Soap Box Derby – the 1980’s in Conshohocken and more

Soap Box Derby

Turning Back the Pages of Soap Box Derby History

40 Years, Going Back To 1980

By Jack Coll

7-7-20

Editor’s Note:  With the cancellation of the Conshohocken Annual Fourth of July Soap Box Derby due to the coronavirus I decided to dig deep into my Soap Box Derby files and provide a little history and perhaps a few memories for our Soap Box Derby fans everywhere.

This is the Fourth in a Series of Conshohocken Soap Box Derby Articles.

     Let’s pick-up the champions as we turn the pages back four decades to 1980.  Most of us welcomed in the new decade with open arms, if you mention the 1980’s to me outside my family the three things I remember most was the birth of MTV, (Music Television Video’s), Live-Aid and Soap Box Derby.

     For those of us who were awake at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time MTV was launched on August 1, 1981 with the words, “Ladies and gentleman, rock and roll.”  The words were played over footage of the first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia, which took place earlier that year, and the launch of Apollo 11.  Those words were followed by the MTV theme song playing over photos of Apollo 11 moon landing, with the flag featuring MTV’s logo changing various colors.  MTV producers had originally planned to use Neil Armstrong’s “One Small Step” quote but lawyers said Armstrong owns his name and likeness, and Armstrong had refused, so the quote was replaced by a beeping sound.

     The very first song shown on MTV was The Buggles, “Video Killed the Radio Star” and was followed by Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run”.  And how about the MTV VJ’s that included Alan Hunter, Mark Goodman, (A Philly guy who was a disc jockey on WMMR Radio) Martha Quinn, J. J. Jackson and Nina Blackwood.

     The second big thing that I recall from the 1980’s was “Live Aid,” Live Aid happened in mid July, (July 13) at Wembley Stadium, London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.  The concert featured nearly 70 of the biggest musical acts in the world mostly put together by Bob Geldof.

      In Conshohocken throughout the 1980’s I think about the redevelopment in the lower end of town.  In 1980 lower Conshohocken was a lonely level baron of nothing, and by the late 1980’s the buildings rising up out of the ground were unbelievable.

      There were some really big hit movies that started that whole 1980’s revitalization of going back to the movie theatres, none of these popular movies were viewed at the Riant Theatre because the theatre had closed in 1973.  Before moving onto soap box I wanted to take a minute and name a few of the movies that some of us enjoyed, “Ordinary People,” “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Raging Bull,” “ Caddyshack,” ” Raiders of The Lost Ark,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “E. T. the Extra Terrestrial,” “Poltergeist,” “Tootsie,” “A Christmas Story,” “Vacation,” ”Beverly Hill Cap,” “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” “Back to the Future,” “The Breakfast Club,” “The Color Purple,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Top Gun,” “Stand By Me,” “Lethal Weapon,” “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Field of Dreams,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “Dead Poets Society.”  The movie list goes on-and-on so let’s us talk about more important things like Conshohocken Soap Box.

     In 1980 more than 3,000 residents showed up to witness Donna Manderacchi win the Senior Division and Henry Stafford who won the Junior Division, over 34 other racers.  Donna was the first of ten females to claim a championship during the 1980’s.

     In 1981 a two-inch rainfall on the Fourth postponed the race until the following day when Mark Solorio won the Senior Division after finishing in third place a year earlier.  Amy Tomczak won the Junior Division as she raced past her good friend Bernadette Hayes who finished second as Dana Racich finished in third place to complete the female sweep in the Junior Division.  Solorio nosed out Al Torcini who finished second and Thomas Monaghan who finished third.

     Over the years an Oil Can race always featured a member of the Knights of Columbus pitted against a member of the American Legion Post or some other sponsoring organization.  In 1981 Paul Schwartz was pitted against Matt Doughtery, it was a close-one as Matt edged out Schwartz to hoist the coveted Oil Can Trophy.   Every year for many years a prestigious award named after the late William A. Moore was presented to someone who had contributed to the current derby.  In 1981 Lou Nicolai was presented the award for his work as the derby’s clinic director for a number of years and “Whitey” Nasielski who had been track director for the past four years at that point and would go on as track director for many years after 1981.  Bob Snyder, Dom Manderacchi and Tom Carroll all received awards at the annual derby banquet.

     It’s also important to point-out that in 1981 The Conshohocken Ambucs took over as sponsors of the annual Soap Box Derby.  The Ambucs were also responsible for the borough’s fireworks held at the “A” Field every year.  It was no easy task raising thousands of dollars every year for the fireworks display  In the mid-1950’s fireworks cost the Fourth of July Committee $700.00 a year and in the mid 1980’s the Ambucs were forced to raise between seven and ten thousand dollars before the fireworks company would even unload the fireworks onto the “A” Field.

     A number of those early Ambucs included Bob Wood. John Pasquarello, Dennis Moore, Chuck Faulker, Dave Bowe, Bill Davis, Bob Burt Jr., Bill DeMedio, George Falconero, Vince Flocco, Billy Hayes, Billy John, Jim McGuire, Peter Moore, Bobby Moore, Bernie Murray, Dave Murray, John Porrecca, Dave Rose, Mike Shelton, Joe Venezia and Len Wasmanski.  I’m sure I didn’t name all of them but my memory served me pretty good!)   

     It should also be noted that E. F. Moore Chevrolet and Oldsmobile Dealership once located at 12^th Avenue and Fayette Street contributed to the fireworks and many other Ambucs activities over the years.  The Ambucs are still involved going on 40 years now, if you get a chance, thank an Ambuc.

     In 1982, as Steve Dragon reported it for the Conshohocken Recorder newspaper, “The girls dominated the competition in the 30^th Annual Soap Box Derby.”  Steve went on to write “The finalists in the Senior Division were both girls with Amy Tomczak coming from behind and forcing a second final race to win the title over Isabel Monaghan in the double elimination competition.  Paul Salmons finished third, with Jennifer Snyder completing the final four.  In the Junior Division, Andy Nicolai and Mary Beth Donovan raced to a dead heat in their final, before Andy won the title in the second race.  Mike Moore finished third and George Hanna rounded out the top four with a fourth place finish.”  Well written Steve.

     The 1982 race featured a number of talented and veteran racers including Alan Keown, Bobby Moore, Bobby Racich, Sam Mashman, Jimmy Kenna, Henry Stafford, Amy Tomczak, Kevin Bowe, (Who happens to know a little-bit about cars) Michael Hoffer, Michael John, (Who also knows a little-bit about cars) Joe Ferraioli, David Borzelleca, Steve Bailey, Bernadette Hayes, Steve McQuirns, Dana Maria Racich, Jennifer Snyder, Isabel Monaghan, George Hanna, Andy Tracy and Tom Zummo just to name a few of the 1982 racers.

     Somewhere along the timeline of Conshohocken Soap Box Derby things changed, and I think that change started in 1983.  A time Swap system was introduced for the first time in Conshohocken.  Each driver would have a minimum four trips down the track.  Believe it or not Eddie Moore had introduced this idea years earlier when driver participation started slacking.  The cars seemed to get sleeker, attending Soap Box Derby rallies became a serious must for the more series car-builders and car-drivers.  The shape of the roadway, (Racetrack) became important, the placement of weights in the cars became more important than ever. (Should the weights be placed in the rear of the car in an effort to PUSH the car down the hill or should the weights be placed in the front of the car in an effort to have the weights PULL the car down the hill).  Should the driver’s break-to-the-outside of the track at Seventh Avenue and catch the down-hill crown on the roadway or just stay the course running straight as an arrow.

     It seemed to me that in 1983 it became important for the car-handler to place the wheels just-right on the ramps for maximum take-off and on-and-on-and-on.  All of this can be debated but one thing was for sure the girl power that rose up in the 1982 race was no fluke as the females swept the championships in the 1983 race.

     Isabel Monaghan was the Senior Champ and Charlene Bruno was the Junior Champ.  It was the first girl’s championship sweep in the borough’s racing history.  No more would the female drivers be looked down at as a novelty, because of the 1983 sweep every female participant from that point on has been taken seriously.

     Isabel finished ahead of Andy Nicolai; second place, Melissa Snyder; third place and Bernadette Hayes who finished fourth.  Charlene finished ahead of Alan Keown, Robert Racich and Michael Moore.

       In 1984, 52 racers competed to represent Conshohocken at the All American Championship Race held in Akron, Ohio.  Seven hours after the race started and 98 individual runs down the hill Andy Nicolai won the Senior Division and Dave Borzelleca won the Junior Division.

     Andy beat the second place finisher Tammy Harrington, third place finisher Anthony Dellose and Charlene Bruno who finished fourth to capture his championship.  David beat Kelly Monacella, Bill Donovan and Alissa DiCicco to punch his ticket to Akron.

     A little side note on Dave Borzelleca, he not only won the championship as a junior racer but also won the Senior Division the following year.  Here’s the thing, in his last two years of racing he never lost a race, not one and I’m not sure if any other driver can lay-claim the that scenario.  Also as a side note Mike Borzelleca and myself built Dave’s first car in my basement a year earlier and I don’t think Dave won a race in 1983, must have been bad wheels.

     A proud note, 1984 the Conshohocken Ambucs introduced a “Special Derby” race with two cars for handicapped racers.  Eight racers competed throughout the day using the two cars and it turned out to be a very special day for these kids and their parents.  While the Conshohocken Ambucs were responsible for the handicapped race Frank Monaghan was at the forefront of the Ambucs efforts.  In the years to come the Ambucs increased the handicapped cars to 24, and Conshohocken’s Handicapped Race became the largest race of its kind in the Country.  Another tip-of-the-cap to our Ambucs.    

     For the second year in a row Dave Borzelleca barley beat second place finisher Kelly Monacella for the championship.  It’s not that Kelly didn’t have a great car and its’ not that she didn’t run a good race, it’s just that the Conshohocken BREEZE was in Borzelleca’s lane.  In 1984 in the Junior Division race Dave beat Kelly by four thousandths of a second for the championship.  In 1985 it was a repeat race, Dave vs. Kelly and how close was it? Dave beat Kelly with an overall difference of one thousandth of a second, I’m thinking that’s the width of a fingernail. 

    A. J. Bruno took the top spot in the Junior Division without losing a heat.  Second place finisher Josh Dugas gave A. J. a really good run.  Matt McCarthy slid into third place and Lori Tomczak was solid all day but finished fourth.  In the Senior Division Charlene Bruno finished in third and Tom Peacock finished in fourth.

     Around town in 1985 Frank & Eddie’s was still pumping out the best hoagies on this side of the Matsonsford Bridge, you could still grab a cold-one at Al’s Uptown, Fayette Grille, Pat’s Bar, Jack’s Tavern, Casmar Café, the Village Tavern, O’Donnell’s Derby, Mansion House, Casinelli’s, The C.B.C. Club,  Bridgewater Tavern, and The Old Time Saloon.

     Remembering a few of other Conshohocken businesses from 1985, there was Julia’s Market, Sergio’s Tailor Shop, Harry and Benny’s Barber Shop, The Conshohocken Flower Shop, 6^th & Maple Deli, McClements Pharmacy, Pete’s Deli, Totaro’s Tavern, and Dennis’ Place.  Then there was Penn-Jersey, Light Parker Furniture, Connor’s Used Auto Parts, 401 Restaurant, Bolero’s Pizza, Jack’s Grocery, Conshohocken News Agency, Wallace Jewelers, McGuire’s Tavern, The Downtown Café, Baldwin Flowers, Al’s Deli, Zeock’s Pharmacy, Fayette Meats, and Charles Hair Styling.  We could run another page or two on Conshohocken Businesses but let’s get back to soap box.

         For the second time since the Junior/Senior Divisions were added to the race in 1976 it was a female sweep when Leah Racich and Alisa DiCicco swept the divisions in 1986. The first time it happened was three years earlier when Isabell Monaghan and Charlene Bruno did it in 1983.  Alissa was in her fourth year of racing and had placed fourth a year earlier in the Junior Division.  Leah did something rare when she defeated Lori Tomczak, a fourth place finisher in 1985, it was Leah’s first year racing, the nine year old first time racer defeated 28 other competitors in the division.  Fourteen year old Alissa beat thirteen year old Bo Donovan for the Senior Division Championship.

     A number of the other racers in 1986 included Alfred Bruno, Philip Dean, Joe DeLucca, Kim Manderacchi, Brian Coll, Drew Ferst, Josh Dugas, Jackie Coll, Chris Ciavarelli, David Carroll, Denise Raimondo, Mary Powell, Justin Aman, Robert Frost, Billy Kelly, Michael Johnson, Shannon Holmes, Adam Heffelfinger, Matt McCarthy, John McGrath, Michael McGrath, Bobby Pasquarello, Adam Moore, Michael Monacella, Jim Peiffer, Joey and John Porrecca, Robin Tracey, and Michael Ricci.  I think I named most of the 1986 racers.

     In 1987 the race produced two surprise winners, Kelly Monacella and Scott Gianninni not that they didn’t earn it but they took the town by surprise with their victories.  Kelly Monacella finished second in the 1985 race to Alisa DiCicco but Kelly didn’t race in 1986.  Kelly’s grandparents were both Conshohocken borough council members in the 1980’s, Tom Monacella was a councilman for a number of years and was still an active member of council when he passed away.  His wife, Kelly’s grandmother Madeline “Madge” Monacella took over her husband’s seat on council and also served for a number of years.  Kelly’s father is Tom Monacella.  In the Senior Division Kim Manderacchi finished second, Bill “Bo” Donovan finished third and A. J. Bruno finished fourth. 

     Scott Gianninni was a nine year old first time racer who beat-out a number of experienced racers on the day including second place finisher Billy Kelly, Michale Ricci who finished third and Lori Tomczak who was a runner-up in 1986.

     Scott’s car was built by his uncle Whitey Nasielski and his son Chris who were both members of the soap box derby committee at the time.  Chris was also presented the annual William A. Moore Award for his dedication to the derby for many years.  In 1987 the award given annually since 1952 was changed to the “William A. and Edward F. Moore Award” in honor of both men who were founding members of the modern-day derby and sponsors of the race becoming affiliated with the All American Race in Akron, Ohio.  Chris was presented the award for his dedication and participation in the race for a number of years.        

     Both Monacella and Gianninni were unbeatable throughout the day as neither driver lost a race the entire day, I’m not sure if that had ever been done, both champions going undefeated the entire race.

     In 1988 there were a number of great races with photo finishes and that theme carried into the final heats of the day when fan favorite Billy “Bo” Donovan in his sixth year of racing edged out Former Junior Champ Leah Racich in a thrilling race.  Donovan was a well-known racer on the fourth and was in his final year of eligibility when the victorious winds blew his way.  I think I once asked Bo about why he waited so long to take that turnpike trip to Akron, Ohio to participate in the All American and he replied that he just wanted to race the maximum years before his eligibility ran out.  Coming in third in the senior division was Christine Tomczak and fourth place was Dave Carroll in his “Slo-Mo-Shun” car.  I remember Dave did some pretty good driving that day to capture fourth place.

     The junior championship was won by twelve year old Jessica Frost who was also in a dog-fight with Billy Kelly for the championship.  Kelly gave Frost a good run for her money but he had to settle for second place.  Tara Gally, another good driver finished third and Jessica’s brother Robert finished fourth.

     Jessica was running out of the winner’s bracket in the finals when she lost to Kelly in a close heat, she managed to pull-out a comeback beating him in the final heat of the day by less than a second.  It was the same scenario in the senior division when Donovan was beaten by Racich early in the race and had to come back to win the first heat to force a second heat which he also won by less than a second.

     The 1989 race was full of excitement, just as the final races were getting underway the skies opened-up and down came the rain.  Joey Pfanders and Michael Lencewski were on the starting ramps for their final run and the rains came down in a hurry.  The two raced down the track towards the finish line.  First time racer Joey Pfanders edged out Michael Lencewski for the victory but both drivers crashed into the bales of hay set-up beyond the finish line.  The wet street caused their rubber brakes to glide along the surface into the bales of hay instead of the rubber brakes grabbing the road to stop the cars. 

     With one race to go for the senior division championship Derby Director Lou Nicolai made a safety decision to shut the track down due to safety concerns with the operation of the brakes on the cars and the final race wasn’t run until three days later. 

     When the rains came down the track had to be broken down, fences along Fayette Street had to be removed and the state highway was reopened to traffic.  Three days later the fences and ramps had to be reinstalled and assembled, traffic was shut-down, and the racers were loaded onto the ramps.

      After three days and sleepless night’s senior racers Leah Racich and Scott Giannini were pushed up onto the starting ramps at Eighth Avenue on Fayette Street.  Whitey Nasielski started the countdown and the starting gates dropped and the racers were off.  Leah Racich and Scott Giannini were both former champions, in a matter of seconds it was over and Leah Racich was on her way back to Akron, Ohio. Thirty seconds later the race was over and the ramps had to be torn down, fences removed and the street was opened to traffic once again

     In 1989, thanks to the Conshohocken Ambucs, all the participants in the race had an opportunity to enjoy an all-expense paid trip to view the All American Race in Akron, Ohio. It was a tremendous undertaking by the Ambucs led by Bobby Wood.  When interviewed at the time Mr. Wood explained that back in 1952 and 1953 all the boys who raced were treated to an all-expense paid trip to Akron Ohio to see the Conshohocken champions participate in the All American Classic.  Bobby was one of those youngsters who enjoyed the benefits of the derby committee and travel to Akron by train back then.

     Thirty six years later the 1989 Conshohocken soap box derby racers were once again headed to Akron for the trip of a lifetime.  The Ambucs managed to run the same trip to Akron two years in a row, 1989 and 1990 and the stories coming back from Akron were many.  Hard as we tried we had lost kids, home-sick kids, sick kids and even a group of kids who together spiked the Akron College Campus fountain with dye, and that’s when the police arrived.  I promise you an Akron article at another time I still have all my notes on those two trips, and when I write that article I’ll be naming names.  I didn’t want to name any kids back than because perhaps their parents wouldn’t have found it as funny as I did, BUT, I’m willing to name names now so their own kids can sit them down and ask their parents, “What the Hell were you thinking,” I love these little paybacks.  

     Before I get to the photo captions I think this would be a good time to clean out my notebook on the past three soap box articles I’ve written.  Thanks for all the positive responses. We received a few questions about the lack of information and photographs when I covered certain years.  Well that’s easy, I have 70 files for the past 70 years of soap box racing that includes 1938, 1939, and 1940.  However a number of those files are either empty or just have the champions names on them, so it’s hard to tell the story or show the photographs if I don’t have any information or photographs to talk about or show.  If I missed a year that might have been interesting to you feel free to share your photographs or information with us.

     Also, in part-one of this series I talked a little about Lowell Sibole, the 1953 champion.  I interviewed Lowell back in 1993 and when we pulled out the side of his soap box car we discovered that Conshohocken was spelled wrong, the side of his car has been displayed in our store window for public viewing.  Lowell’s son Karl contacted me from California to ask about the display in our window, he was very pleased and informed me that his father had passed away in December, 2016, I was sorry to hear that.  The last time I saw Lowell was sometime in the 1990’s, (The years just kind of run together at my age) I said hello to Lowell trackside on the Fourth of July at the race. We had a brief chat and parted ways, as he turned I said to him, “Hey Lowell, once a champ, always a champ,” he chuckled, turned and walked away, and that was the last time I ever saw him.  A few years after I last saw him he moved to Maine where he lived out his life.

     I also had a visit from former derby racer and father of two champions Rich Racich.  Rich stopped by the store to see the window display of Lowell’s car and brought me a set of soap box derby rules from his 1963 All-American Soap Box Derby Official Rule Book.  He noticed that I mentioned that in 1953 a $25.00 budget for car construction was mentioned, in his rule-book in 1963 the budget was $20.00.  Also the rule book was a letter from John F. Kennedy wishing all the racers the beat of luck.

     Also in a number of the photographs from the 1960’s and 1970’s cars are seen racing down Fayette Street towards the finish line.  The flagman standing at the finish-line waving the checkered flag was Harry Carr.  Harry worked the finish line for many years and was presented with the William A. Moore Memorial Award for his years of service.

     I would like to mention all of the Conshohocken Derby Directors from over the years, however, I’m not sure I have a complete list so if you can help me complete the list it would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks to the following residents who have served in the Derby Director capacity: Calvin Rigg, James Murphy, Robert Burt, Mike Dennis, Mickey Dennis, Lou Nicolai and Mark Marine.  

Photo captions above and below include:

1980***Mickey Dennis, second from left in the front row shows off his William A. Moore Memorial Award at the 1980 soap box derby banquet.  Front row from left included Tommy Carroll, Mickey Dennis, Whitey Nasielski and Dominick Manderacchi.  In the back row from left included Lou Nicolai, Billy Hayes and Ray Tomczak.

1981***Members of the Soap Box Derby Committee conduct a clinic at the Fellowship House.

1982***The 1982 Soap Box Derby Champions pose at the finish Line, Amy Tomczak with her parents on the left and Andy Nicolai on the right with his parents.

1982***Derby Winners display their trophies at the 30^th Annual Conshohocken Soapbox Derby Banquet, from left include, Mary Beth Donovan, 2^nd place in the Junior Division, Andy Nicolai, 1^st in the Junior Division, Mickey Dennis, Derby Director, Amy Tomczak, 1^st in the Senior Division, Isabel Monaghan, 2^nd in the Senior Division, and Paul Salmons, 3^rd in the Senior Division.  The banquet was held at the Skippack Fire House.

1982***It was a family affair in 1982, when three relatives raced against each other in the Junior Division.  From left Mike, Bobby and Jason Moore pose for a pre-race photograph.  Jason and Mike are brothers and Bobby is their cousin.

1983***Derby champions Isabel Monaghan, second from left and Charlene Bruno third from left pose with their trophies following the 1983 race.  Lou Nicolai, Director of the Derby on the left and Tommy Carroll, assistant Director is standing on the right.

1984***The 1984 champions pose with their trophies at the annual soap box derby banquet.  From left included Mickey Dennis, Dave Borzelleca, the Junior Champ, Johnny Pasquarello, member of the Conshohocken Ambucs who sponsored the race, Andy Nicolai, Senior Division Champion and Lou Nicolai Derby Director.

1984***Race Day Action.

1985***Race Day action.

1985***In the newer version of the Oil Can Race was Frank Monahan on the left and Mickey Dennis on the right.  The winner of the race depended on who you talked to.

1985***The Junior winners of the 1985 race receive their trophies at the annual banquet held at the spring Mill Fire Company.  From left was Tommy Carroll, Assistant Derby Director, A. J. Bruno, 1^st place, Josh Dugas, 2^nd place, Matt McCarthy 3^rd place and Lori Tomczak 4^th place.

1985***The Senior winners of the 1985 race received their trophies at the annual banquet held at the Spring Mill Fire Company.  From left included Charlene Bruno, 3^rd place, Kelly Monacella, 2^nd place, Lou Nicolai, Derby Director, Dave Borzelleca, 1^st place, and Tommy Peacock, 4^th place.

1986***Race day action.

1986***Jackie Coll preparing to go down the hill.

1986***Jackie Coll in her Joseph Rose Painting sponsored car headed down the hill like a bolt of lightning against Chris Ciavarelli whose car was sponsored by Ciavarelli’s Funeral Home.  I don’t remember who won that heat or that race but I’m going with Jackie Coll for obvious reasons.

1986***Leah Racich, sitting in her soap box derby car waiting to run the final heat of the day as she went on to win the Junior Division that year.  Standing behind Leah was her father Rich, to the left of Rich was Lou Nicolai, and to the right was Mickey Dennis.  Standing at the gate was the 1959 champ Tommy Carroll.

1986***Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s when anyone needed their car lettered, “WHO YA GONNA CALL” Reid Todd was the best in the business, seen here lettering a car for Jackie Coll, who happened to be wearing a great tee-shirt that day, Reid is seen with a paint brush in his hand.

1986***A typical scene at the pre-inspection held for years at the Conshohocken Fellowship House, from left, Diane Dean, Connie Dean, Bob Pfanders, Charlie Bruno, Tommy Carroll, Dave Carroll, Dave Carroll Jr., sitting in the car was Phil Dean and on his knees inspecting the car was Lou Nicolai.

1986***Tom “Monk” Monacella helps his daughter Kelly prepare to race down the hill.

1986***Lou Nicolai presents trophies to the 1986 champions at the finish line following the race.  Leah Racich is on the left and Allissa DiCicco who won the Senior Division is on the right.

1987***Installing the old red wooden fence along the race track back in 1987 included John Porrecca, Dennis Moore and John Scharff, all members of the Conshohocken Ambucs.  And YES, check-it-out, the ACME Market across Fayette Street had double coupons for the Fourth of July Weekend.

1987***Top-side action shows Jimmy “Slim” Dugas adjust the car for his son Josh.

1987***Champions Scott Giannini and Kelly Monacella pose with their families and show off their trophies after winning the 1987 race.

1987***Tom “Monk” Monacella has word with his daughter Kelly just before the gates dropped in the 1987 race.  Kelly went on to win the Senior Division. 

1987***Dominick Manderacchi helps his daughter Kim into her Senior Car during the 1987 race.

1987***The annual Pre-inspection held at the Fellowship House shows John Porrecca standing on the left watching the inspector go over his car.  Also included in the photo from left include Porrecca, Tom Monacella, Bob Frost, Rich Racich, and Charlie Bruno.  Tommy Carroll can be seen on the far right.

1988***Rich Racich has encouraging words with his daughter as he tucks her into her Senior Division car.

1988***Robert Frost Jr. is set to head down the track as his father Robert Frost Sr. looks on.

1988***Proud moment in the winner’s circle as Jessica Frost and William Donovan pose with their families following the 1988 race.

1989***Leah Racich was overcome with emotion after winning the Senior Division Race as she hugs her father Richard.

1889***Joey Pfanders went sliding into the hay-bails at the finish line in the final heat of the day as the rain began to fall, Pfanders was the overall champ in the Junior Division.

1989***Joey Pfanders poses with Mickey Dennis on the left and John Scharff on the right along with members of his family after winning the 1989 Junior Division championship.

1989***A few photographs from The All American Race in Akron, Ohio.