Remembering Bridgehampton

A release from our friends at the Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group. Hopefully some of you guys can make it:

Bridgehampton Race Circuit Exhibit to be launched at Historical Society

Racing engines will once again echo through the town of Bridgehampton on Saturday, October 3, when the Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group debuts an exhibit dedicated to the world-famous Bridgehampton Race Circuit, the venue for countless classic racing battles during the golden age of American motorsport between 1957 and 1997.

The exhibit is part of the annual Vintage and Racing Automobile Exposition & Tour which will once again be held over local roads culminating at the beautiful Historical Society grounds in the heart of Bridgehampton. (See HYPERLINK "http://www.bridgehamptonhistoricalsociety.org" www.bridgehamptonhistoricalsociety.org)

We invite anyone who participated in the excitement of the Bridgehampton race track, as well as anyone who’d like to learn more about the world class racing that took place there, to join us in a fun day of bench racing and celebration on the grounds of the Bridgehampton Historical Society, on Main Street Bridgehampton (opposite the Candy Kitchen) from 9:30AM until 5PM.

The BRHG exhibit will feature historic race cars, including a unique Trans-Am Mustang, a survivor of the original pony car wars of the 60s when Detroit automakers slugged it out at The Bridge. The Mustang, courtesy of owner Frank Dobias, was a finisher in the rain-soaked 1970 Trans-Am. The memorial exhibit will also feature rare time-capsule videos, a collection of historic posters, original art and photographs by legendary journalist Pete Lyons for sale, and will be staffed by figures central to Bridgehampton’s history. Refreshments will be available. Reproduction posters will be offered for sale.

BRHG thanks the Bridgehampton Historical Society and its members and the Bridgehampton community for this opportunity to keep “The Bridge”, a place with special meaning for tens of thousands of people across America, alive.

My first race track. BeaveRun is a little like it, but I sure do miss it.

Photo taken by my old pal, Dave Zipkin when he lived out there in the 70s

Me at Bridgehampton in the early 70s racing Sprite

Old ticket I have

Camping at our “Sports Car Corral” in (I think) 1970 at J-Wax Can-Am (that's me in TR3 in the back. My college roomate in the Sprite)

The track about '70.

Hey, the Bridge was my first race track, too. I did Skip Barber there after graduating from school. Boris Said was my instructor.

In reply to David S. Wallens:

Hmmm...right around the corner from home. I'll have to take a look!

In reply to aeronca65t:

Thank you so much for the pictures. I never made it to The Bridge, but we have a lot of Northern transplants here in Atlanta, and the ones among my gearhead friends always speak of it with a tear in their eye..

And c'mon Historical Society! Somebody's got to have an M8F they'd let people drool over for a weekend!

The Bridge was a neat place. Who knows, maybe it's not quite dead yet.

Much of the track is still in place as a service road on the golf course. I have two friends who live fairly close to it and one has been on the old surface.

Interesting point; all of Long Island is sandy with weak soil. So growing "golf course grass" requires lots of chemical fertilizers. Which is not helping the local wells or drinking water supply.

The old track was far more "natural" and environmentally friendly than the golf course that replaced it.

Somewhere I have photos from my first trip to the Bridge. This was well before Mapquest, GPS devices, etc. We also weren't smart enough to bring a map. My dad gave us rough directions and, sure enough, we eventually found it.

First time going to Westhampton Dragway we simply headed west. We eventually came across a dragster on a trailer and just followed it--all the way into the competitors' entrance.

Jan Nelson and I were privileged to exhibit our car at the Bridgehampton Exhibition on October 3rd. Not only is the car a veteran of the 1970 Marlboro TransAm at The Bridge, Jan was one of the drivers of the car along with Ray Cuomo in the event. To those interested, we have photos from the early 1970s at the Bridgehampton Race Circuit on our website www.1966shelbynotchbackmustang.com

Our thanks to The Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group for helping to bring the history of The Bridge to the next generation of race fans. Also to those whose efforts kept The Bridgehampton Race Circuit alive for so many years.

Oh does the Bridge bring back memories. I was 15 in 69 and was fortunate to live in Southampton Shores, I owned a series of off road only dirt bikes and routinely drove/blasted the power-line roads and dirt trails with no care of getting lost for hours on end. I found a long way through the woods into the racetrack whether it was open or closed, coming out behind what eventually was the Moto-X course. Needless to say "free" insured anything that ran at Bridge I saw from CanAm, TransAm, MotorCycles club races etc . One day I passed a Cop going the opposite direction on the road in front of the track, never forget looking back and seeing him actually turn around after me. I recall passing 2-3 dirt roads that all went North because I thought it would be better to be on the South side of the road (home base). Anyway Barney Fife was trailing me with his lights and siren screaming as I turned off heading down a dirt road. To tell the truth I don't even recall turning around to see how far Barny would chase a dirt-bike in the woods. Having a very fast 67 390 4spd Mustang at 16. I routinely blasted the back roads from Bridgehampton to North Sea late at night when oncoming headlights would warn me of any car coming the other way. Those roads had me feeling like Parnelli Jones. Four-wheel drifts were easy as pie with 325HP and F70 front H70 rear tires. The nose heavy front end would plow and by feathering the gas it would drift the rear at will sideways as it rocketed out of the sharp 1st-2nd gear turns. With the modern sports cars I have now trying those stunts with todays tires and G capabilities would instantly put you into a tree when it broke free. Driving the dirt bike gave me a feeling for sliding the car. One day I had a maintenance worker at the Bridge purposely lock three of us in the track and refuse to open the gate (the main gate was open so we'd driven in). Amazing there were four of us and one of him.

aeronca65t wrote: Much of the track is still in place as a service road on the golf course. I have two friends who live fairly close to it and one has been on the old surface. Interesting point; all of Long Island is sandy with weak soil. So growing "golf course grass" requires lots of chemical fertilizers. Which is not helping the local wells or drinking water supply. The old track was far more "natural" and environmentally friendly than the golf course that replaced it.

This is surprising at all. Golf courses, for all their green beauty, are not environmentally friendly.