|
Charles “Chick” Stockwell began racing
in 1949, driving his own cars throughout the northeast. Although
Chick considers the Danbury Arena to be “home”, he was a regular
competitor at Waterford, Thompson, Plainville, West Haven, and
Stafford. He raced at Lime Rock, Springfield, and Westboro.
Venturing outside New England, he
has driven at Albany-Saratoga, Orange County, JFK Stadium, and
Lebanon Valley.
Stockwell showed his versatility
as a race driver by competing on both dirt and asphalt, often 3 to 4
times in the same week. He won the 1957 Rhinebeck Track
Championship, racing on dirt. He took down the United Grand American
Late Model Sportsman Circuit Crown in 1963 and 1964.
He won the "Most Popular Driver"
award at Danbury for six consecutive years. (1976-1981). The award
was sponsored by the Racearena Revue magazine, and over 17,000 fans
cast votes for Chick, who says that the Most Popular Driver awards
meant even more to him than his many feature wins.
Stockwell is in the record book as
the all-time total race winner at the arena, with 51 feature wins,
51 semi features, 77 heats, 26 consi victories, and 2 “B” wins, for
a total of 207 Danbury Arena victories, while winning nine
championships.
Chick retired from racing in 1981,
when they closed down the Danbury Arena. Looking back, he remembers
his career as a satisfying time. “It was fun back then”, Chick says.
“Everything was right out of the junkyard, where nowadays everything
is bought. We got a junk, gutted it out, and went after it.” |
