I started building model cars in the 1960’s. Then I started buying car magazines and model HP cars. It was all around me in those years - in Bridgehampton, local gas station owners owned and drove race cars.

At 13 I started working at the gas station in Bridgehampton where I was around all the muscle cars of the day. In 1974 I got my drivers license. My first car, a 1970 Chevelle SS, taught me respect for horsepower.

 

 

I did all the work on my own car as a result of watching all the local mechanics work on their own cars. My neighbor, modified driver Dan Jivanelli, took me to races at Riverhead Raceway.

Dan was the 1972-73 Riverhead Figure 8 champion and went on to 2 NASCAR WMT wins (in 1986-87). He was also the 1989 Riverhead Modified champion and 1995 Riverhead Late Model champion.

That's Dan on the right, next to
Greg Sacks.

 

 

 

This got me interested in Circle Track cars. From there I went on to meet many people involved in the sport including car designer and fabricator Jon Trask and drivers Greg Sacks and Tommy Tillotson.

That's Greg in 18x, the car I painted for him in 1979.

 

 

 

After working in many local auto shops, in 1981 I began working with race car driver and fabricator Gary Cretty in Hampton Bays, from who I learned a lot about suspension building and modification. In 1982 I became part of the crew for the Wilsberg’s #5 driven by Greg Sacks, who successfully raced the Northeast Nascar modified circuit and went on to a Winston Cup win at Daytone in 1985 and a win at the Hummingbird Fishfinder 500K at Talladega in 1996.

Mouse around to identify the crew.

 

 

 

I also crewed for Tommy Tillotson, eventually becoming the go-to guy for everything on the car. These were some of the best years ...

Mouse around to identify the crew.

 

 

 

In 1984 I opened TLT Restoration in Bridgehampton. One of my early projects was paint and bodywork on a 1974 Pro- Street Vega that later appeared in CarCraft Magazine. After relocating to a larger shop in Water Mill in 1988, I began to attract more high-performance oriented customers.

 

 

Since that time I have expanded my team, adding two mechanic / fabricators to handle the variety of work that is now a regular part of TLT RaceTEK.

We work on some very cool projects including the restoration and performance build of a 1966 Sunbeam Tiger ...

 

 

 

and outfitting a 1968 Camaro RS SS with a high performance drive train and race suspension.

 

 

 

Tommy T at speed at Riverhead Raceway in 1992. That's my paint job, too.