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Preserving the History of the Dirt Tracks of Schuylkill County, PA

The local racing community has lost another member. On Thursday evening, Coal Region Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Rick Huff passed away at the age of 69.

Rick got his love of auto racing from his father and uncle who were very involved in local racing. They supplied portable light trucks for Shenandoah Speedway and Mount Carbon Speedway. It only was natural that he would follow in their footsteps. When outgoing Anthracite Raceway photographer Wild Bill Hess would give him his first camera, little did he know the impact that gift would have.

Along with his father and uncle, they would capture the priceless moments in time at Anthracite Raceway that became iconic in the history of that track. Those images added to the legacy of the dirt track known to many as Schoentown. We owe Rick and his family an enormous amount of gratitude for the images they created that are so cherished by the Anthracite Raceway faithful. He would also create the track's racing program and all the press release for the various racing papers and publications.

Rick and his family didn't confine themselves to just one track. When Big Diamond Raceway opened, they were there to record the racing action and continued for a number of years. They also photographed and recorded the racing at the Reading Fairgrounds, Penn National, Nazareth, Susquehanna, Pocono and Daytona to name a few. He also was the General Manager and photographer at Fredericksburg.

Rick would then change coarse and become a car owner along the Wilhelm brothers with the late Jim Steele steering their 51 jr. Jim Somers then became the new driver wheeling their well prepared Chevelles. Then, in 1979, they arrived at Big Diamond with a brand new creation, a Camaro. That new Late Model would earn them the 1979 Late Model Point Championship.

After his induction into the Coal Region Racing Hall of Fame on April 6, 2019, Rick was almost overwhelmed with pride and emotion upon being honored. We truly lost a good friend in racing.

From all of us at Coal Region Racing we extend our deepest condolences to his family and many friends.

This recently discovered newspaper clipping form the Shenandoah Evening Herald shows the drive-in movie theater built inside the Brandonville race track. Located 3 miles northeast of Shenandoah, the racing surface can be seen around the edge of the photograph. This image shows just how wide the track was with long sweeping turns and short straightaways.

Today, all signs of the race track and drive-in movie theater have been erased from view.

The co-founder of the longest tenures racetrack in Schuylkill County history has passed away. Frederick Roerhig, better known as Fritz, died on July 21, 2019 at the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, PA at the age of 79.

An inaugural inductee into the Coal Region Racing Hall of Fame on April 6th, 2019, he, along with fellow inaugural inductee D. B. Muscara, built a practice track they called "The Bullpen" after completing a strip mining operation on that same piece of property in 1971. The name was quickly changed to match the coal vein underneath it becoming Big Diamond Raceway. The entire facility would be the last completely new track built in the county.

Fritz also proudly served his country in his beloved Marine Corp from 1957 to 1967. Upon his return from military duty, he began his career in the local anthracite mining industry. He began as a truck driver before purchasing his own truck which would lead him to forming various partnerships in the coal business as well as other business ventures. One of those businesses with D. B. Muscara helped bring about the creation of Big Diamond Raceway. Joe Kuperavage, who at one point co-promoted Anthracite Raceway in Schoentown, was also involved in Big Diamond for a number of years.

Fritz's involvement in Big Diamond was as a co-owner, co-promoter, and eventually mentor to its current promoter, his stepson Jake Smulley and his wife Jasmine.

Coal Region Racing would like to extend their condolences to his family and friends.

One of the most unique characters in racing, Charlie Gilmore from Kutztown, PA, passed away on June 24th, 2019. He was 82. Those old enough to remember this car from 1980 know Charlie only cared that it ran. And run it did. This vintage Brightbill-Kreitz chassis Falcon bodied small block turned many laps at Grandview and the paved Dorney Park as well as at Penn National. When a fellow racer on opening day said to him the car still had the dirt on it from the previous racing season, his answer was, "It ran when I parked it."

Beginning his driving career in 1963 at the fabled Reading Fairgrounds, Charlie drove a number of cars with great success. He even raced an ostrich once! He moved to Dorney Park winning 25 features before calling Grandview his home. On Friday nights around the time this image was made, he could be found on the clay at Big Diamond, Saturday night on pavement at "The Park", then on dirt at Nazareth on Sunday night, all with the same car!

The machinist at Dana Corporation in Reading, PA was old school as he built as many parts for his racers as possible. He was also always willing to help his fellow competitors anytime. Eventually, his sons Kenny, also known as Monk, and Mike followed in his footsteps and began their racing careers. Even today, his grandson Brett is carrying on the family tradition by racing at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville.

From everyone at Coal Region Racing, we extend our condolences to his family and many friends.

One of the best racing artists of any era suddenly passed away. Emerson Freese died of a massive heart attack on January 26, 2019. He was only 57. Mr Freese's incredible racing art work has been seen by countless numbers of race fans through the years. The Anthracite Raceway Memorial Reunion artwork as well as our recent Coal Region Racing tee shirt artwork were both of his creations.

When the photographs and other details for the Coal Region Racing tee shirts were dropped off at his art studio business, Out of the Blue II in Jim Thorpe, he related stories of his friendship with the late legendary Sprint Car pioneer racer, Tommy Hinnershitz.

From all of us at Coal Region Racing our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

The Coal Region Racing Hall of Fame Inductees for 2019.

The possibility of at least 2 additional race tracks in Schuylkill County has recently come to light.

In the upper photo from August 28, 1958 shows the outline of a small dirt track located along Sweet Arrow Lake Road about 1 1/2 miles from Cressona.

In the second photo from August 12, 1971 shows the outline of a small dirt track located along Stone Mountain Road just off Sweet Arrow Lake Road just south of the first image.

These 2 possible little facilities were approximately 1/4 mile about. The second one may have been built to replace the first one.

If anyone has any information on either or both of these possible race tracks, please contact me directly at coalregionracing@gmail.com.

Our long awaited display of local racing history is now open to the public. Thanks to the Orwigsburg Historical Society, artifacts from the archives of Coal Region Racing will be accessible during the society's regularly scheduled hours.

This undated image is courtesy of Irv Yeict sent to us by Dennis Somers.

These are the earliest forms of race cars to compete in Schuylkill County. This photograph is from the Schuylkill County Fairgrounds in Cressona, PA. In the very beginning of automobile racing, machines such as these were common at county fairgrounds tracks across the country. As you can see, they lacked even the most basic safety equipment. Many a driver was injured or killed because of this. Two fatalities were recorded here, the very first casulty on July 4th and the second on August 4th, 1935.

Irv Yeict was the owner of S & Y Paints in Pottsville, PA and was a huge supporter of local dirt track racing by sponsoring dozens of race cars of all types through the years.

Many thanks to both Irv and Dennis for sharing this priceless photograph with Coal Region Racing

Gold Mine Speedway 1953

Here are two examples of what early sprint car racers appeared as in the 1950's and 1960's at such tracks as Brandonville, Ringtown and the inner oval at Mount Carbon. Since photographs from those tracks seem to be non-exsistant, these two photographs from the Circle M Ranch Speedway Reunion held on September 23, 2017 show what the sprint cars from that era really looked like.

Brandonville raced what were known then as "Big Cars", early forms of what we have come to know as today's modern sprint cars before the wings. This is what those cars had evolved into during the 1950' and '60's that competed at the big, flat Brandonville 1/2 mile dirt track.

Mount Carbon was known to have an inner oval that hosted midget racing and early forms of micro-sprints during it's tenure. Circle M Ranch hosted at least one event in 1955 while Mahanoy City, Ringtown, and possibly Brandonville and Sparky's also raced these early racing machines.