Jim
Malone
by Dwight
Clock
Over the years Long Island has produced
some very special drivers. Charlie Jarzombek, Jim Hendrickson, Fred
Harbach, Greg Sacks, Ed Brunnhoelzl Sr., and Bruno Brackey come to mind
from the weekly stock car races. Johnny Coy, Dutch Schaeffer, and Bill
Schindler from the open wheel ranks as well.
But there was a guy from Southampton that quietly etched his
name alongside all of the above. And that was Jim Malone. And 1964 was
his signature year.
The weekly fare at Riverhead that year included, as it did at
many
other Northeast tracks, the modifieds and sportsman competing together.
Sportsman competitors were handicapped in front of the modifieds. Malone
competed in the Carl Zeh #34 '37 Chevy coupe. In '64 his weekly
adversaries included Jarzombek, John Berkoski, Richie Anderson, Buzzy &
Bert Hedges, Gary Winters, Tommy Washburn, and about a dozen others.
Features were 25 laps. Malone was hot from the start and won the first
four weeks. Competitors complained to promoter Ed Hawkins that, if they
only had five more laps, they could catch him. So Hawkins increased the
features to 30 laps. Malone proceeded to win three more in a row. Again
the other drivers went to Hawkins and asked for five more laps,
increasing the features to 35 laps. While they succeeded in ending his
streak they did not end his dominance. Malone ended the '64 season with
13 victories and the track championship.
Picture of Unknown Origin
In 1964 the biggest races on the calendar for the modifieds
were the
Trenton 200 on the paved mile at the N.J. State Fairgrounds in August
and
the grand daddy of them all, the National Open at Langhorne in October.
And it was in these two races that Jim Malone proved that he was much
more than a good local racer.
At Trenton Malone qualified solidly and steadily worked his
way through the field. By the time eventual winner Joe Kelly had moved
the Don House XL-1 past Ray Hendrick at the completion of lap 198 Malone
was in sixth and finished there.
At the one mile dirt circle of Langhorne there were over 200
cars looking to qualify for the 60 starting spots in the Open. Again
Malone put himself solidly in the field and looked for a good day on
Sunday. The '64 race featured a great three wide finish between winner
Freddy Adam, and upstate N.Y. legends Kenny Shoemaker and Bill Wimble.
Right behind were the next three finishers - Bill Murdock, Bob Malzahn,
and Jim Malone. He had again finished sixth giving him top six finishes
in both of the biggest races of the season.
Jim Malone would go on to compete for seven more years, all
with Carl
Zeh, until a crash at the now paved Langhorne forced him to retire from
driving. But not before he quietly made his mark as one of the top
drivers Long Island ever laid claim to.
Dwight
THE END
Source: Dwight
Clock/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
December 19, 2006