Run in America”
The New York Times, April 15, 1900, page 11

“The Motocyle Race”
The Evening Star, Washington, DC, December 3, 1895, page 10 

Auto Racing
Freeport Historical Society & Museum
http://freeporthistorymuseum.org/wp/news-2/photographs/auto-racing/
viewed October 23, 2016 

J. Frank Duryea
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Frank_Duryea
viewed October 23, 2016

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PHOTO FINISH

Marty Himes' "Liberty Special" on display 

at the Himes Museum Of Motor Racing Nostalgia.