Race of Champions

The Race of Champions tradition began in 1951 at Langhorne Raceway (PA), which at the time was a 1-mile oval dirt track. It was known as the “Langhorne National Open” and attracted the best modified drivers on the east coast, many of whom were from New England. Bristol, CT native Hully Bunn won the inaugural event.

In 1965, Langhorne Raceway was paved and it was another New Englander taking down the first win on asphalt: Bill Slater driving the Vitari & Bombaci V-8 coupe known as the Connecticut Valley Rocket.

The race was moved for the first time in 1972 edition, when Trenton Speedway in NJ became the new home track for the race. Geoff Bodine took down the win. 2 years later Fred DeSarro drove Lenny Boehler‘s “Old Blue” #3 to the 1974 Race of Champions win in a memorable photo finish over Bugsy Stevens.

After 5 seasons at Trenton, the ROC was then moved to Pocono Raceway (PA), first for a 300 mile race on the 2.5 mile tri oval (1977-1979) and then to a .75 mile infield oval from 1980-1991. Many New Englanders consider this the hey-day of the Race of Champions. During this era, Reggie Ruggiero (driving Mario Fiore‘s #44 in 1988) and Mike Stefanik (driving Sonny Koszela‘s #15 in 1990) both took down wins. They were the last two New Englanders to win the Race of Champions, and also the last NEAR Hall of Famers to win.

MODIFIED RACE OF CHAMPIONS WINNERS

YEAR	RACE WINNER	LAPS	TRACK	TRACK SIZE	TRACK SURFACE	EVENT NOTES
1951	HULLY BUNN	83*	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1952	JIM DELANEY	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1953	TED SWAIM	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1954	FRANKIE SCHNEIDER	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1955	PETE COREY	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1956	DUTCH HOAG	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1957	GLEN GUTHRIE	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1958	JIM DELANEY	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1959	JIM DELANEY	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1960	DUTCH HOAG	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1961	FREDDY ADAM	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1962	FRANKIE SCHNEIDER	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1963	DUTCH HOAG	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1964	FREDDY ADAM	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	dirt	Langhorne National Open
1965	BILL SLATER	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1966	WILL CAGLE	100	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1967	DUTCH HOAG		Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1968	DUTCH HOAG		Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1969	RAY HENDRICK	200	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1970	MERV TREICHLER	200	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1971	ROGER TREICHLER	200	Langhorne Raceway	1.000 mile	asphalt	Langhorne National Open
1972	GEOFF BODINE	200	Trenton Speedway	1.500 mile	asphalt
1973	RICHIE EVANS	200	Trenton Speedway	1.500 mile	asphalt
1974	FRED DeSARRO	200	Trenton Speedway	1.500 mile	asphalt
1975	RAY HENDRICK	200	Trenton Speedway	1.500 mile	asphalt
1976	MAYNARD TROYER	200	Trenton Speedway	1.500 mile	asphalt
1977	MAYNARD TROYER	120	Pocono Raceway	2.500 mile	asphalt
1978	GEOFF BODINE	120	Pocono Raceway	2.500 mile	asphalt
1979	RICHIE EVANS	120	Pocono Raceway	2.500 mile	asphalt
1980	RICHIE EVANS	300	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt
1981	GEORGE KENT	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt
1982	GREG SACKS	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt
1983	JIMMY SPENCER	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt
1984	BRIAN ROSS	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt
1985	BRETT BODINE	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1986	GEORGE KENT	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1987	GEORGE BRUNNHOELZL JR	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1988	REGGIE RUGGIERO	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1989	TONY HIRSCHMAN JR	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1990	MIKE STEFANIK	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1991	SATCH WORLEY	250	Pocono Raceway	0.750 mile	asphalt	NASCAR Modified Tour
1992	LENNY BOYD	250	Flemington Speedway	0.625 mile	asphalt
1993	BILLY PAUCH	250	Flemington Speedway	0.625 mile	asphalt
1994	TONY SISCONE	250	Flemington Speedway	0.625 mile	asphalt
1995	JOHN BLEWETT III	250	Flemington Speedway	0.625 mile	asphalt

In 1992, the race was dropped from the NASCAR Modified Tour schedule and moved to Flemington Raceway in New Jersey. This era still attracted the likes of Ted Christopher, Ed Flemke Jr, Rick & Jeff Fuller and Charlie Pasteryak but the lure for New England modified teams to compete in the Race of Champions began to decline.

Since the event was moved to Oswego Speedway (NY) in 1996, it was no longer attracting New Englanders regularly. In 1999, it became the marquee event for the upstart Race of Champions Tour based in New York & Pennsylvania, which remains the case today. The annual race is currently held at Lake Erie Speedway (PA).