While in graduate school in the early 1970s, Henry Horenstein would attend Speedway races in New England to watch his brother-in-law compete.
In front of his camera, drivers flew around the track in custom beat-up cars racing at breakneck speeds in hopes of small-town glory.
Horenstein's light-hearted images present us with a slice now of what the world of auto racing was like back then, before racing became big business, as it slowly morphed into Nascar, the fastest sport in the world. growth in the world. “I was still in graduate school and looking for subjects. There had to be good photos in there for an aspiring historian with a camera. What better than an old school sport that would surely die out one day? I'm still waiting. My brother-in-law Paul raced stock cars, old ones. Paul's cousin, Dickie Simmonds, owned the local Gulf Station and modified the junkers Paul drove at places like Seekonk Speedway (Seekonk, MA) and Thompson Speedway (Thompson, CT).
Paul and Dickie had friends in low places." Henry Horenstein "When I started looking at the photos I recognized most of the cars and began to marvel at the abilities of some of these drivers and their teams to keep these loads going. They must have been geniuses... As I looked over the photos for the second time I realized that for a book about car racing there are more photos of people than of their cars and this is something else that Henry and I share.In Car Talk we use cars as an excuse to talk to people. and get to know them and their stories. Ray Magliozzi
Pages — 88
Cover — Hardcover / Tip on / screen printed
Size — 254 x 254mm
