Work Horses

The other day William Horrell reminded me of some news clippings I have when he responded to the new Saturday Night Hero column with a comment about Tommy Bostick from Bennettsville, SC getting one of Ned Jarrett's 1964 Ford short track cars and running it. He did indeed, I believe he ran that car at least 2 years and won races at Rockingham, Sanford, Dillon and probably more.

The following is from an August 1965 edition of The Sandhill Independent.

And I think this is a picture from the race talked about in the above article.

Tommy won the first 5 late model features ran at Sanford Motor Speedway in 1965 with that car.

This made we wonder how many other cars became work horses on the short tracks after being retired from Grand National competition.

Anyone got any stories?

hey dennis thanks for shareing this article i really enjoyed it

Dennis,

That Galaxy was one bad ride as you well remember.When Tommy finished with it there was not a panel on it that was not bent in some fashion..It was a real workhorse.

So glad that you have kept these clippings and have your past experiences and memories to share with us all, thanks so much for the information that you share.

The only straight panel was the roof.......there was an interview with Tommy in the oldCarolina Dirt Track Circuit where he explained that he always drove off the track, when it became obvious he wasgoingoutside the park......lessening the roll-over phenomena. The Bostick team not only bought the former Ned Jarrett GN car, they bought its hauler too. The 2-ton cab-over ex-GN car hauler was one impressive rig, back in the day.

You are so right Billy, Reid had that car for 5 or 6 years. Sure wish I had a picture of it in late model trim. I remember Mickey York told me he also worked with you and Tex and drove that Cougar some.

The hood and roof that is hanging at Memory Lane is from Reid's Mercury Cyclone that they ran in sportsman (now Nationwide) races at Daytona and Charlotte. There is another car with Grand National heritage, driven by Benny Parsons and the King. Cecil Gordon hung the Mercury sheet metal on it at DeWhitt's.

I ran across a news clipping from Sept. of 1967 that stated Tommy Bostick had won 15 races so far that year and had taken home almost @10,000 in purse. I looked up another article and saw where he was driving a 1964 Ford and I believe it to be the same car he was driving in 1965. Tommy won 6 races with that car in 1966 at the new Sanford Motor Speedway, he had won 5 in a row until Dad was able to stop the streak on Sept. 9th.

That is some really great stuff about the "afterlife" of racecars.

Evidence of Tommy Bostick running that '64 Ford in 1969. From Sept. '69 Carolina Dirt Track Circuit magazine from Sherman Garris collection.

Awesome post, Dennis!!! We are really getting historic information going here and I love it. After all, that is what we're about. Thanks for taking the time and posting his look back.