1986 Hayride 500

25 years ago this year...

Following the July 27, 1986 race at Talladega, several NASCAR drivers including Tim Richmond, Phil Barkdohl, Richard Petty, and others mobilized the Hayride 500.

Picture from my collection. Thanks to RR's Jerry Bushmire for supplying the article that I once had.

Where did the years go? Seems like it happened only a few years ago. The Hay Ride got a good bit of coverage in my area and I remember the need for hay was wide spread. As today, therewas no better way to get the word out about a need than to enlist the help of high profile people to spread the word, and NASCAR folks did what they could. Thanks for the memories.

The HAYRIDE 500 received the UNOCAL / MYERS BROTHERS Award as well in "86". I'm posting a cuple of photos taken after the Myers Brothers Breakfast at the Waldorf. Sorry for the quality. They were scanned from color to b&w.

I always considered the Myers Brothers Award at the top of the heap as far as racing awards. It is voted on annually by the membership of the National Motorsports Press Association. Here's the complete, year by year list of names/companies/events who've been awarded this honor:

The Myers Brothers Award recognizes individuals and/or groups who have provided outstanding contributions to the sport of stock car racing. It is named after two of the sports pioneers, Billy and Bob Myers.

Myers Brothers Award Winners Year Recipient

2010 Jim Hunter

2009 Barney Hall

2008 Thomas Taylor Warren

2007 Bill France Jr.

2006 Benny Parsons

2005 Rusty Wallace

2004 Kyle & Patti Petty

2003 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

2002 Mike Helton

2001 Dale Earnhardt

2000 Kyle Petty

1999 Junie Donlavey

1998 T. Wayne Robertson

1997 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

1996 Rick Hendrick

1995 The Nashville Network

1994 Brickyard 400/Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1993 Goodys Manufacturing Co.

1992 Richard and Lynda Petty

1991 Harry Gant

1990 Dick Beaty

1989 Bill France Jr.

1988 Richmond International Raceway

1987 ESPN

1986 Hayride 500

1985 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

1984 Charlotte Motor Speedway

1983 CBS-TV

1982 Motor Racing Network

1981 Junior Johnson

1980 STP & Champion Spark Plug Co.

1979 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

1978 Busch

1977 First National City Travelers Checks

1976 Junior Johnson

1975 Bill France Sr.

1974 H. Clay Earles

1973 Wood Brothers

1972 Winston Cigarettes

1971 Richard Petty

1970 Richard Howard

1969 David Pearson

1968 Wood Brothers

1967 Richard Petty

1966 Norris Friel

1965 Ned Jarrett

1964 Richard Petty

1963 Marvin Panch

1962 Hank Schoolfield

1961 Ned Jarrett

1960 Russ Catlin

1959 Lee Petty

1958 Bob Colvin

Update: August 1, 2014 represents the 28th anniversary of the Hayride 500. The rigs of NASCAR's teams left Charlotte Motor Speedway with the blaring of air horns on Friday, August 1, 1986.

From  Gadsden Times

From The Dispatch   of Lexington NC

I can remember on several occasions during our Goat Rodeo broadcst chats that our RR member, Jack Redd (Jack Approved -JA) talked of being neighbors in Maryland with Norris Friel. Here's an excerpt from Jack's profile:

"I have been involved with stock car racing since 1948. I was friends with Norris Friel from his AAA days. He was asked by Bill France Sr., to come be his Chief Inspector. Mr Friel was my neighbor and he and "Big Bill" raced together back in the 1930's. I still have in my scapbook a picture that Mr. Friel took of "Big Bill" in a race car in an alley in Wash., D.C. in 1934."

Wow this is a rare photo of Tim Richmond. I was getting into trucking pretty heavy about this time and heard about the hayride. If I had known it would have been this big I probably would have tried to help out, but not a lot you can do with a heavy haul rig. but this photo is almost priceless:

Lot of cool photos at this link:

http://www.douglasandsons.com/hayride.html

Images sourced from on-line newspaper archives are very hit & miss in terms of quality. In this case, Tim Richmond looks like a scarecrow from a midwestern corn field.

Apropo

It's now been 30 years since Ohio's Tim Richmond organized the August 1986 "Hayride 500" to bring much needed animal feed to a parched southland.

Here's a period story from the United Press International (UPI) archives:

We think it is hot and dry in the southland this summer. But, it is nothing like as bad as it was 30 years ago. That's when Ohio racer, Tim Richmond (remember him, NASCAR?) organized Hayride 500 in August 1986 to shuttle much needed animal feed from Ohio to the southern states. 30 years later, we can still say, "Thank you, Tim Richmond."

From the archives of United Press International (UPI) here is a brief story as it was actually written in August 1986:

The 'Hayride 500,' a 46-truck caravan of relief for...

The 'Hayride 500,' a 46-truck caravan of relief for the parched Southeast, left Columbus, Ohio, today with 20,000 bales of hay for starving herds of cattle.

The tractor-trailers, normally used to transport race cars on the NASCAR circuit, arrived in Columbus from Charlotte, N.C., Friday night at a giant grain staging area, where hundreds of farmers from throughout central Ohio dropped off their hay.

When the convoy left, about 9:30 a.m. after a sendoff by Gov. Richard Celeste, farm trucks were still coming in and thousands of bales of hay were left for transportation later. A spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture said arrangements were being made to send the additional hay by rail.

NASCAR driver Tim Richmond grinned and waved to a cheering crowd as he pulled his truck out of the parking lot.

The convoy was to complete its journey to North Carolina on Saturday night.

Supporters crowded onto highway overpasses along the 480-mile trip Friday waving 'Thank you' signs and taking pictures, said NASCAR flagman Harold Kinder, who drove the lead truck.

'I've never had a feeling exactly like that,' he said. 'It made you feel proud that you were participating.'

In Washington Friday, Agriculture Secretary Richard Lyng announced a broad relief program that includes shipment of surplus grain to Southern farmers.

'At the behest of the president, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching an intensified effort to help farmers who are victims of this national tragedy,' he said.

In Canada, industrialist Harrison McCain said Friday he has launched a drive to gather 2,400 tons of hay for the drought-stricken farmers.

Farmers, businessmen and private citizens in the eastern Canadian province of New Brunswick already have pledged 660 tons of hay for the project.

'When I saw this campaign being mounted in the United States, I said: My God, we should join that,' McCain said. 'The Americans are the most generous people in the world. They're the first to reach for their wallets when someone's in trouble. Well, they've got a lot of trouble now.'

In Columbia, S.C., more than 125 farmers rallied to thank Midwestern farmers for free hay, and they formed a non-profit farm relief group with an 'Adopt-A-Cow' program.

'There are 17 million people in New York City, some of whom have never seen a cow or been away from concrete,' said rally organizer Michael Rose. 'This might be a way for folks in big cities to help farmers and have some fun besides. We'll even send them a picture if they want one.'

NASCAR drivers conceived the 'Caravan of Care' last week when they drove through the sun-baked Alabama countryside on their way to the Talledaga 500 race and saw the crop devastation firsthand.

'Farmers and people that work around farms and stuff are racing fans,' said driver Richard Petty, who volunteered to help unload the hay. 'And if they get a chance, they go to the races and naturally we're going to drink their milk and eat their cows. Naturally, we want to keep them going. The better shape they are in the more they'll buy those tickets.'

The hay will be taken to five North Carolina cities, where it will be distributed to farmers. North Carolina herds consume about 7,690 tons of hay a day, which would amount to 1.5 million tons by next spring.

The South's worst drought in a century has cost the region's farmers an estimated $2.3 billion in lost crops, livestock and poultry.

North Carolina's drought loss is around $400 million but Alabama has been hardest hit with $750 million. Georgia's loss is estimated at $533 million and South Carolina's at $378 million. Virginia and Maryland have suffered $100 million damage each and Delaware $40 million.

Midwestern farmers, enjoying a bountiful crop of grain, have sent tons of hay to the South.

The Columbia rally, dubbed the 'Thank You America Rally,' was organized to express the gratitude of South Carolina farmers for some 4,000 tons of hay shipped into the state from the Midwest.

The Adopt-A-Cow program idea came from Charleston bank official Sheila Thomspon.

'We're going to make up certificates with pictures to send to those who want to adopt their own cow,' Thompson said. 'We're just getting organized and don't really have an address or an office yet. But we think it will cost $140 to adopt an animal for eight months.'

The goal is to find 'foster parents' for up to 48,000 cattle, Thompson said. The money collected would be used to ensure that the cattle are fed and for other agricultural needs