RacersReunion

Bill Elliott Racing History 1992-2000

May 18, 2013 º Articles | Cody Dinsmore | Commentary º 0 comments

By Cody Dinsmore

When we last talked, Winston Cup Champion and NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver was planning to leave his family-based and Melling owned race team. The move would be the biggest in his career yet. With Coors Brewing Company leaving the #9, and being in a slump during the past couple of seasons, Bill thought change was needed going into the 1992 season.

Several driver/sponsor combinations were being switched up for the 92′ season. One big announcement in particular was “The King”, Richard Petty was to compete in his last season as an owner. Geoff Bodine, who for two seasons drove Junior Johnson’s famous #11 was leaving to compete on WWII Veteran, Bud Moore’s legendary #15. Therefore, a seat in Johnson’s Budweiser Thunderbird was now vacant with Elliott being a top driver, looking for a top ride. So, a deal was struck on January 2nd, 1992 for a three-season contract for Bill to drive the #11 Ford. I’m sure that the Coors executives weren’t too happy about the Most Popular Driver switching to their competitor. Read On!

May 14, 2013 Legendtorial – The Eye of The Beholder

Articles | Commentary | Tim Leeming º 5 comments

the-legend By Tim Leeming

I’m sure most of you have heard the saying “Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder”. As I often do, when working on these Legendtorials, I did a little research about the background of that saying, or, in essence, those sentiments. I was somewhat surprised with the information I found. I always assumed it was good old Will Shakespeare who coined the phrase for one of those required High School readings we all used to dread, or most of us, anyway. Instead, I found the original use of the sentiment, although not in the exact words, was in the third century B.C. in Greek. Literally, the statement means the “perception of beauty is subjective”. Read On!

Southern Nights – Slick Track and Push Rod Bullets

May 12, 2013 º Articles | Commentary | Johnny Mallonee º 3 comments

By Johnny Mallonee

We had a couple of weeks with a lot of rain and that’s not good dirt tracks. I got wind of a race that had a pretty decent sized purse and we decided to go down to give them a whirl.
Now don’t tell anyone but we kinda got outside our 100 mile radius this weekend. You see we went to Jacksonville Florida to the track that’s actually in town. In fact you have to drive down a residential street to get there. It was located on the corner of Lenox Ave and Plymouth Street, right off Normandy Ave .

But what a track it was. They must have soaked that track all day before a race with oil because it was blacker than coal. After the race it was hard to tell who wore white to the track.

We left early Saturday morning and zinged on down in the trusty lil pickup. We pulled in about 4 pm and unloaded hoping to have time to look around and check out the competition. These Florida cars kinda look different from what we see around home, but the guys are nice to you…at least to your face.
A prewar era motor grader was out putting that shine on the track that says S L I C K and it stood true to its name. When you pull in and see cars like a Plymouths or a Studebakers out on the track hauling tail you are in for a treat. There were drivers there like Tiny Lund and Leroy Strickland ,Rance Phillips, Harvey Jones , and David Ezell. So the racing will be exciting to say the least. Read On!

Bill Elliott 1986-1991 – The Ending of an Era

Articles | Cody Dinsmore | Commentary º 0 comments

By Cody Dinsmore

When we left off last week, Bill Elliott was at one of the biggest times of the year – winning 11 races and 11 poles in 1985 in addition to the $1,000,000 bonus from series sponsor, Winston. He was also named Most Popular Driver for the second consecutive year and Eljer’s Driver of the Year. Sure, it was an awesome year for a guy who had just been racing the full schedule for his 3rd season, but a heart-breaking part failure at the season finale at Riverside cost him that year’s Winston Cup. Still looking optimistic for 1986, the Elliott’s now were trying to worry about a championship. Their mind-set for the previous years were to just win races. In 1985, that’s exactly what they done. Now they were going to be more smarter about how they run. The only thing was…the other manufacturers. On the 1985 schedule, there were 28 races – 14 were won by Fords, the other 14 had Chevrolet’s in victory lane. Notice there were no Oldsmobile wins, nor Buick or Pontiac. Therefore, GM had to do something to keep up with the aerodynamic wonders of the Thunderbird. For the 1986 models of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Pontiac Grand Prix were basically the same as the previous year, but with a huge ‘bubble-back’ glass. The front end was also changed to make the cars more aerodynamic. For the other 2 GM products, Buick, and Olds , cars were radically re-designed and looked much smaller than the others. Many teams switched to the smaller-looking cars to experiment. Read On!

May 7 Legendtorial – Observations, Opinions, and Omlets

Articles | Commentary | Tim Leeming º 0 comments

By Tim Leeming
Well, after a Talladega Marathon, or racing and raining, I’m just ready to spout off opinions about what I observed over the weekend. I’m going to talk about “Duck Boy” and “Candy Man” so those of you who are fans of those two stand by. The Legend intends to shock the listening audience tonight for sure.
First, an “observation”. Carl Edwards, better known to me as “Duck Boy” was in the booth with the broadcast crew for the Nationwide race on Saturday. While I have had my issues with some of the stunts he has pulled on the race track, and while I am not particularly impressed with his ability to “flip off” the entire grandstand when he wins, I want to offer my opinion of his talents in the broadcast booth. Read On!

Bill Elliott’s Coors Days 1984 – 1985

May 1, 2013 º Articles | Cody Dinsmore | Commentary º 0 comments

By Cody Dinsmore

Last time you heard a ‘Georgia Racing History’ segment, it was about how Harry Melling really helped the Elliott Race Team and brought Bill his first pole, win and first full-time season. For this segment, I will continue on with the history of Bill Elliott and talk about the 1984 and 85′ season, including his Winston Million.

In the latter part of the 1983, Coors Brewery had met with Harry Melling and Bill about a possible sponsorship. They drew up an 8-year contract with the first primary sponsored race being the 1984 Daytona 500. However, a small Coors decal had been placed on the quarter panel for the last handful of races in 1983, including his first career win at the Winston Western Read On!

Full Moon Plus Opening Night at Bowman Gray Stadium Equals Madhouse

Articles | Commentary | Jeff Gilder º 4 comments

By Jeff Gilder

I’m finally getting around to writing about my experience this past Saturday night at the infamous Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, NC. Taking in a race there has long been on bucket list. I can tell you, it should have happened long ago.

It was opening night for the 2013 season at Bowman Gray Stadium (BGS)..or The Madhouse as regulars call it. The moon was full, but well- hidden behind the threatening rain clouds. Slated for the night was a full compliment of short-track racing for a packed house. Please understand (if you have not heard) Bowman Gray Stadium holds around seventeen thousand fans. Read On!