Bristol in the 80s Short Video (1 minute, 15 seconds)
Stock Car Racing History
My first Bristol race was spring 1986. Rusty Wallace scored his 1st Cup win in the Blue Max / Alu-Gard #27 Pontiac 2+2. We walked up on race day and paid $18 for SRO. But rains moved in, and I think it washed the track down the valley about 6 feet. It poured.
A few folks brought some of those blue tarps, and about a million people squeezed under each one of them. I'm a pretty vertically challenged feller, so holding the corner of one was out of the question. Wouldn't be able to hold it above everyone's head. Fine by me - I got to stand under it and stay fairly dry.
When the rains quit & track dried, the race was on! But our plans of sitting on the bank above the backstretch were out the window because of the mud. So I stood the whole time with my toes pitched about 20 degrees lower than my heel. Ladies - I don't know how in the dickens y'all get used to wearing high heeled shoes. My feet hurt for a week after that race.
Still have my ticket stub.
