Email Lew at lewboyd@coastal181.com
 

It would be inappropriate to call this a Coastal car.  However, it was the inspiration for the tradition of blue and yellow #181s that has now continued for 50 years.

Walter “Pepper” Eastman was a dirt driver from Madison, New York.  Though not a huge winner, he was unusually popular with his series of 181 Sportsman coupes. Typically huge blue flames would fire from his exhaust collector as he lifted for turns on the dusty Empire State half-miles. The high point in his career was in 1957 when he took the Monroe County championship.  The victory had its macabre side, however.  Actually, burly Don Hendenberg had emerged first in points, but, when he died in a highway accident, the title was awarded to Pepper, the runner-up.

In the sixties Pepper did some ride-hopping and drove Bob Zimmerman’s #72. On August 14, 1965, Pepper was running the consi at Fonda and he brushed the graveyard turn wall.  The flip that followed was fatal.

(John Grady photo)

This is an IMCA modified that was driven by long-time New York racer Danny Wood. The car has had its ups and downs. Danny was fast in it, until one tumultuous night in 2006 at Fonda. Fonda has its way of finishing off race cars, but this one had something in reserve. Danny sold it at the Lebanon Valley flea market to Adam Pierson, the youngest of a great Vermont racing family. Adam wheeled it to the 2007 IMCA Championship at Bear Ridge Speedway.

This is our Coastal 181 open competition modified. She is a good old girl – a lightened up, winged, 1991 Champ Car. We call her Jean.

We brought her out for Charlie Elliott’s “Last Hurrah” race at Canaan (NH) Speedway last August. Danny Douville drove it for us and he started in the back row next to “Roarin’” Randy Howe in the #82. The two of them blasted through the field to the front and had quite the spirited battle.

In this photo, Danny was just taking the lead, and things were looking pretty good for the Coastal team. On the next lap, however, the fence jumped out right out in front of us.

Oh well.

Karl Fredrickson, Editor of Speedway Illustrated magazine, has a great family, a great writing style, and a great sense of humor. He is also a winning short track driver. Most of his driving has been on asphalt and he has won in all manner of pavement pounders, including this modified. Just to keep him honest, a few seasons ago we at Coastal 181 loaned him a car to run on dirt for a year. He learned well. When he went to Boone to cover the Nationals for the magazine in 2005. He got himself a ride and won the Sport Mod feature.

This #181 is a TEO modified racing at the infamous Bear Ridge Speedway in Vermont. The driver is Blake Shepard, who by day is a Vice President of Fidelity Investments in Boston. On the weekends another side of Blake’s personality comes alive. We call him “Sideways” Shepard. You can see why.

That’s Jim Rigney in September of 1950, standing next to his family’s Pontiac at the old Naples Speedway in upstate New York. Jim became a major open wheel enthusiast and had a stellar career in publishing in Boston. He has been a major player in Coastal 181 since its start. He co-authored the FONDA book and has done the design portion of most all of Coastal 181’s titles.

Rick Standridge, an outstanding veteran dirt late model racer, cops one this summer at Belle-Claire Speedway, an intense, high-banked fifth-mile dirt oval in Belleville, Illinois. Rick’s wife Joyce is a nationally known racing journalist who wrote both GOTTA RACE! with Ken Schrader and INSIDE HERMAN’S WORLD with Kenny Wallace for Coastal 181. Further titles will be forthcoming. Photo credit to Billy Haffer.

Danny Douville is a winning modified shoe from Tilton, NH. He has well over 100 feature wins, dirt and asphalt. In special recognition of a great season a year or two back, his buddies teamed up with Coastal 181 to send Danny to the Chili Bowl in Tulsa. Danny looked really good and, amazingly, almost made it into the show. One thing is for sure – the folks in New England are still talking about it. Photo credit to Otto Graham.

Here’s one of Coastal 181’s house cars at the Vintage Day at New Hampshire International Speedway. The car was built in 1980, one of the very first off Dave Lape’s “Champ Car” assembly line. It ran dirt tracks all over the Northeast, piloted by Tim Clemons, John Bellinger, Karl Fredrickson, and Finch Fenton. Photo credit to R. Roberts.