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Gene Bergin began and 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 to
start a 29 year career competing and winning at all the southern New
England race tracks. He was always a hard charger either on dirt or
asphalt.
He won the 1962 Riverside Park
championship and the 1967 Stafford Motor Speedway championship in
67, the first year it was paved.
One of his most significant wins
was the 1971 Stafford 200. He started on the pole and led every lap
to win in Bob Judkins 2X, the first ever NASCAR-legal Pinto-bodied
modified.
Other career highlights include
winning an All Star race at Wall Stadium, and winning the Trenton
qualifier at Thompson. Bergin was runner-up at the 1972 Race of
Champions in Trenton.
In addition to the 2X, he was
mostly identified with driving Bebe Zalinski’s M6. |
