The Will Ames Photo Collection

John Vachon was kind enough to get his brother Will Ames' photo albums into my hands and they are full of many incredible shots from many of those old school New England races.  John, Will, and a few others I have met were among those drivers who raced in our sport's glory days here in the East.  I can not thank them enough for sharing these images with our readers.

 

1976 Sno Twister 250

 

Will Ames on his Yamaha GPX

Early grass drag event.

Great angle on a later race.

Pit photos.

Will Ames Yamaha SSR

1976 Mercury Sno Twister doing what they did best.

Early success at a Plymouth, NH race.

Ahhhhh, Sweet Victory!!!!

Quite a fleet chasing Will here.

Summer tourists may recognize this better without all the snow and ice.  Early race on Meredith Bay of Lake Winnipesaukee.

245 RV fighting with a T-jet.......doesn't get much better than that!!

9/27/08

Here are a couple more from the Ames albums that feature a couple of "different" sleds captured at the races in Bangor Maine.

It seems that Rude Dog was in attendence on this day and not only got to see these sleds run in person, but had box seats for the event.

10/1/08

Just a little teaser of some great pics to come......

Here are a few shots from Will's journey to Eagle River.

Busy staging area.

It seems a rather well known sled was at ER that day also.

Unfortunately, the results were not good.

10/2/08

Setting (SX)Phazers to STUN!!

Will Ames aboard the Billerica Yamaha SX Phazer against some tough competition.

10/5/08

Well with Columbus Day fast approaching, that means only one thing here in NH......tourists....

No wait......actually it means Epping Grass Drags and Watercross!!!  Well I'm not sure how many years it has been going on, but here are a couple pics from the early 70's when it was a slightly smaller event, but still appears to have been good racing.

10/8/08

More great photos from the Ames collection.

These pics are from a 100 lap Enduro race in Plymouth, NH.  By the looks of that track, "endurance" is the key word here.

I'll bet this John Deere rider wishes he'd had a taller windshield.

Of course I'll bet this Evinrude rider wishes he had ANY windshield!!

Skimmer......now that's irony!!!

"Um....CREW???......CREW????????.....little help here!!"

10/11/08

Here are a couple old time grass drag pics from Rude Dog's home town of Newport Maine

Looks like some close racing.

Quite a variety of sleds there.

10/10/08

Yamaha SRX in it's natural environment: At Speed!

10/31/08

Here are a couple more from the Ames collection.  A couple pit shots from a Troy, NH race.

All you Ski Doo RV 245 fans will love this staging area shot.....now we know where they all went!!!

11/5/08

Old School Air

Just thinking about the landings brings tears to my eyes.

11/12/08

Here are a few action shots that remind me why I liked my Yamaha SRV so much.

I don't remember mine seeming QUITE that fast though.

11/18/08

Here are a few pics from the races in Bangor Maine. 

It looks like in spite of not much snow in the pits or infield, the track was ready.

11/30/08

Here are a few shots from the races in Bedford.

Looks like it was some nice close racing.

12/10/08

Start 'em young!!!

Submit your old race pictures to NHTom at nhbassfish@aol.com