Agreed. My participation at RR from the time I joined has for the most part been to learn about racing history and share the meager bit I know myself. I'll chime in from time to time to current state of racing. But there seems to be more than enough venues to do that. Good info re: history is what this site provides best IMO.
RR member Don Smyle is trying to properly label a couple of photos. I've taken a shot at one of them - though my confidence level isn't too high. How about folks here?
Picture number 1- who is this? (My guess was Ray Duhigg.)
Picture number 2 - who is this?
Picture number 3 - Don said this pic is from 1966 National 400 at Charlotte. But who is in the photo and for what team?
I think I still have that news clipping. Just a truly unfortunate accident in the infield.
Just got word from Russ Thompson tonight that long-time independent Cup driver and 1969 Nashville Fairgrounds late model champion Dave Sisco passed away today, July 25, 2016, at the age of 79.
Obituary, service information and tribute wall here:
http://www.mcdonaldfuneralhomeinc.com/obituaries/David-Sisco/
Oh goodness. Does that mean we will soon see the emergence of a new NASCAR sanctioned series far younger than trucks? You know, kind of as a "let's make this work" strategy?
The company line seems to be the prestige of racing at the Brickyard. Yes, they've done it. Many times. For more than 2 decades. And rather than grow the event as the Southern 500 once did and the Daytona 500 did begining several years later and the Bristol night race and yada 3x, the BY400 has shrunk in relevance.
We're told the drivers cherish winning on the historic track. But historic for what reason? INDY CAR RACING! All the trappings of the stock car race point back to the history of another series. If that's the reason they're racing there, then why not race at Elkhart Lake, LeMans, Pomona, Knoxville Iowa, or any other track with tons of racing history wrapped around it?
I get that the Indy 500 is the biggest race of 'em all. Yes - bigger even than the Daytona 500 despite the relative insignificance of Indy racing these days. But for the life of me, I don't get why NASCAR keeps forcing a square peg into a round hole with that place.
Obviously, the series is stuck with it for at least another 4 years because of the 5 year guarantee NASCAR gave to tracks last year. And I have no reason to believe they'll pull out after those 4 years. But it truly is baffling why this charade continues.
Nate Ryan hosts a solid podcast each week with a variety of guests. I listened to one Saturday with Doug Douchardt, Hendrick Motorsports GM. He said HMS was "a technology company in the entertainment business under the crucible of competition".
Huh?
That may be part of the issue these days. Big words from a well-educated man. But part of what has been lost is when teams and drivers simply showed up to RACE.
NASCAR has certainly experienced its share of hiccups and endured its share of criticism over the years. Scheduling, rules, rule changes, rule enforcement, penalty consistency, sponsors, TV coverage, etc.
Compared to some of USAC's snafus, however, NASCAR often looks like a finely-tuned machine.
USAC scheduled the Delaware 200 for July 19, 1970. The race was to be a 200-mile race for the Indy-style, championship cars.
But after USAC inspected Dover's newly paved surface, officials decided the track wasn't suitable for the Indy cars. It's interesting to me the track was re-paved less than one year after it's opening in 1969. Ironically, the repave was apparently done specifically to recruit more Indy car racing! (Some drivers complained about the surface after the first Indy car race at Dover in '69.)
USAC and Dover officials cancelled the Indy car race. To take advantage of the, USAC's stock car drivers were rallied to race on July 19th vs. their original Dover date of August 9th. Furthermore, the stock car race length was shortened from 300 miles planned in August to 200 miles in July - presumably to match the advertised distance for the open wheel cars. Whew, what confusion.
Wally Dallenbach, Sr. was not afraid to speak his mind about how he viewed the track building binge going on in the US. He expressed concerns that track builders were more focused on building faster tracks vs. an emphasis on safety. Interesting. 1970. 56 years ago. In many ways, those concerns echo even today in open wheel and stock car racing.
The name of the race was changed from the Delaware 200 for the open wheel cars to the Dover 200 for the USAC stockers.
Several drivers who planned to run in the open wheel race stayed around anyway to race in the stock car event. I will give USAC guys their due in this respect. Looking back, it's pretty remarkable to see the versatility of many of the drivers who raced in multiple USAC divisions and on different surfaces: midgets, stock cars, open wheel champ cars, dirt, paved, bull rings, and superspeedways.
Super Tex A.J. Foyt won the pole in his Ford Torino. Starting third was Bobby Unser in a Ford Mustang owned by track owner Mel Joseph. Though I haven't found the car number documented, most assuredly it was #49 - his lucky number over the years.
Foyt then dominated the race and decimated the competition. He led 179 of the race's 200 laps to win the race over Don White. Second place White was the only other car on the lead lap at the finish.
The Grand National drivers arrived in Bristol TN on July 19, 1970, for the first of three Tennessee races in six days. The Volunteer 500 ran on Sunday the 19th, the East Tennessee ran on Friday the 24th at Smoky Mountain Raceway in Maryville, and the Nashville 420 ran on Saturday evening the 25th.
From Motor Racing Programme Covers
Preview article from Knoxville News Sentinel
Fred Lorenzen was scheduled to make this third start of the season. He made his return after a three-year absence at the World 600 in Charlotte in a Richard Howard-owned Dodge crewed by Mario Rossi. He then raced in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona in a Ray Fox Dodge numbered in Lorenzen's traditional #28 vs. Fox's traditional #3.
For Bristol, Lorenzen belted into a Dodge fielded by H.B. Ranier, the father of the late Harry Ranier - a car owner in his own right. From what I can tell based on this pic of Donnie Allison with the 28's grill in the background, I believe the car was a Dodge Coronet rather than a Charger.
Ranier fielded a Coronet Super Bee for driver Bobby Watson in Bristol's spring Southeastern 500 as well as a couple of 1970 ARCA races. I believe it's this car that was prepared for Lorenzen to race. If so, it was repainted pearl white as noted in article below.
Greg Fielden's Forty Years of Stock Car Racing has Richard Howard listed as the owner - as does Racing-Reference.info - and every other website that has replicated that information. I can't do anything about Fielden's book, but I will be sending this info to R-R for a correction there.
Pic of Bobby Watson car from Randy Ayers Modeling Forum .
With us now being smack dab in the middle of a national political season, perhaps it's fitting there was a political angle to Lorenzen's car.
Perennial Tennessee political candidate - and future head of STP Corporation - John Jay Hooker was back for another election. Four years earlier, Hooker ran for TN governor and incorporated his name into the number on Buddy Baker's car at Bristol.
Hooker didn't win in 1966 (he never did), but he was back for another shot on the Democratic side of the ledger in the Tennessee gubernatorial election (emphasis on goober). Hooker chose to sponsor Ranier's Dodge with Lorenzen aboard and arranged to have his wife be the honorary starter. (Another article I found seemed to indicate he may have sponsored the race itself.)
Oh yeah, The Killer - Jerry Lee Lewis - performed a Saturday night concert at the track. And folks think Talladega gets crazy! 
Lorenzen had engine issues in qualifying and started 13th. Despite making some tweaks, the issues continued, and Lorenzen was done in the race after only 48 laps. Hooker had issues down the stretch as well. Once again, he was not elected. The people voted Winfield Dunn as the new governor that fall, the first Republican governor elected in Tennessee since 1920.
The first half of the race saw many wrecks and cautions. Both Cale Yarborough and David Pearson took a couple of hard licks. Fielden notes in his book (think about Dale Jr's recent news about his concussions) about Pearson's wreck around lap 100:
David Pearson provided a scare when his Ford popped a tire and nailed the inside pit wall head-on. The impact was severe and there was little movement in the driver's compartment for a few minutes. "That was a hard lick," Pearson said afterwards. "I've always been told that if you hit something hard enough to knock your shoes off, you're dead. When I came to, I looked on the floorboard and saw my shoes laying there. I thought for sure I was dead."
Cale led a lot of the first half of the race. Like Pearson, however, he cut a tire and walloped the wall. The wreck finished him and the Wood Brothers Mercury for the day after only 221 laps.
With Cale out of the race, Bobby Allison became the lap bully. He continued to lead but became aware of something going on in the pits. Lee Roy Yarbrough, who elevated his Junior Johnson to second, got relief help - and from all drivers, DONNIE Allison.
The King also got worn out from the scorching Tennessee summer and got relief from Pete Hamilton. The 43 Plymouth was never quite "on" for the weekend and eventually lost an engine. Because of the attrition and the competition difference between the up-front cars and the rest of the field, Petty still notched a fifth place finish.
Dave Marcis had fallen out of the race after only about 80 laps. With Lee Roy and King Richard getting relief, Bobby became concerned fresh arms at each wheel might put more pressure on him as he grew tired. Finally, he turned his Mario Rossi-prepared, Coca-Cola Dodge over to Marcis. The duo managed to fend off Lee Roy and the 10 other cars still running at the finish. Bobby was credited with a two-lap win over second place Yarbrough.
