May 1, 1977: Waltrip goes to Talladega victory lane with a hitchhiker

The calendar has now turned to May - a spectacular month for racing of all flavors. Talladega and Charlotte on the NASCAR front (that used to be considered 2 of the big 4 to win), the Indy 500, Monaco for the F1 crowd, Englishtown for the straight liners, etc.

In 1977, NASCAR got started early in the month with the running of the Winston 500 at Talladega. Super Tex A.J. Foyt won the pole - the ninth and last of his abbreviated but very relevant Cup career. Later in the month, Foyt would win his 4th and final Indianapolis 500.

Dave Marcis and David Pearson enjoyed a good pre-race laugh.

The day before, Ray Hendrick won the Sportsman 300. His car got pit service during the day by Bud Moore's GN crew. Finishing behind him in the top 5 were Randy Tissot, Waltrip, Connie Saylor and Joe Frasson. - Ray Lamm

Janet Guthrie made her first of three Talladega starts. She started a respectable 13th but finished 32nd after losing an engine. Because of pressure from her car owners, however, Guthrie really had no plans to race hard as a rookie. Put between a rock and a hard place, she announced before the race she planned to turn her car over to Lennie Pond. Her Indy 500 car owner was fearful she may be injured at Talladega which would affect Janet's ability to race in the Indy 500. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! - Times News

Foyt's pole win was about the only glory for him that weekend. He lost an engine early in the race and went from 1st to a 38th-place finish. Even worse was local favorite Bobby Allison. He lost an engine in his Matador after 11 laps and finished 40th. Bobby would park the Matador at the end of the season, join forces with Bud Moore for 1978, and enjoy a career renaissance.

The last couple of laps were epic NASCAR. Four cars separated themselves from the field after an afternoon of racing. Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, and Donnie Allison all were in contention. As the 88 took the white flag, the cars began jostling for position. Unlike many Talladega races, however, there was no 'big one'. All of the cars made it back to the line and were swapping positions all the way until the end.

But as the cars came through the tri-oval, Waltrip was able to gap the others by a little bit. He hustled it down towards turn 1 with his Robert Yates built engine to take the checkers for his first Talladega win...and the 1st GN-Cup win for Chevrolet at Talladega. Cale, Donnie and Benny hurtled across the line 3-wide with Cale barely nudging out Parsons and Allison.

A tired but joyful Waltrip made his way to victory lane to receive this trophy, a kiss from his wife and various photo ops.

But what's that? An interloper in the pic too? Who could THAT be. Oh wait - it's Tim Leeming !

Waltrip's win was one of the races featured in the August 1977 issues of Stock Car Racing magazine. - Russ Thompson

A few days after the race, Waltrip presented the Governor's Trophy to Ray Blanton - the then governor of Tennessee. The award was not for his 500 win - but as a representative for the cumulative solid finishes by drivers from Tennessee over other states in the sportsman race. Tennessee drivers in the race included Waltrip, Connie Saylor, Sterling Marlin, L.D. Ottinger, Grant Adcox & Larry Utsman (I think I got them all).

Unfortunately for us as residents of the great state of Tennessee, Blanton was a rotten politician. He was run out of office less than 3 years later for selling liquor licenses and pedaling pardons. - Spartanburg Herald Journal

Also in the days after the race, NASCAR made it known it was none too pleased about Guthrie's ploy to leverage a veteran driver - especially when she was earning Rookie points. - Spartanburg Herald

Ray Hendrick and Bud Moore together for a win in the Dick Armstrong NuWay Chevy. Doesn't get any better for me than that! Hope none of the Ford folks were watching Bud pit that Chevy for "Mr. Modified!"

Talladega 300

NASCAR Late Model Sportsman race
Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AL
April 30, 1977
113 laps on 2.66 mile paved oval; 300.58 miles

Fin St Driver # Owner Car Laps Money Status Laps Led
1 3 Ray Hendrick 01 Chevrolet 113 15,300 running 27
2 6 Randy Tissot 47 Chevrolet 113 running
3 8 Darrell Waltrip 90 Mercury 113 running
4 17 Connie Saylor 96 Chevrolet 112 running
5 16 Joe Frasson 22 Chevrolet 112 running
6 10 Jim Sauter 02 Dodge 111 running
7 23 Sterling Marlin 14 Chevrolet 111 running
8 18 Benny Kerley 74 Chevrolet 109 running
9 22 Jack Ingram 45 Chevrolet 108 running
10 12 Jack Nolan 76 Plymouth 108 running
11 33 Rick Newsom 20 Ford 101 running
12 31 Johnny Halford 82 Plymouth 100 running
13 2 L.D. Ottinger 2 Chevrolet 95 accident
14 21 Grant Adcox 41 Chevrolet 86 engine
15 1 Donnie Allison 21 Chevrolet 84 engine
16 19 Chet Williams 65 Ford 83 accident
17 15 Billy McGinnis 84 Chevrolet 83 differential
18 11 Red Farmer 97 Ford 62 overheating
19 5 Neil Bonnett 71 Pontiac 62 water hose
20 7 Larry Utsman 23 Chevrolet 56 accident
21 4 Bill Dennis 94 Ford 54 overheating
22 25 Jimmy Means 92 Chevrolet 47 head gasket
23 20 Scott Lovelady 10 Chevrolet 35 clutch
24 28 Bill Hollar 30 Mercury 27 engine
25 30 Mike Asheley 78 Chevrolet 19 575 engine
26 14 Charlie Blanton 16 Chevrolet 12 transmission
27 26 Tommy Riggins 77 Pontiac 8 transmission
28 24 Francis Affleck 57 Mercury 8 engine
29 29 Clyde Peoples 17 Chevrolet 6 engine
30 13 Bub Strickler 42 Mercury 5 head gasket
31 9 Morgan Shepherd 50 Mercury 4 rod bearing
32 27 Paul Dean Holt 39 Ford 2 clutch
33 35 Gary Myers 4 Chevrolet 1 clutch
34 34 Richard Orton 28 Ford 0 engine
35 32 Ken Phillips 31 Ford 0 engine

Time of race: 02:12:20
Average Speed: 132.665 MPH
Pole Speed: 50.778 seconds
6 cautions for 35 laps

I'm sure that Leeming fellow was there just for the free GatorAde!

Gadsden Times coverage of 48 year old Ray Hendrick's Talladega Late Model Sportsman win over the youngsters!

Appropriately, it was 7 years ago this past week that Ray Hendrick was enshrined into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega, complementing his enshrinement in the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame. Only one Hall of Fame is missing for Ray and it's located just down the road from me. Shame, shame, shame.

Ray Hendrick 2007 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee

On Thursday, April 26, 2007, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) will induct former NASCAR driver Ray Hendrick.

Hendrick is credited with an impressive list of more than 700 NASCAR victories in his 34-year career. Most of these wins were in Modified and Late Model Sportsman racing. In addition, Hendricks son, Roy says his father won several hundred dirt-track Outlaw events.

I heard him tell my mother several times, I dont know what them other guys are out there for, but Im here to win, recalls Roy Hendrick. Thats just the way he was. He wasnt out there to run second.

Instead of pursuing a career in a single racing series, Hendrick bounced around from track to track, winning races literally from Maine to Florida. As the victories increased, his reputation grew, to the point where tracks requested that he compete in their events. This shaped his part-time status that he would keep for the remainder of his career.

After finishing in the top-10 National Modified point standings every year from 1963 through 1969, and in the top-10 points of the Late Model Sportsman division (now known as the Busch Series) in 1974 and 75, Hendrick proved a part-time status didnt determine where he finished.

People always asked him why he didnt run the Grand Nationals on a regular basis, Roy Hendrick recalls. He said he was working for a living and was able to feed us, and he was making more with the (guaranteed) deal money the promoters would give him than he got from winning races. He was doing better than a lot of the regular guys. So he never pursued the big time.

Hendrick made his own big time with the amount of victories he accumulated. Among his accomplishments is being the all-time winner at Martinsville Speedway with 20 wins (13 Modified and seven Late Model Sportsman). Though, Roy Hendrick says his father who died in 1990 after a longtime illness rarely thought of himself that way.

He didnt think about how many times hed won. He just went from week to week, racing.

As a result of Hendricks outstanding performance in motorsports, he has been recognized with several honors including National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame inductee (1993), one of NASCARs 50 Greatest Drivers (1998), earning No. 4 in the NASCAR Modified All-Time Top 10, and being the first inductee into the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame (2003).

This year, Hendricks name will be listed among other motorsports achievers in the IMHOF when he is inducted on April 26, 2007. Joining Hendrick in this prominent recognition are Wayne Rainey, Bruton Smith, Warren Johnson, Junie Donlavey and Jack Ingram.

In light of Hendricks induction, a replica of the 1936 Chevrolet Coupe NASCAR No. 11 Modified machine is on display at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum.

Ray Hendrick, inducted by Alabama Gang member and former NASCAR champion, Bobby Allison, posted more than 700 victories on the modified and late model sportsman circuits, a record that earned him the distinction of being one of NASCARs 50 Greatest Drivers. Hendrick filled his schedule by taking every good opportunity that presented itself to race in various series, and therefore never undertook a full-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series campaign. However, in just 17 starts in the series, he posted two top-five and six top-10 finishes. Hendrick passed away in 1990.

Here's a GatorAde sandwich from 1978 at Daytona I bet Tim enjoyed!

Daytona Beach News Journal

Not especially enjoyed as it took my guy out but it was sort of semi-enjoyable to see a big pile of bologna between two first class slices of bread!

Bump for Tim Leeming

Legend will never live down that photo. I trust it has never been seen by The King!😃