Carts - Where it all began

The beginning of a Race Team


In 1960 Everet Regal started building and racing go carts. In his words, he was very heavy at the time, about 190 lb and that was a major drawback in cart racing. Everet had a little 580 West Bend which he used to race at the Weedsport, New York Race Track on Sunday afternoons. He carried the cart back and forth in the trunk of his car.Everet Regal

The race track was run by an old fellow by the name of Carl Schram, right next to the New York State Thruway. During that time, Everet competed against some good drivers, who were a lot lighter than he was, and were a lot more skilled than he was.

One such driver, at 17 years old, Fay Parmley. According to Everet, "Fay could drive like Mario Andretti. I was so impressed. He always passed me on the straights like I wasn't out there." Everet determined the only chance he had against Fay was to find a way to build some more power to make up for his lessor driving skills. He took the crank shaft from one West Bend engine, modified it and put it into another. This gave the new engine a longer stroke.

The following weekend they raced again. "I passed Fay on the back stretch for the first time ever! He was so impressed with that engine he came right over and asked me what I had done. I told him my modification, but didn't tell anyone else. I knew he had the driving skills needed to win and I believed I had the mechanical skills needed to build a winner."

Everet never ran that single engine again, but asked Fay if he would like to race a twin engine cart if he built it. "He was so excited, as he was just a school kid and had never raced a twin engine cart before!"

Everet put a pair of stroked, 610 West Bend engines side by side and they raced them in the 820 cc class all over the state, winning everywhere they went.Fay Parmley

"The first night we raced in Fulton, New York at the blacktop Milray Stockcar Track and averaged 92 mph! They announced over the loudspeakers that it was faster than the stockcars were turning! That was l961. After that year, I don't believe I saw Fay again until 1968."



back to top




on to 1967-68