HOW ABOUT THIS? Paige Duke, former "Miss Sprint Cup" whose title was stripped after certain photos of her landed on the internet has made a comeback as Darlington Raceway's "Lady in Black". Here is the link to the article which I hesitantly provide since some of THEIR photos are....er..RACY (no pun intended). http://www.wbtw.com/story/21893226/sc-model-who-lost-sprint-cup-job-over-nude-pics-is-coming-back-to-racing
Guess Rita Jenrette was tied up or too old, lol! Paige will probably be hearing from that other gal who already uses that title.
Makes you wonder if Darlington just has a thing about folks being stripped of titles.
Most of us are familiar with our late RR member, Larry Frank and his protest Southern 500 Darlington win in 1962 in which Junior Johnson was originally declared the winner.
How many folks know, I wonder, that the original 1987 Miss Southern 500, Karen Waters of Spartanburg, was stripped of her title after just 2 hours?!
Here's a link to view the story:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19870806&id=8aUeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ns4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2199,1965131
And speaking of track "beauty queens " - here's an interesting link to a story in the August 30, 1957 Wilmington (NC) Star-News covering the races at Winston-Salem's Bowman Gray Stadium.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19570830&id=9GlgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uXENAAAAIBAJ&pg=4300,5162538
Just in case you don't recognize the name of the outgoing beauty queen mentioned in the last paragraph of the article, you might recognize that Miss Zachary, who was married the same year and moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, has a son named Brian who carries her maiden name, Zachary, as his middle name.
At the bottom of that same page is an ad for 1957 Saturday Night Micro Midget races at Hanover Speedway.
According to the ad, the track is 4 miles north of Wilmington on Market Street.
"Where the Fastest That Run Run the Fastest."
6 Big Races - Admission 75 cents
That is interesting, Dave. Thanks for the link. ~Jan~
WOW....That was awkward for all involved and so sad for Karen Waters. 
If the folks at Darlington are truly that into stripping women of their titles, I am amazed. The fine, down home Southern folks of a small town in South Carolina where Scarlett O'Hara would have felt right at home. I just don't understand how things work sometimes, I guess.
Me, neither, Tim. First time I ever set foot in Darlington (as you know) was when my buddy Frank and I stepped off a Greyhound Bus from Richmond around 6:30 a.m on Labor Day Monday morning, 1966. We walked from the bus depot ( at a closed Pure Oil gas station) to the track. Along the way, we passed a big vcant lot where a church group was selling breakfast. Eggs, sausage, country ham, biscuits and grits was my introduction to Darlington. Spent many wonderful weekends thereafter- usually staying in Florence - except for 1971 & 1972 when we pitched tents.
