My name is Bill Lawson and I was officially introduced to the world of drag racing as a kid in the 1960’s at Dover by my uncle, Hampton Dais Jr. We lived in Stamford and he had a black 67 GTO that he raced at Dover, National Speedway and Raceway Park in NJ. He was very well known in the Stamford – Norwalk area and was well respected for his tuning abilities and managed to win several trophys at Dover and National Speedway
I can remember getting very excited on Saturdays when I learned we were going to the track and to this day, the smell of rubber and nitro brings back all of those wonderful memories. I can remember Sox and Martin, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Dino Don Nicholson and a few others that matched raced on Saturdays and Sundays for the excited crowds. After getting started with the cars, we eventually added motorcycles to the stable of toys and it continued for 40 years.
Sadly, My beloved uncled passed away in April of 2007 from Cancer and I now live in Maryland, but I will never ever forget the wonderful times I had at Dover.
i remember hamp well,a big street racer, he was a customer when i worked at moroso in greenwich and later at my own speed shop in the cove in stamford. i think he worked at pitney bowes. he was a real nice guy and a lot of fun. his gto had a chevy l88 in it
Hamp was a Champ …cool guy …lotta fun ..I ‘ll see if I can find a shot of the car on the gagunda ODF Gallery for ya …..If you have any shots to share with the guys ..we’d all enjoy ….Dino
His son is my first cousin and still lives in Connecticut. I will ask if he has any pictures he is willing to share. I know that he still has the trophies Hamp won at the track so I’ll see if we can take some pictures and send them to you.
Also, I see that you now reside in Rockingham, NC and my parents live in Raleigh, so maybe when I come down to the races at the Rock, I can come by and see you. I would really enjoy talking to someone who could tell me about him racing at Dover.
I found some photos of the Camaro and motorcycles Hamp built and I will try to download them this week and post them to the board! Keep up the good work! 😀
lawman.
dino