We reminisce about the old tracks no longer running and North Wilkesboro with its unique uphill & downhill straights is one of them. I must say, upfront, however, that I was never impressed like PattyKay and some of the rest of you by a hotdog slathered in slaw. The first one I got really surprised me. Had to order them special without the slaw after that. Just not my thing to eat slaw on a hotdog - on barbecue, yes. If you never went to North Wilkesboro, you need to know that it was a little lacking in amenities, such as paint, by "modern" track standards. The first thing you noticed on opening day morning before the fans arrived was the incredible smell. It wasn't a nice smell. I chalked it up to all the chicken houses in the vicinity until one of the crew guys told me they grazed goats in the infield throughout the year and I better watch where I walked. Then there were the infield restroom facilities, or lack thereof. Darrell Waltrip tells a tale with lots of sound effects about the first time he went in the restroom at Wilkesboro and Junior Johnson was in one of the stalls. When Darrell tried to open the door, Junior kept saying, "Go udden, go udden," so Darrell started making the sound of a race engine being revved, not realizing Junior was trying to tell him to go to the other stall.I thought I was gonna get killed one time at North Wilkesboro when DW let loose a load of lead shot from Junior's car that went bouncing in all directions. Another time I thought I had been killed. Right at the end of the race I was walking between transporters just as the Wood Brothers opened the side trailer engine compartment door. I walked slam into it, gashed my head, started bleeding and promptly passed out. My first and last (I hope) visit to the Wilkesboro hospital was when Len Wood drove me there for stitches in my head. My wife would argue that I haven't been right since. But what I most remember about Wilkesboro was leaving there with green feet. I don't remember if it was spring or fall of 1981, but on Friday it rained like all get out and we were soaked to the bone and the whole infield was nothing but a mudhole. Representing Wrangler Jeans, I was supposed to dress in jeans, blue & yellow team western crew shirts and western boots. Well, I hated western boots, especially the pointy toe ones they wanted me to wear. Finally, one day at the Greensboro K-Mart I found a pair of blue and yellow athletic shoes that perfectly matched the blue and yellow Wrangler colors. Now, this was before Nike and Reebok and those nice leather shoes. I don't know what kind of Asian or Carribbean materials those shoes were made of or what kind of toxic chemicals were used in the blue and yellow dyes, but when they met the wet mud of the North Wilkesboro infield my feet turned green. Not just for a day either. I had green feet for what seemed like weeks. The last thing I'd see at night before climbing under the covers was a pair of dayglo green feet. Scary. I went back to wearing those dreaded western boots and never dabbled in colored athletic shoes again. But, my biggest memory of North Wilkesboro remains leaving there with green feet.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
