Red Foote

Competitor
CLASS OF 1999

Melvin ‘Red’ Foote ran his first race in 1948, at Kingston, RI. Carl Morrow & Ralph LeGendre co-owned Foote’s first car, a silver #1 coach. It wasn’t long before the racing bug bit Foote, and he was competing at Norwood on Thursdays & Saturdays and Lonsdale on Sundays, with regular visits to Westboro when time allowed. One day, while driving to a race at Lonsdale, the car hauling Foote’s race car broke down. Unable to make repairs, he unloaded the race car and used it to push the tow vehicle to the track.

This kind of persistence paid off for Foote. He won a then-record 16 races at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl during the 1953 season enroute to the Modified Championship. He won a 2nd championship at the shoreline oval in 1958 and won 39 features there during his career. He also took down a championship in Plainville Stadium in the 1950’s, competing in the United Stock Car Racing Club.

The 1960’s found Foote racing the NASCAR circuit, winning races from New England through the Carolinas to Daytona. He also made 10 NASCAR Grand National (now Cup Series) starts from 1962-1965. It was also during this period that he became one of the Eastern Bandits, along with Ed Flemke, Denny Zimmerman & Rene Charland. Red took down a championship in North Carolina in 1965.

Red Foote retired after competing at Langley Field, Virginia in 1980, driving a sportsman car similar to today’s NASCAR Xfiniy Series, so he is able to say that he was competitive in 5 different decades of racing. From his ’37 Coach, to a NASCAR Sportsman, Red Foote has represented himself, and the sport of auto racing, well throughout his career.

Melvin Foote spent his retirement as an avid boatsman and fisherman. He passed away on February 3, 2013 at the age of 85.