Tony Blake (racing driver)
{{other people||Tony Blake (disambiguation){{!}}Tony Blake}}
{{Infobox racing driver
| name = Tony Blake
| image =
| birth_name = Anthony Blake
| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|2|2|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Hove Sussex, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|4|14|1929|2|2|mf=y}}
| death_place =
| last series = Modified racing career
| first year = 1952
| car number = 66
| championships = 9
| wins = 250+
| retired = 1974
| titles =
| awards =
| updated =
}}
Tony Blake (February 2, 1929 – April 14, 2003) was a driver of modified stock cars. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, he was victorious at venues on both the Canadian and American sides of the St. Lawrence River.
Racing career
Tony Blake, the son of a chauffeur, grew up on an English estate in Hove Sussex. After relocating to Canada he attended an inaugural meeting for the Kingston Speedway in 1951, and the next year won the facility's grand opening event.{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Patrick |date=April 17, 2003 |title=Tony Blake 'a Class Act' |newspaper=The Kingston Whig-Standard |location=ON}} Blake went on to victory at six additional tracks, including the Ontario Canada venues Brockville Speedway and Capital City Speedway in Ottawa, as well as the Evans Mills Speedway and Watertown Speedway in New York.{{cite news |date=May 14, 1957 |title=First bill of season for stock car racers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_UxAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA12&article_id=7255,4005586 |accessdate=January 24, 2025 |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |location=ON |page=12 |via=Google Books}}{{cite news |date=May 9, 1966 |title=Tony Blake victor in stock car race |url=https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/syracuse/syracuse-post-standard/1966/05-09/page-74 |accessdate=January 24, 2025 |newspaper=The Post Standard |location=Syracuse NY |page=10 |via=NewspaperArchive}}{{cite news|title=Kingston driver takes over lead in points race|url= https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=oj19690813-01.1.8&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------|date=August 13, 1969|page=6|newspaper=Ogdensburg Journal|location=NY|via=NYS Historic Newspapers|accessdate=January 24, 2025}}{{cite news |date=May 8, 1969 |title=Tony Blake is after a 2nd Mills victory in Mother's Day program |url=https://nny360.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2:12A5AC0AEA465C7B@NGPA-NYNNTS-176A471709786408@2440350-176A44893AB819B0@31-176A44893AB819B0@?search_terms= |access-date=January 24, 2025 |newspaper=Watertown Daily Times |location=NY |pages=31 |via=NNY360 Archives}}
Blake claimed point championships at Brockville, Evans Mills and Watertown, to go along with six titles at the Kingston Speedway. He was inducted to the Kingston District Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, just two weeks after his unexpected death.
References
{{reflist}}
External link
- [https://www.canadianracer.com/visitor-photos/kingston/photos/images/kingston23.jpg Early Tony Blake stock car]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Tony}}