Bob Rossell

Bob Rossell
Born (1936-09-01) September 1, 1936[1]
Wrightstown, New Jersey
Debut season1958
Modified racing career
Car number56
Wins51+ [2]
Finished last season1977

Bob Rossell (born September 1, 1936) is a pioneering driver of modified stock cars. Before his retirement, he was also a much sought-after car builder and fabricator, with many top drivers finding success in Rossell racers, with its signature square tubing.[3]

Racing career

Bob Rossell began his career in 1958 at what is now New Egypt Speedway, New Jersey, with an old Chevy coupe and a junkyard engine. He has since competed and been victorious at the renowned northeast racetracks including Flemington Speedway and Old Bridge Speedway in New Jersey; Langhorne Speedway and Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania; Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York; Marlboro Motor Raceway in Maryland, and the Southside Speedway in Midlothian, Virginia.[1][3][4]

Rossell captured NASCAR' s Battle of Bull Run at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia in 1963, and twice won the Garden State Classic at Wall Stadium, New Jersey.[3][5] He was first to cross the finish line in the1963 New Yorker 400 at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York, but the win was reversed when NASCAR determined fellow driver Rene Charland had pushed Rossell across the line when he ran out of gas.[6]

After his retirement from racing, Bob Rossell went on to a second career building sulkies for Standardbred horses. He was inducted into the Eastern Motorsports Press Association and the Northeast Dirt Modified Halls of Fame.[1][3][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bob Rossell-EMPA Hall of Fame". Eastern Motorsports Press Association. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  2. ^ "ARRA-Cars, Drivers & Events - Bob Rossell". Auto Racing Research Associates. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Swanson, Buffy (July 15, 2018). "Hall of a guy: Wrightstown pioneer driver and builder Bob Rossell to enter Modified Hall of Fame". Burlington County Times. VT. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "Rossell wins feature". Times Herald-Record. Middletown NY. June 29, 1973. p. 110. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.
  5. ^ "Rossell snaps Wall oval jinx". Red Bank Register. NJ. September 16, 1974. p. 15. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via NewspaperArchive.
  6. ^ Grady, John (August 30, 1971). "Stock Cars". The Daily Gazette. Schenectady NY. p. 27. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "EMPA Reveals Latest Hall Of Fame Inductees". Speed Sport. December 18, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
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