Racing History Minute - June 26, 1976
Stock Car Racing History
Just noticed for first time the 21st place finisher: Paul Lewis. Could it be THE Paul Lewis of RacersReunion?
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Stock Car Racing History
Racing History Minute - June 26, 1976
Stock Car Racing History
My pop lost his leg in the early 1960s when he was launched through a windshield FROM THE BACK SEAT after an auto accident. He then lost his right eye in a 1970 work accident, and his left one has degraded ever since. I've often referred to him as a cat who has already used up 3 or 4 of his lives! Ha. But he has never complained. Over the past few years, some of the challenges he faces have become more noticeable. And some of the pain he tries to mask reveals itself on his face or the occasional grunt. But he generally refuses (often to his detriment) to be seen as "burden" for my mother or anyone else.
Growing up, I really didn't think much about what it was like for him to lumber along with a fake stick. He still went to work 5 to 7 days a week. He mowed the lawn each weekend. And he always went with us as our family of five went to the Fairgrounds for a night of racing.
In recent years, I've come to recognize how those visits were mainly for my benefit. My sister and brother didn't care a lot about them - and have no interest in racing today. My mother was the driver of the family after my pop lost his vision. So if we were going, she was going too! She did become partial to Sterling Marlin - and had a disdain for anyone in the blue, Harpeth Motor Ford 84 including Darrell Waltrip and Mike Alexander. Ha.
My dad's faves on the national level were Harry Gant and Butch Lindley. He didn't pull for any particular local - nor did he have a Cup favorite. But he always enjoyed watching Gant and Lindley run their smooth lines around the Fairgrounds.
Racing History Minute - June 26, 1976
Stock Car Racing History
Here is another pic of the pre-race flag ceremony pace lap from Randy Binkley's gallery.
updated by @tmc-chase: 06/26/17 12:16:25PM
Racing History Minute - June 26, 1976
Stock Car Racing History
A new project I'm tackling is to revisit several races from my 'home track' - Nashville's Fairgrounds Speedway. Over the years, the track has had many names including Fairground Speedways, Nashville Speedway, Nashville International Raceway, and Music City Motorplex. But to me, it's always been simply The Fairgrounds.
The races I attended at the Fairgrounds in the 1970s have all run together over the years. We went to many nights of a regular slate of races - twin races for each of the divisions of that era: mini-stock, limited sportsman, and late model sportsman. And we went to the occasional big events like 200 lap features for the national late model sportsman drivers or a 50-lap local late model feature paired with Cup qualifying.
And we even went to a combo night of a 200-lap ARCA feature and a 200 national LMS race. To this day, my dad can't stand ARCA because of all the wrecks that happened that night in Music City. He mainly wanted to see his LMS faves, and no one in my family (except perhaps me) was terribly excited about the late night getting longer because the ARCA regulars couldn't keep their cars out of the fence.
We never went to any of the GN/Cup races together as a family. The tickets cost a few dollars more, and we simply didn't have it in the family budget. And with the big boys in town, the crowds were larger. My dad is an amputee, and the parking and walk to the stands was a challenge in its own right. All the extra people and cars for the 420s made it a non-starter for him.
This post will be about the 1976 Spirit of '76 200 NASCAR LMS race. The race was the 2nd in a four-year run with sponsorship from Union 76.
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Race preview from the June 26, 1976 edition of The Tennessean: Darrell Waltrip says a homecoming, complete with familiar, friendly faces, home-cooked meals, and a spin around the track he cut his racing teeth on may be just what the doctor ordered. That's why tonight's Spirit of 76 200 at Nashville Speedway represents more than just a race to the 29-year-old Franklin. Tenn. driver. It also represents a much-needed break from the stress and strain of the relentless Grand National grind. Waltrip admits it was that pressure, combined with frustrations born of a rash of mechanical failures, that prompted a verbal blast at his pit crew Sunday. Forced into the pits with overheating problems in the early going of the Michigan Motor State 400, Waltrip told a nationwide radio audience in no uncertain terms that the pit crew was responsible. And, he added, if it were up to him, he would get rid of the problem once and for all. Yesterday from his DiGard racing headquarters in Daytona, Waltrip admitted he had spoken harshly in the heat of frustration but stopped just short of apologizing. "We have had one mechanical headache after another this season," he said. "And the situation had become like a volcano, with the pressure building and building. Finally, Sunday, it erupted. When we went out of the race almost before we got started, I lost my temper." Waltrip said he and crew chief Mario Rossi "had a long discussion, and I believe we have got some things straightened out. Sometimes there's nothing like a little constructive criticism. We have had heated conversations in the past, and generally something good has come out of it. I hope that's the case this time." Waltrip was scheduled to fly up from Daytona last night in order to be ready for today's 1-4 p.m. qualifying. "I always enjoy running at Nashville," he said. "You aren't under the tremendous pressure of a Grand National race. You can relax and enjoy yourself. That's not to say the race is an easy one of course. I understand they have most of the country's top Sportsman drivers entered in this one. So the competition will be stiff, but that's what makes it fun, and I'm looking forward to it." And also, hopefully, to a win? "That goes without saying," Waltrip laughed, always ready for that." Waltrip will indeed be lining up alongside many of the nation's leading Late Model Sportsman drivers. Included in the field are: - L.D. Ottinger, Newport, Tenn., defending national LMS champ and current point leader- Butch Lindley of Greeneville, S.C., winner of 20 of 27 races this season - Harry Gant, Taylorsville, N.C. who has won 1 1 of his last 13 starts - Alton Jones, Birmingham, local LMS point leader - Neil Bonnett, Hueytown, Ala., winner of last month's Falls City 200 here - David Sisco, Nashville driver who will be seeking his first win on his home track in seven years, after getting off to a hot start on the Grand National circuit this year - Local hard-charging youngsters P.B. Crowell III, Mike Alexander, Sterling Marlin and Dennis Wiser - Defending track champ Walter Wallace - Former track champ Freddy Fryar of Chattanooga. Thirty-four entries had been received yesterday, making this afternoon's qualifying for the 30-car field all-important. The Speedway and Union Oil have planned a special surprise for drivers and fans preceding the 8 p.m. start. A 7 p.m. 50-lap Karco Limited Sportsman race on the five-eights-mile oval will start the action. Current point leader and defending champ Sonny Upchurch figures to be the man to beat. |
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| Though I don't remember many specific races or winners, I DO remember the pre-race activity for this one. As noted in the preview article, the track had a "special surprise for drivers and fans". Each car included a passenger holding a US flag during a pace lap. With America celebrating its bicentennial in 1976, the tribute was appropriate. Union 76 had sponsored other Spirit of 76 200s at Nashville in prior and subsequent years. But the race name was particularly poignant in the year of the country's 200 birthday. |
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updated by @tmc-chase: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM
Racing History Minute - June 22, 1952
Stock Car Racing History
This post isn't about a NASCAR race, an ARCA one, a USAC one, or even a local feature at Nashville's Fairgrounds. It is about a 100-mile, big time event at a new half-mile dirt track on the Northern Montana Fairgrounds in Great Falls. IMCA - the International Motor Contest Association - sanctioned the race, and it is believed to be the first major stock car race in the state of Montana. (And arguably, perhaps the only major stock car race in that state.)
I extracted a couple of articles from archived editions of the Great Falls Tribune newspaper about the race.
Race preview:
The cream of the nation's driving talent will bid for $2,000 in prize money in the 100-mile dirt track classic for stock cars this afternoon at the North Montana State fairgrounds.
It will be the first stock car race ever conducted here and promises to be an eventful test with 12 professionals entered for the 200-lap grind. The speedsters will be bidding for points in the national competition for stock car racing, won for the last two years by Herschel Buchanan of Shreveport. La. The national champ will be among the entries this afternoon.
The track here has been placed in top condition for the grueling race. Drivers who inspected it Saturday said it ranked among the best in the nation and predicted new speed records may be established for the 100-mile course if weather conditions are favorable.
Virtually every type of late model stock car will be seen in the endurance run. Drivers already entered represent eight states and include sectional champions from the south, middlewest and southeast. Bidding for Buchanan's title is Jimmie Clark of Fort Worth, who won the last two competitive events and hopes to make it three straight today. Clark won at Shreveport last Sunday and at Miles City Wednesday.
Another top racer bidding for honors is Bill Harrison of Topeka, who hopes to establish a record here. Harrison said the track is in top condition and will test the skill of drivers as they jockey for the lead over the long grind. Officials said that while 12 entries already have been received, post time entries may increase the field to 16.
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Race report:
Herschel Buchanan, two times national champion from Shreveport, La., won the first stock car classic here Sunday afternoon in a grueling, dusty 100-mile grind. Buchanan, driving a 1951 Nash led the last 100 laps of the 200 lap test and never was seriously threatened after the half-way point.
His superior driving plus first-rate performance from his auto enabled him to edge second-place Charlie Stark of Syracuse. N. Y by a lap and a half. Stark drove a 1949 Plymouth. Buchanan did the 100 miles in two hours, three and a half minutes. The world's stock car record for a hundred miles is one hour and 57 minutes.
The event, sponsored by the Elks drum and bugle corps under sanction of the International Motor Contest Assn., drew a paid crowd of 5,348 and grossed $10,746, including taxes.
The race was marked by one smashup and numerous mechanical breakdowns but no one was injured. The track, although dusty, was in good condition for the race. Officials sprayed it with 60,000 gallons of water Saturday night.
Buchanan, a Nash salesman in his home town and a former speedway driver, started the race in fourth position and moved into first on his 40th lap. He lost the lead on the 90th lap to flashy young Jimmy Clark, driving a 1950 Oldsmobile. Clark, bidding strongly for Buchanan's national title, fell back at the 100th lap when high gear went out of his car. He completed the last 100 lap in second gear and finished in fifth place.
Matt Perlick, Minneapolis, and Glen Larson, Aurora, Ill., were the early leaders. Larson copped first place at the start and held it until he crashed through the fence on his 35th lap. The crackup resulted when Perlick spun out of control on the far turn ahead of Larson.
Larson smacked Perlick and careened to the left through the inside guard rail. Perlick, who finished third in a 1950 Oldsmobile, was out front from the 35th lap to the 40th, when he was forced to make a pit stop to replace a tire damaged in the smash-up with Larson. The stop dropped Perlick out of contention.
Behind Perlick was Frank Winkley, Minneapolis, with a 1952 Ford. Clark finished fifth and Gene Harmon, Lincoln, Neb., took sixth with 1949 Hudson. Highly-touted Bill Harrison, one of the pre-race favorites with a 1952 De Soto, lost a wheel early in the race and finished seventh. He lost several minutes in the pits for repairs. In eighth place was John Nash, St. Paul, with a 1950 Hudson. Larson, driving a 1951 Oldsmobile, took ninth and Bobby Dugan, Tampa, Fla., finished 10th in a 1952 Oldsmobile.
The tail-ender was Dick Eidsmoe, Minneapolis, who drove a 1951 Henry J. He snapped an axle on a turn in his fifth lap and set out the rest of the race in the pits.
Buchanan won $500 while Stark got $360 and Perlick $270. Every driver in the race received a share of the $2,000 prize money.
I included the hometown for each of the drivers. Pretty amazing to realize how far many of the drivers traveled to Big Sky Country to race for a paltry share of a $2,000 purse.
| Position | Driver | Hometown | Car |
| 1 | Hershel Buchanan | Shreveport LA | Nash |
| 2 | Charlie Stark | Syracuse, NY | Plymouth |
| 3 | Matt Perlick | Minneapolis, MN | Oldsmobile |
| 4 | Frank Winkley | Minneapolis, MN | Ford |
| 5 | Jimmy Clark | Fort Worth, TX | Oldsmobile |
| 6 | Gene Harmon | Lincoln, NE | Hudson |
| 7 | Bill Harrison | Topeka, KS | DeSoto |
| 8 | John Nash | St. Paul, MN | Hudson |
| 9 | Glen Larson | Aurora, IL | Oldsmobile |
| 10 | Bobby Dugan | Tampa, FL | Oldsmobile |
| 11 | Dick Eidsmoe | Minneapolis, MN | Henry J. |
In addition to Buchanan's IMCA wins and championships, he raced in 23 Grand National events from 1950 through 1954. He impressively notched a Top 5 in nine of those 23 starts.
From what I've gathered, I don't think many more races - if any - were held at the fairgrounds half-mile track. However, the excitement of the IMCA race there led a few racing and business minded folks to build a new and more permanent facility. Great Falls Speedway was built. It continues today as a 3/10 clay oval under the name of Electric City Speedway.
http://www.electriccityspeedway.com/
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updated by @tmc-chase: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM
Racing History Minute - June 20, 1957
Stock Car Racing History
Saw video last weekend of A.J. Foyt recapping memories of his win in the 1967 24 Hours of LeMans with co-driver Dan Gurney. Throughout the interview, he continually referenced "Ford Motor Company". Not just "Ford" or pronoun "they". Always "Ford Motor Company" - all while he had a Chevy bowtie on his shirt - his current Indy engine supplier. Found it pretty funny.
May 29, 1960 - The Charlotte debut that wasn't
Stock Car Racing History
Bump for 1st World 600 on June 19, 1960 - that was bumped from its original date of May 29.
June 18, 1967: RP is King of the Rock
Stock Car Racing History
Bump for memories of @dave-fulton and @frank-buhrman