Many folks seem to think that Richard Childress Racing got its first win with Dale Earnhardt driving and Wrangler Jeans sponsoring. Not so.
The first win for Childress came in 1983 - the year after Wrangler and Earnhardt left for Bud Moore Engineering. The driver and sponsor for Childress in 1983 were Ricky Rudd and Piedmont Airlines. Their win in the 1983 Budweiser 400 at Riverside, California on June 5, 1983 was the first NASCAR Cup win for Childress, Rudd and Piedmont.
ABOVE - Ricky Rudd #3 Piedmont Airlines Chevy at Pocono and Rudd/Childress crew in Victory Lane at Riverside in June 1983 - the 1st Cup win for all three.
Piedmont Airlines would go on to even greater NASCAR glory as the Official Airline of NASCAR and sponsor of the Terry Labonte driven #44 Chevy owned by the late Billy Hagan. In 1984 the three combined to win the Winston Cup Championship, the first of two for Terry.
ABOVE - A Piedmont Airlines Jet with the Billy Hagan owned #44 Chevy in 1984 and Terry Labonte with his 1984 Winston Cup Championship trophy.
Most of us who grew up around the Carolinas and Virginia had a love affair with Piedmont Airlines and its beautiful red, white and blue planes and race cars. To this day, it was my favorite airline to fly and the only one that served those wonderful smoked almonds.
I used to fly charter flights brokered by Danny Culler for Piedmont Aviation out of Winston-Salem, NC with Dale Earnhardt, Tim Richmond, Barney Hall and Miss Winston. In fact, our pilot was usually Loren Edwards, Dale's next door neighbor on Lake Norman and a Piedmont jet pilot. Then, when Piedmont started its NASCAR sponsorship, it would dedicate entire planes to NASCAR crews and personnel. This was in the days before teams had their own big planes and drivers had private jets.
Dale's next door neighbor, Loren then had a hat made with two bills and fronts. One Wrangler and one Piedmont that he could turn around at will!
Unfortunately for most of us, Piedmont ceased to exist when a deal was brokered for Allegheny Airlines to absorb it and the combined carriers became US Airways after 1989.
I know we have RR members here like Jim Reep whose dad was a longtime Piedmont employee at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, where Piedmont had a huge presence. Today, a 1940s DC-3 in Piedmont livery can be seen at the Carolinas Aviation Museum at the Charlotte Airport.
Now comes word that a documentary named SPEEDBIRD on the history of this much loved and now gone carrier will air on UNC-TV this Thursday night at 10:00 pm. I know I'll be watching. For those of you who won't be able to get the show, maybe a DVD can be obtained from UNC-TV or Catawba Valley Community College.
For Immediate Release
04.25.2012
UNC TV Airs Student/Faculty-Produced Documentary May 10
UNC TV will air Speedbird, the first documentary film produced by Catawba Valley Community College students and faculty on May 10 at 10 p.m.
The film is based on Richard Ellers Piedmont Airlines: A Complete History, 1948-89, published in 2008. In the colleges first Video History Class, Eller and his students produced the film which follows the airline from its humble beginnings at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem, to its buyout by USAir.
The documentary was supported by a gift from the Tom Davis Fund. It was also financially supported by the Piedmont Silver Eagles, a nonprofit organization formed in 1978 by Piedmont Airlines retired pilots, and the CVCC Foundation, Inc.
Eller has produced 17 documentary films and co-authored the book The Tarheel Lincoln with Jerry Goodnight. He serves as department head of social sciences at CVCC and has taught history since there 1999.
Check your local television listings for the UNC TV channel in your broadcast area.
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"Any Day is Good for Stock Car Racing"
updated by @dave-fulton: 03/14/17 07:47:15AM
