45 years ago, at Bristol, Tennessee, following the March 1967 Southeastern 500 NASCAR Grand National race, I snapped the photo below with my Kodak Brownie box camera of the Cozze Brothers 1966 Chevy Impala driven by Flemington, New Jersey's Bob Pickell.
I read today that Bob recently passed and one of his restored race cars was parked on the front lawn of the New Jersey funeral home handling the arrangements. R.I.P. Bob.
Restored race car marks funeral of Flemington Speedway legend
By Terry Wright/Hunterdon County Democrat
October 12, 2012
Robert F. Pickell funeral
Restored race car part of Flemington Speedway legend's funeral
FLEMINGTON Some people learned Bobby Pickell had died when they saw one of his former race cars parked on the front lawn of a Flemington funeral home today.
With its distinctive red, white and blue color scheme and the number 300, the car was on display during the viewing for Robert F. Pickell of Flemington, who died Tuesday, Oct. 9, at the age of 78. Mike Stasak restored the car, as he has done with several race cars.
Pickell was a well-known and successful race car driver, especially stock cars. He won countless races during his career, winning 36 features over the years, including 11 at Flemington Speedway in Raritan Township. He also raced quite a bit at East Windsor and Nazareth, Pa., race tracks. All three are gone, noted Steve Barrick of Flemington, who has been writing and publishing about area auto racing for many years, in a phone interview today.
Pickell raced in the 1967 Daytona 500 for car owner Dick Cozze of Cozze Brothers junk yard in Jutland. He was inducted into the Flemington Speedway Hall of Fame and also the Garden State Vintage Stock Car Hall of Fame.
Inside the funeral home, near his casket, was a floral tribute, also with the colors and the number 300. There were also scrapbooks filled with articles and photos of his racing career. Over the years, he raced various cars, with numbers including 2 and 44 as well as 300. Many former racers and race fans were among the mourners.
According to Barrick, when Flemington Speedway was first hitting its stride in the early 1950s, a lot of the top drivers were from out of the area. He was one of the few local guys who could really run well with them.
He was well-liked, plus he had a business in town. That made him a popular figure locally. Pickell owned and operated Hunterdon Glass Co., a business in Raritan Township, from 1960 until selling it and retiring in1988.
According to his obituary, funeral services will be held Saturday, Oct. 13, at 10 a.m. in the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main St., Flemington, followed by interment in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Flemington. Calling hours were set for 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. today.
In a 2000 interview with the Hunterdon County Democrat, Pickell told of living in Hunterdon most of his life, except for a brief time between 1989 to 1998 when I retired to the Florida Keys. I came back to Hunterdon because I knew more people here. And this is where my roots are.
The most enjoyable and memorable thing Ive ever done was auto racing," he said. "I was a teenage hot rodder, racing around on the streets of Flemington for money; everyone was in those days.
I liked working with cars at Lentini junk yard on Copper Hill and built my first real race car there, a 1935 Plymouth. I will never forget my first race at the Flemington Speedway. I finished fifth but there were only six cars on the track!
After the race," he continued, "I went back to the junk yard and built a 1937 Ford coupe and with that car I was on my way. Frankie Schneider, who lives in the Sand Brook area, built me more-powerful motors and I came up through the ranks in the racing circuit. I raced cars with some really notable guys.
One of the biggest thrills in my racing career was at the Grand National Sportsman race, with the big boys, down at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. I finished 10th, edging out big-name racers like Bobby Allison.
Speed was always a big part of Pickells life. Before auto racing, he raced bicycles as a member of the local club called the Jaeger Wheelmen. That was in the late 1940s.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
