Harold Hoose's Fatal Crash @ Port Royal Speedway 1958

  • 6 months ago
Harold Hoose, a resident of Troy, Pennsylvania, had been a top-rank stock car driver on the East Coast for many years, driving in the Atlantic Stock Car Racing Association (ASCRA), among others. On Labor Day 1958, he was racing in an Australian Pursuit race at the Juniata County Fair, near Port Royal, Pennsylvania. He lost control of his stock car on the back stretch after a tangle with Leroy Felty and Pete Swarmer and flipped. His seat belt broke loose. He was rushed to the P.S. Black Hospital in Lewistown, but was dead upon arrival. Hoose was driving the number 11 Ford owned by Alfred (Al) McClure, from McClure Motor Co, Troy, PA.

Several years earlier, in 1951, ASCRA held a special 'match race' between its best drivers at the Troy, Pennsylvania, race track. It pitted Harold Morse against Harold Hoose. Ironically, both drivers would die racing, Morse in 1953 and Hoose in 1958.

The (newer) Juniata County Fair racetrack is listed in Allan Brown's reference, cited below, as "Port Royal Speedway". Mr. Brown's third edition is our default source for a track with more than one name. By using a single default listing, we are able to group all information about a track with more than one name into one source name.

R.I.P