Bad Boy Kyle in #43 at Martinsville

Do I have your attention?!

When I was listening to Bobby Williamson do his tribute to Sam Ard last Tuesday night on the Goat Rodeo Racing Through History show, I remembered that there was terrific 1972 Late Model Sportsman footage of Sam in the #00 and Jimmy Hensley in the #63 running side by side for lap after lap at Hickory Speedway shot by Twentieth Century Fox for the 1973 Jeff Bridges feature, The Last American Hero , loosely based on Tom Wolfe's Esquire Magazine pieces about Junior Johnson.

I haven't been able to find that piece of video, but I did come across a segment of the closing race in the movie, actually the 1972 Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville that I attended. In fact, Twentieth Century Fox had a cameraman between the boxwoods and azaleas between turns1-2 that afternoon, just below where I was seated.

In that Martinsville segment, the villain is KYLE Kingman , driving the red & blue #43. The hero (Jeff Bridges/Junior Jackson) is in the #12 Coke car. In the movie the #12 wins. In the real race, Richard finally cut down Bobby's tire and beat him at the end.

The opening of this segment has a good shot of Cecil Gordon's #24 and several more throughout. He finished 10th that day. Still wonderful to see Lewis Compton on the Martinsville P.A. and so many of our great "independent" drivers in the field. Look for all the shots of Herb Nab in his Coke getup.

The trailers were still parked around the perimeter of the chain link fence in 1972 and the train could still be seen passing the backstretch grandstand. The old pagoda still stood behind pit road with the announcer on the top level.

How many drivers and personalities can you pick out in this 5 minute Grand National segment?

1972 Old Dominion 500

NASCAR Winston Cup race number 27 of 31
September 24, 1972 at Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, VA
500 laps on a .525 mile paved track (262.5 miles)

Time of race: 3:45:02
Average Speed: 69.989 mph
Pole Speed: 85.89 mph Cautions: 8 for 58 laps
Margin of Victory: 6 sec
Attendance: 31,000
Lead changes: 13

Fin St # Driver Sponsor / Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
1 4 43 Richard Petty STP (Petty Enterprises) '72 Plymouth 500 7,350 running 64
2 1 12 Bobby Allison Coca-Cola (Richard Howard) '72 Chevrolet 500 10,600 running 432
3 2 21 David Pearson Purolator (Wood Brothers) '71 Mercury 498 2,775 running 4
4 3 71 Buddy Baker K & K Insurance (Nord Krauskopf) '70 Dodge 496 3,225 running 0
5 7 90 Jimmy Hensley Junie Donlavey '71 Ford 493 1,400 running 0
6 11 72 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt '71 Mercury 488 1,250 running 0
7 18 67 Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington '70 Dodge 485 900 running 0
8 10 48 James Hylton Pop Kola (James Hylton) '71 Ford 484 1,100 running 0
9 14 64 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley '71 Ford 478 1,050 running 0
10 19 24 Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon '71 Mercury 477 1,000 running 0
11 9 14 Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley (H.B. Cunningham) '71 Chevrolet 476 725 running 0
12 25 10 Bill Champion Bill Champion '71 Ford 468 950 running 0
13 21 47 Raymond Williams Raymond Williams '71 Ford 467 925 running 0
14 12 70 J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie '71 Chevrolet 460 900 running 0
15 20 4 John Sears J. Marvin Mills Heating & Air (J. Marvin Mills) '70 Plymouth 459 875 transmission 0
16 24 76 Ben Arnold Ben Arnold '71 Ford 457 850 running 0
17 31 06 Neil Castles Neil Castles '72 Plymouth 456 875 running 0
18 34 8 Ed Negre Ed Negre '70 Dodge 450 965 running 0
19 28 77 Charlie Roberts Charlie Roberts '71 Ford 446 775 running 0
20 23 30 Walter Ballard Ballard Racing (Vic Ballard) '71 Mercury 444 750 running 0
21 29 25 Jabe Thomas Don Robertson '70 Plymouth 433 725 running 0
22 36 23 James Cox Don Robertson '70 Plymouth 430 595 running 0
23 30 19 Henley Gray Henley Gray '71 Ford 369 675 overheating 0
24 26 57 David Ray Boggs David Ray Boggs '70 Dodge 328 400 engine 0
25 17 2 Ray Hendrick Dave Marcis '70 Dodge 311 625 crash 0
26 22 55 Tiny Lund Hank Richardson '71 Chevrolet 272 350 rear end 0
27 5 28 Fred Lorenzen Hoss Ellington '72 Chevrolet 216 425 engine 0
28 15 7 Dean Dalton Dean Dalton '71 Mercury 134 550 overheating 0
29 13 16 Dave Marcis Roger Penske '72 Matador 108 275 rear end 0
30 16 45 LeeRoy Yarbrough Bill Seifert '71 Ford 108 510 crash 0
31 6 17 Bill Dennis H.J. Brooking '72 Chevrolet 105 250 crash 0
32 35 79 Frank Warren Frank Warren '70 Dodge 95 655 rear end 0
33 27 96 Richard Childress Richard Childress '71 Chevrolet 88 250 rear end 0
34 32 92 Larry Smith Harley Smith '71 Ford 77 450 engine 0
35 8 98 Bobby Isaac Junie Donlavey '72 Ford 19 250 overheating 0
36 33 74 Bill Shirey Bill Shirey '70 Plymouth 19 425 overheating 0

Race StatsFrom Racing Reference

Some cool footage there Dave. I may edit my post about the King's win that day to include this video clip.

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2011/09/september-24-this-day-in-petty-history_24.html

Chase, it was amazing to watch Richard work on Bobby's left rear fender. Lap after lap he drove up just to the left rear going into turn 1 and banged the fender of the Coke Machine #12, until he finally had it really rubbing Bobby's tire. It was some of the best action I ever saw between Richard & Bobby.

Ya know, I guess its just the fender/tire tolerances they run today vs. back then. And the tire widths I supposed.

BITD, they could lean and beat the snot out of each other lap after lap before a tire finally gave out.

Today, even with the COT 2.0 or 3.0 - whatever we're up to - seems like a simple door swipe or exhaust nudge can cut a tire.

As a kid, one thing I grew to LOVE about stock cars was the frammin and bammin vs. Indy Cars that couldn't touch at all. Now, like many aspects, I'm wondering if the series' benefits have flipped.

Rubbing is racing is no more.

Yet its only been 9 years since Kurt and Craven had one for the ages. Hard to believe the exponential changes in less than a decade - technology, costs, fan interest, number of teams, etc.

Is there a "Thumbs Down" icon?

For the changes ... or my use of the word "exponential"?

Reflecting on PKL's post about James Finch's future , look at some of the drivers in this finishing order. TONS of character, hard work, fun times, personality, etc.

Buddy Arrington

James Hylton

Elmo Langley

Cecil Gordon

Coo Coo Marlin

J.D. McDuffie

John Sears

Neil Castles

Ed Negre

Walter Ballard

Jabe Thomas

Henley Gray

Tiny Lund

Dean Dalton

Dave Marcis

Frank Warren

I've often told friends that what NASCAR needs is a lot fewer motor coaches and Lake Norman homes and a lot more combovers and buck teeth.

The more I think about it, the more I think NASCAR lost its edge when Sterling Marlin got hair plugs.

The changes, of course, lol! Exponential has sumpin to do with those gears in a Frankland Quick Change Rear, right?

Although much of the plot is contrived, there's great - REAL - not staged - racing action. Good dirt track stuff from the original Concord track. The footage from Hickory with Sam Ard in the white Thomas Brothers #00 and Jimmy Hensley in his black Hubert Hensley #63 going side by side alone is worth the effort to watch the entire movie. And there's really good stuff of Ned Jarrett promoting Hickory with real shots in his office, etc. The cornball stuff is worth wading through to see the real racing.

Remember, before Sterling, Cale and H. Clay Earles had plugs. Poor Mr. Earles' plugs never did look right.

We used to kid Sterling about how nice his hair looked at the end of the race when he drove with the "rug!"

Heck, I've watched Annette & Frankie Avalon in Fireball 500 just so I could see the old race footage. I haven't seen Last American Hero in a long time but I must admit that I got very confused during the clip provided. I was positive nobody named Junior was driving the Coke Machine and was annoyed that they kept telling me he was.