ITS MY YARD AND MY BALL AND MY BAT and MY RULES
Current NASCAR
A suggestion for Kryle's Bristol walk-in song...
Forum Activity for @tmc-chase
Current NASCAR
OXFORD 300 - AUGUST 24,1969
Stock Car Racing History
At the risk of taking Dennis' post further away from the 1969 Oxford Plains GT race, I found this additional info about the Plymouth engine / car Pollard race to the win here:
https://www.allpar.com/forums/threads/mopars-in-irl-sprint-cars-and...
There are two Plymouth-Westlake 327 Indy engine from 1969 at the Museum of American Speed in Nebraska. It was an iron block and started life as an LA 318.
According to that website, Art Pollard drove the Plymouth-Westlake and won 200-mile Indy car race at Dover, Delaware on August 24, 1969. This would turn out to be the only victory for Plymouth in the history of Indy car racing.
See link below for freaking cool engine pics!!!
http://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/Weslake-327-CID-Plymouth-Indy-...
The same museum has the 1969 #57 STP Gerhardt Plymouth Indy Car sitting next to the display engine on the stand. According to the website the car was built in 1969 by Fred Gerhardt copying a Lotus chassis, then sold to Andy Granatelli's STP team.
"Carl Williams qualified the STP turbocharged Offy-powered car at Indy that year, but did not finish. Art Pollard drove it the next week at Milwaukee to record his first Indy Car win.
In August, Pollard drove this car, re-engined with a naturally aspirated 318-c.i. Plymouth, to victory in the first Indy Car race at the new Dover Downs Speedway. To date, this is the only Plymouth-powered win in an Indy Car race.
Greg Weld also drove this car, with turbo-Offy power, in several races including Trenton, NJ, in July 1969 and the 1970 Indianapolis 500."
Click link for pics of the car:
http://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/No-57-1969-STP-Gerhardt-Plymou...
So yes, that museum had two Plymouth-Westlake Indy engines on display with a third one installed in the original car that won at Dover.
OXFORD 300 - AUGUST 24,1969
Stock Car Racing History
Correct Andy. Poor choice of words by writer - and worse by me for copying them.
And yes - first and only USAC Indy car race at Dover & only Plymouth win in USAC Indy car division. (IRL did run a couple of races about 20 years later.)
OXFORD 300 - AUGUST 24,1969
Stock Car Racing History
Paschal's win on August 24, 1969, occurred on the same day Art Pollard won USAC's inaugural Indy car race at Dover. The significance of that race? Pollard raced a Plymouth and earned the car make its first win outside of stock car racing. Also, Pollard's sponsor was a company that would become synonymous with NASCAR Plymouth teams: STP.
from Toledo Blade
updated by @tmc-chase: 08/23/18 05:10:02PM
OXFORD 300 - AUGUST 24,1969
Stock Car Racing History
Race preview from Lewiston Daily Sun
Race report from Lewiston Daily Sun
updated by @tmc-chase: 08/23/18 05:09:49PM
COLUMBIA 200 - August 22, 1968
Stock Car Racing History
WOW! Thanks Jack. That's a lot of detail - and a lot of messed up stuff - about what happened that night.Wonder if the parents named their new child "Buck".
COLUMBIA 200 - August 22, 1968
Stock Car Racing History
Race preview from Spartanburg Herald
Race report from Spartanburg Herald
August 21, 1962 - Petty Sparkles in Spartanburg
Stock Car Racing History
Originally published by me here:
http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-21-this-day-in-petty-history.html
1962 - Richard Petty wins from the pole in a 200 lap race at Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds speedway in David Pearson's hometown, Spartanburg SC, to score his 12th career victory.
To illustrate how much times have changed, the race was run on a Tuesday night. Perry Allen Wood writes in his book Silent Speedways of the Carolinas :
The last five races had been won by either Petty or (teammate Jim) Paschal in a Plymouth, and 14 other cars came to Spartanburg to put a stop to it...Qualifying those stockers by power sliding through the first and second turns was a thing of beauty. They came thundering down the homestretch and right before it ended, cut the power and cocked the car left, setting the rear end out toward the boards. Dead silence for just a beat. Then accelerator to the floor while turning back hard right, wide open through one and two, and down the backstretch with the engine roaring, car drifting around searching for grip and firing dust from the screaming rear tires... As in the past, (Joe) Weatherly and Petty duked it out at the front in an electrifying display the entire race... One hour and forty minutes after the start, Petty won his third and the team's sixth in a row, beating Weatherly by half a lap. ~pp. 15-16
Wood also pointed out the race featured a top driver from California, Dick Getty. So it was expected either Dick Getty or Dick Petty (as he was often called early in his career) would win. As it turns out, the two book-ended the finishing order. Petty won the race, and Getty finished dead stinkin' last. - Spartanburg Herald
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
How Mighty Have Fallen; Charlotte ABC Station Drops Bristol Race for Redskins Exhibition
Current NASCAR
Perhaps I'm in the minority - but I think too much is being made about Saturday's Bristol race. This year isn't the first time it's happened - though I suppose it might be the last since ABC/ESPN will no longer broadcast races after this season for at least a decade.
Don't get me wrong - I think TV ratings SHOULD be a concern to the suits at the beach from a business perspective. Based on what I've read, it sounds like the revenue streams from FOX and NBC are guaranteed to NASCAR, the tracks and the teams. I recall reading the price was set based on a 36-race Cup schedule - but not pegged to ratings numbers. Having said that, I'd have to believe FOX and NBC would strongly suggest a re-negotiation if the ratings continue their downward trend in the early years of the new agreement.
But as for Bristol specifically...
- Only 15 markets are affected - some of which aren't even NASCAR stalwart markets.
- Most of the ABC affiliates who will pre-empt the race for football will have it available on an alternate channel.
- Web streaming may be available on some cable or satellite packages.
- PRN will air the race on over-the-air radio and their app.
- ABC AFFILIATES have made this decision based on their locally-negotiated deals with NFL teams. This isn't a grand, us-vs-them decision made for those markets made by the Disney-ABC-ESPN programming managers.
- As has been well documented, the Bristol night race is no longer a guaranteed sell out. PLENTY of tickets will be available. And with fewer people in the stands, traffic and parking should be a bit better - and street tickets may be a bit cheaper. At worse, folks will pay face value at the BMS ticket office. If folks want to see the race live and don't have or don't want the other TV or web options, perhaps they'd be willing to drive to BMS this year.
From a high-level perspective, I get how many were taken aback by the programming switch. Race fans are prideful of the sport and don't like to see it take a back seat to other sports (or other) TV programming. But I don't think this one off deal in 2014 really moves the needle one way or the other in terms of national interest in the race.
How Mighty Have Fallen; Charlotte ABC Station Drops Bristol Race for Redskins Exhibition
Current NASCAR
We too have had our share of AM and FM stations over the years in middle TN with MRN, PRN and even Hank Schoolfield's Universal Racing Network broadcasts. We now have a low wattage FM station in Franklin that I sometimes listen to on race days. And the big sports station in Nashville seems to air the races - though not all of them. Doesn't take much seems like for a few of them to get bounced for something else.
One upside with today's technology is being able to stream MRN and PRN on their websites and apps. One downside to that tech is the tracks haven't kept up with bandwidth needs. It's often impossible to send a text, email or tweet at the track - much less try to stream audio to your ears as you watch with your eyes.