Fred
Harbach
by Dwight
Clock
Long Island has always been blessed with
many top modified drivers. Jarzombek, Hendrickson, Brunnhoelzl,
DeAngelo, Malone, and Lacy are just a few names that come to mind. There
are many, many others. But one that had a great career was Huntington's
Fred Harbach.
Fred began his career in 1957. By 1962 he was a top runner in
the modifieds and was a threat to win every week. One thing that helped
Fred Harbach become the terrific driver that he was, was his willingness
to tow to other tracks, both asphalt and dirt, to learn and compete.
Harbach competed in the Eastern States 200 at Middletown,
N.Y., at Langhorne on the dirt, and was one of a very few L.I. drivers
that ever ran at Stafford when it was dirt. His favorite places to race
off Long Island were the little paved bullrings that were similar to the
island tracks. Places like Fort Dix, N.J. and Utica-Rome, N.Y.
Photo Courtesy of
Himes Museum
For many years one of the biggest modified races
on the schedule was the New Yorker 400 at Utica-Rome that attracted all
the top upstate N.Y. and New England cars. Harbach recorded a second and
a
third place finish in his appearances there. When the All-Star League
was formed pitting all the top pavement and dirt drivers in the
northeast against each other it was Harbach who won the very first race
in the series at Albany-Saratoga, N.Y.
Harbach won track championships at many tracks in his career
including Islip, Riverhead, Freeport, and New Egypt (Fort Dix). But he
saved the best for last. On his very last night of competition at
Riverhead, Fred won the feature AND the track championship and walked
away from the sport as very few in it's history have been able to do.
Sadly, Fred did not live to fully enjoy that as a massive heart attack
took him from us that winter. Fred did live to compete with his sons
Alan and Richie and always competed with his loving wife Gerri as his
number one fan. Harbach worked hard, raced hard, played hard, and loved
every minute of all of it. He was a treasure of Long Island racing.
Dwight
THE END
Source: Dwight
Clock/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
January 9, 2007