NEAR HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2001

    The winner of the first Race of Champions and an Indianapolis 500 Rookie 

of the Year are part of the New England Antique Racers' Hall of Fame "class 

of 2001." The 10-member group represents hundreds of victories throughout the 

northeast.

    Drivers Art Rousseau, Bobby Santos, Dennis Zimmerman, Ralph Cusack, the 

late Don MacTavish, Hully Bunn, Don Rounds and Chick Stockwell (the latter 

three in the pioneer class);  car builder Fred Rosner and track 

owner/promoter Jack Arute Sr. will bring the NEAR Hall of Fame membership to 

40.

    NEAR President Al Fini introduced the Hall's fourth class at the 

Riverside Reunion Saturday night at the Dante Club in West Springfield. The 

group will be inducted on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2001 at the La Rennaissance Banquet 

Hall in East Windsor, CT. 

    Ticket information regarding the induction dinner is available by calling 

(860) 569-1299. Fini points out the previous induction dinners have been 

sellouts.

    The "Class of 2001" reads like a history of New England racing. 

There is no area in the nation stronger than New England when it comes to 

short track activity. Stafford Motor Speedway owner Jack Arute has had much 

to do with that. Since purchasing the half-mile in 1970, Arute has 

established lofty standards for the entire sport, building his facility into 

one of the country's premier short tracks.

Coming from a construction background, Arute had a long association with auto 

racing as a car owner before becoming a promoter. His participation goes back 

to the beach course at Daytona and his association with the Garuti brothers 

resulted in one of the great racing teams (G&A) of the 1960s.

     Zimmerman, the 1971 Indy 500's top rookie, is the fourth Eastern Bandit 

in the Hall, joining the late Ed Flemke, Rene Charland and Red Foote. In the 

early 1960s, the group moved up and down the eastern seaboard, winning from 

Maine to the Carolinas. It was the Eastern Bandits that brought New England 

stock car racing into the national picture. 

    A soap box derby champion, Zimmerman began racing with the United Stock 

car club. It was at Riverside Park he joined up with Flemke and Charland. In 

the mid 1960s Zimmerman moved to the open-cockpit cars. After driving Sprint 

Cars for a number of years, he reached Indianapolis in 1970..

    Rosner was also a member of that vagabond group, building and maintaining 

equipment for four-time national sportsman champion Charland. That resulted 

in Rosner winning several Mechanic of the Year trophies.  A product of the 

old United Stock Car Club as well, Rosner later provided winning equipment 

for, among others, John Rosati. He then became one of the first of the 

independent chassis builders.

    Bunn, who began racing after returning from service in World War II, gave 

New England its first major stock car win, the 1951 Race of Champions at 

Langhorne Speedway. Bunn literally bounced around the northeast through the 

1950s, scoring wins in New York State and New Jersey as well as New England. 

He was a frequent winner at Stafford during that era. Later in his career, 

Bunn found much success at Plainville Stadium.

    Rounds also started right after  World War II at Kingston Fairgrounds in 

Rhode Island and quickly developed a fondness for the dirt. "Roundsie" won 

one of the first-ever features at Waterford Speedbowl and soon after became a 

standout at Stafford, winning the 1959 Sportsman crown. Also successful at 

Keene, NH, Lebanon Valley, Millers Falls, and Morristown, NJ, he raced into 

the 1970s at Lakeville Speedway.

    Rousseau's career begain in 1939 at Dover, NH. Before it was over, he was 

successful in open-cockpit and stock cars. A very busy racer, he was a 

standout on the dirt at Cheshire Fairgrounds, Brattleboro, Stateline and 

Beech Ridge. In the 1950s he teamed up with legendary car builder Bob Oliver, 

winning at Stafford and Keene, NH  and on the pavement at Riverside Park, 

Plainville Stadium and Seekonk Speedway.

Don MacTavish was on the verge of national stardom when a crash in the 

Permatex race at Daytona in 1969 took his life. A demolition derby expert 

initially, he started in the "ramp races" at Norwood Arena then moved through 

the hobby cars and then into the sportsman division, winning the 1966 

national championship. Equally at home on big and small tracks, he was very 

busy and posted an impressive number of wins.

    Santos also took full advantage of the Hobby division at both Norwood and 

Stafford, the latter still dirt. He won championships at both tracks during 

the mid 1960s before moving up to the Modifieds. Part of the "Circuit of 

Champions (Stafford-Norwood-Thompson) in the late 1960s, Santos joins many 

other Hall of Fame members from what some call Modified racing's "Golden 

era." Driving, among others, the Paul Clark Ford #41 and the Art Barry #909, 

Santos was among the national Modified point leaders throughout the 1970s.

    Stockwell ran in an era when "you could run every night. There was 

something going on someplace." Between Plainville Stadium in 1949 and Danbury 

Raceareana in 1981 he collected a host of wins and championships including 

nine at the Raceareana (two of those on dirt). He also won at Rheinbeck, NY 

in 1957. He was part of the United Grand American circuit in 1963-64, winning 

the sportsman division both years as well as 100 a lapper at Thompson. He 

captured well over 100 features, 51 at Danbury alone.

    Cusack spent 30 years as a driver in northern New England, but it was on 

the dirt at Beech Ridge where he prevailed, winning well over a hundred 

features and 12 championships between 1953 and 1980. Known for his easy, 

come-from-behind style, he ranks among the best ever in the Pine Tree State. 

He purchased Beech Ridge in the spring of 1981 and made it one of New 

England's best-run facilities

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