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Larry Shurter always had a love for machinery and speed. At fourteen he built a “road job” out of a 1920’s Star Touring car. He removed the body, bent and formed some tin for the speedster look and lowered it by moving the springs out on the axles alongside of the frame. The lowered frame meant that he could take the turns faster—a feat not appreciated by family, neighbors, and Constable Cunningham. The 1930’s were the dawn of American Midget racing. In 1931 Larry was speeding along the back roads of his place of birth, Samsonville, NY in his first “midget” while he and his father Jesse were still using horses to log in the mountains for the family sawmill operation.

The Woodstock Legion Speedway, Inc. was about 40 minutes from Samsonville. In the summer of 1938 Larry tried to get a “ride”, but midget owners didn’t want to risk their cars to a rookie. He helped the friendlier drivers when he could and listened to the pit crew chatter. Sometimes he watched from the grassy knolls with his girlfriend Mavis from West Shokan. The quarter mile oval dirt track was in Bearsville, NY and set in a bowl of the Catskill Mountains. While some racetracks in those days were dirt, the Woodstock Racetrack was clay. That same year Larry began to build his first competition midget. It had a Model T frame, rear end, and front axle with a cut down Whippet radiator.

In April of 1939, he and Mavis Barnes-Avery Miller were married. On their honeymoon Larry found a Ford V-8 60 flathead motor and raced the season’s opening day on the Woodstock track in his first home-built competition midget, the S1. He managed to qualify for the feature though his gas tank broke loose. To tighten the fit Larry grabbed some bailing wire and an extra tire and shoved it between the frame and the tank, wiring it secure enough to run in the feature.

The following week Larry shaved off a few hundredths of a second and qualified for the feature. Afterwards in the pits, Ken Gallup came up to him and said, “J—- C—– Shurter, you’re bumping into us in the turns – don’t you have any brakes?” Larry said, “I’m putting on all I’ve got but I can’t seem to slow it down much.” Ken studied him for a few moments and asked, “Did you take the flywheel out?” That week Larry took the flywheel and clutch to a machine shop to put in a “dog clutch”.

Some competitors were local like Nelson Shultis. Others were more widely known midget drivers – Len Fanelli, Bud Marl, Chas Menges, Ralph Palmer, Chet Gibbons, Charlie Street, Lew Volk, Art Spore, and Chauncey Maggiacomo. Larry and Mavis met loads of people; acquaintances who became friends with lasting bonds; lifelong and generational friends like the Gallup brothers, Walt, Ken and Glen from Oneonta, NY. The Gallups are now 4th generation race car drivers.*

Joe Goldsmith of Ellenville, NY could often be seen over and under Larry’s car with a tool in his hand. His wife Mildred and daughter Marilyn sat with Mavis to watch the races. They were with Mavis and Larry as friends and race car partners as long as fate permitted. Joe helped start the Orange County Stock Car Racing Association which would later become the Hudson Valley Racing Association. Marilyn went on to do press release work and racing program layout for Bill France at Daytona International Speedway.

Almost immediately Mavis began her racing archives by taking photos, writing the lineups and finishes in racing programs and saving track pay envelopes and newspaper clippings. She loved racing and travel and the camaraderie of like-minded racing folk. A racing lifestyle was developing. Larry was meeting divers and midget owners while driving and working in the pits. Mavis watched and kept her records while making friends and bringing family to the races. Mavis brought her two younger sisters Doris and Sarah who would marry Bud Glass and Stretch Vansteenburgh, both of whom would become race car drivers. Their sons would grow up to race. She also brought her two young cousins Bucky and Don Every who would also become race car drivers. Bucky’s son and grandson are currently racing.

The stats I’ve compiled by race year are based solely on Mavis’ written records which means that some of Larry’s event competitions and wins in Mavis’ absence are not recorded. As I continue to read through old racing papers and magazines and share articles and research, Larry’s stats will most likely continue to grow though the following stats show an adequate picture of his racing career.

Race Results for 1939 Season

Events              Wins        Second Place        Third Place
Feature                             1           5
Consolation                         1           3
Semi                       1         3          4
Heat                       3        4           3
Specials                   1        2           
Champion race                       1
        Total Wins         5

In 1940 Larry drove his S1 Midget at Woodstock, Washington Hollow, Sanatoga in Pottstown PA, McKowns Grove in Albany. He wanted to begin to run the West Springfield, Massachusetts track, but it was paved and his own S1 was strictly a dirt or clay machine. He got offers from car owners to drive their midgets and by 1941 the S1 was left in the dust. Larry began driving the #2 belonging to Elmer and Virginia Sefcik while Elmer drove his #11. Both midgets had flathead V-8 Ford 60 motors. Larry also drove Bill Oliver’s #27 (Bill was from Delmar, NY) and added the Triverton track in Rhode Island and West Springfield to his racing log. Bill Oliver’s midget was rather unique. Bill’s brother* in Syracuse, NY had a machine shop and heard of a guy in Denver CO, who had an engine design similar to an Offenhauser. It had a 1-piece cylinder head block combination. The design was bought, and the engine was built in the Oliver machine shop and put in the #27 midget. Larry did well in the #27. In 1942 he competed at the Dunkirk and Batavia tracks including some in Western New York and Union Speedway in Union, New Jersey where he was racing when the World War II racing ban was announced.

Larry was still stateside when he received word that Elmer Sefcik, a racing buddy and friend, was killed in a road accident. It was agreed that Mavis and Glen Gallup would purchase Elmer’s two midgets and trailer them back to a barn where they would be stored until the racing ban was lifted.