On Sunday morning, I heard the news that former car-owner and car builder Al Gaudreau, known affectionately as Buddah in racing circles, had passed away. Al’s wife Peg was the first female car owner at the Speedbowl and her husband Al was the car-builder and crew chief. They hooked up with driver Dick Dunn in 1971 and from 1972-1975 they won a record 4-straight Modified Championships at the Speedbowl. In 1976, Bob Potter won the drivers title, but drove 4 different cars to do so and Peg Gaudreau won her 5th straight car owner’s championship.
Known as “Buddah’s Bullet” in honor of Al, their #3 car was known throughout the region as one of the best in the business. They traveled to other tracks in the area and scored several wins, most notably at the old small-block open shows that Thompson Speedway used to host in the 1970’s. There are many famous cars that were born at the Speedbowl – like Vitari & Bombaci’s V-8 in the late 1950’s that Bill Slater drove to huge success at Norwood Arena in the 1960’s, or Bob Garbarino’s #4 Mystic Missle from the 1960’s that eventually won 3 NASCAR Modified championships in the 2000’s – just to name a few. But “Buddah’s Bullet” was probably the first Speedbowl car that was known throughout Modified country while competing weekly at the shoreline oval.
By the early 1980’s, the Dunn-Gaudreau combination had called it quits but by the end of the decade, Al’s son Tom was competing in the Street Stocks and by the early 1990’s had moved up to the Late Models and scored several victories. When back issues forced Tom to stop driving, they asked 1993 Late Model Champion Tom Fox to get behind the wheel and from 1995-1997 they won 22 features and the 1995 track championship together.
That’s just a quick overview of what Al and his family have accomplished in racing at the Speedbowl. And over the years studying the track’s history or researching topics for our documentary film project, I’ve read a ton about “Buddah’s Bullet”. Which led me to send Al and email only a few weeks ago asking if they’d like to be a part of our documentary. Within the hour, I was on the phone with him and we talked for a while about the Speedbowl and our project. He invited myself and my co-producer Jesse Gleason over to meet with him, his wife Peg and their son Tom.
We met less than a week later, and within 10 minutes of talking with the Gaudreaus, I felt like I had known them for years. They shared countless stories about their time in racing. Al was quick to point out that Peg was truly the car owner for Buddah’s Bullet and without her, they couldn’t have accomplished what they did. I learned they had lasting friendships with many legendary people in Modified country – from Speedbowl stars of old like Don Collins and of course Dick Dunn, to NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans, whose family they still keep in touch with to this day.
I left that night with a backpack filled with memorabilia they lent me to use in our documentary. Then the next day Al called me to say he reached out to Dick Dunn & Don Collins on our behalf to get them aboard to participate in our project. The documentary film project can be a daunting task, and Jesse and I will take all the help we can get to reach our goal. Al’s efforts so soon after I met him were an act of generosity I will never forget.
And just like that it seems… he’s gone. It would seem kinda funny to call someone a friend after only knowing them for such a short period of time. Then again, anyone who knew Al probably wouldn’t think that’s funny at all. He was just a really nice guy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to spend some time with him and it’ll be an honor to try and tell more about his story as we continue our Speedbowl documentary project. He was more than just a racer, but he’s contributions to the racing community will live on forever.
Rest in Peace Buddah!
We’re gonna miss ya!!
Sid