In the days before pit road speed limits and policing of crew over the wall, car owner Bud Moore stands bravely in the pit box facing an oncoming Dale Earnhardt in the
#15 Wrangler Jeans Machine Thunderbird during the 1982 Firecracker 400 at Daytona on July 4.
Perry, you ought to like this photo then, from 1982 Valleydale 500 at Bristol. Bud and the boys are all in position before Dale had stopped!!!
Just noticed in the 1982 Daytona July 4th Firecracker 400 photo that the big wooden platform for driver introductions was left in the Daytona tri-oval grass when the race began. Can you imagine if a sliding or spinning car or just a car taking a grass excursion had hit that platform or the flagpoles in the same grass?!
I stayed with the Bud Moore crew at this long gone Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge down the street from Daytona Speedway near I-95 for the July 4, 1982 Firecracker 400. The room had a standard door that opened onto a hallway and a sliding glass door that opened on the pool patio where racing families relaxed. Just down the hall from my room I encountered Marty Robbins one morning. The now demolished bar at this famed establishment where Brock Yates, Bill Broderick, and Joe Whitlock held court had a popcorn machine.