Dick Cozze
One of the most respected car owners in dirt-track Modified stock-car racing history, Dick Cozze (Sept. 4, 1927-Oct. 12, 2014) of Jutland, New Jersey, could always be counted upon to give his first-class drivers first-class equipment and that led to many victories on some of the Northeast’s toughest and most-celebrated tracks.
Cozze had a brief driving career in 1950 at the old Newark and Morristown tracks in New Jersey but he could not afford to continue. So instead, he began to work on cars and build them and that eventually turned out to be a very good proposition for the likes of fellow EMPA Hall of Fame members Budd Olsen, Stan Ploski Jr. and Al Tasnady – as well as Bob Pickell and Cozze’s son Frank – who all benefited greatly from having the opportunity to handle a Dick Cozze-fielded machine.
Like most of the car owners of his era, Dick built his Modifieds from what was available at the time. That meant that with the exception of buying a quick-change rear end, the body, chassis, front end, springs, transmission and engine all came from the stock that was found at Cozze Brothers, the used auto parts business that he operated with his brothers Andy and Frank. And there was never more than $1,000 invested in any motor that he built.
One of the first major CB (Cozze Brothers) Engineering victories came in 1967 when Ploski won the Daniel Boone 200 at the old half-mile Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds in the No. 80 sedan. Tasnady then gave Dick his second Daniel Boone 200 win in 1969 and added the 1969 Eastern States 200 at the Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York – and both of these victories were accomplished in one of the sport’s most famous race cars.
The car in question featured the familiar red, while and blue No. 44 Cozze livery and these colors were carried on a 1935 Chevrolet two-door sedan that was powered by a set-back fuel-injected 454-cubic-inch Chevy engine. It should also be noted that this car was built with the driver sitting in the left-side of the chassis, as this was the position that Tasnady favored, even though cars were being built with the driver seated in the center of the frame.
But the “Cozze Coach” lived up to the reputation of its owner and driver and it was rated at its time (1969-1970)– and still is today – as one of the most exquisite Modifieds to ever take a starter’s green flag. And, as per that period in history, it also raced on the old three-quarter-mile asphalt track that was once inside Pennsylvania’s 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Modified racing, however, was not the only area where Dick’s building talents were displayed as in 1967 Pickell raced a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle at both the 2.5-mile high-banked Daytona International Speedway in Florida and at the half-mile high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway in the Tennessee mountains. And just like all of the other cars that came out of the Cozze stable, this one was also built from what could be found right outside Dick’s office door.
After Olsen finished out his career in 1972 in a dirt-track No. 44 1936 Chevrolet coupe and a No. 44 Pinto-bodied asphalt Modified, Dick turned his attention to his sons Rick,Frank and Lou who were just beginning their racing careers – Rick’s as a Sprint-Car driver, Frank’s as a championship-winning Modified driver, and Lou’s as a Small-Block Modified car owner after racing for a time, himself.
In 1988, Dick and his family even ventured into race-track promotion as they operated the old half-mile Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway during its final year.
But of all the victories that Dick Cozze had with his own machines, his favorite is one where he was basically just a spectator and that took place in 2008 when his son Frank won the Super DIRT Week 200 on the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds dirt track in Syracuse.
One of the most respected car owners in dirt-track Modified stock-car racing history, Dick Cozze (Sept. 4, 1927-Oct. 12, 2014) of Jutland, New Jersey, could always be counted upon to give his first-class drivers first-class equipment and that led to many victories on some of the Northeast’s toughest and most-celebrated tracks.
Cozze had a brief driving career in 1950 at the old Newark and Morristown tracks in New Jersey but he could not afford to continue. So instead, he began to work on cars and build them and that eventually turned out to be a very good proposition for the likes of fellow EMPA Hall of Fame members Budd Olsen, Stan Ploski Jr. and Al Tasnady – as well as Bob Pickell and Cozze’s son Frank – who all benefited greatly from having the opportunity to handle a Dick Cozze-fielded machine.
Like most of the car owners of his era, Dick built his Modifieds from what was available at the time. That meant that with the exception of buying a quick-change rear end, the body, chassis, front end, springs, transmission and engine all came from the stock that was found at Cozze Brothers, the used auto parts business that he operated with his brothers Andy and Frank. And there was never more than $1,000 invested in any motor that he built.
One of the first major CB (Cozze Brothers) Engineering victories came in 1967 when Ploski won the Daniel Boone 200 at the old half-mile Reading (Pa.) Fairgrounds in the No. 80 sedan. Tasnady then gave Dick his second Daniel Boone 200 win in 1969 and added the 1969 Eastern States 200 at the Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York – and both of these victories were accomplished in one of the sport’s most famous race cars.
The car in question featured the familiar red, while and blue No. 44 Cozze livery and these colors were carried on a 1935 Chevrolet two-door sedan that was powered by a set-back fuel-injected 454-cubic-inch Chevy engine. It should also be noted that this car was built with the driver sitting in the left-side of the chassis, as this was the position that Tasnady favored, even though cars were being built with the driver seated in the center of the frame.
But the “Cozze Coach” lived up to the reputation of its owner and driver and it was rated at its time (1969-1970)– and still is today – as one of the most exquisite Modifieds to ever take a starter’s green flag. And, as per that period in history, it also raced on the old three-quarter-mile asphalt track that was once inside Pennsylvania’s 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Modified racing, however, was not the only area where Dick’s building talents were displayed as in 1967 Pickell raced a 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle at both the 2.5-mile high-banked Daytona International Speedway in Florida and at the half-mile high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway in the Tennessee mountains. And just like all of the other cars that came out of the Cozze stable, this one was also built from what could be found right outside Dick’s office door.
After Olsen finished out his career in 1972 in a dirt-track No. 44 1936 Chevrolet coupe and a No. 44 Pinto-bodied asphalt Modified, Dick turned his attention to his sons Rick,Frank and Lou who were just beginning their racing careers – Rick’s as a Sprint-Car driver, Frank’s as a championship-winning Modified driver, and Lou’s as a Small-Block Modified car owner after racing for a time, himself.
In 1988, Dick and his family even ventured into race-track promotion as they operated the old half-mile Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway during its final year.
But of all the victories that Dick Cozze had with his own machines, his favorite is one where he was basically just a spectator and that took place in 2008 when his son Frank won the Super DIRT Week 200 on the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds dirt track in Syracuse.