A conversation with Tiger Tom Pistone

Yesterday I blogged about Lee Petty's win in the inaugural Daytona 500. Of the top 10 finishers, only 2 remain with us: Jim Reed and Tiger Tom Pistone. Earlier this month, Chrissy Pistone helped arrange a few moments for me to chat by phone with Tom. I've tried my best to recap our conversation and frame it with some personal connections to his time.

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-conversation-with-tiger-tom-pistone.html

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Schaefer: It's not just for racing anymore.
updated by @tmc-chase: 04/23/17 06:52:00PM

Thanks for the interview recap, Chase.

I was very fortunate in 1966 to see Tom set a NASCAR Grand National Stock Car racing record that shall never be broken . With two 4-bbl carburetors bolted to the manifold of his 427 cubic inch wedge in a two year old 1964 Ford, Tiger Tom set the all-time 1-lap qualifying record of 70.978 mph on the old half-mile dirt Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. He then proceeded to lead the first 22 laps of the 1966 Richmond 250.

From the King's 200th victory at Daytona in 1984, to Kyle's first Cup win to Tom's all-time Richmond dirt record run, I have been fortunate to see some real racing history.

A little recap:

http://racersreunion.com/community/forum/general/8632/tiger-toms-never-to-be-broken-record

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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"