Top: Hotrod
Second: Anonymous
Top: Family Collection
Second: Unknown
Top Photo: This site would be incomplete without a picture of one of the most interesting stories of a competitor to ever call the high banks of Lebanon home.
Bo Green out of Pittsfield, MA is pictured here wheeling the Orange and Black (Trust Me) Square Zero car back in 1954. For those not old enough to know their Valley History, Bo Green was an African American driver who competed at LV back in the 50’s, not exactly a time when African Americans were common on the grounds of your local speedway.
Is that not enough?
Well, Bo was also blind in one eye, so He took on the Boiler Plates with a hell of a lot more than any other competitor did back then. Not sure if Bo ever captured a checkered flag, but He accomplished a lot more than many other drivers did back then without the winners check.
Our Anonymous contributor added that Bo was indeed a top runner in the 50’s, and was very popular among both his competitors and fans. Also pictured are the 262 (A past LVC visitor request) of Lennie Noreen and the 088 Olds of Gene Dayou.
Second
Photo: This
isn’t the proper way to christen a new car, the way Bo Green did back on
August 2nd, 1958. Seems as
if the legendary Bo has a little work to do on his carriage before he turns
more laps at the Spaniers ½ mile oval.
On the left of the picture is Ray Havey, owner of the X87 and 87 specials (along with his brother Henry) driven to numerous wins by Bob Kudlate and Chuck Peck in the late 50’s.
While recently talking to Smokey Joe Saldo, Smoke told me a story of a race that was stopped for everyone to help search for Bo's glass eye. Not an easy task on a dirt track. In fact, not an easy task anywhere. After an exhaustive search, the eye was found, the race was restarted and Bo went home with most of his parts.
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