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Born just as World War
I was winding down, Louis D'Amore parlayed a life of technical
training (Boston Trade School), desire and hard work into a very
successful stint as a winning car owner in the rough and tumble
early days of sprint car racing throughout New England and the
Northeast.
In the 1930's, the majority of sprint cars were basically "home
built" utilizing various passenger car and truck parts modified for
the main purpose of turning left. Those were the days when a
properly massaged Model A Ford, either the A or the B block, could
hold it's own on the local dirt half miles located at the many
fairground tracks found in virtually every town and hamlet.
By the late 30's, Louie completed his first race car at the ripe age
of 18 years old. The Dedham, MA neighborhood would never be the
same. The early years saw David "Dizzy" Vance as Louie's primary
driver.
The duo honed their operations at tracks such as Weymouth,
Marshfield, Brockton, Topsfield, Athol and Northampton in MA, the
old horse track at Pascoag, RI and the venerable Keene, NH site as
well as others. When the Thompson, CT five eighths miler opened in
1940, everyone was on a equal footing, as this was the first asphalt
track in the east. When the checker flew on May 26, it fell on Louie
D'Amore's no. 10 with Vance steering.
Today, 70 years later, Louie is still racing in the vintage meets in
the Northeast with his sons David and Richard at the helm. They have
restored an accurate replica of the second version of the no. 10. We
are blessed to have this living link to our racing heritage still
with us today. |