Alan “Rags” Carter
Born in Miami Springs, Florida, and raised in Bostwick, Georgia, Alan “Rags” Carter (December 2, 1928 – May 23, 1993) was a top-flight driver who came to the Northeast in 1963 and used his talents to be one of the region’s best dirt-track Modified stock-car racers.
Carter – who got the nickname “Rags” as a kid – began racing in the late 1940s at the old Broward Speedway near Miami and was a frequent winner in Joe Gutherie’s No. 3 coupe at all of the old South Florida tracks – Opa Locka Speedway, the Palm Beach Fairgrounds dirt & asphalt half-mile, the one-third-mile asphalt Medley Speedway in Miami, the one-third-mile asphalt Hialeah Speedway and the quarter-mile asphalt Hollywood Speedway.
He also raced on Florida’s country-fair circuit in Track Roadsters – Ford Model ‘A’ & ‘B’ offerings of the late 1920s and early 1930s powered by full-race flathead V-8 engines – and was rather accomplished in the Florida Supermodifieds which were cut-down coupes of the early 1930s powered by overhead-valve V-8 engines. He was so successful with his Modified 1936 Chevrolet coupe that his Florida Dairies Special sponsor told him that it would pay him to run second so that the fans would not be so upset for his winning all of the time.
As a traveling racer, Carter took his family with him and when he came to the North he settled in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, as his home base. Quickly getting some top rides, Carter spent some time in Lucky Jordan’s legendary No. 2 1936 Chevrolet coupe and he won the 1969 Modified championship at the old half-mile dirt Nazareth (Pa.) Raceway in Dick Meal’s metallic blue No. 44 1936 Chevrolet coupe. He continued his winning ways into the 1970s in fellow EMPA Hall of Fame member Tony Ferraiuolo’s renowned purple and white No. 73 1936 Chevrolet coupe and in the maroon and white No. 4 Jr. 1936 Chevrolet coupe and Gremlin entries owned by Ray Everett.
Yet, Carter is probably best remembered for his time (1964-1966) in the white Ford-powered coupes and flatback sedans with a big red No. 1 fielded by Harold Cope of Easton, Pennsylvania. Cope favored 1937 Fords for his race cars and they were powered by 312-cubic-inch Y-block Thunderbird engines until 1964 when a 427-cubic-inch Ford engine was installed.
The old half-mile dirt Nazareth (Pa.) Raceway was one of Carter’s favorite tracks and with the cut-down version of the No. 1 coupe he won the 1965 and 1966 Modified titles. He also showed how much he liked the layout on August 6, 1966, when he won a 50-lap feature in the Cope No. 1 by lapping all but seven of the race’s 28 cars. Iin April 1976 he won the fourth running of the track’s old Spirit of ’76 headline-making 76-lapper in the Everett No. 4 Jr.
In all, Carter won 45 Nazareth Modified races between 1964 and 1980. He was also a six-time feature winner at the old half-mile dirt Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds. Carter won 33 main events between 1964 and 1979 at the five-eights-mile Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York; including the 1964 Eastern States 100 which ran at that distance from 1962-1967 until it was increased to 200 laps.
Alan “Rags” Carter – who raced into the 1980s – also set an exceptional record in the Meal’s No. 44 at the old 1-1/8-mile dirt Nazareth (Pa.) National Speedway as he won four-consecutive races there over a two-year period.
His first victory came on September 28, 1968, when he won the Modified portion of a triple-header show that included Sprint Cars and Midgets, and he backed that effort up in October with a 100-lap All-Star Racing League victory. Then, in 1969, he won both ends of an early-season Twin 50s program and this quartet of Modified triumphs stood as the longest string of victories at NNS until the track closed some two years later.
Carter – who got the nickname “Rags” as a kid – began racing in the late 1940s at the old Broward Speedway near Miami and was a frequent winner in Joe Gutherie’s No. 3 coupe at all of the old South Florida tracks – Opa Locka Speedway, the Palm Beach Fairgrounds dirt & asphalt half-mile, the one-third-mile asphalt Medley Speedway in Miami, the one-third-mile asphalt Hialeah Speedway and the quarter-mile asphalt Hollywood Speedway.
He also raced on Florida’s country-fair circuit in Track Roadsters – Ford Model ‘A’ & ‘B’ offerings of the late 1920s and early 1930s powered by full-race flathead V-8 engines – and was rather accomplished in the Florida Supermodifieds which were cut-down coupes of the early 1930s powered by overhead-valve V-8 engines. He was so successful with his Modified 1936 Chevrolet coupe that his Florida Dairies Special sponsor told him that it would pay him to run second so that the fans would not be so upset for his winning all of the time.
As a traveling racer, Carter took his family with him and when he came to the North he settled in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, as his home base. Quickly getting some top rides, Carter spent some time in Lucky Jordan’s legendary No. 2 1936 Chevrolet coupe and he won the 1969 Modified championship at the old half-mile dirt Nazareth (Pa.) Raceway in Dick Meal’s metallic blue No. 44 1936 Chevrolet coupe. He continued his winning ways into the 1970s in fellow EMPA Hall of Fame member Tony Ferraiuolo’s renowned purple and white No. 73 1936 Chevrolet coupe and in the maroon and white No. 4 Jr. 1936 Chevrolet coupe and Gremlin entries owned by Ray Everett.
Yet, Carter is probably best remembered for his time (1964-1966) in the white Ford-powered coupes and flatback sedans with a big red No. 1 fielded by Harold Cope of Easton, Pennsylvania. Cope favored 1937 Fords for his race cars and they were powered by 312-cubic-inch Y-block Thunderbird engines until 1964 when a 427-cubic-inch Ford engine was installed.
The old half-mile dirt Nazareth (Pa.) Raceway was one of Carter’s favorite tracks and with the cut-down version of the No. 1 coupe he won the 1965 and 1966 Modified titles. He also showed how much he liked the layout on August 6, 1966, when he won a 50-lap feature in the Cope No. 1 by lapping all but seven of the race’s 28 cars. Iin April 1976 he won the fourth running of the track’s old Spirit of ’76 headline-making 76-lapper in the Everett No. 4 Jr.
In all, Carter won 45 Nazareth Modified races between 1964 and 1980. He was also a six-time feature winner at the old half-mile dirt Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds. Carter won 33 main events between 1964 and 1979 at the five-eights-mile Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York; including the 1964 Eastern States 100 which ran at that distance from 1962-1967 until it was increased to 200 laps.
Alan “Rags” Carter – who raced into the 1980s – also set an exceptional record in the Meal’s No. 44 at the old 1-1/8-mile dirt Nazareth (Pa.) National Speedway as he won four-consecutive races there over a two-year period.
His first victory came on September 28, 1968, when he won the Modified portion of a triple-header show that included Sprint Cars and Midgets, and he backed that effort up in October with a 100-lap All-Star Racing League victory. Then, in 1969, he won both ends of an early-season Twin 50s program and this quartet of Modified triumphs stood as the longest string of victories at NNS until the track closed some two years later.