Tommy Conroy spent his Friday nights growing up at Albany-Saratoga Speedway, watching the races and playing football behind the grandstands.
Little did he know, a Hall of Fame career awaited him.
On Thursday, July 24, Conroy will be given the Mechanic/Engineering award as part of the 33rd annual Northeast Dirt Modified Museum and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. It’s an accomplishment the 38-year-old, who currently wrenches on Stewart Friesen’s Big Block Modified, said he didn’t see coming.
“I was caught off guard when they called me and told me I was getting the award,” Conroy said. “So, I’m pretty appreciative of it, but it still hasn’t quite set in yet.”
After spending most of his childhood at Albany-Saratoga, his father and uncle brought him to Dick Hicks, a fabricator in New York’s Capital Region. From there, he was hooked and started working with Hicks at his shop, HICO Fabrication.
Once he graduated from High School, Conroy got the opportunity to work with Northeast DIRT Modified Hall of Famer Brett Hearn. That experience taught him the effort required every day at the shop, as well as the importance of attention to detail.
“(I learned) about the day-to-day activities, Conroy said. “The work ethic. How to be professional and really just learned from Brett and Vinny (Salerno) how to do it the right way.
“You want to leave the shop every race with that goal to win,” Conroy said. “Now, you can’t win every race. But you plan to, and you work to. And when you can actually do that, it’s an accomplishment.”
In the eight years he worked with the Sussex, NJ driver, the team won some of the sport’s most significant events, including the Billy Whittaker Cars 200 and Salute to the Troops 150 at the New York State Fairgrounds, Eastern States Weekend at Orange County Fair Speedway in both the Big Block and Small Block, and 20 Super DIRTcar Series triumphs.
Once his tenure with Hearn was over, it wasn’t long before Conroy found himself working for another top driver, Friesen. It was a role that began small and eventually evolved into something larger.
“Stew asked if I wanted to do some racing, and I think one of my first races was going racing with Jess (Friesen, Stewart’s wife) with the Sprint Car,” Conroy said. “After that, it started to become more of a full-time role with Stew. And then once we switched to [Bicknell’s], everything was pretty much up to me.”
The team of Friesen, Conroy, and tire specialist Jay Castimore, who also worked with Hearn, has proven to be a lethal combination since Conroy joined in 2017, winning several crown jewel events.
But the biggest of them all came last October when Friesen tied Hearn for the most Billy Whittaker Cars 200victories by leading every lap at Oswego Speedway. That win was Conroy’s first Super DIRT Week Big Block win as a Crew Chief; a moment he called a sigh of relief.
“It’s still our biggest race of the year,” Conroy said. “To do it how we did it, I don’t think you can really plan or ask for any way it could’ve been any better. We set Quick Time, won our Heat Race, and led every lap of the race.
“I’ve been here full-time since 2017. We’ve had some good runs. We felt there were some we should’ve won, but things happen that are out of your control.”
From sitting in the grandstands to winning some of the biggest races in the Northeast, Conroy will be honored for his accomplishments at the Northeast Dirt Modified Museum and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Thursday, July 24, in Weedsport, NY. For more information on the event, CLICK HERE.
Then, Conroy and Friesen join the Super DIRTcar Series on Saturday, July 26, for the Hall of Fame 100 at Weedsport Speedway, where they’ve won the last two Series events.
The event is part of a two-night weekend at the track, as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars make their lone stop at Weedsport on Sunday, July 27.
If you can’t make it to a Super DIRTcar Series event, watch all the action live on DIRTVision, either online or with the DIRTVision app.
