Racing History Minute - June 21, 1959

This is not the race I had intended to profile when I sat down tonight, but as I was flipping through Greg Fielden's book looking for the race I had planned to feature, this one jumped out at me for several reasons. Ray Lamm, Dave Fulton, and, of course, Tiger Tom Pistone and the entire Pistone family who support our efforts here at RacersReunion. So, for this first official day of summer, here we go to the Atlantic Rural Fairgrounds in Richmond, Virginia for a 100 mile/200 lap race on a half-mile dirt track.

Twenty-two entrants showed up to race at the Fairgrounds and when qualifying was completed, Buck Baker in a Chevy was on the pole. Joe Weatherly put a T-Bird in second, Glen Wood in a Ford was third, Speedy Thompson's Chevy fourth, and Lee Petty in a Plymouth was starting fifth. Tiger Tom would start his T-Bird, number 59, in 12th place.

On the very first lap, Roy Tyner and Joe Eubanks both departed the race with "engine failure". Start and park, perhaps? Junior Johnson crashed his Ford on lap 22 and was out. On lap 81, Joe Weatherly crashed his T-Bird and was out of the running. Points leader going in, Lee Petty, experienced engine failure on lap 77th and was credited with 18th finishing position but he did maintain his points lead.

Tiger Tom ran a steady pace and stayed in contention throughout the race and began to really put the moves on in the late stages to pass Buck Baker and Glen Wood and grab the victory. It was Tiger's second win in his first full season in Grand National (now Cup) racing and this was the 23rd race of the 1959 season.

A young Tommy Irwin spent most of the race in the top five but experienced engine problems which put him out of the race on lap 186, but that was good enough for sixth place in the rundown.

Top five finishers were:

1. Tiger Tom Pistone, Rupert Safety Belt T-Bird, winning $900.00

2. Glen Wood, Wood Brothers Ford, winning $525.00

3. Buck Baker, Baker Chevrolet, winning $350.00

4. Bob Welborn, Chevrolet, winning $250.00

5. Cotton Owens, W.H. Watson Pontiac, winning $225.00

Sixth through tenth were Tommy Irwin, Tommy Irwin, Heman Beam,George Green, Aubrey Boles, and Speedy Thompson.

Tiny Lund finished 11th, Joe Weatherly 16th, Lee Petty 18th, Buddy Baker, 19th,

Junior Johnson 20th, Joe Eubanks 21st, and Roy Tyner 22nd.

Honor the past, embrace the present, dream for the future.

All kinds of racing news was breaking that weekend. While the Grand National circuit was in Virginia, the Spartanburg Herald Journal  in its June 21, 1959 edition heralded the return of local hotshoe David Pearson to Piedmont Fairgrounds for a July 4th race.

The paper also reported the  Don Garlits drag racing crash and his resulting burns he suffered in a fire. I believe it was Garlits' recovery time that gave Art Malone his opportunity to fill in for Big Daddy. Malone later dabbled in NASCAR and open wheelers before spending most of his career alongside Garlits in drag racing.

Richmond's race report in the Spartanburg Herald Journal

Thanks Tim & Chase.

That 1959 Richmond race marked the second and final GN win for Tiger Tom Pistone, both coming in 1959. He won earlier in the year at Trenton. Tom had some good "highs" at Richmond. He'd come back to Richmond in 1966 in his '64 Ford and set the never to be broken, all-time Richmond dirt track qualifying record.

Of interest finishing 15th in the 1959 Richmond race was Buck Brigance of Charlotte. Buck was an old motorcycle racer who worked for years at Charlotte's Radiator Speciality Company, maker of Radiator Stop Leak and other such products. Buck had teamed with future Winston Cup Series Director, Dick Beaty earlier in the 50s on the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle team, along with Joe Weatherly.

It was on a return trip to Charlotte from a motorcycle race at the same Richmond track earlier in the 50s that Brigance and Beaty had a bad wreck around South Hill, Virginia resulting in Dick Beaty's nose being severed. It was reattached at Richmond's Medical College of Virginia Hospital.

Later in life, Buck could usually be found in Buddy Baker's pits assisting on the crew and his daughter, Darlene for many years was one of the top Marketing Department officials at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

I've posted some photos previously of motorcycle riders on the Richmond track who later drove stock cars, but here are a couple again on the Richmond dirt track that include Buck Brigance, Joe Weatherly, Paul Goldsmith, Dick Beaty, and even James Lewter who became a famous machinist for Holman-Moody and Robert Yates Racing. All from the Eddie Boomhower book, The Racer's Book .

Photos taken at Richmond half-mile dirt track at Strawberry Hill on the grounds of Atlantic Rural Exposition:

A PIECE OF MOTORCYCLE HISTORY THIS PICTURE IS REALLY A PIECE OF MOTORCYCLE HISTORY IN RICHMOND IN THE LATE FORTIES. LEFT TO RIGHT BUCK BRIGANCE , LEO ANTHONY, BILL HARLEY, JIMMIE CHANN, JIMMIE LEWTER , BILLY HUBER AND HANK SYVERTSEN (H-D RACING ENGINEER THAT PRECEDED DICK OBRIEN) THESE WERE ALL FACTORY GUNS AT THE TIME. BUCK BRIGANCE WAS FROM CHARLOTTE NC , LEO ANTHONY FROM PORT HURON, MI, JIMMIE CHANN FROM NEW JERSEY, JIMMMIE LEWTER FROM CHARLOTTE, AN ACE RACE MECHANIC, AND LAST, HANK SYVERTSEN WHO CALLED ALLTHE SHOTS IN THE RACING DEPT OF HARLEY DAVIDSON. BILL HARLEY WAS THE SECOND GENERATION OF HARLEYS,AND HE WAS CHIEF ENGINEER FOR HARLEY DAVIDSON

DICK BEATY AMA NATIONAL #46

DICK WAS FROM CHARLOTTE, N.C. HE WAS ONE OF THE TOUGHEST RACERS I EVER KNEW. HE WAS BRUTAL ON EQUIPMENT. HE WAS SO POWERFUL THAT IT WAS NOT UNCOMMON FOR HIM TO BREAK FRAMES THROWING THE BIKE IN A CORNER. DICK RODE FOR THE TRIUMPH CORPORATION IN TOWSON MARYLAND. HE DECIDED WITH THE HELP OF DOUG CREECH IN CHARLOTTE TO GIVE A KR A TRY. TRY AS HE COULD IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO RIDE IT. DICK EVEN WENT TO SUCH EXTREMES AS TO CHANGE THE FORK BACK TO A WR FRONT END AND STILL DIDNT WORK AND HE GAVE UP RACING AND BECAME THE COMPETITION DIRECTOR FOR NASCAR . THE KR THAT I RODE WAS PURCHASED FROM DICK. ONE NIGHT WHEN DICK AND BUCK BRIGANCE WERE LEAVING RICHMOND THEY CENTER PUNCHED A LADY AT THE INTERSECTION OF RT.1 AND RT.58. THEY WERE IN A FORD WOODIE AND IT WOUND UP A PILE OF KINDLING WOOD. IT WAS PITCHBLACK AND BUCK YELLED DICK, HELP ME FIND MY WALLET DICK SAIDTO HELL WITH YOU, HELP ME FIND MY NOSE. THEY FOUND THE NOSE, PUT HIM IN AN AMBULANCE AND RUSHED HIM 80 MILES TO THE MEDICAL COLLEGE IN RICHMOND WHERE THEY REATTACHED THE NOSE AND TOLD HIM TO BE VERY CAREFUL TO NOT BRUISE IT. THE NEXT WEEKEND HE SHOWED UP AT THE TRACK WITH TWO STRAWS IN HIS NOSE AND RACED. REALLY A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW.

Here's photos of Joe Weatherly and Paul Goldsmith on their Harleys at Richmond before their stock car days.

Also Eddie Boomhower photos from his book.

If that old Richmond dirt track coulda talked, it would have told as many great motorcycle stories as stock car stories.

Two more Buck Brigance motorcycle pictures from Eddie Boomhower's book. The top shot is the first post World War II event held at Princess Anne Speedway in Norfolk, Va. and the bottom photo is the 1950 AMA 10-Mile National at Richmond. Buck definitely rode with the BIG DOGS!

Bump the Richmond dirt for Tiger Tom