Gene Bergin

Competitor
CLASS OF 1998

Gene Bergin began & ended his career at the Stafford Motor speedway. He qualified in the first race he entered but was disqualified when it was learned he was only 17 years old in 1949. He returned when he was of age and began a 29 year career winning all over southern New England. He was uniquely successful on both dirt & asphalt.

He won the 1962 Riverside Park Speedway Modified Championship and the 1967 Stafford Motor Speedway Modified Championship, the first year it was paved. He won 12 times at Thompson Speedway during his career, including a midget win in 1969. Other tracks where he visited victory lane include Orange County Speedway & Albany-Saratoga Speedway in NY and the Waterford Speedbowl on Connecticut’s shoreline.

The most significant of his 15 career wins at Stafford Speedway came in the 1971 Stafford 200. He started on the pole in Bob Judkins‘ new #2x Pinto and led every lap to earned the victory. The car had recently been declared legal by NASCAR, and this win is widely considered to be the beginning of “The Pinto Revolution” of the 1970’s that would change modified racing forever.

In addition to piloting the 2x, Bergin is also most notably remembered for driving Beebe Zalinski’s M-6 cars. Other career highlights include winning an All Star race at Wall Stadium, and a runner-up finish to Geoff Bodine at the 1972 Race of Champions in Trenton.