For those of you who may wonder what a 65 year old man and a 15 year old prodigy may talk about for 45 minutes, you should know that answer already. Our mutual love of the sport of stock car racing, more appropriately the history of stock car racing. I admit Cody is obsessed with GEORGIA racing history, but that’s wonderful. He is the hope of the next generation that will keep the flame of memories burning for those who follow. We need a couple thousand more Cody Dinsmores and with his help, we will have them.
The repetitive issue of this Legendtorial is once again bringing to the attention of NASCAR, and yes they either listen live or listen to the archives, that your marketing folks are steering you down a dead end road for reasons I can’t begin to understand. I would like to understand but I’ve given up on the slick marketers who tell Brian that the 18 to 26 year olds are the guys they need to pursue to put in the grandstands at the races. Admittedly, I am no marketing major, in fact, never took a course at any university in the subject but I do observe things, especially things involved with stock car racing in general and Racers Reunion® in particular. So, please allow me to share a few of my recent observations.
I was in Shelby, North Carolina Saturday at the Historic Cleveland County Fairgrounds Speedway for the first RacersReunion® Vintage Car Championship series. Let me tell those of you who didn’t attend some of the things I believe punch holes in the marketing folks theories. For those of you who were there, if I say anything not true, please jump in chat and correct me.
1. For the second time this month I was with Marvin Panch. Marvin who won the 1960 Daytona 500. That, folks, was 52 years ago. I won’t tell Marvin’s age although I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with that, but what I want to tell you is that Marvin Panch is always smiling! He greets everyone, even me, with a huge smile and whether he knows your name or not he immediately puts you at ease with his happy and jovial demeanor. He enjoys the events where he gets together with fans and some of his contemporaries.
2. I see Rex White so much any more it’s almost like 1960 when he raced every week and I was at a lot of those races. Oh, did I mention he won the Grand National Championship in 1960, now known as the Sprint Cup, and that, dear friends was also 52 years ago. Rex is also always smiling and if he isn’t, he is in the midst of planning a joke on someone. Rex is one fine guy and everyone enjoys spending time with him.
3. Ned Jarrett. What can you say about this guy? He was Cup Champ in 1961 and 1965. How long ago was that? Figure it out for me as my calculator just broke trying to figure out all these years.
4. Paul Lewis. Paul Lewis is disgusting! I have no idea how old Paul is but he won a Cup race in 1965 and won bunches of races in other NASCAR divisions. Yet, he looks like he’s 50 and gets around like he’s 30. He gets around better than I do. Maybe disgusting is too harsh a word, so maybe I should just say I’m jealous of Paul’s youthfulness, which I seem to have lost somewhere along the way.
There are other heroes and legends of the sport who come to these events but I mention these four individuals so you may begin to understand the following stories.
Saturday there was a young lady, maybe late 20s, who was actually turning very red while having her picture taken with Marvin. I talked to her briefly as she left the table and she said that her Daddy had always talked about Marvin Panch and she was thrilled beyond words to meet him.
Over an hour before the drivers were scheduled to appear, a young man, probably 25, came up to me and asked when Ned Jarrett would be there. I told him about 10 a.m. That young man hung around, intermittently talking with me or just standing to the side waiting for Ned to arrive. When Ned got there, the young man asked me if Ned would autograph his RacersReunion® Scene for him. I assured him Ned would be happy to do so. I wish I had a picture of that young man’s face when he got to talk to Ned. The young man was NOT EVEN born when Ned hung up his helmet. As he left, he told me that NASCAR today holds nothing for him but he had wanted to meet Ned Jarrett for a long, long time. Put that in your demographic file Brian.
A family group walked up to where I was standing (I’m always in the way) and they wanted to see Rex White. The youngest son, maybe 9, maybe 10, said he thought Rex’s car was the “bestest race car he had ever seen” and he wanted to meet Rex. He got his copy of RacersReunion® Scene and went to get an autograph. The kid spent a good 30 minutes with all the drivers at the table and I’m sure his face was hurting that night from the huge smile he displayed the entire time.
When I go to these events, I’m not sure exactly what my RacersReunion® job duties are but in as much as Jeff had assigned me official “greeting duties” at Columbia Speedway, I now assume that is my role. I absolutely LOVE that job. I like people, pure and simple. I like racing people especially. To relay all the stories gathered Saturday would take up several shows but I will say that I met more than one individual who told me their father, uncle, brother, cousin, boss, or someone they knew raced at the track all those years ago. I had one guy spend a great deal of time telling me how he had raced there in the 60s and he now has a 21 year old son who has the racing bug and he wants to put that son in a car for the weekly events.
I spoke to several folks as they were leaving after the races. 100% of those I talked with said they loved the event and they are looking forward to the weekly races. Many of these folks were in the 18 to 26 group and many were much older, some older than I. Almost 100% of these folks say that NASCAR has lost appeal with them but what they witnessed at that quarter mile track was awesome. And, let me tell you, it was.
What happened at Shelby is a job well done by Jeff Gilder in promoting the Vintage Car event and a job well done by Michael W. Smith and his group in constructing a speedway reminiscent of those glory tracks so many of us grew up attending. It was as though a veil of historic proportions was lifted for an afternoon and what was once magnificent was again. This is, I hope, sort of like Opie Taylor throwing a rock in the lake at the start of the ever entertaining Andy Griffith show. We really don’t get to see the ripples that rock makes, but we know the ripples are there. Right now we can’t see the ripples Shelby will make, but we know the ripples are there, ever expanding. What a wonderful feeling for an old timer like me.
So, if you want to continue to hear the repetitive diatribe from me every week here, e-mail me at legendtim83@yahoo.com . Just rest assured I will continue to bang the drum for our heritage and for this website.
One more thing. This Saturday, April 28th, I will be at Jack’s Custom Cycles at 1500 West Main Street, Lexington, South Carolina at the invitation of RacersReunion’s Captn Jack (Chuck Enlow). The event is “Full Throttle Rockin and Ridin for a Cure. Proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Admission is $5.00 per person, with under 12 free. Yard Sale, Food and Beverages and Door Prizes. Several entertainers to perform. I’ll be there from about 10:30 til 1:00 or so. Hope some of you will come out to support the cause. This is The Legend venturing out into the motorcycle folks, many of whom are members here. Have no fear, however, I don’t do motorcycles. Far too uncoordinated to ride one of those.
Contact me at legendtim83@yahoo.com
