Steve ALLEN – ‘NBC Tonight’ Television show host. Driver of Jaguar automobiles.
Gasten ANDREY – Switzerland. Racing out of Massachusetts. National Ferrari driver.
Skip BARBER – Pennsylvania. National driver and founder of the international ‘Barber Racing Series’ and racing schools.
John BENTLEY – English journalist and International racer. Writer for Motor Trend magazine.
Duncan BLACK – Virginia. National racer. Member of Black & Decker family.
John COLGATE – New York. National racer. Member of Colgate/Palmolive family.
Briggs CUNNINGHAM – Multimillionaire sportsman from Connecticut, raced cars and sailboats. Participated with many exotic race cars, e.g., Jaguar, Ferrari, Maseratti, and Porsche. Designer and manufacturer of race cars with teams competing in the US and Europe.
Suzie DIETRICH – Ohio. National driver of production sports cars.
Mark DONOHUE – Automotive engineer. National champion in SCCA. Prominent international race driver in Nascar and Indy cars as well as Formula 1 in Europe. Killed racing Formula 1 in Germany.
Alexis DuPONT – Delaware. Millionaire National driver of modified race cars. Member of the DuPont family.
John FITCH – Connecticut. Prominent National and Formula 1 driver and race car designer. Also designer/consultant of race courses.
Dave GARROWAY – National television show host. Jaguar SS-100 race driver.
Walt HANSGEN – New Jersey. National champion in SCCA racing modified sports cars and developed into international driver representing US in Europe. Killed at LeMans in Ford GT-40.
Imogene HASKEL – International race car driver. Married European sports car manufacturer DeTomaso (Pantera, etc.).
Skitch HENDERSON – Big band leader. National driver/celebrity auto racer.
Bark HENRY – Playwright and National Corvette race driver.
Bob HOLBERT – Philadelphia. International Porsche driver and importer.
Ed HUGUS -Pittsburgh. International racer and participant in many major European endurance races.
Bruce JENNINGS – Virginia. National champion of Porsche fame.
Bob JOHNSON – Ohio. Restaurateur. National driver and winner in first Shelby Cobra in 1963.
James KIMBERLY – (Kimberly/Clark fame). International driver and past president of SCAA. Raced Ferraris and Porsches.
Oscar KOVALESKI – Pennsylvania. National Champion in modified race cars. Founder/owner of Auto World, Inc., a mail order car and auto parts house in Scranton. President of the Polish Race Drivers of America.
Bill MALONE – Washington, DC Television sportscaster and production car racer.
Jack McAFFEE – Los Angeles. International Porsche racer. Killed in California.
Denise McCLUGGAGE – Motorsport correspondent for New York Herald, Auto Week, and other car periodicals. Voted Best Woman Driver of 1967.
Donna Mae MIMS – National racer of Corvettes and production sports cars.
Alfred MOMO – Italy and New York. International driver and Ferrari importer to US Supplier and technical advisor to North America/Ferrari and major racing teams such as Briggs Cunningham.
Paul O’SHEA – New York. International race driver and engineering consultant for Mercedes/Germany.
Augie PABST – Milwaukee. Member of Pabst Brewery family. International race driver in modified sports cars.
Roger PENSKE – Pennsylvania. Prominent international driver of sophisticated modified race cars and successful team owner/manager in both Indy cars and Nascar.
Roger Penske, photographed at the Cumberland Airport Races in the 1950’s.
Lance REVENTLOW – National race driver and multimillionaire son of Barbara Hutton and member of the Woolworth family.
Peter REVSON – Connecticut. Prominent Revlon cosmetic family. International driver. Killed in New Zealand.
Franklin ROOSEVELT – New York. Son of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Racer and founder of Roosevelt Racing Team. Importer of Albarth/Fiat autos.
Bill SCOTT – National driver of modified/open wheel race cars. Owner/manager of Summit Point Raceway and Driving Schools.
Bob SHARP – Connecticut. National racer and founder/manager of world famous ‘Sharp Race Team.’
Carroll SHELBY – Texas. Notorious for having driven and won major races in all types of race cars, from production sports cars to exotic modified race cars, e.g., Alfa Romeo, Porsche, Maseratti, and Ferarri. Raced internationally and represented U.S. at LeMans for Ford. Designer and manufacturer of exotic sports race cars such as Shelby Cobra.
Dick THOMPSON – Washington, DC Dentist and National driver. Raced and contributed in General Motors development of Chevrolet Corvette.
Bob TULIUS – Virginia. National champion and founder of Group 44 race team. Managed and maintained England’s Jaguar and Triumph Racing Venture in U.S. Tulius would later fly his North American P-51 ‘Mustang’ to Cumberland during a visit of the Collings Foundation’s B-17 and B-24.
Charlie WALLACE – Washington, DC Hair stylist. Race driver of Jaguars, Mercedes, and Chevrolet Corvettes.
Paul WHITEMAN – Big band leader. National driver/celebrity auto racer.
Peggy WYLIE – Pittsburgh. National driver of Jaguars and modified Lotus race cars.
Dr. M. R. J. WYLLIE – South African Rhodes Scholar. Director of Gulf Oil Research and Development Division. Prominent National driver instrumental in founding Cumberland races.
Don YENKO – Pennsylvania. General Motors dealer from Canonsburg. National champion in Chevrolet Corvettes. Designer and pioneer of the Yenko Corvair Stinger and the Z28 Camaro. Developed into international driver in Europe. Killed in an airplane accident.
Note: The above research and compilation of this Cumberland Airport Racing History was obtained through the courtesy of Herman Melotti, J. Suter Kegg, and John Keller.
Local racer Herman Melotti and his MG-TC in 1956, and with his Chevy Camero in 2000. Melotti continues his racing pursuits to this day.
On the left is Jim Abe of Cumberland in his Formula Ford in 1970, and Abe in his Formula Continental in 1998.
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Wings Over Cumberland 