On Saturday night, Buffalo Raceway hosted the families of two local racing legends as they were inducted into the Upstate New York USHWA Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Del Manges, who was a driving star from the late 1950’s through the early 1970’s and Pat Menchi, who was at the forefront of the breeding scene his whole career, were both installed posthumously as their relatives accepted the awards on their behalf.
Gathering trackside was four of Manges sons (pictured below at left) who traveled from all over including Randy (Kentucky), Brian (Delaware), Larry (Pennsylvania), Dean (North Carolina) and Grandson Jeffrey.
The Menchi family (pictured below at right) was also well represented, led by Pat’s wife Betti and son Mark, who both took a short respite from their nightly duties at the Raceway to come down for the honors.
Upstate New York USHWA will announce several more inductees later this year that will go into the Hall representing Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Batavia Downs.
(Upstate New York USHWA)