“Them damned people don’t know what the hell they are doin’! If you can get a press pass for that place…I will give you room for a weekly column.” claimed Lou Okenica…editor of the Lambertville, NJ small town weekly newspaper, The Beacon. Okenica was speaking of his attempts to secure a press pass for the Flemington Speedway to occasionally visit and take pictures for use in the paper.
I was sixteen…a sophomore in high school and had been attending Flemington with my Grandfather Jim Voorhees for eleven years already and got to know some of the officials and Bill Singer the announcer. I went to the office of The Beacon on Bridge Street in my hometown and asked about the possibility of writing for them covering Flemington? I got that “Them damned people” response noted above.
Well, I got the press pass and thus, began my hobby of auto racing journalism two years prior to my high school graduation. “One thing!” Okenica, who I affectionately called “Scoop” said, “You have to keep it locally interesting!”, he ordered.
Well, just so happens that this was 1975…the year that Billy Pauch was starting his racing career in the Flemington Speedway Rookie division. I told Okenica, “Well you know, there is this kid up in Stockton, (Stockton was two miles North up the Delaware River) that is starting at Flemington named Billy Pauch. “Great” he said…”Lets hope he makes some noise! Cover him!”
Um…the rest as they say…..is history! It was easy to become a fan of Billy’s with his immediate success behind the wheel. The only driver to ever sweep the seasons Rookie events (8 in all) Pauch went on that year to win some Sportsman features and the following year, terrorized the New Jersey Sportsman division, winning an unheard of 28 main event victories.
June 4th, 1978 at the East Windsor Speedway, Billy began a journey that would lead him to a total of 744 modified division feature event wins, when he claimed the nights thirty lap feature in his own #15. The following week, he turned the trick in a thirty lapper at the Flemington Speedway and just a few weeks later, took his first extra distance event – a 100 lapper at Flemington, aboard the famous Sonny Dornberger #99.
The die was cast. He was headed for stardom! April 9, 2022, just last week, saw Billy engage in an exciting battle for the modified win at the Bridgeport Speedway, edging his own Son, Billy Jr. to take the checkered flag. Win #744 was in the books and became the swansong on his illustrious career that exhibited so much success in such a wide variety of racing divisions!
A few years ago, I came up with the idea of preparing a tribute video to Billy, to have it ready whenever he retired. Seems as if that time has come. Confirmation came from a crew member and his own Daughter Mandee…Billy “The Kid” has taken his last competitive ride! It has truly been my pleasure to have followed his career! I hope you all enjoy this tribute to one of the best to ever get behind the wheel! I hope you all enjoy this effort!
https://youtu.be/NqBuy3axPAk
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