"Racing community mourns..."

    Scott Fraser, one of the most popular and talented stock car drivers in the Canadian Maritimes, lost his life early Saturday morning in a snowmobile accident.

    According to reports, Fraser collided head-on with another snowmobile in the Wentworth Valley region of Nova Scotia.

    The son of Maritime racing legend Frank Fraser, Scott was popular to the race fans and to fellow drivers on both sides of the border. He made frequent visits to New England to compete in major Pro Stock races, and more often than not, Scott would return to his home in Shubenadie, Nova Scotia with a trophy in hand for a top three finish.

    Fraser gained national attention in 2000 when he teamed up with fellow Maritime racer Rollie MacDonald to compete on the ASA Series. Scott entered 19 ASA races in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, finishing a career best third at the famed 'Milwaukee Mile' in 2000.

    In 1999 at the Oxford (Maine) Plains Speedway, Scott finished third in the "OXFORD 250". He won the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) "Octoberfest 200" at the Thompson (Connecticut) International Speedway in 2002 and won the PASS "150" at the New Brunswick International Speedway last July 5th.

    In what became his final Pro Stock race in New England, Scott led 32 laps in the "Big Dawg Challenge" at the Wiscasset (Maine) Raceway last October. He would eventually finish 20th.

    Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and many friends.

    Cards of sympathy can be sent to: Family of Scott Fraser - P. O. Box 104 - Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia BON 2HO.

    "Bahre back home..."

    New Hampshire International Speedway owner Bob Bahre was released from the hospital this week and will continue his recovery from injuries suffered in a January auto accident at home.

    The Chevrolet Blazer Bahre was driving went off the road in Brownfield (located in western Maine). He was returning to his Paris, Maine home from the speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Bahre sustained a concussion, rib injuries, a minor fracture of back vertebrae and a fractured ankle.

    Cards and letters of get well wishes can be sent to New Hampshire International Speedway - P.O. Box 7888 - Loudon, N. H. 03307.

    "Hall bound in Georgia..."

    One can almost be tempted to "bet the farm" that few auto racing fans in Maine have ever heard of a race car driver named Eddie MacDonald. And, I do not mean the Eddie MacDonald who competes on the NASCAR Busch North Series and whose family owns Lee (New Hampshire) USA Speedway.

    I am referring to the Eddie MacDonald who raced at Beech Ridge Speedway, Oxford Plains Speedway and other dirt tracks in Maine in the early 1950's.

    When I was about five or six years old, the name Eddie MacDonald was etched forever in my young mind. It wasn't because he won a race or two (he won often in those days) or he was involved in a spectacular accident (I'm sure he had a couple). After all, specific events do not stick in a young boy's mind unless it involves getting a new bike or special toy.

    No, what permanently etched Eddie MacDonald's name in my young mind was the car he drove...more specifically, the nickname of his car - "The Pink Lady".

    Yes, the car was painted pink and I can remember vividly the late Don Kent, the announcer at Beech Ridge, saying "driving the Pink Lady is Eddie MacDonald" or "Eddie MacDonald in the Pink Lady."

    Oh, there was a number but I could never remember what his number was. It was just "Eddie MacDonald in the Pink Lady". In the last couple of years I have seen pictures of Eddie and the Pink Lady...the car number was "12".

    As much as I looked forward to seeing "Eddie MacDonald in the Pink Lady" each week in the early 1950's, he disappeared from the Maine racing scene. Back then, there were no racing papers or racing writers who kept fans informed of the racing news.

    About eight or ten years later, the early 1960's, my father subscribed to a weekly racing paper titled the "Southern Motorsports Journal". As family we read the "Journal" to find out how the "big boys" were doing - Fireball Roberts, Lee Petty, Curtis Turner, Buck Baker, Richard Petty, etc.

    It was in the "Journal" when a familiar name appeared - Eddie MacDonald. I discovered the Eddie MacDonald who I was reading about racing and winning races on the short tracks of Georgia, was the same "Eddie MacDonald in the Pink Lady". I couldn't wait for my father to get the "Journal" so I could see if MacDonald won again.

    Turn the calendar ahead to the summer of 2002. Through my involvement with the Maine Vintage Race Car Association, I received an e-mail from a racing historian in Georgia asking if I had ever heard of a fellow who raced in Maine in the early 1950's by the name of Eddie MacDonald?

    I responded, telling this person of my memories of "Eddie MacDonald and the Pink Lady". Through more e-mails, I discovered MacDonald "disappeared" from the Maine race tracks when "Uncle Sam" relocated the Army private to Georgia in 1954. I was also informed that he and his wife "summer" in western Maine.

    In early July of 2002, I received a phone call from Eddie MacDonald and had the pleasure of meeting him last summer.

    I have since discovered Eddie MacDonald not only won numerous short track championships and won hundreds of races throughout the southeast, but he raced with NASCAR on the old Daytona beach course and on the high-banks of Daytona International Speedway.

    What triggered this journey down memory lane was the announcement two weeks ago of Eddie MacDonald and seven other Georgia racing notables being elected to the Georgia Automobile Racing Hall of Fame.

    I know of one little boy who is smiling.   

Till next time – drive Safely