Ollie Silva

Competitor
CLASS OF 1998

Ollie Silva starting racing in 1949 at the Dracut Speedway in a 1934 Ford Coupe before serving in the U.S. Army from 1951-1953 during the Korean War.

During his long racing career Silva scored approximately 500 victories. Silva has driven modifieds, super modifieds, pro stocks, late models and sprint cars. He won races in 12 different states including Florida, California, and Ohio. Ollie was the New England Super Modified Racing Association (NESMRA) Champion at Star Speedway in 1967, 1968, & 1978, and was the Can-Am Classics Champion in 1969, 1970, 1971 & 1974.

Other career highlights include being a four time US Winter National (Florida) Champion and winning the 1972 Thompson World Series. Ollie memorably dominated an open competition modified win at the Waterford Speedbowl in 1974, lapping the entire field, not once, but twice. In 1978 he won the URC Sprint Car Championship at Thompson, then went on to Star and won the Can-Am race there the very next day.

Silva was seriously injured during competition at Monadnock Speedway in 1978, almost ending his career. After a long recovery, Ollie returned briefly to competition to 1980 before retiring for good. He passed away on August 15, 2004.