Thanks Fred - This is kind of an inside thing Fred, but not sure if you remember the first time I met you (early 90's), but I was surprised it was you because I just figured you would have been a lot older! ![Laughing Laughing](jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif) Let me explain for those who don't know the rest of the story.... I started going to East Windsor in the mid-late 60s.... I started going to Flemington in 1970. as a 10/11 year old in 1970/'71, I made it a point to not only know who the driver's were, but who the modified owners were too... Being at that age, I always figured that all of the modified owners were probably at least in their 40's or 50's (some older), and having never seen/met Fred Menschner, I assumed that he was in that age group too. So... one day back around 1992 or so, I was at an Amoco Station(?) near Parkway Ave in Ewing NJ some two decades after the #21 had last roared, as part of my normal work deal when I worked for a company that sold automotive diagnostic equipment to repair shops. When I was getting out of my truck, I saw a pickup truck that had "F. Menschner" lettered on the door... Even though it was over 20 years, (and I'm sure every Flemington, East Windsor, etc., reading this right now would have done the same thing....), I instantly thought of the silver #21 (one of my all time favorite modifieds from the early 70's), and thought of driver Ray Neary and owner Fred Menscher. I could hear Bill Singer's voice... "...And starting in position _ _ _", in car #21.......", "will be Ray Neary...." "Neary in the Fred Menschner owned #21" I walked over to the truck, and doing some quick math in my head (again, figuring that "modified car owner Fred Menschner" would had to of been at least in his 40's to be a modified car owner back in 1970), would now (1992) would have to be in his 60's... and I said to the guy in the pickup who looked to be maybe in his mid 40's if that..., "I see the name on the door "Menschner.".... There used to be a guy that owned one of my favorite modifieds in the early 70's at Flemington whose name was Fred Menschner." Totally expecting him to say "never heard of him....", or "that was my dad/uncle/other..." much to my surprise, the guy said, "Yea... that's me." Well... Long story a little less long, let's just say that I was really surprised, again, because I just figured that anybody that owned a modified back then, especially a winning modified... would have to had been a lot older. After all, it had been about 20 years since the days that the #21 coupe had roamed the raceways.... It's just how I always figured back then, that anyone that owned a modified had to be on the older side, right? Big time modifieds owners during that time period (late 60's - early 70's) like Piscopo, Marks, Fodor, Norcia, Brenn, etc., and to me... somewhere near the top of that list during the early 70's was the name Fred Menschner. We talked a little more in the parking lot of there in Ewing about those great days, and I walked away still wondering how it all added up because in my mind I always just assumed that even in the early 70's, Fred was already one of those "older/established" modified car owners. It was probably almost a decade later when I got to meet Fred again, and this time, it was at a GSVSCC appearance at East Windsor Speedway, once again, teaming up with Ray Neary, but this time it was on an exhibition vintage car, (the white Gremlin'sh looking #1 that would be the last car that Wally Marks built, completely restored by Ray to "on track" condition, and Fred had built the big block for it.) That was another couple decades ago... and from that, and bumping into each other along the way at various race related events, I became friends with Fred and Ray, and always enjoyed the stories and the education that were part of each meeting, including driving out to the Reading Reunion at the Mall one year... and at the "New" Reading Fairgrounds a time or two... and even a few Saturday morning drives through the Trenton NJ/Morristown PA area where Fred and Ray would take me past all the different places where racecars were once created... raced... repaired... and then raced again.... sharing a few stories about each shop/owner/driver... including Piscopo's two different locations in Morrisville, George Taylor's garage, Wally Marks place, and more..., and even a drive by one of Fred and Ray's old rented garage space locations in Trenton, which ironically, that at the time of our visit, a school or business with the name "Harmony" in it now occupied. ![a03.20.04_DAV_PIS_MOR_2004_1.jpg (96316 bytes)](https://3widespicturevault.com/Faces_pics/a03.20.04_DAV_PIS_MOR_2004_1.jpg)
Dave Piscopo, Fred Menschner and Ray Neary back in 2004, from one of our "racing history/memories" trips thorugh Morrisville PA.
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