89-Year-Old Bob Polverari Finishes 17th In Stafford Speedway Street Stock Feature
Bob Polverari returned to racing at age 89, and it wasn’t behind the wheel of what he’s quite used to.
In April of 2019, the modified racing legend Bob Polverari is, was honored at Stafford Speedway as the Grand Marshall ahead of the running of the 48th Spring Sizzler. Now seven years later Polverari strapped in behind the wheel of a street stock for a 20-lapper around the half-mile track.
“I just got the itch again,” said Polverari, who did acknowledge the situation. “I’m at the age where I shouldn’t be doing it, but just going out there to play around a little bit,” said the veteran driver to RaceDayCT. Polverari also talked about how the street stock is roughly 1,000 pounds heavier than anything he has ever raced, along with tire size being one of the most notable differences.
Polverari drove a street stock that sported his iconic triple-digit of 711, which saw him make the number pairing a household recognition across northeast modified racing and synonymous to him since 1954. The street stock is owned by Herb Carlon, as the team held a private test session Friday morning and afternoon at Stafford prior to the official practices and heats. Polverari is set to turn 90-years-old come November 11th, making him one of the oldest to get in a stock car on the east coast and racing history in its entirety.
Polverari has 3 modified wins at Stafford, that includes a historic Spring Sizzler win in what was the 10th running in 1981. Overall Polverari started racing in 1948 in a soapbox derby car, before beginning what can only be described as a star-studded career at Riverside Raceway Park in 1954, that would see him become a 5-time champion.
In 2003 Bob Polverari was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame
The Massachusetts native has also made 48 career starts in NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour, with his last coming in 2005 before fully retiring from racing.
The 21-year hiatus would be no more as Polverari started p18, and would bring it home 17th in what was a 20-car field for Stafford’s street stock division. Although Polverari said that this was a one-and-done, his 18 points sits him 38th in the street stock standings for Stafford.
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