I seldom read any new post on this site that I am not reminded of something else. Such was the case today when I read the outstanding piece posted on our Home Page about former driver, Jack Anderson. That amazing tale is told by our own Bill McPeek. I don't want to spoil it... you need to go to the Home Page and read it. Here's the link:
http://racersreunion.com/introduction-to-a-saturday-night-hero-jack-anderson-by-bill-mcpeek-with-pattykay-lilley/#more-3257
When I started reading Bill McPeek's story, I immediately knew that I had seen the driver in his story myself, twice in fact, at the two NASCAR Grand National dirt races at Richmond in 1964.
The story also made me wonder about another driver I had seen on the dirt at Richmond in the 60s and thought had disappeared off the face of the earth.
When my buddy, Frank and I showed up at the Richmond dirt track for a Grand National race in 1966, we immediately spotted a really nice looking 1964 Mercury. That car, #06 , was red and black and looked just like the 1964 Bud Moore Mercurys driven by Billy Wade and Darel Dieringer at Richmond in 1964. Well, it should have... the car was the former #16 Bud Moore Merc once driven by Dieringer I have now discovered.
The name on the car at Richmond that day in 1966 was "Johnny Wynn" and I never knew where he came from or where he went. I just know Frank and I thought it was a good looking car and we took photos and movies of it up close in the pits after the race.
To get the full NASCAR "major leagues" driving record for Johnny Wynn, though, you have to look beyond the 1966 Grand National season. You've got to go back to 1953 and 1958 and look in the GN records. You've also got to go to 1956 and 1957 and look up the NASCAR Convertible records. And you have to look up Jack Lawrence , not Johnny Wynn. See, Johnny Wynn and Jack Lawrence were one and the same.
While employed by Firestone as a test driver, Grand Rapids, Michigan native Wynn/Lawrence had met Bud Moore driver, Darel Dieringer and arranged to purchase the old Bud Moore Merc #16 driven by Dieringer and return to NASCAR GN racing. To keep his family from knowing he was driving again in 1966, Lawrence raced under the name of Johnny Wynn, in the tradition of many drivers who found it in their best interest to drive under an assumed name.
I have found several Lawrence family photos of the Johnny Wynn 1964 Merc I remembered from Richmond. You'll note the immediate resemblance to the Bud Moore cars of the era:
What I didn't know, either, is that Johnny Wynn / Jack Lawrence evidently became a political enemy of NASCAR, advocating for various driver monetary and safety issues. There has been in the past a book published recounting his views. That book, NASCAR's Hidden History , appears to be still be available at Amazon.com.
I would sure be interested to learn more about Johhny Wynn / Jack Lawrence from anyone familiar with him or his story. At the time of his passing six years ago in Florida, an Orlando Sentinel columnist wrote the following column:
NASCAR never returned any love to Jack Lawrence
COMMENTARY
October 26, 2006
By Jemele Hill
Orlando Sentinel Columnist
He died bitter.
Not toward friends or family. Only NASCAR.
John D. "Jack" Lawrence II hated everything about NASCAR, even though he was a driver for 15 years.
What he hated most was how they forgot about him and others like him. He felt used and minimalized.
Last July, I wrote a column about Lawrence, who died Oct. 3 in his Bradenton trailer of natural causes. He was one of the most colorful people I've ever met. For hours, he regaled me with tales of moonshinin' and hard drivin'.
It was clear then that Lawrence once deeply loved and respected NASCAR. The same guy whose teeth gritted at the mention of founder Bill France was the same one who drove after blowing out his retina in a race in Richmond in 1953 -- drove with broken wrists and without any brakes. He even disobeyed his businessman father and raced under the pseudonym, Johnny Wynn.
When Lawrence couldn't race anymore, he discovered a painful truth. NASCAR did not love him as much as he loved it.
Of the major sports, NASCAR is the only one that doesn't offer a pension plan for its athletes. That's archaic for someone who flips burgers for a living, let alone a person who drives cars at speeds hovering near 200 mph.
A pension plan isn't a big deal to drivers such as Kyle Petty and Jeff Gordon -- established stars bathing in millions.
But for drivers such as Lawrence, who put their lives on the line for an $800 purse and drove without fire suits or window nets, a pension is the least NASCAR could do to pay proper respect.
"They did so many dangerous activities," said Lorri Lawrence, one of John's six surviving children. "That made the sport safer and everyday driving safe."
On Lawrence's Web site, www.hearseinthepits.com , he listed the names of all the drivers he knew who were killed so NASCAR could thrive today. It is not a short list. And a lot of the drivers died testing equipment that eventually would save lives.
Many of the old-timers who were fortunate enough to survive those wild days struggled financially much in the way Lawrence did before his death.
Lawrence, who was legally blind, lived in a 30-year-old trailer that cost $1,000. He got by on a monthly veteran's check of $1,432.
He was in poor health -- a testament to the unsafe lifestyle he led as a driver. He was hooked up to three oxygen tanks because of an ailing heart. His body was implanted with three stents, tiny metal coils that forced the artery in his heart open and restored blood flow. His arms were badly bruised from the blood thinners he took -- one of his 14 daily medications.
He died with more memories than money. With more hurt than health.
Petty told the Sentinel last February, "If I'm not smart enough to keep up with my own money, then I ought to be broke. I'm sorry. It's not a welfare state."
Unsympathetic words from a wealthy man.
If the NFL, a sport that is just as dangerous as NASCAR, can take care of its own, then NASCAR has no excuse.
This isn't about charity. It's about a fraternity looking out for its founders.
Lawrence wasn't just another old guy with a sob story. All he wanted was to be appreciated and recognized.
Lawrence was in 15 wrecks during his career. He saw many of his friends die.
Sadly, Lawrence died believing they all died for nothing.
--
"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
