I heard the sad news at the opening of the Charlotte race telecast that my former Wrangler and 7-Eleven 1980s show car driver, Chip Warren passed on Wednesday from that damned cancer. Chip had been working in marketing for JTG Daughtry Racing. I hired Chip in December 1983 after my Wrangler show car driver Ricky Parham was killed on Thanksgiving Day 1983 in a tragic accident. I later bought that Wrangler Thunderbird at 7-Eleven to be a Kyle Petty showcar and Chip came to work for me at 7-Eleven.
Chip had been the NASCAR Cup flagman before Harold Kinder and it is he you see throwing the green and checkers on the first live Daytona 5 00 telecast in 1979. He later returned to NASCAR as a Busch Series official and was the guy you always saw holding the stop and go paddles at the end of pit road.
Chip was one of the good guys in NASCAR. Rest in peace old friend.
http://www.independenttribune.com/obituaries/warren-jr-alton-chip/article_4a8f05d3-1e7b-5147-8360-fe363d4bd5a3.html
That is Chip you see on the flagstand giving the 1 to go at Daytona in 1979 and you hear NASCAR VP Bill Gazaway say "Let 'em out, Chip" to start that first live Daytona 500 telecast:
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM
