Did you ever watch a particular driver because you knew if you did sooner or later you'd see a spin or a crash? So it was with my buddy Frank and I beginning in 1965. The driver in question was the late Earl H. "Bub" Strickler of Timberville, Virginia, who passed away in2005. Poor Bub. If he were entered in a race, you could be sure of at least one spin and a yellow flag. In his career, Bub started 20Grand National / Winston Cup racesbeginning in 1965 - his year with the most starts - 9. Inhis 20 career starts, Bub officially retired from 8 races due to "crash." His most prolific year was his first, 1965, officially crashing out of 5 of 9 starts. When Frank and I attended the first, last and only Peach Blossom 500 at Rockingham in 1966, there was ole Bub, evey few laps spinning off turn 4. Of the 10 cautions that day, Bub must have brought out 9. NASCAR finally parked him for a while, just to get his stuff together, I guess. In his abbreviated big time career, Bub made several highlight reels, including this Modified/Sportsman crash he initiated in 1965 at Daytona:
and this slide on his top at Darlington's Rebel 300 in 1965:
If Bub was in the race you were sure to see some action.
Bub only raced 3 times in 1966, and once in 1970, 1971 and 1979, before staging a 5 race comeback in 1980. Bub's last race was the 1980 Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro where he started 29th and finished 23rd in his #61 Jim Norris Duro-Bond Chevy, exiting with ignition issues. Bub was another of those sporadic and occassional journeymen drivers that made it interesting over a 16 year on/off big time career. Those field fillers are long gone, priced out of big time NASCAR racing.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 04/06/17 05:31:32PM
