Forum Activity for @tmc-chase

Montgomery 100 8-5-69

Stock Car Racing History

Race report from Tuscaloosa News

The new Danica? Ex-IndyCar driver joining Nationwide Series

Current NASCAR

Ixnay on the Bascotay idea. Last time they were in NASCAR we ended up with a Bodine and a Waltrip as our fake Cajuns.

The new Danica? Ex-IndyCar driver joining Nationwide Series

Current NASCAR

Oh she will.

Wreck you mean. Right?

And I just love how NASCAR wants to preach its diversity program by assigning labels to folks. They've tagged Kyle Larson as Japanese-American. And they started with Juan Pablo Montoya as "Hispanic" before finally relenting and saying he is from Columbia. Now they've already tagged the rolling chicane Duno as "Hispanic" even though she is from Venezuela.

I guess the beach suits figure if you're from south of Brownsville, you're Hispanic regardless of the country or continent.

Meanwhile, the promising Johanna Long sits at home on the couch.

A PIECE OF HISTORY REDONE RIGHT

Stock Car Racing History

Yes, that project and Evernham's handling of it were well done. I posted about it back in the winter when the episode originally aired:

http://stockcar.racersreunion.com/forum/topics/nashville-what-s-old-is-new-again

I went to the Nashville fairgrounds in June 2013 when the car was to be unveiled. Unfortunately, that night's schedule was rained out & postponed a week. The racing resumed but the car didn't return.

But then in June this year, the car was brought back and put on display on Nashville's concourse. What a cool thing to see it up close and personal.

August 3, 1975 – Pearson Procures Pocono's Purolator over Petty Protest

Stock Car Racing History

The Winston Cup Grand National Series teams returned to Pocono for the tracks second annual Cup race - the Purolator 500 on August 3, 1975.

Bobby Allison won the pole in his Roger Penske Matador prepared in nearby Nazareth PA. David Pearson quailed alongside him in the Wood Brothers Mercury. Buddy Baker in Bud Moores Ford, Dave Marcis in the iconic Harry Hyde-prepared #71 Dodge, and Cale Yarborough in Junior Johnsons Holly Farms Chevy rounded out the top 5.

Richard Petty timed sixth. The King had won the two previous stock car races at Pocono the 1973 Acme Super Saver 500 USAC stock car race and the inaugural Purolator 500 in 1974. Petty had also already won eight races in 1975 a number hed grow to a modern era record of 13 that has been matched just once, by Jeff Gordon.

New Jersey modified driver Carl Van Horn whose name sounds more like a socialite from the Hamptons than a race driver made his one and only career Cup start in the race. Fuzzy Van Horn started 17th and finished 23rd in Walter Ballards #30 Chevy - shown here with Ballard's Clyde Lynn sponsorship that fall at Rockingham. - Mike Smith photo

Ballard's Chevy would be driven over the next year by drivers such as Terry Bivens... [ Ray Lamm picture ]

... Bruce Hill, Tighe Scott and Dale Earnhardt in his 2nd career Cup race. [ Randy Ayers Modeling Forum ]

The race was competitive with the lead changing hands multiple times. Pearson jumped out front at the start and led the first 10 laps. Pole-winner Allison got by the 21 and paced the field for 3 laps. He and Pearson then went back and forth for a while before some new races appeared upfront perhaps because of pit cycling.

Allisons pole-winning effort and early time at the front, however, was for naught. He lost the engine in his Matador was done after 22 laps. - Reading Eagle

Benny Parsons and Marcis had their time up front as well before Pearson and Petty glided their way back to the top of the heap. But around the half-way point of the race, the all-too-familiar mountain rains arrived to interrupt things. The race which already took an extraordinarily long time to complete with the 500 miles - was delayed over an hour more as the rains passed and the track dried.

As the race resumed and proceeded to the mid and late stages, Buddy Baker let it be known he too would like in on the action. He led on multiple occasions during the race though only for a single-digit number of laps each time.

Some in-race action from Firefly at Randy Ayers Modeling Forum .

Racing action with Jabe Thomas, Dick May, Frank Warren and Benny Parsons.

Pearson leading Buddy Baker - with the track's Schaefer beer signage prominently displayed

Petty and Pearson dicing

With about 25 laps to go, the 43 STP Dodge Charger took the lead from Pearson's white and candy-apple red Mercury. Petty held Pearson at bay for the next 13 laps. But with 14 to go, the 21 passed Petty again and set sail towards the win. - Richard Guido photo

With just a handful of laps to go, however, Pearson's car began smoking badly. Petty who was obviously hoping to pounce at the right opportunity had a tough time seeing through the smoke. NASCAR black flagged Pearson with 2 to go, but the Silver Fox had no intentions of giving up the lead and the win.

He continued for the next two laps and took the checkered flag. Petty was none too happy at having to drive through the cloud of smoke. But with Pearson having up to four laps to acknowledge NASCAR's black flag before having his scorecard pulled, the team knew it had a couple of laps margin to finish the race and collect the trophy.

From Pocono's Facebook page

Petty was not happy at all about Pearson's staying on the track. But he did concede he likely would have done the same thing had the roles been reversed. Besides, he had eight wins under his belt already, had the points lead as he headed for his unprecedented sixth championship, and became the first driver to surpass $2 million in career earnings.

Race report - Tuscaloosa News

And one from Wilmington NC  Star-News

MRN's broadcast of the race is available for streaming FREE on-line or through iTunes.

http://www.mrn.com/Media-Center/MRN-Show-Archives/Classic-Races.aspx?id=dc13d2dfecd541f1819b026df920d77d

Fin	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car
1	David Pearson	Purolator (Wood Brothers)	'73 Mercury
2	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises)	'74 Dodge
3	Buddy Baker	Bud Moore Engineering (Bud Moore)	'73 Ford
4	Benny Parsons	King's Row Fireplace (L.G. DeWitt)	'75 Chevrolet
5	Richard Childress	L.C. Newton Trucking (Tom Garn)	'75 Chevrolet
6	Carl Adams	Adams Racing (Richard Mummert)	'73 Ford
7	Coo Coo Marlin	Cunningham-Kelley (H.B. Cunningham)	'75 Chevrolet
8	Bruce Hill	Hill Racing (Bruce Hill)	'75 Chevrolet
9	James Hylton	Nitro 9 (James Hylton)	'74 Chevrolet
10	Cecil Gordon	Bob Stott Motors (Cecil Gordon)	'75 Chevrolet
11	Bruce Jacobi	Opal's Truck Stop (Opal Voight)	'75 Chevrolet
12	Buddy Arrington	Arrington Racing (Buddy Arrington)	'73 Plymouth
13	Walter Ballard	Belden Asphalt (Dean Dalton)	'73 Ford
14	Ed Negre	10,000 RPM Speed Equipment (Ed Negre)	'74 Dodge
15	D.K. Ulrich	Garden State Auto Body (D.K. Ulrich)	'75 Chevrolet
16	Frank Warren	Wheels by Pompey (Frank Warren)	'74 Dodge
17	Dick May	Marcis Racing (Dave Marcis)	'74 Dodge
18	Baxter Price	Price Racing (Baxter Price)	'74 Chevrolet
19	David Sisco	Reliable Plumbing (David Sisco)	'75 Chevrolet
20	Jabe Thomas	Thomas Racing (Don Robertson)	'74 Chevrolet
21	Joe Mihalic	Mihalic Racing (Lou Viglione)	'75 Chevrolet
22	Doc Faustina	A-J-S-T Racing (Doc Faustina)	'74 Dodge
23	Carl Van Horn	Clyde Lynn Auto Parts (Walter Ballard)	'75 Chevrolet
24	Elmo Langley	Independent Auto Salvage (Elmo Langley)	'73 Ford
25	Dave Marcis	K & K Insurance (Nord Krauskopf)	'74 Dodge
26	Earl Brooks	Robertson Racing (Don Robertson)	'74 Dodge
27	J.D. McDuffie	Butler's / Glenn's Landscaping (J.D. McDuffie)	'75 Chevrolet
28	Tommy Gale	Champion Racing (Bill Champion)	'73 Ford
29	Earle Canavan	Kava Coffee (Earle Canavan)	'74 Dodge
30	Jackie Rogers	Viglione Racing (Lou Viglione)	'75 Chevrolet
31	Bobby Allison	Coca-Cola / AMC (Roger Penske)	'75 Matador
32	George Wiltshire	Wiltshire Racing (George Wiltshire)	'74 Dodge
33	Richie Panch	Grey-Rock Brake Products (Bettie Panch)	'75 Chevrolet
34	Darrell Waltrip	Terminal Transport (Darrell Waltrip)	'75 Chevrolet
35	Cale Yarborough	Holly Farms (Junior Johnson)	'75 Chevrolet

updated by @tmc-chase: 08/03/17 11:59:59AM

Should we re-ignite the board track boom?

Stock Car Racing History

Hai Karate?? Hai, hai. No thanks. But I think I'd be willing to slap on some Aqua Velva if they ever choose to become a sponsor on the Petty Blue 43.

Should we re-ignite the board track boom?

Stock Car Racing History

Neat article from February 1968 Motor TrendI found tonight about history of board tracks in 1920s-30s.

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-bin/pub9990430062238.cgi?itemid=9990483189683&action=viewad&categoryid=9990438706654&page=1&placeonpage=11&totaldisplayed=50

August 3, 1962 - Joe Weatherly is Boss at Boyd's

Stock Car Racing History

Boyd's Speedway just outside of Chattanooga, TN hosted two Grand National events - one each in 1962 and 1964. The first one was held on August 3, 1962.

The track technically sits just on the Georgia side of the TN/GA border, but most refer to the track as 'being in Chattanooga'.

In only his third full-time GN season, Richard Petty won the pole for the Confederate 200. Ned Jarrett qualified beside Petty in his #11 Ford. Fireball, Jack Smith and Little Joe rounded out the top 5 starters. The state of Tennessee had a reasonable delegation of drivers in the field including:

• Friday Hassler of Chattanooga
• Jerry Smith of Chattanooga - making his final of 3 GN starts
• Harold Fryar of Chattanooga (and brother of short track ace Freddy) - his only GN start
• Sherman Utsman from Bluff City
• G.C. Spencer from Jonesboro
• George Green from Johnson City

When I toured the Petty Museum for the first time in 2011, I almost overlooked this trophy sitting on the top shelf of one of the cabinets. I happened to notice it said BOYDS SPEEDWAY on it; however, I couldn't see a date on it. The King won the pole for both of Boyd's races, so I'm not certain which year this trophy is for.

I referenced Greg Fielden's 40 Years of Stock Car Racing - Volume 2 to get some info for this race, but I also found an AP story summarizing it. Both are consistent with how it began and how it ended, but the parts in the middle differed significantly.

Fielden's account of the race indicated Jarrett jumped out front at the drop of the green to lead the first 9 laps before relinquishing it to Petty for most of the rest of the race. The AP writer said Jarrett led the first 50 laps.

Fielden's book then shows King Richard out front for the next 172 laps before losing the lead to Weatherly with 18 to go. The AP report aligns with Fielden's account in that Petty dominated most of the rest of the race. However, the AP says a pit stop by the 42 of Petty with about 30 laps to go gave the lead - and eventual win - to Weatherly.

Neither report states why Petty made a pit stop. Apparently it wasn't expected as the race was only 100 miles and took just under one-hour to complete.

Junior Johnson had an inauspicious start to his new relationship with car owner Ray Fox. He exited the race with overheating problems in his first start in Fox's car. Fox had fired his previous driver, David Pearson, who had made a limited number of starts for him in 1961 and 1962. Junior of course had driven a Fox-prepared car previously - most notably when he won the 1960 Daytona 500.

Race report published in Spartanburg Herald

Boyd's still operates weekly dirt-track racing today. [ Website ] Just recently, the track had a big turnout when Austin and Ty Dillon came to town to race the local guys.

Fin	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car
1	Joe Weatherly	Bud Moore	'61 Pontiac
2	Fireball Roberts	Jim Stephens	'62 Pontiac
3	Jim Paschal	Cliff Stewart	'62 Pontiac
4	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	'62 Plymouth
5	Sherman Utsman	Sherman Utsman	'62 Ford
6	G.C. Spencer	G.C. Spencer	'62 Chevrolet
7	Bob Welborn	J.C. Parker	'62 Pontiac
8	Ned Jarrett	B.G. Holloway	'62 Chevrolet
9	Buck Baker	Buck Baker	'62 Chrysler
10	Jack Smith	Jack Smith	'62 Pontiac
11	Buddy Baker	Buck Baker	'61 Chrysler
12	Wendell Scott	Wendell Scott	'61 Chevrolet
13	Harold Fryar	Ralph Smith	'62 Chevrolet
14	Curtis Crider	Curtis Crider	'62 Mercury
15	George Green	Jess Potter	'61 Chevrolet
16	Herman Beam	Herman Beam	'62 Ford
17	Junior Johnson	Ray Fox	'62 Pontiac
18	Jerry Smith	Curtis Crider	'61 Mercury
19	T.C. Hunt	Wildcat Williams	'62 Ford
20	Friday Hassler	J.C. Parker	'61 Pontiac
21	Nero Steptoe		'60 Chevrolet

updated by @tmc-chase: 08/03/17 12:00:41PM

August 1, 1951 - AltaMonty! - Fonty Flock Pockets Altamont

Stock Car Racing History

Twenty years to the day before King Richard won the [ Dixie 500 at Atlanta ] on August 1, 1971, a Georgian driver went well above the Mason-Dixon 500 to nab the win.

A 200-lap race was scheduled on the half-mile dirt oval at Altamont Fairgrounds in New York for Saturday night, July 28th. The race was to be held at the fairgrounds a couple of weeks before the annual Tri-County Fair scheduled for later in the month.

Ed Otto - who promoted many races for Bill France in the northern corridor of the US in the years to follow - recruited several known shoes for the race including the Flock brothers, Fireball, Lee Petty, Marshall Teague, and the 1950 GN champion Bill Rexford.

The race got some front page pub in the local paper - even if the write did include a few errors such as "Les Petty" and reference to Fonty Flock as the 1949 national champion rather than Red Byron. Fonty DID win the 1949 modified championship - but that was out of context with GN racers and Byron's title. Oh well...LET'S JUST RACE!

Race preview from July 27, 1951  Altamont Enterprise

Otto had PROMOTED these big names would race at Altamont. Whether they actually planned to or not may be up for debate. Scheduled for July 29th - the day after the Altamont race - was a 200-lap race at Asheville-Weaverville, NC.

As occasionally happens with racing, however, rains arrived to wash out the night's race. The big names raced on the 29th at A-W, and the Altamont race was rescheduled for Wednesday, August 1, the night following the [ GN teams' race at Monroe County Fairgrounds in Rochester NY ] - which coincidentally had also been rained out on its original date of July 27th.

Twenty cars started the Altamont race though I'm unsure of the starting order or even if qualifications were held. When the race ran on its rescheduled date, only a few GN regulars returned to participate in it including Fonty Flock, Lee Petty, and Herb Thomas.

Several drivers made their one and only career NASCAR GN start in the race - perhaps because of calls from Otto to help him fill the field for the fans:

• Victor Brenzelli
• Hully Bunn
• Jim Little
• Perry Smith
• Rod Therrian

Based on limited information I've found in a newspaper article and Greg Fielden's Forty Years of Stock Car Racing , Fonty led wire to wire. The GN regulars Thomas and Petty took the next two spots as would have been expected.

Interestingly, Fonty also won the race on the 29th at Asheville-Weaverville - the one held the day after the original date for Altamont.

Though the August 1, 1951 race was the first GN race at Altamont was its first, it wasn't its last. The division didn't return for a couple of years, but Otto apparently convinced France Sr. to return for a 2nd and last time in 1955.

Race report from August 3, 1951 Altamont Enterprise. Some of the errors included in the race preview article continued in the race report including

• a reference to the race winner as Monty Flock
• the formal name of NASCAR as National Association of Stock Car Drivers, and
• Lee Petty being from Randall, NC

But hey, as P.T. Barnum (allegedly) said, "there's no such thing as bad publicity". Despite the forgivable errors made with a typewriter, limited knowledge of the sport, sparse info provided by NASCAR, and an editor's deadline, I think the race got reasonable coverage.

Fin	Driver	Car
1	Fonty Flock	'51 Oldsmobile
2	Herb Thomas	'51 Plymouth
3	Lee Petty	'51 Plymouth
4	Perry Smith	'51 Studebaker
5	Jerry Morese	'51 Ford
6	Pappy Hough	'51 Ford
7	Dick Moffitt
8	Wimpy Ervin
9	Jim Little
10	Dick Linder	'50 Oldsmobile
11	Hully Bunn
12	Ronnie Kohler	'50 Plymouth
13	Don Bailey	'51 Ford
14	Ed Benedict	'51 Hudson
15	Tommie Elliott
16	Victor Brenzelli
17	Rod Therrian
18	Jim Reed	'51 Ford
19	Quinton Daniels
20	Lloyd Moore	'51 Ford

updated by @tmc-chase: 08/01/18 09:32:08AM

August 1, 1971 - Petty Blue wins the Dixie 500

Stock Car Racing History

Three years ago, I began a year-long project to blog about each of Richard Petty's 200 wins. I learned a lot as I went along - about the races themselves and different folks who saw many of King's wins or had some info they were willing to share with me about various races. I remain grateful to those who helped me along the way, and many of my posts continue to get web visits.

As I got started, many of my early posts were rather concise. Date, track, win number, an article, maybe, a picture, post. But as the series moved along, I found myself including more content where I could about how the race unfolded and even storylines from the race NOT involving the Petty car(s).Rather than leave the posts 'as is', I've chosen to revisit them along the way as I find new things to add.

I added many of the links to my blog posts here, but I'm pretty sure I didn't have 100% hit rate. My first post was about the August 1, 1971 Dixie 500 at Atlanta. I've searched, and I can't find that I posted about it on RR. So here ya go. And here is the link to my original blog post:

http://bench-racing.blogspot.com/2011/08/august-1-this-day-in-petty-history-part.html

Richard Petty wins his 134th race in the Dixie 500 at Atlanta International Raceway (now Atlanta Motor Speedway). With the win, he becomes the first NASCAR driver to top $1 million in career earnings.

updated by @tmc-chase: 07/31/17 03:55:36PM