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At age 21, Billy Harman began
racing a modified 312 Ford at Waterford New London. He won a
feature in his first year, as well as taking down Rookie of the Year
honors. He continued at the Speedbowl for the next 7 years,
recording many wins and holding four different track records,
including the fastest 10 lap heat, 25 lap feature, 50 lap feature,
and non-stop 100 lap feature. He dominated there, especially in
1965 and 1966, driving the L & M for owners Stanley Loskowski and
Stanley Meczewski.
After 1966,
Bill felt it was time to move on to more and bigger challenges. He
went on to win races for many car owners, including Freddie Beaber
in the 715 and 716, Tuck Hoffman and Kevin Coan in the 73, and Bob
Judkins in the 2x. In 1971, driving the #55 for Ted Marsh, Billy
finished 6th in the National Modified Championship. He
has raced from Canadian tracks in the north to Hollywood Speedway in
Miami Beach, Florida. He has raced as far west as Ohio, competing
at 54 tracks, and winning at 14 different speedways. From the Race
of Champions in Trenton and Pocono to the Oxford Plains 250, Harman
has thrived on the ‘big’ races. He also competed in the 1st
Thompson 500 ever run, running 2nd to Fred DeSarro in Ted
Marsh’s 55 with only 10 laps to go before running blowing a motor.
Harman belongs to the Racing Legends of the New London
Waterford Speedbowl, where he is also a member of the Most Popular
Drivers group. He has been awarded the NASCAR Award of
Professionalism by Jack Arute. Billy takes pride in the fact that,
“I took my racing very seriously, and worked hard at it. There were
2 or 3 years there when I ran over 100 shows a year. People called
Pete Fiandaca “The Travelin’ Man. Well, Pete called me ‘The
Travelin’ Man’”. Today, travels up interstate 91 to East Windsor,
where we welcome Billy Harman into the NEAR Hall of Fame. |
