TALKING SPORTS

Legendary times at Bethel Motor Speedway

BY TED WADDELL
Posted 12/31/69

KAUNEONGA LAKE, NY — “Sometimes you have people who don’t think you belong out on the track, but to me a car can’t tell if you’re a girl or a boy,” said Lexi Przybylinski, a 16-year-old race driver, when asked what it was like to compete wheel-to-wheel in what is still commonly viewed as a predominantly male sport, motor racing.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in
TALKING SPORTS

Legendary times at Bethel Motor Speedway

Posted

KAUNEONGA LAKE, NY — “Sometimes you have people who don’t think you belong out on the track, but to me a car can’t tell if you’re a girl or a boy,” said Lexi Przybylinski, a 16-year-old race driver, when asked what it was like to compete wheel-to-wheel in what is still commonly viewed as a predominantly male sport, motor racing.

“It’s really up to your skills,” said the fledgling race car driver from Fairfield, NJ. Along with her dad and older brother, she raced in the 50-lap “Legendstock” INEX qualifier at Bethel Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 9.

“We love racing at this track,” she added, “I got into it because I grew up with my dad racing. I’ve always loved cars, I love everything about it, and I go to school for auto mechanics at West Caldwell Tech.”

Asked about her ambitions after graduation from high school and a bit more seat-time on the track, Lexi said that she has her sights on NASCAR or an Indy car.

This is Joey Przybylinski Jr.’s first year in a Legends car, and of his exposure to auto racing, the 18-year-old said, “I used to go to the tracks with my parents, but I was too young to get into the pits and had to watch from outside the gates.”

So as his hot-footed sister moved up to a better Legends car ride, he inherited the old one, noting, “I’m getting better and better each race.”

Joe Przybylinski Sr. started out in motor sports back in the ‘80s at a “very small and very fast track,” driving TQ Midgets. These days, he’s back at it, helping his kids get a feel of auto racing, from the asphalt up to the checkered flag.

“It’s bringing back some memories,” he said. “We’re not the fastest out there, but you know what? I’m very proud of the way they’re handling themselves, not going overboard and taking chances, taking a bad seat on and off the track… but sometimes as I get old and crankier, I get out of control.”

Legend Cars are 5/8-scale fiberglass full-fendered versions of the famed NASCAR modifieds driven by legendary drivers like Fireball Roberts, Buck Baker, Curtis Turner, Speedy Thompson and Banjo Matthews.

The cars weigh in at 1,250 pounds, including the driver, and are powered by 125 HP Yamaha fx09 engines. Take a sports scribbler’s word for it: these things are fast, real fast, on the quarter-mile oval that opened in 1960, and today is NASCAR-sanctioned.

For more information about Bethel Motor Speedway, call 845/319-7908, visit bethelspeedway.com or find it on Facebook.

For more photos, visit www.riverreporter.com/sports.

bethel, speedway, racing,

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here