A while back, we dabbled in some of the nicknames earned by or assigned to various luminaries of the sport, so let’s continue in that venue for a bit. “Mr. September”, or Harry Gant as he’s more properly addressed, also had a couple of other nicknames throughout his career, at least one of which was pointed out by several readers. Besides being called, “High groove Harry” because of his proclivity for running on the high side of the track, Harry was lovingly referred to by everyone as, “Handsome Harry.” That one needs no explanation, as Harry was and still is an exceptionally fine specimen of American manhood. (Forget it gals, he’s very married and my age)
Cale Yarborough, whom we discussed before as having been christened “The Chicken Driver” throughout his running verbal battles with Darrell Waltrip, was better known to most as “The Timmonsville Flash”, reflecting his home town of Timmonsville South Carolina. Hometowns have always been a popular part of nicknames and our “Golden Boy”, Fred Lorenzen was also known as “The Elmhurst Express”, Elmhurst being located in Illinois.
Even “King” Richard Petty was not without a hometown nickname, being respectfully referred to as “The Randleman Rocket”, that of course, being in North Carolina, where his family still resides. Today’s crop of racers has a similar name inTonyStewart, known to the racing world as, “The Rushville Rocket”, with Rushville being located in Indiana. Tony also answers to the familiar nickname of “Smoke” but though I've heard it for years, I can’t give you the exact derivation. (My educated guess would be that it has a lot to do with speed)
A reader informs me that Elliott Sadler responds to the nickname of “Coolio”, a name that he once called a staff worker, but the name stuck to him instead. (I’m not sure what it means and I've never heard it, but there you have it) Kevin Harvick, he of the slightly surly temper, is known throughout the garage as “Happy” and I’ll let you draw your own conclusions as to where that came from.
Once again going back in the day, Tom Pistone was always called “Tiger Tom” and Marvin Panch was “Pancho” to all of his friends. Charlie Glotzbach answered for his over thirty years in NASCAR, to the name of “Chargin’ Charlie.”
Perhaps one of the most interesting characters was a driver named Herman Beam, who raced from the late 50s into the early 60s. Herman honed the fine art of field filling to a keen edge when he raced. (Or didn't) It was his belief that a living could be made by building a good car (with the emphasis on “good") and then simply driving it slowly around track aprons and collecting his share of the purse after the race. In seven years of racing, I’m told that he never wrecked anyone nor was he himself wrecked. He simply occupied the lane that no one else wanted and chugged around at his own speed, harming no one. In 194 starts, he did somehow manage three top-five finishes, probably due to very high attrition. He never won and he was never famous, but everyone in the sport lovingly referred to Herman as “The Turtle.”
Our last entry for nicknames today is not one person but a number of them, and refers not to their hometown but to their home state. Of course, I’m referring to “The Alabama Gang”, comprised originally of Bobby and Donnie Allison, Red Farmer and Neil Bonnett. The gang later came to include Bobby’s son Davey,Donnie’s son in law, Hut Stricklin and native Alabaman,Jeff Purvis who drove for both Bobby and Neil at various times in his career.
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And now we move right along from nicknames to quotes and anecdotes from some of NASCAR's best or best-spoken...
"I think I had the best drivers that anybody has ever had. Over a period of years, A.J. Foyt, (Mario) Andretti, they drove for me some. You take LeeRoy Yarbrough and Cale (Yarborough ~ no relation); those two were the most nervy drivers I had.Darrell(Waltrip) was a finesse driver, but he would trick you to death. He would hold back so much, he would almost lose the race. I would say, 'Hey Cale, are you laying down on me?' He would say, 'Junior, my name is Darrell; it ain't Cale.'”
"Most of them drivers I had in their prime, and that makes a difference. Cale wrecked the first eight races he drove for us. My boys said, 'What are you going to do with that crazy fool? He's going to wreck every car we've got.' I said, 'He's going to learn every time you hit that wall, it hurts worse and worse.' All he wrecked those cars, he became one of the best drivers I had."
Junior Johnson, wearing his "Owner's hat", which Darrell still imitates today
(Don’t hold back Junior; tell us what you really think)
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"Don't hit him! I know you can hear me, and NASCAR said that they are watching you."
Ty Norris, attempting to talk Dale Earnhardt, Jr. out of paying back Kurt Busch for an earlier wreck
And Junior’s reply:
"You're breaking up man. I still can't hear you."
(In my house that was always known as “selective hearing)
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"When I was a lap down, I think Jeff (Gordon) was trying to give me a little 'rookie education' when I was behind him. He was waving at me or something. I'm not sure what he was doing. I think he wanted me to back off."
Casey Atwood
(It’s called sign language Casey; maybe he was thanking the rookie for not wrecking him ~ or something)
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"You've got to have a lead dog. You've got to have somebody out there for everybody to shoot at."
Richard Petty
(Yep, and behind the lead dog, the view never changes ~ think about it)
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"Making 31 appearances at Hooters wasn't exactly what I wanted to do."
Dale Jarrett, referring to almost signing a Hooters sponsorship earlier in his career
(Dale, I don’t think they wanted you to show cleavage)
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"All of the drivers here I can speak to because they all speak English, with the exception of Ward Burton. He speaks Ward, I guess."
Tony Stewart, explaining the difference between NASCAR and IRL
(And unlike in the IRL, there are no translators readily available)
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"The problem is you've got a young kid who is trying to replace Dale Earnhardt, who thinks he is Dale Earnhardt, and right now he wouldn't be a scab on Dale Earnhardt’s butt."
Bobby Hamilton, referring to then rookie, Kevin Harvick
(Bobby, you could speak plainer than that)
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“I like this story best. Buddy and I were flying near Rockingham. One of the engines began to sputter, and I didn't know why, although later I found a crimped fuel line. I decided to land in a pasture that was full of cows. I made a pass to scare the cows so I had room to land. After I landed, we got out and started walking, and here comes a bull that must have weighed 1,000 pounds. Both of us climbed a pine tree. The bull sort of camped out at the base of the tree, and we had to stay there for at least two hours.”
Buck Baker
(Could have been worse; could have been a moose. They’ll wear a path around the tree waiting for you to come down)
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“Another big deal was in 1992 when I went to the White House to receive the Medal of Freedom from President Bush. This is the highest award a civilian can receive, something like the military’s Medal of Honor. Racing got me to the forefront, but the medal was over and beyond racing, taking in the other things that I have done. That’s what made me feel good. It was a big day for [my wife] Lynda and me. I probably wouldn't have gone to the ceremony if Clinton had called me up there.”
Richard Petty
(I think they call that “partisan politics” but I really can’t fault his logic)
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"I never dreamed I would see the sport where it is today. But I did see that when television got into it, there would be no end to where it could go. With television, you could get into everybody's house. People that had never been to a race could see it on television, and then after they went to a race, they're hooked."
RexWhite
(So how do we put the genie back in the bottle?)
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And with that, I'll close for today with my best Porky Pig imitation, “Th...th...That’s all folks!”
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay
Email: nas3car@gmail.com
Twitter: @MamaPKL
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