InstaGRAM Report; Marty Himes and his Racing Career
If your passionate about Long Island racing history, chances are that you learned some of that knowledge from Marty Himes. Sadly, Marty is no longer with us, but his history and his memory's will live on forever. This article is dedicated to Marty Himes and will be the first of many to continue the documentation of Long Island dirt track racing. Marty Himes funeral is this Saturday November 11th. Click here for the funeral information and the GoFundMe campaign.
Gram Spina
Marty Himes started his racing driver carer in 1955 at the 0.2 Mile oval racetrack in Freeport New York. His car of choice was a 1937 Hudson Sedan with the race number of 150 on the doors of his Hutson. His race class category was the Stock Car Division and in 1962 Marty became Stock Car Track Champion.
The poster shown here features a photo of Marty in 1962 when he became the Stock Car Track Champion.
Image credit thanks to the New York Heritage Digital Collections
Marty's racing career brought him to multiple racetracks across long Island, such as Islip Speedway and Bridgehampton. At one point there was forty different dirt oval racetracks across Long Island and if Marty didn't race on a certain track, he definitely had a collection of memorabilia documenting the history and races that happened on those long-gone racetracks. - this includes Vanderbilt Cup Racing history as well.
A black and white photograph of Marty Himes standing in front of his 1948 Ford F700 truck. Marty was salvaging the Freeport Stadium flag poles and ticket booths before the demolition of the stadium.
Image credit thanks to the New York Heritage Digital Collections
Marty collected a little bit of everything. Marty often said that you could not see everything in his collection in a single day. From racing photographs, model car kits, Long Island Hot Rod club plates, Hop-Up speed equipment, vintage racing helmets and jackets and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
We would love to hear your favorite memories involving Marty and his collection. This photo showcases one of my most cherished memory's during my visit when Marty gave me Freeport Raceway spectator tickets as a souvenir for my visit.
Upcoming articles documenting Dirt Track Racing History here on Long Island are coming soon, stay tuned.
Rest in peace Marty Himes.
Comments
It was great when we all went out to Marty’s Museum
I always heard about his place but never made it that
was a great day on that road trip to there
thanks, Howard for setting that up
Rest in peace Marty
Thanks Gram for keeping our memories of Marty alive on vanderbiltcupraces.com. I look forward to seeing more. I also received Speedway tickets when I visited - hopefully I can find them now. I knew exactly where they were in my house on LI, but unfortunately when I moved I’m not sure where they ended up. Thanks again.
And thanks for all the work you’re doing at the Waterfront. I’m always amazed at the amount of material we have at our disposal.
Getting a personal tour from Marty when I visited this past summer with Fram and my Brother Dennis will forever remain a highlight of my motorhead life. His anecdotes about Islip, Freeport and (!!!) Limerock we’re amazing. What a collection. What a legend. My sincere hope is that the collection he amassed will be coherently preserved in order to honor his magnitude and passion for this auto mania we all love and respect.
Oops. In my haste spelled my own Son Gram’s name wrong… so sorry.
A great guy. Thanks for all you did. RIP
Rita and I stopped by the memorial service Saturday and the Islip Speedway truck and Marty’s Ford race car were parked out front and a Suffolk police cruiser was parked on the shoulder w/ lights flashing. Inside were photos and banners of Marty and the museum, including the famous Wheaties cover photo. Marty we hope you got the checkered flag into heaven and your many friends were waiting for you. RIP