Although some may think the title of this Legendtorial is leaning towards religious activities, it is not. In reality, the reason I chose this title is because, as always, I receive e-mails criticizing topics of my Legendtorials. Doesn’t bother me at all, not even when some egos are so big they assume something is written about them when it certainly was not! But, be that as it may, one of the best critical e-mails I received recently was to complain about the "cutesy" titles I give these Legendtorials. I never really considered them "cutesy" but I am sure there are those out there right now listening that can’t wait to e-mail me with a comment on this one. All I can say to that is "go for it".
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Occoneechee Speedway[/caption]
The real intent of this week’s offering is to remind everyone listening, as well as those who may venture onto our home page to read this later, that there is a big event coming up in Hillsborough, NC, this weekend at a race track I always have problems spelling, but can pronounce. Occoneechee Orange Speedway, a 9/10 mile dirt track which is one of the original NASCAR tracks, and a place with a rich history in the sport. Let me see if I can put this in some perspective for those who may never have attended one of the previous events.
First of all it is called a "Celebration of the Automobile" which is as true a title as has ever been assigned to any event at any venue. I’ve been the past five years and every year the automobile is truly celebrated in both a car show of some of the finest iron Detroit ever released to grace the highways and byways of our Country. I have seen some really awesome cars in those shows. It really starts on Friday Night with the Cruise in with a Twist to be held at the Big Barn Convention Center Friday evening there in Hillsborough. There will be live music to enhance the car show, but what will really enhance the live music is watching Reb Wickersham dance! And they chose Mikey for Dancing With the Stars? Obviously they have never seen Mr. Wickersham on the dance floor. No, I don’t dance, but I hang out and talk with several of the Historic Speedway Group Members who hang our there each year. Honestly, by the time I’ve watched Reb for 30 minutes, I’m so tired all I can think of is walking back to the Microtel and getting to bed.
Next, let’s talk about congregation. No, not those folks inside a church on a Sunday morning, but those folks who congregate each year for this event. This year it is the Wood Brothers who will be honored by the event so they will be there. I have never really stopped to count the number of pioneer racers and legends of the sport that show up each year but I think it is amazing to look around and see Rex White, Gene Hobby, Peanut Turman, Reb Wickersham, Sybil Scott, Frances Flock, well, you get the idea. Then you turn around and look at the collection of historic race cars sitting there beside you. If you’ve been around the sport long enough you’ve seen most of these cars competing on the tracks around the Southeast. Ervin Brooks has a beautiful replica of his father’s car. Earl Brooks was a stalwart of the sixties and seventies and to see that car sitting there really brings back memories for me. Then there is Bill Rossi and that red and gold Dodge he has. His father was Mario Rossi, a true legend in the sport of car builders. So many other cars, not even counting the Billy Biscoe racing team bringing four, five or six cars. It is truly a memory in the making to watch these cars "parade" around the track. "Parade " is in parentheses because it resembles more of a race than a parade, believe me.
Yes, folks, it is a congregation of people who have the common bond of their interest in the history of the sport of stock car racing. There truly is no better congregation of fans I can identify than the group that always assembles at that historic track in North Carolina. If I am not mistaken, this track and Indianapolis are the only two race tracks in the country on the National Registry of Historic Places. That, my friends, is a major accomplishment achieved by The Historic Speedway Group.
Ok, now for Revelations. I have been around the sport for over 63 years now. I have been a spectator, a driver, a flagman, and even a NASCAR Official. I have worked in the concession stand, driven the pace car, worked in the ticket office, worked in the driver sign-in. I have been a track announcer, broadcast races live over the radio, worked in television, but most of all, and above all, I have been a fan. I have not only studied the history of the sport but have, in fact, lived most of that history. Even so, every time I attend an event in Hillsborough, I learn things I didn’t know, see things and haven’t seen before, and leave there with the revelation that I am a part of the greatest sport ever. I get to hang around with the historic figures of the sport and who was once just a fan in the infield rubs shoulders with those guys I used to stand by the infield fence at Darlington and watch race. I am a part of the group of folks who are always ready to share the history of the sport with the youngsters who want to learn, and to share the memories of those who are my contemporaries, or older, who have many of the same memories. Those are truly revelations worth noting.
What I have written here thus far are merely words. Words without meaning unless you are of the same mindset. But let’s consider the impact of words for a moment. There is a furniture store I pass on the way to my daughter’s house that will, two or three times a year, have a huge sign out front proclaiming "Everything on sale, 50% to 70% off, some exclusions apply". Please tell me how "Everything can be on sale, yet some exclusions apply? The entire sign means nothing. However, when you hear The Historic Speedway Group talk of its efforts to maintain an important part of stock car racing history, there are no "exclusions applied". You get the full treatment of why that wonderful track holds a spot in NASCAR History. Oh, I could tell you most of the full story about Bill France and the way he became involved with the track or how certain folk in that area were able to keep a huge superspeedway from being build there, and so many other things, but I think you really need to come on to Hillsborough this weekend and check it out for yourself and hear the members of The Historic Speedway Group tell you themselves.
I can assure you of this; you will be welcomed and you will feel at home. There are no strangers there. You may not know the names at first, but once you meet the folks hanging out there, either Friday night at the Cruise-in or Saturday at the race track, you will have new friends for life. The event Saturday is from 7:00 a.m. til 4 p.m. and it is at the Occoneechee/Orange Speedway located at 320 Elizabeth Brady Road, Hillsborough. This is Exit 165 on I-85 and then just follow the signs to the speedway. I plan on being there all day.
Let me end this with a little personal story. On my first birthday in 1947, my Mother and Daddy moved into their brand new house, built at a cost of $5,700.00 across the street from my grandparents. A neighbor gave me a purebred collie puppy that looked just like Lassie for my first birthday. My mother used to tell the story of all the toys I had, it was always the little plastic car I chose to push around while making that irritating "varoom" sound kids make. My puppy, Mickey as he was named, would howl every time I "varoomed". I guess we were celebrating the automobile even way back then.
When my grandparents died, my grandmother when I was three and my grandfather when I was nine, my uncle Bobby inherited the old home place. He ended up building a new home in front of the old house, which was eventually demolished, all except the front porch where we used to sit to listen to the first few Southern 500s before we started attending in 1957. When my mother died, my youngest brother inherited the house I grew up in and when he died in 2006 from cancer, his daughter sold the house. As most of you know, my Uncle Bobby passed away last October but before he passed away, I would visit him as often as I could. As I sat in his living room talking, I could see the house I grew up in across the street. The house now seemed so small when it seemed so big when I was growing up there. I could see the back yard, a huge expanse of green where we played cowboys and Indians, before learning to recklessly race bikes. Every time I drove away from Uncle Bobby’s there was always this feeling that I was leaving a part of me at that old house.
Ann and I have been living the past 31 years in our perfect home! No, it’s not fancy and it seemed a little small when our son and daughter lived here but now it seems so big. It is home and it will be my home until I leave this earth unless my grandsons can figure out a way to get me in a retirement home. I love our home and am proud of it, but there will always be a little part of me out there on Bishop Avenue in that house and yard my mother and father worked so hard to pay for back when income was not that much and there were three boys growing up there. Now, for the past five years, every time I leave Occoneechee, I leave with that same feeling. A feeling that a part of me will always be around that track, around those people who have come to mean so much to me. Friends I will have for the rest of my life and some of the finest people I’ve ever met. I hope everyone listening tonight will come out Saturday and see what I’m talking about for yourself. Believe me, you will enjoy yourself for sure. I cannot imagine otherwise.
One final note to Robin Agner. Please have the coffee ready Saturday morning. I would also like some grits, scrambled eggs with cheese, three strips of bacon and a biscuit or two with grape jelly!
