Gary saw his first automobile race in 1963 at age 5 and has been hooked on open wheel racing ever since. This love of racing goes back 3 generations in the Babineau family.  Gary's Dad Richard Babineau and his Father went to big car races in the 30's and 40's.  "The first race car I ever saw was a midget,  Offy powered with no roll bars and were they ever fast" adds Gary. 


Above,..Gary actually built cars since he was five,.. Starting with model cars that is. Here Gary presents a midget model race car to his childhood hero and N.E.M.A. Champion (North Eastern Midget Association) driver Lou Fray.  Gary presented this car to Lou on the front straightaway at  Stafford Springs Speedway in 1970 right before the feature race that Louie went on to win. I wanted to be just like him!!!  and other NEMA drivers like Dutch Schafer, Lenny Thrall, Len Duncan,.. these guys were so brave