The Midgets are great! I hope the group can prosper and grow.
I’m looking forward to watching the “Fast Freddie” Stutz Memorial race on May 9 at CCMP. I am astounded that he was 79 years old, and still racing, when he passed away. He is an inspiration to people everywhere.
(Copied below from National Speed Sports News)
Freddie Stutz Was The Original ‘Fast Freddie’
VALLEY STREAM, N.Y.
Just a bit more than 50 years ago, Freeport Stadium opened its doors for the 1958 season. Even though I was only 13, I already was a six-year veteran fan. Freeport’s agonizingly long seven-month off season had finally ended. My family and I took our familiar seats near starter Myke Collins.
The pits were full of non-Fords and novices ready for the first night of racing. With the first belch from promoter/announcer Duke Donaldson on the P.A., the season kicked off with the first non-Ford heat. The 12 lapper was won by Freddie Stutz in his Hudson coupe. Fred always had to be different.
We all say we love racing, but compared to Fred Stutz, we are all pretenders. Fred was 79 years old and wherever he is, he’s either joking or bragging about probably being the oldest to die in a race car.Now, it’s 50 years later. Freeport is gone. All of its officials and many of the drivers have passed on. I’m the only one left in my family. The last thing I would have thought of that night was the guy who won that first heat, would drive his last race, 50 years hence.
Freddie Stutz was never a star at Freeport. He did win some features and in 1961 set the modified 12-lap heat record. Things soon changed. A host of stock-car drivers began racing three-quarter midgets. Fred was one of them, driving Maxie Cohen’s sometimes-cranky Triumph. They were a good team. Maxie never smiled and Freddie always was cheerful.
Indoor racing was big then. In 1963, Freddie “bearcatted” his way to the opener at Island Garden. It was the first race I covered for this paper.
Freddy continued to race TQs for years. They had a neat little tenth-mile track in Pine Brook, N.J. Freddie was a long-time favorite there. Then the roof fell in. Pine Brook shut down and the ATQMRA nearly folded. There was nowhere to race.
Freddie decided to pull up stakes and retired to Florida. He didn’t stay idle too long. Fred got the good news that Charlotte Motorsport Park, near Orlando, featured TQs. Some transplanted northerners like Jack Duffy were racing there. Fred got himself a TQ and raced there every week. It was a four-hour tow each way.
I discovered via Christmas cards that Fred lived just a couple of miles from my brother. I paid him a visit one year. I expected a somewhat older version of Freddie. He had hardly changed a bit. With his high energy, he gave me a grand tour of his place and beamingly showed off his race car.
He jokingly said he had so many major organs removed, he had few parts left. This didn’t stop him. He raced every week. Every year he’d give me a progress report.
A few years ago, with no nearby track to practice on, Fred took his TQ to the streets. He had a crash and broke his neck. What would most guys in their 70s do after a wreck like that? Well, Freddie rebuilt the car and raced again.
Last month, while running hot laps, his throttle jammed and Fred hit the wall hard. It was a bad one. His many injuries required surgery. Unfortunately, he went into a coma and the doctors told his son, Jay, he’d never recover. Jay had to make the ultimate tough decision.
We all say we love racing, but compared to Fred Stutz, we are all pretenders. Fred was 79 years old and wherever he is, he’s either joking or bragging about probably being the oldest to die in a race car.
Like anybody who ever knew him, I’ll miss him a lot.
RIP, my friend. His wife and family can be reached at 11906 Cedarfield Dr., Riverview, Fla. 33569.
E-mail to Racewri 771@AOL.com. Mr. Rahmer may be “Fast Freddie,” but I knew the first one!
