Just look beyond the forest to see the trees.

Take a look at the top photo, what do you see? The image is small yet it is clear that the 1959 Ford Thunderbird with the #41 is Curtis Turner and if you are not very familiar with NASCAR's past drivers it doesn't take long to research in order to discover the #64 Ford Thunderbird is Fritz Wilson. However, if you read between the lines, or cars in this matter, you will see the rookie driver of young Richard Petty in the Lee Petty owned 1957 Olds Rocket 88 Ragtop.

A photo tells a story beyond the main subject, there are so many hidden stories in plain view, you just need look beyond the forest to see the trees.

Another close up reveals that just beyond Fritz Wilson's car are two more convertibles, the #98 and what appears to be #36 or #86.

With more information I was able to research the #98 to be Marvin Panch in a 1958 Ford convertible and eventual runner-up to winner Shorty Robbins in the 1959 Daytona 500 Qualifying Convertibles race. Which led me to discover that the convertibles qualified separate from the Grand National cars yet raced together in the 500. Upon further investigation it was determined that the Fritz Wilson's #64 Museum of Speed 1959 Ford Thunderbird was also the runner-up in the Daytona 500 Qualifying race for the Grand Nationals to Bob Welborn's 1959 Chevrolet. So her e we have both eventual Daytona 500 Qualifying second place finishers in the same photo. One that appears to have either just qualified and is parked in the pits (Fritz Wilson), and the other is on the grid waiting to qualify (Marvin Panch).

There are so many instances where someone points out a lesser subject in a photo. Some see the components of the subject and target those for further discussion, for instance, seeing what brand of front clip a car has on an old modified. And some see beyond the photo's subject to discover the stories within the frame of the photo as in this photo of the Ford's of Curtis Turner and Fritz Wilson.

Here is a two part challenge to you:

One, who's car is in front of Marvin Panch's #98 Ford? Is it the #36 or #86 and, who is the driver, make and model?

Second, which division qualified first, the Convertibles or Grand National cars?

I do not have the answers to either questions, it is up the reader to find the answers, who has what it takes to be the next apprentice?

Finally, what have you discovered lately in your photos? You might want to get a magnifying glass and take a closer look.

NICE!!

Jim...

This is really great stuff.

I always knew the ragtops and hardtops had raced together at Daytona, but never knew they did separate qualifying deals. Very interesting enlightenment. And thanks, PK for the other identifications.

I got very sad thinking about Marvin Panch and the number 98. Marvin's late son, Richie Panch, carried on the tradition of that car number. Richie used that number on almost all of his 47 Cup races between 1973-1976. In 1974 Richie scored his best career finish, 3rd place in the September Capital City 500 at my hometown Richmond track wheeling the #98.

Richie was one of the nicest, friendliest, outgoing and most helpful people I ever met in automobile racing. When I started representing Wrangler full time in 1981one of the first people at Daytona to be helpful to me was Richie Panch. He was so nice and so funny.

Richie had gotten himself hooked up with a new television enterprise called ESPN and was working around the garages and pits for them. Like Morgan Shepherd, Richie's favorite mode of travel was on roller skates! Here he'd come through the garage leading a tv crew, all the time spinning around, laughing and giving them directions what to do. And, Richie was only about 26 years old at that time.

When we got to Darlington for the 1981 spring Cup event, Richie came to me. He had a stack of ESPN decals they'd just produced ( the old original ESPN logo ). He told me if I'd put a couple of these new ESPN stickers on Dale Earnhardt's Wrangler car, he'd tip off the producer, director and cameramen to look for those stickers during the race. Richie was good to word. Our executives couldn't believe how much air time our car was getting. All because I put a couple of ESPN stickers right next to the word "Wrangler" on the quarter panels and rear end.

Richie was one of those people who generated excitement and he was always trying to help other people. One of those people he tried to help was motorcycle racer Dale Singleton, an AMA champ I had met and sat next to at the AMA Awards banquet at Disneyland in California. Dale had won two Daytona 200 cycle events and wanted to break into Busch Series racing. Richie had befriended him and was helping him get a ride and get acquainted. Being nice as always.

Most folks remember the 1985 Southern 500 as the day a fellow from Dawsonville became "Million Dollar Bill." I remember it for a different reason.

Long story, short.... following the the 1985 Southern 500 at Darlington, Richie took off in his plane for Florida with Dale Singleton and two others. They never made it. The plane broke apart in mid-air when it flew into a severe thunderstorm over Rion, South Carolina. All four aboard perished. Richie, already a veteran of 4 Cup seasons in the previous decade and with a television career ahead of him was only 30 years old.

I never see the number 98 on a stock car that I don't think about Richie Panch and what a nice guy he was and how he died helping other people.

The late Richie Panch with his ever present smile

A young Richie Panch poses with dad Marvin Panch beside the famed Wood Brothers mount

Richie Panch in one of his #98 Cup rides

Richie Panch's #98 at speed on the high banks of Daytona

Richie Panch used his dad Marvin's old number 98 at the weekly tracks, also

And, Richie's resume will forever show that he was another in the distinguished list of drivers who once steered a ride for my hometown Richmond car builder and legend, Junie Donlavey.

Thanks, Jim, for making me think of Richie Panch - another of racing's truly nice people lost too soon.

Credit for all above photos to Legends of NASCAR web site.

Had the pleasure of hanging out with Richie some.What a great guy he was.He was the same every time i was around him.

Patty, applaud applaud, for answering the second of a two part question. Thanks for your time and research onThe Greg Fielden NASCAR Chronicles, it is a terrific source, probably the best out there and I cross referenced your find that the Convertible Division did in fact race first. Which means, that Shorty Rollins in the `58 Ford was the first race car to win at Daytona, that is a pretty cool title to hold and very little known fact about Daytona. However, there was a #86 that qualified with the convertibles, a Buck Baker car driven by Bob Harkey, a `58 Chevrolet convertible as referenced in http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/ So, the first question still stands, which car is in the photo, #36 Pete Kelly's `57 Chevy or #86 Bob Harkey's `58 Chevy?

Dave, you just educated me that Richie Panch was Marvin's son, I never connected the two. Richie seemed to be a nice guy. I built a custom made Monte Carlo of Richie's Budweiser Chevy because I liked the look.

Good Job!

I don't know Patty, it sure looks like the rear quarter panel of a 58 Chevy Impala, the fin is not as deep as the 57' but I'm no expert. I looked at the `58 Impala on Wikipedia and it looks like the same rear quarter design but, when I looked for a Bob Harkey in the Stock Car Racing Encyclopedia edited by Fielden there is no Bob Harkey. So who is this Bob Harkey that supposedly drove for Buck Baker? Hmm? This is getting more confusing... as much as you and I seem to disagree on things I might have to admit your right but I'm not convinced that the car is a `57 Chevy yet. Wink!

Please don't get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying your correspondence and thought I would poke at you but surely mean no harm. You have done your fair share of research, I do trust your response. Buck Baker did run a Chrysler in 1956 or 57 with the #86 so the fact that this Harkey fella supposedly drove for Buck seemed reasonable. In any case, since I have no further proof and it's hard to argue Fielden's research so I'd say you are correct on both questions. Nice work and thanks.

i would agree with the assessment that the car is the no. 36 based on observation of a small portion of the front no.

as for bob harkey, he is mostly known as an indy or champcar driver. he once spoke at our high school and there was a film shown with one of the indy 500's that he ran.

Wow, that's some good stuff there Patty. Buck Baker's #87 was his signature number but, I never known him to own a #89, being the "9" is an upside down "6"...typo? Naaw, couldn't be, not with this story, no way. However, it wasn't uncommon for two exact numbered cars to switch numbers in order to accommodate the score keeper ie. if Carl Tyler's #86 qualified better than Baker's #86 so Buck had to switch his number to #89. That's a theory since I still think that the car in question is a `58 Chevy.That's my story and I'm stickin' to it too!

At least the Bob Harkey mystery is solved. There is however one more driver that drove for Baker in the `59 Daytona 500, Tiny Lund in the #88 1959 Chevrolet, at least that's what Ultimate Racing History shows.

Thanks, hadn't never seen this one before, I'll bookmark it.

And Mr. Harkey is credited as leading lap #4 in that qualifier, one of 4 different leaders the first 4 laps, beginning with Glen Wood leading lap #1.

Daytona was competitive from the beginning.

May I be allowed to throw a little more mud in these interesting waters?

Turns out Mr. Harkey was in attendance at this past year's 400-Mile NASCAR Stock Car race at Indy.

On the date of Paul Menard's win, Mr. Harkey is thusly quoted in the official Indianapolis Motor Speedway pit notes for July 31, 2011:

BOB HARKEY: "I drove in the first NASCAR convertible race at Daytona in 1959. Buck Baker gave me a ride in his '59 Impala convertible. Larry Frank hooked me coming off the second turn and spun me all the way down the backstretch. I drove back to the pit, they checked the car, and I finished 10th. I had to go to Washington, D.C. or Atlanta to run midgets because there wasn't any open-wheel racing in the South."

How about that!?

PattyKay says the car is a '57, Jim says it is a '58 and Mr. Harkey himself says he drove a '59!

Take your pick!

I keep finding interesting Bob Harkey / Buck Baker connections:

On July 19, 1964 while Bob Harkey was finishing 3rd in the USAC Indy Car race at Trenton, Buck Baker was finishing 4th in his NASCAR stocker at Watkins Glen.

1964
A.J. Foyt, in his Sheraton-Thompson Watson Offy, won the Trenton 150 USAC Indy Car race on the 1 mile paved oval at the Trenton International Speedway, Trenton, NJ. Lloyd Ruby was second followed by Don Branson , Bob Harkey and Norm Hall.

Billy Wade, in the Bud Moore Mercury Marauder , won the NASCAR Grand National race on the Watkins Glen International Road Course in Watkins Glen, NY. LeeRoy Yarbrough finished second followed by Walt Hansgen, Buck Baker and Bob Welborn.

And this Bob Harkey / Buck Baker connection come courtesy of an Indianapolis Motor Speedway News Release in 2009:

Indianapolis Motor Speedway shares some NASCAR history
Tuesday, 28 July 2009

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, and although known more for its open wheel tradition, the track has seen its share of NASCAR history.

Stock car racing became a fixture at Indianapolis in 1994, with the advent of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. But NASCAR references and competitive crossover are found throughout Indianapolis long history.

NASCAR founder Bill France was a pit crew member for driver Joel Thorne during the 1938 and 1939 Indianapolis 500. Thorne finished seventh and ninth respectively.

The car that Mauri Rose drove in his 1941 Indianapolis 500 victory proved quite versatile. The grandfather of outgoing Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Joie Chitwood III drove the same car in the 1946 Indianapolis 500.

Buck Baker later drove the car to the NASCAR Speedway division title in1952. It remained in Charlotte, N.C., until Bob Harkey arranged for its return to Indianapolis. Today, the car is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.

looks like a 59 olds to me

OK, so now we've established that Bob Harkey did race a Chevy convertible but I too think his memory has faded on the year, when in fact it was a 58` Impala. So, to prove it I've got a picture of a `58 Impala and the original photo for comparison to the rear quarter panel. Just take a look and judge for yourself. Now we all know that the `57 was unmistakable, no question. Take a look...

More about the Indy car found by Bob Harkey and driven by Buck Baker...

Found this in an article about the whereabouts of Indy 500 winning cars:

It was the 1941 Indy 500 race winner.

1941: Noc-Out Hose Clamp Special (Floyd Davis & Mauri Rose)
Owned and restored to display condition by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foundation, and housed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. A plaque indicates it was donated by Mr. & Mrs. O.A. Corriher.

It is reportedly the same car that Frank Wearne drove at Indy in 1939, and that Rose drove in 1940. After the war, the car was reportedly driven by Joie Chitwood in 1946-1947, Duane Carter in 1948, and by Troy Ruttman in 1949. In 1950, Bob Sweikert practiced in the car, but was unable to qualify. Ted Horn also reportedly drove the car.

In 1952, Buck Baker acquired the car, replaced the Offenhauser engine with a Cadillac V-8, and entered it in the short-lived NASCAR Speedway Division, an open-wheel series that ran from 1952-1953. Baker drove it to the lone championship in 1952, because the series disbanded after only two races in 1953.

After that point, it was prepped for use as a sprint car. It was garaged in Spartanburg, South Carolina , where it was intact, but in desperate need of significant repair. Sometime in the 1970s, it was relocated by Bob Harkey to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum, where it was restored.

By 1980, it the restoration was complete. In April of 2003, it was brought to the Indycar event in Motegi, Japan for display. It is on periodic display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. In the spring of 2011 the car was included in the 100th Anniversary display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

Not finished with Mr. Harkey yet!

Would you look at this field? 73 cars started the July 4, 1953 NASCAR Modified race at Darlington.

Buck Baker and Bob Harkey both drove in it. 73 cars!!!

http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/race.php?raceid=6729

Oh, by the way, maybe we should ask Boris.

Well, PK.... Appears Mr. Said WAS pulled in from the streets, lol!!!

Boris "Bob" Said (May 5, 1932 in New York City - March 24, 2002 in Seattle) was a racing driver from the United States. Boris was the first American to win a road race in Europe after World War II - the 1953 Rouen Grand Prix. He participated in the first Formula One United States Grand Prix at Sebring on December 12, 1959. He spun off on the first lap and scored no World Championship points. He also made one NASCAR start, the 1959 Daytona 500 where he finished 50th after a transmission failure.

Said was also a bobsled racer, competing in the Olympics twice, 1968 in Grenoble and in 1972 at Sapporo, Japan. Later he was the executive producer of a documentary entitled Mystery of the Sphynx.

His son, Boris Said III, is a current NASCAR driver and road course ringer.

SOURCE - Wikipedia

of the car in question, when i zoom in on the subject, the rear looks different from the zoom shown earlier. on that zoom it looks like a 58 and on my zoom it looks like a 57 down to the detail of the rear quarter panels. so i agree with pkl for a change.. lol

as for bob said, i know he was onan olympic bobsled team and i believe he drove in some sports car races.

Slim!!!

Terrific investigation Dave, this has turned up a lot of history from a single photo. From Harkey, a Indianapolis driver, a NASCAR driver, and eventually a Indy historian, to Boris "Bob" Said, and the father of the "Wooley Bugger". Great stuff!

Here's a little more in-depth on Boris Said's father, Bob - wish I had known him.

Bob Said: 1932-2002

Bob Said, a pioneering American racer in post-World War II Europe and one of the great characters of the era, died after watching the 2002 Oscar show.

Born in 1932 of a Syrian father and Russian mother, Boris Said lived many lives. He was the first American driver to win a race in Europe after World War II, taking an OSCA to victory at Rouen in 1953. After more good European showings in the OSCA and a Ferrari Mondial in 1953 and 1954, Said returned to America. He continued in Ferraris, but after crashing badly at Nassau in 1955, he didn't race for two years. While he was absent, he made one of his fortunes in a mining endeavor in Montana. He returned to racing, piloting a Ferrari at Nassau in 1957, but he raced only rarely. His last event was the first United States Grand Prix at Sebring in 1959 where he only made a lap in a Connaught. He got the entry because his mother had helped out the mother of Sebring organizer, Alec Ulmann, during hard times in Russia.

Away from the track, Said made another big killing in Westchester County real estate in the 1960s, allowing him a big estate in Pound Ridge, with a private zoo. People who met Bob in later years sometimes thought he was exaggerating, but he actually was a two-time Olympic bobsledder and an Emmy-winning TV documentary maker. At the time of his death, he was waiting to begin another project, Mysteries of the Goddess, which had been interrupted by the violence in the Middle East.

When spending time around Bob, one was immediately reminded why so few of today's drivers catch the imagination of the public. His knowledge of other subjects and his storytelling abilities were unparalleled. VeloceToday's condolences go out to his son, racer Boris Said, his daughter, Leesa, and his many friends around the world.

This is all so amazing though the story here is probably not finished. I just want to say that it brings me back to the main theme of this post and the reason I posted it, is that if you look beyond the subject in a photo there is a whole wealth of stories beyond the main subject.

One more note, and one that has so far not been mentioned, other than it was his inaugural rookie season - Richard Petty. What is interesting here is that Richard finished dead last and his father Lee won the race. No big deal but, it is kind of ironic.

I once saw the original negatives of those historic images of Lee and Johnny Beauchamp listed on ebay with certificate of authenticity and all copy rights. I actually bid on the negatives and lost by only a few dollars. I should have went big or stayed home. They sold for $76...that's right, a mere 76 bones. I still kick myself for letting that one get away.

Here's one more link to some interesting history, but I doubt I'll bid on this one... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&item=180835509696&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

One other aside using Racing Reference stats...

After the 1959 Daytona 500,

Buck Baker is shown as the entered owner of car #89 in Eight other 1959 NASCAR Cup races and in all instances the car is listed as a 1958 Chevrolet. We know the guys added and deleted the hardtops depending on whether they were running Grand National or Convertible division.

Buddy Baker ran the hardtop Buck Baker owned #89 in 6 1959 Cup races;

Twice at Columbia and once each at Greenville (SC), Wilson, Richmond, and Weaverville.

Shorty Rollins ran the Buck Baker owned #89 in 1959 at Spartanburg.

Tiny Lund ran the Buck Baker owned #89 in 1959 at Occoneechee.

Racing Reference lists Seven 1959 Convertible division starts by a Buck Baker owned #89 Convertible, in all cases listed as a 1958 Chevy.

Buddy Baker at Occoneechee, Weaverville, Columbia and Greenville

Ned Jarrett at Hickory

Shorty Rollins at Martinsville

Buck himself at Bowman-Gray

Here's a Bill Rankin posted photo:

Robert, I see several different places that Bob represented Champion Spark Plug's Safety Program and often spoke to high school students on driver safety.

This link is to a story in a Maine newspaper in 1978. Must be like what Bob did at your school.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19781004&id=v-08AAAAIBAJ&sjid=Yi4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=4191,1235591

I pulled this photo from Dr. John Craft's "Stock Cars" book. I wonder what museum this Fritz Wilson car is in? Haven't never heard of anyone talk about it.

Jim...

here's the answer about the car's location as posted on the web site www.oldstockcars.com by Fritz Wilson's nephew, Tim (the final photo shows Fritz working on the car before the Daytona 500):

1959 Holman-Moody Thunderbird NASCAR
This was my uncle. This car was campaigned in the first Daytona 500 race in 1959. The #64 Holman-Moody Thunderbird was the car driven by Fritz Wilson who finished in 56th place with a blown piston. He actually only made 15 laps before leaving the race. The car that finished in 2nd place was driven by Johnny Beauchamp in the #73 car. In a photo finish #73 was initially declared the winner. The #64 car still exists and can be found in Mark Martins Klassix Car museum in Daytona Beach , FL.