http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesdispatch/obituary.aspx?n=melvin-foote&pid=162891500&fhid=4726#fbLoggedOut one of theoriginal eastern bandit.was induced in to new england hall of fame 1999.drover cup from 1962 to 1965.red race 35 years .my prayer are to red family at this time RIP.
Our thoughts & prayers go out to Loretta & family.
Can't help but think about the good times we all had at Southside Speedway & the time I opened the gate & went out on the track at Richmond International Raceway when they were lined up so I could get a picture of Red in his car
Those were the good old days. Rest in peace Red. When you get to heaven say hi to Bill & Margaret Hudson for me.
We sure are going to miss you!
Hate to hear that news. Red eventually moved to Richmond after coming south with Ed Flemke, Rene Charland and Denny Zimmerman to race in Virginia and Maryland with those "Eastern Bandits." I recall Denny talking about how much they liked Richmond, especially since Junie Donlavey let them work out of his shop at the same time his #90 with Sonny Hutchins was racing against them.
R.I.P. Red. Another great driver who scorched our Virginai tracks in his modifieds when I first started attending races.
NEW ENGLAND AUTO RACERS HALL OF FAME
MELVIN "RED" FOOTE
Driver
Class of 1999
Red Foote ran his first race in 1948, at Kingston, RI. Carl Morrow and Ralph LeGendre co-owned Footes first car, a silver #1 coach. It wasnt long before the racing bug bit Foote, and he was competing at Norwood on Thursdays and Saturdays, and Lonsdale on Sundays, with regular visits to Westboro when time allowed. One day, while driving to a race at Lonsdale, the car hauling Foote's race car broke down. Unable to make repairs, he unloaded the race car and used it to push the tow vehicle to the track.
This kind of persistence paid off for Foote, who won championships at Waterford-new London in 1953, and again in 1958. He also took down a championship in Plainville in the 50s, competing in the United Stock Car Racing Club.
The 60s found Foote racing with NASCAR, winning races from New England to the Carolinas to Daytona. It was during this period that he became one of the Eastern Bandits, along with fellow bandits Ed Flemke and Rene Charland. Red took down a championship in North Carolina in 1965.
Red Foote retired after competing at Langley Field, Virginia in 1980, driving a sportsman car, (present day Busch Series), so he is able to say that he was competitive in 5 different decades of racing. From his 37 Coach, to a NASCAR Sportsman, Red Foote has represented himself, and the sport of auto racing, well throughout his career.
Yes he has. One of the kindest men I have ever met.
Although he raced primarily in New England, Virginia and Maryland, Red had some very successful outings at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. In Spring 1962 Red set a new Bowman Gray track qualifying record in his NASCAR modified. Later that Summer of 1962, Red finished second to Perk Brown in Bowman Gray's prestigious Carolina 400 NASCAR Modified race. As recapped on Ultimate Racing History, that was a field I'd have paid good money to see. Eastern Bandits Ed Flemke and Denny Zimmerman finished 4th and 5th behind Red, but ahead of 6th place Glen Wood.
Carolina 400
NASCAR Modified race
Bowman-Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC
July 21, 1962
400 laps on 0.25 mile paved oval; 100 miles
Fin St Driver # Owner Car Laps Money Status Laps Led
1 1 Perk Brown 45 400 1,000 running
2 Red Foote
3 Jack Hart
4 Ed Flemke
5 Dennis Zimmerman
6 Glen Wood 16
7 George Dunn 1
8 Joe Thurman
9 Glen McGee
10 Joe Bill Adams 2-A
11 Hank Thomas 19
12 Buren Skeen 71
13 E.G. Adkins
14 E.J. Brewer
15 Clarence Pickerell
16 Howard Grant
17 Carl Burris 45A
18 Pee Wee Jones 3B
19 Henry Mills
20 Bubba Beck X-1
21 Whitey Norman 11
22 Billy Hensley 23
23 Shorty York
24 Ralph McMaham
25 Robert Berrier
26 Paul Radford 12
27 Joe Holton
28 Paul Walton
29 Harold Rush 44
30 Bob Welborn
Pole Speed: 17.04 seconds
From Dave Dykes' RacingThroughTime.com web site:
New London-Waterford Speedbowl victory lane shot of the immortal Melvin Red Foote courtesy of our Webmaster, Tom Ormsby. Behind the controls of his familiar #J2, Footes long career was a colorful and well-traveled affair. You have to love the snazzy racing jacket worn by pioneering Speedbowl flagman, Loren Card. (Shany Photo, Tom Ormsby Collection).
Red was a winner at Moyock Dog Track, featured by Bobby Williamson several weeks ago on our RacersReunion Radio Ghost Track Racing Thhrough History segment. By the way, another of the Eastern Bandits, the late, great, "Steady Eddie" Flemke drove his first race on a northeastern dog track.
From YankeeRacer.com:
Red put New England modified racing on the map, NEAR member Bruce Cohen said. His exploits in the Henry Smith Ford powered J-2 are legendary with feature wins up and down the Eastern Seaboard. To a young kid (yours truly) in the early sixities with racing wonderlust, Red always had time to answer the many questions I asked. RIP my friend. He continued, Red was a childhood hero of mine in to watch him in the 312 Ford #J-2 was incredible.
Red Foote of Southington, CT was a part of the Eastern Bandits, along with fellow NEAR Hall of Famers Rene Charland, Ed Flemke Sr. and Denny Zimmerman. This group of New England drivers traveled South in pursuit of victories in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Virginia.
Red and Ed Flemke were the first real Eastern Bandits, Cohen said. Although they did not travel together, they went to a lot of the same races. The Eastern Bandits were a force to be reckoned with. In July 1962 at Marlboro (MD) Raceway, Flemke and Zimmerman finished 1-2 while Foote was 4th. Many of the tracks that the Bandits raced at were NASCAR-sanctioned, allowing them to accumulate points from racing 3-4 times a week. Foote finished 5th in NASCAR national Modified points in 1961 and 1963.
He also made 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (then NASCAR Grand National) starts between 1962 and 1965, including 3 of the most prestigious races-1962 World 600, 1962 Southern 500, 1963 Daytona 500.
Foote recorded at least 60 career wins. He won at Empire, Plainville, Martinsville, Moyock, Norwood, Old Bridge, Pine Bowl, Riverside Park, Southside, Stafford, Wall, Waterford, and Westboro. A sample of the tracks he raced at included Asheville-Weaverville, Atlanta, Alatamont Fairgrounds, Beltsville, Bowman-Gray, Candlelite, Eastern States Exposition, Harmony, Kingston, Langley, Lonsdale, New Egypt, Old Dominion, Richmond, Tar Heel, Thompson and Trenton. Foote was a 2-time champion at Waterford Speedbowl with 39 career victories.
Foote was inducted into the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1999.
Thanks so much for all of the information. I knew him in his later years when he raced at RIR, Southside, Langely etc. I love hearing about his younger days. Keep the info coming!
Virginia News
Melvin Red Foote, former NASCAR race driver, dies at 85
Consummate racer competed for 30-plus years
Red Foote ran 10 races at NASCARs top level, now known as the Sprint Cup Series.
Posted: Friday, February 8, 2013
BY ELLEN ROBERTSON
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Whether it was NASCAR Modifieds, the Busch Series or any other kind of race car, if Melvin Red Foote was driving it, he always was considered the guy to beat, said Lets Talk Racing radio co-host Joe Kelly.
Kelly said Mr. Foote was racing at Daytona International Speedway in a 1963 race when the engine seized, and he flipped three times at roughly 160 mph. He still finished the race in 29th place and made 550 bucks.
In a 1967 race at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Kelly said, Red was racing against Sonny Hutchins and they had a photo finish. Red nipped Sonny by less than 6 inches. That qualified him for a big race in Trenton (N.J.).
Mr. Foote, who raced for more than 30 years before retiring in 1980, will be honored at 2 p.m. at a graveside service Friday, today, at Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Alberta.
The 85-year-old Chesterfield County resident died Sunday in a local hospital after an illness that started in January.
His nickname, derived from his red hair, sometimes confused young fans. He once laughingly told a reporter that children thought Redfoot was an American Indian race driver.
A Haverhill, Mass., native who grew up in Meriden, Conn., he moved to Richmond in the early 1960s after coming south with Ed Flemke and Rene Charland to race in Virginia and Maryland. The group, called variously the Yankee or Eastern Bandits, thought pickings would be better down south, Kelly said.
Red was the consummate racer. He started in Modified stock cars pre-World War II vintage, and won many, many, many races. He won Martinsville and Trenton, Kelly added.
Fellow Bandit Dennis Denny Zimmerman recalled that when they came south, our cars were lighter and more nimble and able to get around the curves faster (than the Southern cars). At the beginning, it was easy pickings. We helped them make their cars lighter and more nimble in the curves and the competition pretty much became even. We became brothers, Northerners and Southerners.
Zimmerman called Mr. Foote a good shoe that means a good driver. He was an exceptional driver when the track was more like a bowl, what I call a momentum track where you have to keep the momentum up, than a track where you have long straightaways. He also was very good at avoiding accidents. He very seldom crashed.
He was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 1999, one of the first 20 drivers to be included.
He won track championships in New England and by the 1960s came south. He was the only Bandit who drove for legendary Richmond car owner W.C. Junie Donlavey, Kelly said. Donlavey let the northerners run out of his shop at the same time his trademark No. 90 car driven by Hutchins was racing against them.
Mr. Foote ran 10 events at NASCARs top level, now known as the Sprint Cup Series, during his career. In 1963, he competed in Daytona International Speedways Speedweeks events, finishing a career-best 16th in the Daytona 500 Qualifier and finishing 29th in the 500.
He retired after driving a Late Model Sportsman race at Langley Speedway in 1980. After Mr. Foote retired as a machinist with Dean Foods, he spent time on his boat fishing in Mathews County. He went every weekend during the summer, with or without me, said his wife of 45 years, Loretta Breeden Foote.
The effects of a stroke in 2001 left him partially paralyzed on his right side, unable to enjoy his camper and boat. He then made friends whom he would visit daily in Dutch Gap, where he also would feed feral cats wandering the nearby woods because he couldnt stand for anything to go hungry, his wife said.
Survivors, besides his wife, include a daughter, Susan, in Connecticut; a stepdaughter, Linda Strasburg of Columbia; and two grandchildren and two stepgrandchildren.
Staff writer Randy Hallman contributed to this obituary.
I just sent Red two photos to sign in the mail and they came back signed with a letter from Loretta a few days after I sent them in late January. A true pioneer in racing.
The writeup story of Red Foote's death in the Friday, February 8, 2013 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch also included a photo gallery titled, Melvin "Red" Foote at the Races . Here is that gallery. The gentleman standing with Red in several photos is the late JM Wilkinson, owner of Richmond's Southsdie Speedway.
