Countdown: New Hampshire

The Granite State may be small in size and population, but it was the first to declare its independence from Britain, home to the first presidential primary, and is the healthiest and safest state in the country.

Famous New Hampshire natives include President Franklin Pierce, orator Daniel Webster and astronaut Alan Shepard -- and a number of editors: Charles Anderson Dana, Sam Walter Foss, Horace Greeley and Sarah Josepha Hale, more than enough to read John Irving's novels.

The Old Man of the Mountain may be no more -- and with less than 20 miles of shoreline, New Hampshire isn't a beach-lover's dream, but Dover's mile is still Magic and its most famous driver is still revered.

Inside the Numbers Ernie Gahan's Cup career Year No. T-10 Avg. Start Finish 1960 2 0 40.5 14.0 1961 5 1 22.8 22.6 1962 3 1 13.7 13.3 1966 1 0 27.0 19.0 • 6th at Spartanburg, '61 • 9th at Daytona, '62

Best behind the wheel

• Ernie Gahan, Dover

It's a story that has been recounted countless times: Tiny Lund rescues Marvin Panch from a burning car, accepts Panch's ride and goes on to win the 1963 Daytona 500.

Ernie Gahan has first-hand knowledge of the details behind that story, and he has the burns to prove it.

"[Driver] Billy Wimble and I had just come through the tunnel and saw Marvin come around, although at the time, I didn't know it was Marvin in the car," Gahan, now 79, recounted from his home in Maine. "And I said to Billy, 'Holy cow, this guy's flipping.'

"We pulled over to the fence there and noticed that the driver was caught on fire, so we climbed the fence. It had to have been about 10 feet high -- but when you're adrenaline's up, I guess you can do just about anything."

At the same time, Lund and several others also were trying to come to Panch's aid.

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"It seemed to us like it took an hour for the racetrack firemen to get there, but it probably was only a few seconds," Gahan said. "[Panch's Maserati] had those winged doors, so we were pulling on the doors, trying to get him out of there."

Gahan received severe burns to his hands and face, but his primary concern was to help the driver escape.

"The flames got higher and higher and hotter and hotter," he said. "I yelled at Tiny to pull him out of there because I was worried it was going to blow. They grabbed [Panch] by the feet and yanked him out. As soon as they got him out, [the fuel tank] blew and knocked me sideways."

The divine providence that propelled Lund to the Daytona 500 win may have been in place for Gahan as well. He didn't win his race but finished first in the Sportsman class despite his own injuries.

"I saw Marvin not that long ago and he said to me, 'Thanks to you, I'm 75,'" Gahan said.

For his efforts, Gahan was given the coveted Buddy Shuman Award for outstanding contributions to NASCAR.

But Gahan's racing career wasn't just about being in the right place at the right time in 1963. For nearly three decades, the Dover native was nearly unbeatable on the dirt and asphalt ovals of the Northeast, tallying more than 300 feature victories.

But that racing career almost never got started. After serving in Germany as a military policeman with the U.S. Army during World War II, Gahan went to an auto race as a lark when he returned to New Hampshire.

"I wasn't really interested in racing at all," Gahan said. "A friend of mine wanted to go and I said, 'I don't care about that.' But I went and watched them run that night.

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"In those days, they were running old junkers, cars right out of the junkyard. I thought to myself, 'I can run faster than that.'

So Gahan went ahead and built his own car.

"I found out it wasn't as easy as it looked," he said.

But Gahan quickly learned to love the sport, running as much as four nights a week during the summer -- both in his home state and in All-Star Modified events in New York and Pennsylvania.

He ran a pair of races on the beach course in the late '50s, then showed up with a Chevrolet for the 1961 Daytona 500.

Inside the Numbers New Hampshire Int'l Speedway Cup winners 1993 Rusty Wallace 1994 Ricky Rudd 1995 Jeff Gordon 1996 Ernie Irvan 1997 Jeff Burton   Jeff Gordon 1998 Jeff Burton   Jeff Gordon 1999 Jeff Burton   Joe Nemechek 2000 Tony Stewart   Jeff Burton 2001 Dale Jarrett   Robby Gordon 2002 Ward Burton   Ryan Newman 2003 Jimmie Johnson   Jimmie Johnson 2004 Kurt Busch   Kurt Busch 2005 Tony Stewart   Ryan Newman Busch winners 1990 Tommy Ellis   Rick Mast 1991 Kenny Wallace   R. Craven 1992 Jeff Burton   Joe Nemechek 1993 Robert Pressley 1994 Derrike Cope 1995 Chad Little 1996 Randy LaJoie 1997 Mike McLaughlin 1998 Buckshot Jones 1999 Elton Sawyer 2000 Tim Fedewa 2001 Jason Keller 2002 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 2003 David Green 2004 Matt Kenseth 2005 Martin Truex Jr. Truck winners 1996 Ron Hornaday Jr. 1997 Jay Sauter 1998 Andy Houston 1999 Dennis Setzer 2000 Kurt Busch 2001 Jack Sprague 2002 Terry Cook 2003 Jimmy Spencer 2004 Travis Kvapil 2005 Rick Crawford TRACK PAGE •   New Hampshire Int'l Speedway

"Running Daytona was a thrill," Gahan said. "I took that car out for the first lap of practice and thought to myself, 'Boy, nobody's ever been around the track like this.'

"When I came in, they said, 'The pace car is running as fast as you did.' I thought, 'You have got to be kidding me.'"

Gahan's race ended after three laps when the Chevy's water pump failed, but he returned in 1962 to make amends, this time in a Ford.

"For the 1962 race, I qualified fifth-fastest of the day and ninth overall," Gahan said. "So I started ninth and Richard [Petty] was right behind me.

"I always remember Lee Petty as being real strict. We used to work on the cars outside the hotel in those days, and when Richard was talking to his father, it was always 'Yes, sir' and 'No, sir.' "

Gahan is officially scored as finishing 12th in that race -- but he remembers it differently.

"Mrs. Petty was scoring me that day," he said. "She had me ninth and Daytona had me 12th. There wasn't much difference in money and I wasn't running for points, so I didn't make much of a deal out of it."

After running Richmond, Gahan returned to the Northeast, running a garage and body shop during the week and racing on weekends, winning the 1966 NASCAR National Modified championship. A charter member of the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame, Gahan still follows the sport from a distance.

"I wasn't really much of a threat [to the southern boys], but I always got along good with them," Gahan said. "I never had any animosity with them."

Other noteworthy drivers from New Hampshire

• Dave Dion, Hudson: Scored a ninth at Richmond in 1980, best of his 12 career starts from 1978-83

We wish ...

Catcher Carlton Fisk had become a NASCAR driver.

The 10-time All-Star and Charlestown native is best remembered for his Game 6 homer to beat the Reds in the 1975 World Series. Fisk certainly had a flair for the dramatic -- and don't forget, NASCAR is drama.

Keeping it on track

• New Hampshire International Speedway

Constructed in 1989 on the grounds of the old Bryar Motorsport Park, the "Magic Mile" has hosted NASCAR events since 1990 and Cup races since 1993, with Rusty Wallace winning. The largest sports facility in New England in terms of seating capacity, NHIS draws more than 600,000 spectators during each season.

Jeff Burton has four wins at New Hampshire, including a victory in 2000 in which he led all 200 laps.

Other tracks which have hosted NASCAR races

• Lee USA Speedway, Lee: Scott Bonney earned his sixth Late Model title on the three-eighths-mile paved oval in 2005

• Monadnock Speedway, Winchester: Swanzey's Russ Hersey posted six victories en route to the Outlaw Pro championship at this one-quarter-mile paved oval

• Star Speedway, Epping: Four-time winner Ron Bolduc captured the Super Street Stock crown at the quarter-mile bullring

• Twin State Speedway, Claremont: Track champ Todd Patnode picked up six victories in the Pro-Late Model class in 2005

A word from our sponsor

• Timberland, Stratham

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