The starting grid for the modified race. George Constantine on the pole in the booming Aston Martin, Alan Connell in the 250 Maserati #12 in the middle and Bob Holberts Porsche RSK on the outside.

Coming over the hill to the start finish line Constantine leads with Holbert in second. That’s the way they would finish in the Labor Day Monday feature.

George pulls the Aston in to collect the checkered flag.

A happy fathering as Rex Woodgate congratulates Constantine on the victory in the Aston Martin DBR2.

The grid for Sunday’s modified event had Walt Hansgen’s Costin-Lister Jag on the pole with Phil Forno’s Porsche 550RS #23 next. Constantine is behind Hansgen.

Walt Hansgen in the Lister and Constantine in the Aston Martin battled all year swapping wins. The championship went all the way to the final race at Daytona. Thompson was the perfect example; Hansgen wins on Sunday and Constantine on Monday.

Britt Ragsdale gets ready to flag Hansgen’s Lister-Jag in first place.

Alfred Momo looks on as Ragsdale leans in to get the checkered flag back from Hansgen. For some reason Momo taped the numbers on Cunningham’s cars. We saw this for years. The numbers were not painted on but done with beautiful precision in black tape.

A stunning photo of the huge Costin bodied Lister-Jag and the calm, business demeanor of the master Walt Hansgen.

Sir Alfred Momo at the pit wall with Mrs. Momo just before the GM, HM, GP race is to begin. Phil Forno won HM in a Cunningham OSCA.

Holbert passes the opening for pit out on his way to second overall and first in F Modified.

Bob and Mrs. Holbert celebrate after another FM victory.

Gaston Andrey moved up from his older Monza to this 500TRC Ferrari for 1959 and did very well. At Thompson he was EM and was 7th overall.

Andrey on the start line nex to Gordon MacKenzie’s venerable C type Jag. MacKenzie raced that C Type for years. He most often came to the races in his Scottish kilts. No, he did not wear them to race in.

Alan Connell in his 250 Maserati. Some magazines did not recognize the car and called it a Ferrari. Connell won DM and placed 5th overall on Monday.

Bob Columbosian of Colombo yogurt fame, was an avid racer and most often drove his Lister-Bristol.

Bob Grossman in a Ferrari California had to race in DM as the car, although street legal and driven to the race, was not homologated and could not race in production.

An unusual red Porsche 550 was campaigned by Joe Trotter. By 1959 the 550 was outdated being replaced by the RSK introduced in 1958. The 550’s were still great cars and Trotter enjoyed many a weekend with the car.

Joe Trotter brings his Porsche 550RS into the paddock after Sunday’s race. Joe was 9th.

Phil Forno gets cheers from the starter along with the checkered flag for winning HMand overall on Sunday.

Alfred Momo looks like a proud papa to his protege’ Phil Forno who has won HM in the Cunningham OSCA. Phil not only wrenched the cars but raced them very successfully.

The DP lineup. Pierre Mion in #59, Harry Carter center #80 and David Zabludoff on the far right.

Harry Carter sometimes drove with his arm on the door locking himself in place. Here is a great example of that style while winning DP. He leads Bob Petit’s #114 AC Bristol.

In his very stylish New England plaid shorts and knee socks, starter Britt Ragsdale welcomes home Harry Carter’s DP winning AC Bristol.

Zabludoff’s blue AC down the start/finish straight.

Frank Wagenhofer had a good weekend in his Porsche Carerra with two seconds. Wagenhofer was from Montgomery, NY and always helped with the big National races at the local airport.

Frank Wagenhofer drives his Carerra through a dusty paddock.

High atop the Momo Corp car carrier, BARCBOYS Joe Tierno and John Kelley (both at rear) enjoy an unrestricted view of he track.

The grandstand just opposite the pits in the race car paddock. Thompson had an unusual setup. The pits were on the opposite side of the track from the paddock. Any emergency in the pits necessitated stopping the race.

The usual hard fought Thompson battle. Bob Grossman’s Ferrari California leads Bob Colombosian’s Lister Bristol with Gus Andrey’s Ferrari TR550 behind. Grossman would stay ahead of Andrey finishing 6th. The Lister was a dnf.

Vestal’s Phil Forno was a good friend of the BARCBOYS. He was a master Jaguar mechanic and prepared and drove Briggs Cunninghams cars while working for Alfred Momo.

Phil Forno in the Cunningham Porsche 500RS. Brit Rex Woodgate in the blue coveralls in back. Woodgate was responsible for Elisha Walkers Aston Martin driven by George Constantine

In this Phil Forno shot, Phil has driven Briggs Cunningham (black shirt) in the Jag sedan and is hustling off to get the cars ready to race.

A happy John Meyer in his Pontiac powered Sadler-Meyer Special after winning the Unrestricted race.

A color shot of the Sadler-Meyer Special. Brand new 1959 Ford station wagon which was a very typical tow car.

Charles Kelsey’s 4CLT/48 Maserati F1 car sits next to the #135 Jomar of Ray Saidel. Neither car finished.

The old F1 car sits in the paddock on its single axle trailer. In todays racing you are hard pressed to find more than a handful of single axle race car trailers. And rarely would you see a great Maserati like this one.

In 1959, Formula III races were still popular. Formula Jr had just come out as the new beginners class. Lex DuPont is closest with Jim Haynes beside him and Paul Richards on the outside.

Paul Richards #17 passes Richard Hagy in #7. Richards would finish 2nd but Hagy was a dnf.

Jim Haynes Cooper Mk XIII was 3rd.

Lex DuPont gives a fist pump and a smile as he leads FIII.

DuPont takes the checker and victory on Sunday.

The wonderful and crazy Frank Dominianni surprised Roy Tuerke with a hard inside move. Tuerke would return the favor for the win, with Frank second in the championship Labor Day Monday race.

Tom Kerr leads the Austin-Healey of Charlie Hayes. Hal keck in Corvette #119 is coming up quickly. Keck would finish 4th, Kerr 7th and Hayes 2nd in DP.

Sunday’s production race had Dean McCarthy’s 250GT Ferrari spin while leading Jerry Loman’s Mercedes-Benz 300SL. Monday McCarthy would keep it straight and beat Loman.

Don Wolfe spins his Corvette on Sunday’s regional races. Wolfe would recover and finish.

Frank Dominianni is pushed hard by Richard Jalabert. They would finish in that order on Monday, Frabk 2nd and Dick 3rd. John Murray’s Austin-Healy 100 would finish 17th.

Earl Simpson #93 MGA is challenged by Ray Gaul in #144. Gaul would pass Simpson to beat him on Sunday but both finished far back on Monday.

BARC member Bob Poupard in his first race car, the blue 1500cc MGA. Poupard did better on Monday and was 2nd MGA. MG’s were completely outclassed by the 4 cam Porsche Carerra’s who also raced in FP because their engines were the same size as the MG.

Arch McNeil in the Morgan trails the TR-3 of Tom Reid. McNeil prevailed but the two cars were simply outclassed by the EP AC Bristols and 4 cam Carerra Porsches. In 1959 classes were determined by engine size. This was changed in 1960 when the SCCA dropped the FIA displacement classes and went with relative performance.

A lot of action in the GP between Alfa’s, Frenxch DB’s all trailing the HM Fiat Abarth of Ray Cuomo in these GP, HP, IP and HM races.

Ray Cuono in the 1000cc Fiat Abarth #80 leads the Alfa of Ken Green, who is barely holding off Norris Crosby’s #65DB, Dave Elder’s Alfa and Bill Lowerre’s DB #167.

Rochester’s Dave Elder traveled to Thompson and came home with a 5th and a 6th in his Guilietta Veloce.

Paul Richards stands on the grid. Richards drove this #83 Team Roosevelt Fiat-Abarth 750 to 1st in I Production both days.

On the grid in the Abarth Monza with a modified 750cc engine raced in HM. Ray Cuomo stands beside his Team Roosevelt car.

A great period photo during practice. BARC driver Bob Poupard’s MGA is followed by Chuck Stoddard’s #3 Alfa, The Lister Jag #60 of Walt Hansgen, Ken Fagan’s #47 Alfa then #43 Austin Healey of Charlie Hayes and the #9 Meyer Special of John Meyer. The grandstands in back are for the 1/2 mile oval track.

Walt Hansgen in the Stanguelini has just passed Ray Saidel’s Jomar. Both would be passed by Frank Baptista’s Elva which is third here. This was the unrestricted race on Sunday.

An example of early engineering is this Healey Special of Jim Jackson. The car still carried the Austin-Healey badge but looked more like a Fraser Nash from the front. Jackson finished both modified races.