The corridor between Interstates 78 and 80 now funnels a lot of New York commuters to western New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. A lot of racing cars used to go banging along the original two-lane highways en route to clashing on carved-out circles in the great valley where New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania meet. The locales, most of them gone, still ring out: Reading, Harmony, Nazareth.
Thousands of people who loved fast cars and brassy drivers revered this region. As a demonstration, look to the IRCO Credit Union Dirt Track Heroes Show. It’s grown stoutly in each of its four years at the Phillipsburg Mall on Route 22 in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, down which countless race cars traveled. The show runs from this Sunday through next Saturday. Among the horde of yesterday’s stars in attendance will be 1960 and 1961 NASCAR Modified champion Bill Wimble and Reading Fairgrounds stalwart Freddy Adam, both of whom will be signing books on the show’s penultimate night. Acclaimed race promoter Bob Miller is the organizer; go to www.thunderonthehillracingseries.com for more info.