Artifacts Part 4  

 Here is Part 4 of what I am referring to as artifacts. Back in 2012 when Joe Poliacik led me to the remains of his coupe in Glen Gardner, NJ, I was amazed at what else sat in that small field next to a truck repair garage. It made me think of this as my "field of dreams" and here is the last of the three cars I found sitting there - and the one that really got my attention! Again, I don't know who owned this Al Tasnady driven 1957 Ford at the time. It was displayed at a P'burg Mall show one year. The car was later purchased by Ray Evernham for his museum in Mooresville, North Carolina. Below are my photos of this car sitting in the weeds. But read on; there is more.

History

      This #44 1957 Ford was one of several race cars owned by John Hanchick and Sterling Lerch of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where they operated Hanchick and Lerch Used Cars, the sponsor name on the car. John's son, Paul still runs the business but now under his own name.

      Al Tasnady drove this car multiple times at Daytona in the Modified Sportsman 250 races. I found that he finished 45th in 1963 and 38th in 1964. I'm pretty sure Tas ran in earlier races there as well Greensboro and North Wilksboro Speedways, both in North Carolina.

      The car was purchased from Ray Evernham by Richard Woodland who founded the Woodland Auto Display in 2009 in Paso Robles, California. I was delighted to see that this car was never restored and remains a time capsule. I am very grateful to Peter Visel of the Woodland Auto Display who was very helpful in supplying information and additional photos as shown below.