Mahoning Valley to present 800th Modified feature this coming Saturday, September 12; 1st feature winner Bob McCullough to be honored guest; Class champions to be crowned

This coming Saturday night, September 12, Mahoning Valley Speedway will celebrate not only the 2020 division champions as it will be the final evening for points but likewise a milestone race for the Modifieds takes place with the 800th feature being run since the track first went to asphalt in 1970.

It was July 24, 1970 and then track co-promoters Fred Tedesco and David Stoddard re-opened the shuttered ¼-mile oval, which originally began life as a dirt track that ran from the early 1950s to mid-1960s.

The sparkling new facility opened its gates on a Friday night to an estimated crowd of 3000 fans who saw a two division program of Sportsman Modifieds and Late Models.

In the Modified 30-lap main Bob McCullough of Mount Holly, NJ grabbed the lead from Norm Behler on lap 10, opened up a quarter lap lead and then stayed there the rest of the way to put his name into the record books as the very first class winner.

Pete Lovell of Kutztown beat Paul Bauscher for top honors in the 15-lap Late Model feature.

When 17-year old Austin Beers won last Saturday night’s Modified feature it marked his first time winning with the class and he became the 130th different winner since McCullough’s inaugural victory. That was race number 799 and ironically his dad, Eric Beers, holds the record for career wins with 55.

McCullough, who at 78-years young and is still active in the sport as a tech official with URC and USAC, has been invited to be a special honoree this Saturday night to commemorate the significant race.      

“It’s very exciting for me. When you’re in this as long as I’ve been and then you step away it seems that no one remembers you so this is very nice for me to know that someone remembers what you did and I really appreciate it,” said McCullough.

At the time McCullough was 30 years old and a noted hot-shoe who raced on both dirt and asphalt, most notably in his home state of New Jersey where was a regular at tracks such as Wall Stadium Speedway, Atlantic City Speedway, Bridgeport Speedway and New Egypt Speedway. He also ventured into Pennsylvania to race at Nazareth and Grandview Speedways.

When he found out about Mahoning opening up his interest was piqued.

 “At the time we were pretty competitive in New Jersey with are Sportsman car and we decided we wanted to travel a little bit and it was one of the first tracks we went to besides Grandview, Nazareth and Atlantic City on the weekends,” recalled McCullough.

            “I can recall it being extremely smooth and there was a lot of people in the stands. I raced there for three straight years and the competition was very good,” he continued.

           “I didn’t get a lot of good feedback from people who attended there when we first started going. I got the impression they didn’t want me there the times I ran because I was pretty consistent and they use to call me the ‘New Jersey Mosquito.’ If memory serves me right I had a few beer cans thrown at me.”

            According to McCullough the racing then was much the same as today with two and three wide action thanks to the unique circular layout.

“It was like that then too and I preferred the outside and I feel that’s why I did so well there. I was used to running against the wall on dirt and pushing the limits and that worked out for me. Because it was a big circle I would stick on the high side and just get there,” he noted.

“We got going fairly decent too but no were near what they’re doing these days.”

            When McCullough raced Mahoning it was the first of a weekly three nights of action for him.

“We raced constantly. We would come to Mahoning Valley and we’d eat at the 443 Diner and stay at the motel that was there. We’d go to Grandview the next night and then Sunday afternoon at Nazareth and if we had time we’d head down to Atlantic City that night.”

            McCullough’s career spanned from 1960 to 1979. His last race was at Bridgeport.

            The action will get underway starting at 5:00 pm with a full slate of stock car racing that includes Modified feature race 800, Late Models, Street Stocks, Sportsman Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pro 4s, Hobby Stocks and Rookie Hobby Stocks.

MVS PR